Kayla
The most beautiful image on the wall awakens me, the rising of a blue star and three moons.
My owner growls and twirls his finger counterclockwise. The room plunges into darkness, the light from the star on the wall flickers, and once again the blue star peeks over the horizon. That's when it occurs to me that cycle, witnessing a star and the rising moons, is Tarak's alarm. Four times in a row we go through this and during the fifth cycle, when the room is bathed in soft blue light, Tarak gets out of bed, stomping about the room.
I stay hidden beneath the sheets, but I can't help laughing. From resetting the alarm several times to rushing about the room and grumbling, it's obvious that Tarak is not a morning alien.
"Thoth," he says, pulling back the sheet and exposing my head.
I keep my eyes closed, pretending to be asleep. He runs his fingers through my hair before rushing out the door.
Finally! I sit up in bed and the room is dark. I clap and the wall re-illuminates with the blue star and three moons, frozen on the wall.
I'm hungry, so I drop down from the bed and go to the corner where I have a blanket and a bowl filled with... I shudder. Tarak has filled my bowl with what looks like guinea pig pellets.
Be open-minded, Kayla.
I grab a pellet. It's brown and fits in my palm. I take a tiny lick and-ugh-the pellet tastes like sawdust. I can't eat this. I go to where I'd seen Tarak put the containers of berries, but no matter how much I knock or tap the wall, my berries stay hidden. Why won't these walls open for me?
My eyes go back to the chair. This is not a problem. I can just order some more berries. I grab the keyboard, except... The wall only has a picture of a star and moons. I need the food pictures. I do everything I saw my owner do before: I use the same motions, flicking my wrists and moving my hands. I try new things, growling like Tarak, and even clapping so that the wall flickers on and off, but still, this is not what I want. If only the page with all the pictures of food would reappear.
I am about ready to eat that bowl of guinea pig pellets when I notice the empty box from yesterday is still on the corner of my master's desk. I grab the carton, examining it. Numbers are on the bottom of the box.
Could these numbers be the key? I carefully tap the numbers into the keyboard, and...
What happens next, I do not expect. Berry-related pages appear on the wall. Some have big pictures of the berries with lots of glyphs that I don't understand. A map appears on one of the walls. On another wall is a berry carton, identical to what I had seen before. Finally! I use my hand motion to grab that one.
This page is so intuitive. Just like last time, it has a checkbox, so I click it. Once I'm on that page, it becomes even easier because more pages with fruit of assorted sizes and varied colors pop up on the wall. This is great; it's like shopping in a store that anticipates what I want next. When dozens of additional checkboxes appear, I go with it, since one can never have too much fruit. When what I can only assume is a delivery button appears, I hit that, too.
It doesn't take long-maybe the equivalent of half an hour-when the wall chimes. I use the same hand signal I have seen my master use, turning my fist clockwise, and the door opens.
A robot that only comes up to the height of my belly rolls into Tarak's apartment. This robot is adorable, with gigantic circles that resemble eyes. Whenever I blink at the robot, the robot's illuminated eyes flicker at me, almost as if the robot is blinking, too.
I'm so hungry I immediately remove a carton of berries from the robot's cart, throwing one of the berries into my mouth.
That robot beeps and grabs onto my box with a claw.
"Bad robot! It took me a lot of work to get this fruit. Not for you," I tell the robot, slapping its robot claws.
The robot rolls around me, beeping loudly and those grabby claws keep trying to take my fruit, so I work fast, dipping into the basket and hurtling as many boxes as I can out of the cart while simultaneously dodging the claws. That robot is horrible, chasing me through the apartment, gnashing its metallic claws at me, and even reclaiming some of my cartons. It's difficult, but I get my entire fruit delivery away from the robot.
I hold onto one carton, baiting the robot. It rolls along behind me and when it gets close enough to the open door, I shove it into the hallway. I make a hand motion I've seen Tarak do. I make my hand into a fist, and I turn it counterclockwise, and the door slams shut on the robot.
I gather my fruit-filled cartons and push them underneath the bed for safekeeping. I leave one of the cartons out and start to lick the bright yellow berries. A sugary sweetness, better than any fruit I remember eating in my life, bathes my tongue. The taste is phenomenal. Does it taste better than other fruit, or does it taste so good because of all the arduous work I had to do to get it?
From outside the apartment's metal door comes scratching sounds. I plop another plump, bright yellow berry into my mouth and this piece tastes even better. Yum. Maybe this tastes so good because I beat the robot?
I use hand motions and the keyboard, trying to learn more about Tarak's computer. I figure out how to maneuver between pages of this computer system with hand motions, although most of it leads me to a dead end. All the glyphs are in a language I do not understand. Somehow, by poking and waving my hands, though, I randomly end up on a page with what is likely to be recordings of animals from other parts of the galaxy. So many animals from far-off places flicker across the walls: eyes glowing at me from a dark forest; winged beasts flying over purple grass with a silver-hued skyline; insects building a fortress with a giant red star shining in the distance. I lie across the bed, leisurely eating the delicious berries, and I feel as if I am visiting them all. My eyelids get heavier and I'm dimly aware that my head falls against the pillow. Darkness.
***
Tarak strides into the room. The robot rolls in behind him.
I jolt to full alertness. I throw myself off the bed and berries scatter across the floor. I clap, darkening the wall. I move fast, scooping berries into my palm, except like some sort of demon the robot's red eyes flash at me and it rolls straight at me with extended claws. I barely dodge the robot, but a claw clamps my wrist. I try to pull away but the claw clenches tighter. I shriek, but it won't let go, and suddenly-
The robot is no longer gripping my arm and Tarak has the robot now. He batters the robot against the wall, over and over again, and he shows no signs of stopping. This is terrifying. I back away and take shelter under the bed. A wheel flies off and it lands near my hiding spot. Tarak still bangs the robot against the wall until the robot makes a sad raspy sound. He drops it and from my hiding spot, I can see the robot on the floor, the red light in its eyes dimming.
I'm in so much trouble.
"Kata," says Tarak.
I pull deeper into the darkness of my hiding spot. Why did I think this was a good temporary storage place for my snacks? The floor is sticky, probably from some of the fruit that I accidentally squish with my palm.
"Kata," calls Tarak. Is that anxiety in his voice or is it my imagination?
Even though I'm afraid, I can't do this to Tarak. I pull myself out of my hidey-hole and the moment I emerge, his intense gray eyes meet mine. He pulls me into his arms, carrying me. When we arrive at the pool, he places me on the floor. He strips, plunges into the water, and calls me. I shimmy from my clothes, and I follow him into the water. I don't even make it more than a few feet into the pool before Tarak pulls me against him. He grips me, moving my limbs and squinting at my skin. He finds a scratch on my wrist and by the way Tarak bellows and kisses my wrist, my elbow, and my shoulder, you would think I have a mortal wound. My Tarak needs this, so I stay limp in his arms while he takes me into deeper water. At first, I find being doted upon by Tarak soothing; he makes another trail of soft and gentle kisses along my arm, lathers my hair in floral-scented soap, and dabs my body with a soft sponge. I begin to be concerned, though, because after he rinses me off, only a moment later he repeats the entire cycle. He does this so many times I lose count and we float in the warm water for hours. My fingertips start to look prune-like, and there is no indication he will stop. Soon I recognize this behavior for what it probably is: Tarak's soothing mechanisms are not working anymore, so he is lost in an anxiety spiral.
So, when I'm plastered against his chest so that he can scrub me with soap and I trace a faint silver swirl that ends near one of his nipples, an idea occurs to me. When I get overly anxious and trapped in my head, sometimes a sensation can help me out of it. Tarak seems in need of such help (that or he might wash me for days). Maybe if I give him different sensations, he can let go of his spiraling thoughts? With his nipples right in front of me, I can do things; help Tarak, and find out if an alien's physiological response is like that of a human.
I skitter my fingers around his nipple. No response. I pinch the little nub quickly and it is like he's made of rock. So, while he lathers my skin and he lifts me higher so that I sprawl across his chest, I take his nipple into my mouth-
-and I suck.
"Thoth!" He drops me. I quickly resurface and water splashes around us, his tail thrashing.
So, he does have sensations in his nipples, and when I go back to his chest, I notice his tentacles. Even though they are underwater and bound, they writhe. Maybe it's the light in this room or maybe the fact that they are underwater, but those tentacles look like dozens of awakening penises. What a delightful opportunity for another test. I palm the group of tentacles on the left side of his penis, and I squeeze.
He roars. An arm goes around my waist, and he moves so fast that it is as if we are flying across the pool. He presses me against the side of the pool and his hand is around my neck.
All I had wanted to do was make him feel good and maybe find out more about tentacles, but now I am the one spiraling.
My heart pounds. All it would take is one long squeeze.
If I don't do something soon, he will probably end my life, so I need to show him that I am submitting to him.
So, I squeeze my eyes shut and go limp.
Please don't hurt me.