"... In other news, a meteorite has struck an unpopulated zone of Colorado last night, near Windsor.
"Meteorologists report to have been tracking this meteorite for a while now, and they claim to have already been on the scene when it hit. From what they've released so far we know that the meteor had already been small before entering the atmosphere, and by the time it actually hit it'd been no larger than a grapefruit. Its impact shouldn't have been enough to wake the nearest locals, but regardless we've received a report that an incident occurred while the first tests were being taken on the extraterrestrial rock.
"More information on what exactly happened will be shared as it's received, and while locals are assured that there's no need to worry, it's still been advised not to wander alone at night, or go looking for the crash site. . ."
Along with the whirring of the poor lone fan trying to keep the room cool, the muggy air of the living room is also filled with the voices coming from the dimmed television. The channel has been left on the news, as no one has bothered to change it, even though the lone occupant of the couch isn't even watching it. Instead, the little eight-year-old boy is engrossed in his shoes, tying them and retying them until they're absolutely perfect in his eyes, just as he wants them.
Today is his big day, after all; he has to get everything just right. Today he's finally going to do it.
"Mom!" Joshua Gonzalo calls loudly as he hops off of the couch, snatching his bicycle helmet off of the coffee table as he darts past. "Momma, can I go outside?"
He's really only asking to let her know he's leaving, because he knows she hates it when he just goes. He watches as his mother looks up from the book she's reading at a kitchen table, and she gives him a smile. "Of course, dear, just come back inside if you get too hot."
Joshua nods eagerly with a wide grin, turning to bolt out of the house immediately.
"And don't leave the neighborhood!" His mother adds quickly, but it's too late. Her son's exit had already been punctuated by the slam of the screen door behind him. With a knowing chuckle, she shakes her head as she returns to the novel in her hands.
Outside, Joshua eagerly straps the helmet on his head as he runs to the garage to get his bike, regardless of the heat beating down on him from the hot sun above. All the other kids on his block can ride their bikes already, and it's about time he catches up with the group. He's practically buzzing with excitement as he rolls his bicycle down the driveway, and he can't stop thinking that this is it; he's going to get it right on the first try this time, he just knows it.
His previous attempts to ride have already been forgotten — the ones that lead to his scraped knees and palms and fits of tears that had ultimately earned him an ice cream sandwich from the ice cream truck. Instead his attention now only focuses on the present, as he determinedly stands ready to mount his bike. With one last slow breath out, Joshua shifts his weight from the leg holding him up on the ground to the leg on the bike's pedal, quickly moving his other leg to follow onto the other pedal.
Having learned from his previous mistakes, he instantly leans forward and pushes at the pedals to move himself forward, his grip on the handlebars tight. He wobbles for a frighteningly long moment, until he steadies out and his movements push him off his driveway and onto the street of their cul-de-sac. Joshua's eyes widen with shock and pride, and an excited laugh bubbles up from his chest as he doesn't topple over. He soon pumps his legs harder to speed down the bumpy street, with the exhilarating feeling of cool wind rushing through his hair and against his face combating the heat of the summer sun's rays.
The memory of his mother telling him not to leave their cul-de-sac kills his glee for just a millisecond, but he pushes the nagging thought away quickly. This is just too much of an accomplishment for him to stop now! Joshua wouldn't stop for the world, much less a half-heard warning from his mother.
Thus he continues to pedal vigorously and allows his bike to carry him past houses he'd only seen through the window of a car. He doesn't feel his strength being sapped by the exertion, his excitement is still too much to allow it. Rather, he lets out a loud energetic whoop as he veers out of the neighborhood's street and down the dirt path he'd heard all about from his friends at school. Maybe he could find them, they said they always ride their bikes and scooters here on the weekends.
The path leads out past the cruddy backyards of the neighborhood and into the dirty, sandy Coloradoan desert beyond, filled with tumbleweeds, cacti, scorpions, and dangerous rattlesnakes-- or so Joshua likes to believe. It's actually just nothing but a sandy expanse that is basically unpopulated until one travels far enough to reach Windsor, which is much greener due to the lake it surrounds. The only signs of life in this stretch of land are the few paved roads sneaking through it, and a lone dusty gas station that's really only used for it's quick access to air conditioning and snacks.
As he continues to ride, Joshua has to squint as sand whips up in his eyes from his bicycle's tires. He's finally starting to grow a little tired from the exertion, and for a second he allows his peddling to falter. That's all it takes for his bike to be victorious. With one alarmed cry, Joshua loses his control over the bike's momentum, allowing it to teeter to the side with him still on it. He tries to quickly get off, but he isn't quick enough to keep his ankle from getting caught under it. Tears spring from his eyes at the sharp pain, but the pain to his pride is sharper.
Sniffling and stifling whines of aggravation, Joshua tries to right his bike and limp back on it. He isn't going to allow something like this to ruin his first real bike ride experience, this is just embarrassing. But, just as he lifts his leg to mount his bicycle again, his eyes catch on something in the distance. Blinking in surprise and confusion, Joshua pauses to stare at the object, its figure distorted by the rippling heat waves around it.
Whatever it is sprawled out further along the dirt road, the lack of tracks behind it making it clear it'd already been here for a while. The outline of it almost seems... Human. Joshua lets out a squawk of surprise at this realization, and he quickly sets his bike down to rush over to them, despite his aching ankle. Close proximity reveals that they are in fact a person, but Joshua finds that as their features become more and more distinguishable, the less their appearance resembles a human, or at least a normal one anyway.
Joshua's eyes are wide as saucers as he stares down at the other little boy curled up before him. The other boy looks practically dead, with his small form face down in the hot sand, and his naked body seeming almost broken. He's littered with dirt and pebbles, and covered in cuts, bruises, gashes, and burns. Even his short black hair is a mess, seared in random places and sticking up in every direction imaginable.
But none of this is what interests Joshua, rather, he finds himself intrigued by the swirling black marks covering his body like tattoos. As far as he could see, the marks run over his entire body.
"Hey, are you okay?" Joshua asks abruptly in a loud voice, only after realising his staring was rude.
The strange boy remains still for a long stiff moment, before finally twitching like a corpse waking up after a prolonged death. Joshua's eyes widen further as the boy groggily sits up, seeming confused for a moment before he tilts his head up to search for the source of the question. As soon as he notices Joshua's presence, he tenses, and his eyes widen in fear.
Instantly Joshua is captivated at the sight of his eyes, he doesn't even notice the fear in them. They're a beautiful bright emerald color, looking more like a cat's than a human's, with their slitted pupils and almost luminescent shine.
"Woah. Your eyes are really pretty..." Joshua hears himself mumble without realising, his own wide dark brown eyes locked with the other boy's green ones.
The human-like boy makes a sound of surprise, his mouth gaping open for a moment to reveal small pointed teeth, before he shuts it again quickly.
"You... You not to hurt me..?" He speaks in a scratchy, unused voice, his English incorrect and his tone wary.
Joshua blinks in surprise, raising his eyebrows. "Umm... No, I don't think so? Why?"
The nameless boy frowns, as if thinking about it himself. "I don't know... The others.. were scared..." His sentence trails off into a mumble at the end, in an almost timid or shameful manner.
"Who? Are you a monster? Or an alien?? Is that why who-ever-them-be were afraid of you?" Joshua asks this bluntly, while still staring down at the other boy in wide-eyed fascination.
Never in his life had Joshua seen someone like him, and his eyes keep tracing over the other's tattoos, watching as they swirl completely over his pale chest and up his neck, with a few tendrils curling even over his cheeks. The markings thicken over his shoulders, to the point where the skin is basically just black, before thinning out over his arms and curling over his hands in an intricate pattern. Are they really tattoos? He seems the same age as Joshua, if not younger, and either way, he's certainly too young to have a full body tattoo like the one he has.
"I.. think not?" The boy-creature replies to Joshua's question, his face scrunching up in pain as he seems to ponder the answer much deeper than what he'd spoken.
"Are you sure? You look weird." Joshua blurts, causing the other to look up to him in alarm. "But I think that's cool! By the way, you didn't answer, are you okay?"
The human boy kneels down before the boy-creature with a warm smile, while his question shows his concern for the scrapes all over the other's body. The wide-eyed look returns to his feline eyes as he stares at Joshua, an indescribable look of astonishment and emotion crossing his features.
"F-fine..." He croaks, but it turns into a hiccup at the end as tears start to well up in his eyes, startling Joshua. Had he said something wrong?
"No you're not! Come on, we need to get you some band-aids or something!" In his panic, Joshua grabs the boy's arm and pulls them both to their feet, ignorant to the other's wince at the tug.
Carefully but eagerly, he leads the shorter boy back to where his bike is, and after realising he couldn't ride with both of them on it, he lets go of the boy-creature to push his bike along. Joshua keeps a close eye on the other, who stays relatively silent as he follows him back down the path to his house. The human doesn't know why he's so intrigued by him, but he finds he couldn't just have left him there, though he knew didn't want to anyways.
Before they know it, they've returned to Joshua's neighborhood and his boring cul-de-sac. Joshua quickly discards his bike in the garage connected to his house so he can usher the nameless boy into the cool house.
"Come on, come on! We can't let my mom see you like this!" He hurries him, referring to the other's lack of clothes. "You can borrow some of my clothes, by the way." He adds helpfully with a grin.
The boy-creature's emerald eyes watch Joshua silently as he allows him to lead him up the stairs. He obediently sits down his bed like he's directed to, taking the clothes he's handed with confusion.
"I'll be right back, don't put those on yet." Joshua commands before scurrying out of his room into the bathroom to grab the first aid kit and a box of wet wipes.
When he comes back, he finds the boy-creature exactly where he'd left him, looking around with his wide, observant eyes. "You live here...?" He asks as he looks back to Joshua, surprising a smile onto the human's face.
"Yeah! My parents live here too, but this is my house really, and my room here too." Joshua proudly announces this as he flops down next to him on the bed.
The boy-creature's eyes fall to the boxes in his hands, and Joshua seems to remember he has them. "Oh yeah, here, these are for you."
He sets the boxes down next to them before shifting to kneel next to the other, pulling out a wipe to clean off the dirt embedded into the poor creature's skin as best he could. He practically goes through the whole box by the time he's satisfied with his work, a dirty pile of them now on the floor next to them, and an uncomfortable but cleaner boy-creature next to him.
"So, do you have a name?" Joshua distractedly asks as he starts to dig through the first-aid kit.
The creature he's helping looks back to him curiously. "...No..?" He answers with a touch of confusion.
Joshua looks up to him instantly with shock. "What? Really?? How? Didn't your mom and pop call you by something?"
The boy-creature looks at him for a moment, before shaking his head slowly. Joshua looks shocked and disappointed, looking the smaller boy over with an empathetic look.
"Can I name you then?" He asks rather suddenly after a moment, taking both of them by surprise. Joshua doesn't really know why he asked, but he finds himself hoping the boy-creature would say yes.
After a pause and a moment of hesitation, the other nods. Joshua beams widely before his grin drops out into a look of deep thought, until his eyes fall upon the boy-creature's emerald, feline eyes watching him and studying him. His smile widens again as he suddenly thinks up the perfect name.
"One second." He blurts excitedly before hopping off the bed to dart to his dresser, looking around the mess of junk atop it until he finds what he's looking for. When he returns to the bed, he seems slightly more controlled as he cups a small object in his hands, in a way that is almost reverent.
"You kinda remind me of my dead cat," Joshua explains, with a smile that might have once been sad, "she had really pretty green eyes like you. Her name was Sundseth."
He holds his hand up to dangle a thin adjustable green collar before the boy-creature, who stares at it with enchantment. The small silver tag on it has an address and the name Sundseth inscribed into it.
"Since you look just like her, can I call you that? Or maybe Sundo or something, for short?" Joshua finds himself hesitant to give away his cat's collar, let alone her name, to this stranger he'd just met, but he's so enamored with the peculiar creature already that he doesn't mind. In fact, he really wants him to say yes again.
He watches as the nameless boy blinks his big eyes slowly, visibly thinking, before he reaches out towards the collar as if silently asking if he could take it. Joshua hesitates, but then nods with an encouraging smile as he allows to boy-creature to take the object into his small hands. Gently he turns the silver tag over in his fingers, looking over the name on it before looking back up to Joshua. With a shy smile and a shrug, he silently communicates his yes to the question.
Joshua can't contain the ecstatic grin that forms on his face, and he hops around with uncontainable happiness. "Sundo it is then!" He exclaims, his giddiness rubbing off on the newly-named boy-creature as his smile widens somewhat.
"Oh! My name is Joshua, by the way." Joshua just now remembers to mention it as he flops back onto the bed next to Sundo, the stupid grin still on his face.
Sundo looks back to him in surprise. "J..Joshua..." He repeats slowly, the name sounding foreign on his tongue, before his demeanor swells with emotion again. "A-are you... my friend?" He asks in a choked voice, tears welling up in his eyes again.
Joshua's own eyes widen again. "Of course! Of course we're friends!" He assures him with confidence, and he immediately pulls Sundo into a tight hug. "Forever and ever, Sundo!"
Sundo sniffles and hiccups, a smile of such immense happiness stretching across his face. Nuzzling his face against Joshua's shirt, he hides his tears and holds onto him tightly like he's drowning. "F-forever and ever... Forever..." Comes his response, muffled and quiet.
Neither of them knows of how true this sentiment will be for them, for now, it only serves as a comfort and a promise. A promise for a future, sadly, neither of them will be able to have.
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A/N (2015): Hello! So this is my new sci-fi bxb, which also happens to be the first original story of mine I'm posting on Wattpad. So by all means, I'd love to hear your thoughts so far! Thanks for reading!
Terrestrial Alien. Copyright © 2015-2019 SpookiPunk
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A/N Update 8/19/2017: The amazing art of this chapter by @AwkwardScientists !! (They're literally amazing and you should totally check out their page for a fun sci-fi called Goodbye Gravity and their tumblr ( @ sugar-syringe) for more art like this!)