Starry Night
It was 2 AM in the morning. Sitting at her kitchen table and strumming her fingers nervously on it, Dr. Carol Aird was furious. No, as a matter of fact she wasn’t furious, she was livid and even more than that, worried out of her mind. Her sixteen-year-old daughter Rindy was still out with her latest beau, a dubious fellow named Tommy Tucker. It was way past her bedtime, and she hadn’t been answering her cell for the past three hours.
Tommy Tucker, Carol had scoffed when the young man had come to pick Rindy up. The Tuckers of Roswell, New Mexico, could illustrate the Wikipedia page on the concept of ’white trash’ any day, she had mused begrudgingly. And Tommy was four years older than Rindy… As if we need another teenage mom in this family, Carol agonized. She herself had been only eighteen when she’d given birth to Nerinda, ”Rindy” for short. She at least had married the culprit of her lamentable error taking place on the backseat of a Chevy.
Not that the marriage itself had brought anything good at its wake, quite the contrary – Harge Aird, the heir to the Aird combine harvester fortune had turned out to be a dim-witted drunkard who’d luckily kicked the bucket some five years ago leaving a hefty sum of money for his widow and only child. The sonofabitch had gone into a fatal cardiac arrest while trying to have his way with his already estranged wife. ”Too bad the old bastard got his first real hard-on only after having croaked,” Rindy had commented recently referring to Harge’s rigor mortis. It had taken all of Carol’s will power not to burst out laughing hearing her remark but she’d managed to keep her poker face and even admonish her of being disrespectful of her father’s memory. Some memory…
A pair of head lights cast its glow on the porch. Letting out a deep sigh of relief, Carol snapped into action and stepped outside to give her disobedient daughter what was coming to her. ”NERINDA AIRD, YOU GET INSIDE RIGHT NOW, YOU HEAR!” A beautiful blonde girl slouched her way out of a rusty pick up truck after what had seemed like an extended tonsil analysis done by two hopeless amateurs. ”Chill out, mom…” Rindy replied wearily. The shadowy figure behind the steering wheel revved the engine and turned away from their drive way in a matter of seconds. The young woman walked by her enraged mother unimpressed.
”Wait a minute… Wait a minute!” Carol shouted after her daughter who was heading straight upstairs. ”WE ARE SO NOT DONE HERE, YOUNG LADY!” Her blood-curdling demand stopped Rindy dead in her tracks. ”What do you want, mom?” she asked turning slowly around. ”I’m here, all right? No reason for you to lose your shit over anything.” Rindy did her best to stare at Carol as indifferently as she possibly could. ”You were supposed to be here three hours ago… THREE HOURS AGO, you hear! I've been worried sick…” Carol exclaimed exasperated. ”So what? What on earth could’ve happened to me?” Rindy questioned visibly irritated, ”I was with my boyfriend, I was in good hands…” Can steam really come out of one’s ears? occurred to Carol. ”It’s those good hands I’m particularly worried about!” she kept on yelling, ”You have your whole life ahead of you, Rindy, don’t let it go to waste by…” Carol’s voice died down suddenly. ”By what?” Rindy challenged peeved, ”By spreading my legs to some boozy stranger on a backseat of a Cadillac?” It was a Chevrolet...NO! That’s not the point. ”LISTEN, YOU FOUL-MOUTHED, UNGRATEFUL…”
And then it struck down, right in the middle of Carol’s sentence, hitting the yard of their house with a surprisingly modest thump only some fifty yards away from the unlocked screen door in the back. It lit up the dark, star-filled sky magnificently like a blazing silver bullet that blinded them for a minute or so. ”Oh my god, mom… oh my god…” Shivering, Rindy clung to Carol who was trying to catch her breath after the initial shock. ”What was that, mom… I’m scared…” Rindy wailed hysterically. ”Darling, go inside – NOW!” Carol ordered her gently yet determinedly. She picked up Harge’s old shotgun. ”I’ll be right back, don’t worry,” she said calmly although she herself was nothing but.
Leaving Rindy alone in the house, Carol made her way around the wooden building that seemed intact after the inexplicable impact. For a while she couldn’t really see anything from the clouds of dust rising from what seemed like a deep furrow parting her kitchen garden in two separate halves. Mustering up all her courage, Carol approached its murky epicenter. Little by little she could recognise a shape, a sphere like a cocoon or a pod right next to the cabbage patch. It was cooling down rapidly with only a faint pink light emanating through its windowed front. The thing – whatever it was – was quickly turning from heated red to fresh green right in front of her very eyes… What the hell is this? Carol’s jaw dropped as she watched the pod’s formerly invisible, sealed hatch slide open and let air flow inside its mysterious depths.
Carol Aird was no coward. She’d managed to educate herself all the way to the highest level of excellence in her field despite her no good husband and her little child she had practically taken care of as a single mother. She’d secured an executive position at NASA and a pay check that was nothing to be ashamed about. With Harge’s inheritance and her own remarkable salary she had it made, and so far she hadn’t been freaked out by any adversities thrown her way. I can deal with whatever this is, she told herself getting closer to the unidentified object.
The pod looked harmless enough for her to take a closer look at. It wasn’t huge in any way, quite the contrary – Carol found it hard to believe it could seat anyone comfortably. Standing right next to it, she took a deep breath and peeked cautiously inside. Good God! she gasped not believing her own eyes. The pod’s interior was padded with soft pink fur all around and right on its luscious nest lay a young dark-haired woman in deep, serene sleep. The fact that the lithe bodied brunette was buck naked didn’t escape her either. She is exquisite, beautiful… out of this world, flashed through Carol’s brain and the latter part of her realisation made her chuckle nervously.
The snorting sound was enough to elicit a reaction from the young woman. Noticing her slight movement, Carol stiffened. ”ARE YOU OKAY, MOM?!?” Rindy’s aghast voice broke the silence once and for all. The brunette’s eyelids fluttered open. Their eyes met. Rindy’s words still echoing in the darkness they stared at each other in the pod’s weak inner light. The woman smiled at Carol listening curiously to the soothing sounds of the wilderness and the warm, velvet night all around them. Carol noticed two prominent dimples appear on her cheeks. She couldn’t speak or even form one word yet she felt oddly comforted by the stranger’s calming presence. The woman’s eyes turned towards the house as if urging Carol to respond to Rindy’s fearful inquiry.
”I’m alright, honey!” Carol shouted back never letting the uninvited visitor out of her sight. ”I’ll be right there…” What do I do now? she fretted feeling strangely hot and impatient. The young woman’s beauty had had a weird effect on her even though she herself didn’t understand it at all at the moment. The brunette exited her voluptuous cradle slowly and extended her delicate hand to Carol. Take me inside. Startled, Carol turned around to see who had spoken. No one. She looked at the woman whose abrupt knowing smile was enough to redden her cheeks. You are hearing me. Her lips weren’t moving at all. This is some weird shit, Carol thought drawing a quick breath. I guess it is, the woman replied silently. Oh my fucking god, she can read my thoughts! Carol gasped averting her eyes from her nakedness. Who is god? But yes, I think I can. For now, any way. A mischievous grin lingered on the corners of the brunette’s mouth.
Okay, inside we go… Carol coughed self-consciously, trying to think what to say to Rindy about the naked woman stubbornly holding her hand. Tell her I am your friend. Carol heard the woman but now that she was getting agitated by the thought of explaining the incident to her daughter, the stranger’s inner voice sounded somehow weaker. The more nervous Carol got, the more unfathomable the woman’s meaningful stares became. She cast a frightened look at her even though she didn’t mean to. Registering her confusion, the young woman closed the gap between them and stroke gently Carol’s neck. Her small hand felt heavy on her fair skin.
A surge of heat pervaded Carol’s body and the minute it happened she could again hear her loud and clear. Don’t be frightened, everything’s going to be alright. Go inside and tell your daughter to think of something… pleasurable. Stunned, Carol doubted her own ears for a second. However, she was reluctant to form a clear thought in case her guest would pick up on it again. She started towards the backdoor not knowing how she would eventually break the news to Rindy. News… as if I even know what this is all about, she mused hearing the young woman following her a few steps behind. At least this time she didn’t interfere with my thoughts, Carol sighed relieved. Hesitating at the threshold, she turned to look at the brunette one more time just to make sure she was there. I’m still here. Remember – something pleasurable. Trust me. Smiling weakly, Carol nodded. Again there was something wrong with the transmission of her message, she realized, but right now she had a bigger issue to deal with.
”Mom! Are you really okay?!?” Rindy was beside herself with worry. ”Yes, sweetie, I’m fine, can’t you see?” Carol replied wrapping her arms around her teenage hoodlum. ”Nothing to be worried about… nothing at all,” she comforted Rindy pressing a tender kiss on her forehead. ”What was it, mom? What happened?” Carol thought hard but couldn’t find a reasonable answer. How about ”listen, darling, mom just found a knockout brunette in the backyard and by the way, she’s not wearing any clothes…” or ”…a pod of an extraterrestrial origin apparently dropped at our backyard containing a real flesh-and-blood space babe, a veritable Barbarella with the conspicuous exception that she’s not wearing any clothes at all to begin with…”
Rindy was eagerly waiting for her answer by now. ”Sweet pea… all of this has been really nothing… I think we both got worked up over nothing… so how about we think of something nice for a change, huh? Something that would give us… you… pleasure ?” Her daughter stared at her in disbelief. ”Are you alright, mom..?” Think, Carol, think – what would give Rindy pleasure? Suddenly she knew she had to trust the stranger’s advice implicitly. It’s all I can think of anyway!
”You like kissing that Tucker boy, don’t you?” she heard herself saying rather suggestively. Taken aback by such an unexpected and straightforward question, Rindy blushed immediately. Carol noticed a lovely flush spreading not only on her daughter’s cheeks but on her neck as well. She had barely time to register it before Rindy’s eyes darted towards the back door. Rindy had a bewildered look in her eyes but only for a little while. By the time Carol knew her daughter had seen the young woman appear inside their house, Rindy’s confusion had already withered away.
”I like your new friend, mom,” Rindy said to Carol yawning rapturously. ”May I go to sleep now?” What the hell’s happening here? Carol worried facing the unknown woman. The brunette approached her and placed her palm tightly on her chest. The sensation thrust through Carol like an arrow even though she had no wish to feel that way this very moment. I need to do this so that you can hear me. The young woman captured her attention. I just told her that I’m your friend and that she should go to sleep. It’s school night after all, isn’t it?
Rindy having meekly retired to her room, Carol and the young woman remained standing in the middle of the living room floor. Who are you? Carol set about to form deliberate thoughts in her head. Where do you come from? The brunette gestured her to get closer. She picked up Carol’s wrist and placed a tender kiss on it.
I'm Belivet.