Mysterious fruit and a trembling haze

It was a blazing hot day in June, I hurried after my reading club. It was dark, the shadows overlaying each other on the floor as I walked across my garden before entering my building. It was stunningly hot and I was very hungry having resisted snacks offered by my club leader. Somehow the mounting hunger made me irritable and I hurried to my house by the flight of stairs to the 15th floor.

Just as I walked up the steps, a sudden dazzle hit my eyes and I shielded my eyes. Beams of green light popped from a silvery doorway, scanning the walls like searchlights. I stood still shaking up with panic.

Looking here and there, I saw an outlandish doorway on the wall with a strange thing, an exact replica of a UFO in comic books. And sure enough, my eyes wandered around it to see if any aliens emerged.

''Do I run?'' debated my mind.

''No!'' I hissed back. ''I'll just stay here until they leave.''

Another beam swished by. I hugged my bag, hoping I hadn't been spotted. Suddenly, there was a blinding light, and the spacecraft vanished.

A few seconds later, I heard a strange noise from the floor above. I crept along until I reached that floor, where a greenish glow rose from behind the wall.

I was wondering stuck at the sight of a tiny creature with bluish-green skin. His three eyes were watery with rainbow shades floating in them very strangely. He wore a silver metal helmet which was his head with two spiral antennas (like the two tentacles found on the snail’s head sparkled in florescent shades of red and green.

Suddenly, a bluish-green haze swirled around my feet. “I can’t move!” I cried.

The creature immediately skated down the stairs towards me and stood before me with his strange enormous eyes straining to see me, eyelids were fluttering as if he was myopic. He tilted his head to one side. “I am ZX-5656 from the planet ALIEMIA. I will not harm you. I seek only the red fruit of energy. Help me and I will go in peace.”

With my wide eyes in fear, I replied, “I will help you! But I don’t know what you want exactly. Can you give me some more details?”

ZX-5656 nodded, “I have located your planet as a prime source of rare fruit I seek. I need help in collecting it.” He motioned his eyes towards a gadget on his chest to show me the depiction of that rare red fruit. Immediately he bombarded me with a quick questionnaire, “Do you know from where I can get it?” “Do you have something to collect it?” “Do you know how to create it?”

With my comfort this time, I replied, “I know this fruit very well, people of our planet call it TOMATO, a berry of the plant Solanum Lycopersicum. It is significantly used in almost all the dishes, raw or cooked, as it is a source of umami flavour.”

By now I was enjoying this strange encounter, considering he wasn’t harmful, and I wished to communicate more with him, I grew braver and extended my hospitality by asking him if he needed food.

He without thinking much nodded towards me with “No” as if he was in some sort of hurry.

The very next moment, I gathered my courage and asked, “Why do you call a tomato fruit of energy?” “Why did you come so far just to get this fruit?” “Why tomato is so important to you?”

This time, with a short temper, “Do you help me in collecting that fruit?”

I shook in fear and immediately showed him the way to my flat. He slid in with me and floated up the stairs exactly like a spirit. His every move fascinated me.

I just had to slow down and watch for someone around. However, we stopped moving for a while and waited for my mother to open the door. As the door opened, I carefully slid him to my room.

To my surprise, he turned himself to face his spacecraft and made a few of his beeps. I heard a soft crackle and soft beep from the craft in answer.

He exclaimed, “HURRY!”

I hurriedly ran into the kitchen and packed all the tomatoes in my refrigerator. I packed some freshly baked walnut plum cake along as a token of love.

Finally, he floated down the stairs and swished disappeared into his spacecraft. More lights. More beeps. A big whoosh. And I left there on my house front thoroughly mystified. Terrible loneliness filled my heart and I hated to see my alien go!

But to my surprise, I realized that my alien had left a souvenir on my neck. The pendant was a replica of his eyes, watery with rainbow shades floating. The souvenir had transformed my lonely heart into a blissful heart. I had my dinner and slept excitedly thereafter.

It was quarter to nine in the morning, and here I was pining away for my alien in my dream!