It was a sunny Saturday morning in Monument. After a fun night of reading astronaut books, building Model Saucers, and eating Miss Jessica’s Pumpkin Scones, the five Engedian Earthnauts were just waking up in Gimmick Commander Ben’s Office . . .
Chance said, “Look at that painting of oil liquids on the wall!!! Mr. Ben’s Grandfather painted that many Earth years ago!”
Echo added, “I understand Mr. Ben inherited it once his Grandfather passed away. It’s so nice of him to do this to remember him by.”
Union began to rouse from under his red sleeping bag. “I trust everyone had a good sleep. I know that Oceana went to bed before she could enjoy that campfire. I hope she’s feeling better . . . huh? Where is she?”
Sneak said, “She got up a little bit ago. She said that her head felt strange, but she will be back in a few minutes . . . ”
“UNION!!!!!!!!” screamed Oceana from the hallway. “Help!!! Something’s wrong!!!”
Mr. Ben came running. “Oceana, what’s wrong with . . . OH MY GOOD GREAT, WHAT THE . . . ?”
Equellus and Dolphina ran around the corner . . . and also gasped. “Dad!!! Look! Oceana has hair!”
Union came running to the hall as well as the other three men. “What is wrong, Oceana?” And then he saw it . . . coming out from under her Earth cap . . . HAIR!!! A dark, red auburn hair!
“Oh Dear Great Imm Leader!!!!!” yelled Sneak. “Little Sister! What’s wrong with my sister, Union!!!”
Union stood silent in shock, and then stammered out, “I think she’s growing Human hair!!! How’s that possible? Oceana, did you figure out how to do it?”
Oceana said, “It must have been Miss Jessica’s LashSense. I put it on my head last night and this happened. I’m scared Union!!”
Union ran over and gave her an initial medical diagnosis. “It seems to have slowed down. I’ve been doing some research lately and if an Engedian like us grows hair it’s not dangerous.” He then looked over at Sneak and said, “What do you think, Best Friend?”
“I, . . . hope my Sister’s OK”, said Sneak. He came over right away and said, “I don’t want anything to happen to my sister!”
“Union says I’ll be OK”, Oceana said. “Now that I have hair, what should I do?”
Equellus and Dolphina came up and said, “Maybe you could get a makeover!”
“What’s this ‘Makeover’ you are telling me about?” asked Oceana.
“It’s where us ladies fix our hair and dress up really nice and pretty. Maybe you’d like that!” said Dolphina.
Union said, “Her hair has a dark-red color. Her blue Engedian robe doesn’t match as well with that. Would you match everything you do with that?”
Sneak said, “Well, I think my Little Sister has talked about wanting to try Human lady clothing more. I’m OK if she wants that.”
Mr. Ben sat there and said, “Union, if you think her hair situation is stable, and she wants to, I’ll let Equellus and Dolphina give her a makeover.” Turning to Oceana, he asked “Would you like that?”
Oceana said, “Well, I do like the Human lady hairstyles and clothing. Maybe I could!”
Oceana turned to Union and said, “One of my tasks with Expedition One was to learn about Human ladies ways, and I think this would be a great way. Could I do this as part of my dissertation, Union?”
Union, besides being Oceana’s brother’s best friend, was her Doctoral Advisor for her research project on Human women’s practices. He said, “I think that’s an excellent idea! You can add this to your final dissertation before getting your Full Major Doctorate, or 16th one. Go ahead! I’m sure you’ll find it amazing!”
In Dolphina’s room, Oceana said “You young ladies seem to like colorful, pretty things! Your clothes definitely look nicer than my Engedian robes do”.
Equellus said, “How long have you had those robes?”
Oceana said, “Ever since I was, as you Human girls call it, my ‘teenage’ years”.
Dolphina said, “Well, you’re on Earth and we dress differently. We should find you some clothes that will match your hair, and help you style it too!”
Oceana said, “That sounds wonderful!”. She then turned and saw a stuffed toy with a scarf on and said, “Wasn’t that Union’s first scarf? And is that a seal?”
Dolphina laughed and said, “No! That’s a manatee! It’s nicknamed a “Sea Cow”. When I was 2 years old, my Mom and Dad bought this at a water park and I called her ‘Manna-Nanna-Tee’. Isn’t that funny?”
Oceana said, “Union told me about manatees, and he seems to like them alot. He said he would like to take care of injured ones that got hurt by Human floating craft called boats. He’s very nice and kind, and that’s why I’m happy he’s my brother Sneak’s Best Friend. He’s also been like a very nice big brother to me and helped me study for a couple of my Doctorates.”
Equellus said, “Hmmm. It sounds like you seem to like him, maybe more than the average guy, huh?”
Oceana said, “Well, I know he’s a true gentleman. He was picked on by other Engedian boys when he was in school, but my brother Sneak would stand up for him despite how small he was. I didn’t like those guys so much. I like nice and kind guys who love others and want to help others like Union.”
Equellus said, “I like that too. Take a look at this dress!” She held a dress up to Oceana. Dolphina said, “Now that you have hair, you may not need an Earth cap as much. Let’s fix your hair!”
Oceana looked in the mirror and said, “Ok, let’s do this!”
On the TV set, a movie about peaceful aliens coming to Earth to meet humans was on. The four Engedian men of Expedition One were watching various clips from Human movies to get ideas about the theories that Humans had about their coming . . .
“The Humans speculations on our ships controlling subatomic gravitons seems pretty close,” said Chance.
Echo added, “I like how the maker of this Human story picture called movies shows the non-humans visiting Earth as being peaceful. Not like that last movie we saw with those evil creatures with the eye like the Google symbol with manta-shaped war machines with cobra heads blasting heat rays at all Humans!”
Sneak said, “I only wish we could appear to that many Humans at once!”
Union said, “I don’t know, but there’s something about this moving picture maker. The movie maker seems to like us ‘Aliens’ alot because I heard he’s made many others about non-human peoples before. Professor Lagrange would be curious to see these depictions!”
Sneak said, “Chance, when is Expedition II supposed to be coming?”
Chance said, “I know it can’t be far off, but they had to take security measures to avoid alerting the Agagans that our intrepid Grand Elder is coming to visit Earth!”
Echo added, “It shouldn’t be too long. Chance, we need to use the Holo-Projector again in the next two days. We will know for sure then!”
Just then, Dolphina came in with Oceana, and Equellus sat to the right of the Engedian men. “Look who it is, guys! It’s the new Oceana!!!”
The guys looked up . . .
“Hello Friends . . . and Big Brother!!!” said Oceana. “How do I look?”
Sneak stared . . . and stared . . . and stared, and tried to talk but simply couldn’t!
“Sneak. Are you OK?” asked Oceana.
Sneak blurted, “Little Sister? Is . . . is THAT you???”
Oceana smiled, “Yes it’s me! What do you think?”
Sneak fell over shocked, and said “You look absolutely beautiful!!!”
Chance removed his blue hat and said, “I second that, Oceana!”
Echo also removed his hat while saying, “I cannot believe that’s you! You look stunning!”
Sneak’s hat was already off from falling over. “You’re hair and outfit are so Human like and stunning! What do you think, Union?”
Union was even more in shock. He just stared and stared and stared for what seemed like an eternity. He didn’t know if he should leap, should shout, or cry as he felt his heart melt. He could only say “I . . Oh . . I . . Eeeeh . . I . . Oh . . I . . ”
Oceana said “Yes Union! Those are the Human’s English language vowels! A . . E . . I . . O . . U!”
The four Engedian men gathered around their youngest, and only female member to look closer. Union finally removed his hat and just stared at Oceana.
“So you think I’m beautiful?” asked Oceana. What do you think Union?
Union finally was able to talk and tried to get back into professional doctor mode by saying, “I . . . ahem, it seems like your hair follicles look stable! We need to analyze that LashSence of Miss Jessica’s to see how this occurred! This would make a great report back to the Grand Elder and the agents of SEE!”
But while Union was saying this, something he felt like thinking about for some time now finally burst forth in his mind. Images of talking with her, tossing a small football in the park, roasting hot dogs at a campfire, and just sitting with her . . . AND HOLDING HER HAND!
In his thoughts, he remembered one song, two songs, and a third song from Mr Ben’s music player earlier.
“Her hair is so Red!” he thought. “It’s gorgeous! She’s like an Amaryllis flower! The same type Oceana’s doing for her dissertation!” He just was lost in her beauty, and thought “Is there a chance for a little man like me? She’s always been my Best Friend’s little sister, but she’s not a little girl anymore!”
Mr. Ben was amazed too! “You certainly look very stunning, Oceana! My girls did a great job with your makeover! But how will the Grand Elder and the leaders of SEE take this, given you got rid of your blue Engedian robes?”
Union said, “They will not mind! They’ve permitted us to wear Human clothing and styles as long as they are respectable. They liked my black scarf, the black Earth Cap with the Winged Red Circle, and the car pictured shirt I wear in memory of your Nephew Daniel who’s now with the Imm in the Celestial Realms!”
Oceana said, “And I’m sure they will like my new dress too!”
Union said, “I’m sure they will . . . I know that I LOVE IT!!!”
Echo said, “Well, now that we know Oceana’s fine, and she’s stunning, we should get back to our analysis of the moving picture stories of non-Human visitors!”
Union said, “Yes, their fictional depictions of non-Earth species are very interesting. But some make me sad though!”
As they watched, they saw an old movie showing flying saucers attacking and blowing up buildings. “I don’t like the ones where they show non-world visitors hurting the Humans!” said Echo. “I hope Humans don’t think we’re out to conquer their planet and hurt them! That would be mean!”
Chance said, “The Agagans would be most likely to do something like this, but we’ve stopped them many times from hurting Earth”.
Oceana added, “I like their saucers, but don’t like how they’re hurting people just because the CAN”.
The five continued to watch the movie. As they did, Union looked over Oceana again, and thought of another song he heard. “I’m her doctorate advisor”, said Union. “Could she ever think of me beyond someone she’s working for?”
He imagined sitting with Oceana below a night-lit sky, listening to gorgeous harp music with her. Not as her advisor and science leader . . . but as something more . . . more than his Best Friend’s little sister . . . and something wonderful. 🙂
For the Great Galactic Space Gimmick, I’m Gimmick Commander Ben Faltinowski! 🙂
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© Ben Faltinowski and The Great Galactic Space Gimmick, 2017, authorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Ben Faltinowski and The Great Galactic Space Gimmick with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
(DISCLAIMER: The alien characters depicted in this story are fictional, and any real alien with similar names, similar appearance, or similar home planet is highly coincidental.
Also, the aliens and some photos used for The Earthnauts stories are used in honor and parody of various works of science-fiction and alien themed literature and media.
The last image in this story showing Union dreaming of sitting with Oceana was superimposed on a painting done by Cathrin Machin, and she herself gave permission to do so.
Finally, in this Earthnauts chapter, the movie photo pictures shown while the Earthnauts watched TV were shown for the purpose of presenting Human theories of Alien life, the technology they use for flight, and what impact Alien theories have had on science, as well as the purest, heartfelt fan promotion of these and other alien films. It is believed that this constitutes legal fair-use. )