Over the Moon (20 page)

Andrew reminded me of an overly excited child on Christmas
morning showing off his favorite new toy. He explained how every thing worked. He was so animated and spoke so fast that I only
caught a glimpse of all this miracle machine could do. The best part
was watching his expressive face. He was so joyful to bring me into
his world and so eager to share it all with me. I laughed and threw
my arms around his neck. I couldn't help myself. His excitement and
enthusiasm were way past contagious. We laughed together as he
lifted me and swung me around in a circle.

"How did you get it in this building?"

"The ceiling opens up. It's Adam's design. The panels slide away
into the walls. It's a little more complex than that, but that is the
basic principle."

"It's all so futuristic and fantastic! How did you get it here from
Roswell?"

"We flew it. It can travel slower than light speed when necessary.
It has a cloaking device. It is such a relief to be able to share this with
you." He smiled broadly at me. "What are you thinking? There's too
much emotion clouding your mind. I can't read it."

"I'm just so happy that you thought enough of me to share this.
I'm truly thrilled that you trusted me with your secrets." I smiled
widely back at him. "I've never seen anything so inconceivably fabulous. I can't even imagine what it would be like to travel that fast."

"Now you know I'm telling the truth. You've seen the proof. I'll
never have to lie to you again." He hugged me so close I could hardly
breathe. Then he looked at his watch. "We've got to go. I promised
your father I'd have you home by midnight, and I always keep my
promises." I was dumbstruck that he even remembered what my dad
had said.

We left the ship, turned out the lights, closed all the doors, and
reset all the security devices, which was a very intensive, tedious, and
time-consuming undertaking. Now I grasped the need for all those
annoying precautions.

He drove too fast down the deserted road and back to my house.
We made it with a few minutes to spare.

"I'm not going to turn into a pumpkin if I'm not home by midnight." I laughed at his relieved expression. "My dad meant it more
as a suggestion than a command."

"I don't want to chance getting on his bad side. I said I would
have you home by twelve and-"

"I know, I know. You keep your promises," I finished his statement. "I get it. You're a man of integrity. Do you want to come in?"
I asked, knowing that my parents were waiting for the door to open
and close.

"For a minute," he agreed and took my key and unlocked the door.

"I'm home," I yelled toward my parents' room, where I could
see the light coming from under their door. The clock on the living
room mantel chimed twelve.

"Thanks, Tiana. Be sure to lock the door." Their light went out.

"Do they always wait up for you?"

"Always," I said. "Especially when I'm out with a boy. I think it
makes them nervous."

"For good reason, I'm sure." He chuckled and then became very
serious. "They don't have to worry when you're with me. I wouldn't
let anything happen to you."

"They are kind of old-fashioned. They don't want you stealing
my virtue."

"I know that. I've read their minds. What I'm telling you is that
I will not take away your virtue or your virginity or whatever you
want to call it. I am completely trustworthy. No worries."

"Really?" I wasn't sure I believed him. "What if I wanted you
to?"

"I couldn't harm you in any way. In our family group, when we
choose a mate, we make the strongest, most binding commitment
possible because the power to procreate is the most sacred power we
have. We are extremely careful with the seeds of life. We don't treat
these things lightly, the way most your world seems to do. There is
no infidelity, no divorce, and no premarital sex in my culture. That
means marriage, legal and lawful, is a requirement. We also have a
ceremony that we believe binds us forever. So no matter how tempting, desirable, or attractive I find you, I can and will control myself."
He spoke with absolute conviction.

"But how will you control me?" I said, raising my eyebrows at
him. I had to tease him a little because he was so sure of himself,
but I also had to respect his high moral standards. My parents were
really going to love this about him. Of course, they might not believe
it. I wasn't completely sure I did.

"I know my limitations. Good night, Tiana." He swiftly left me
standing there completely stunned. This night just kept giving me
surprises. I'd actually seen an authentic, state-of-the-art spaceship
from the planet Helam, and my boyfriend was a space alien who was
determined to protect my virtue. Would these wonders ever stop? I
certainly hadn't seen any of this colossal stupefaction coming. I wondered what other amazements the future held for me. The sky wasn't
even the limit to the endless and bewildering possibilities. My head
suddenly felt like it might explode. I'd better dial down my imagination. I would just have to wait and see what was looming around the
next corner. Tonight, it was all good. Tomorrow might be a totally
different story. As long as my future included him, I would deal with
it, no matter how strange my new alternate reality became. I mean,
how much crazier could my life get?

I woke up still reeling from last night's delectable and disturbing
discoveries. I felt like I was stuck in some parallel universe where
nothing was as it seemed. Alice in Wonderland had nothing on me.
My world had shifted into a strange and wonderful planet that held
hidden dangers that I had never considered, and at the same time it
had revealed an unexpected declaration of love, exhilarating excitement, and an odd sense of peace. Before I opened my eyes, I thought
about the many peculiar wonders of the previous evening. It was a
fantastic blur: a handsome alien with amazing powers, an incredible starship, and a planet that was twenty-five light-years away
from Earth and inhabited by cannibalistic barbarians. I remembered
Demetrius's words when he awoke from his midsummer night's dream. "These things seem small and undistinguishable, like far off
mountains turned into clouds." Was I dreaming? Was I crazy? Had
I actually seen what I thought I had seen? Was I in love with a boy
from another planet? How was this going to change my life?

I forced my eyes open. As my mind cleared away the cobwebs of
sleep, I knew it was all true, and as bizarre as it sounded, it was indubitably real. I wondered how many of those UFO sightings I had
read about in the newspaper and in magazines were actually real.
The tabloids were full of them. I suddenly felt an ocean of empathy
for those poor, confused, kooky people. No one believed them, and
no one would believe me if I chose to tell what wonders I had seen.
I kept seeing him, my unearthly boyfriend, so completely thrilled
to share his remarkable secret with me. I saw his angelic face all lit
up with indescribable joy. My joy matched his, and somehow I just
couldn't stop smiling.

It was then as I visualized the events of yesterday that all things
came together to form a defining moment, an epiphany, in my mind.
He had rescued me yet again, this time from a rattlesnake bite. Having sucked the venom from my ankle, he had healed me. He had
told me the truth that my subconscious awareness almost knew. It
was more than an inconvenient truth. It was earthshaking and life
changing. It was awesome and eye opening, and at the same time,
it was unbelievably frightening. My previous reality had been shattered, like a familiar mirror that was thrown to the floor by some
ferocious force, breaking the glass into silver shards and sounding an
ear-splitting crash. Even though this new reality was shocking, I was
still relieved to know the truth. My truth was that I was in love with
him. All the rest of it didn't really matter so much. I would take the
whole package, inconvenient risks and all. I would keep his secrets. I
would do whatever it took to keep him in my world, or, if necessary,
I would go to his world, even if that world was light-years away. I
just wanted us to be together. We were meant for each other, and we
belonged together forever.

In the late afternoon, he rang my doorbell.

"Have you had time to think about yesterday?" he inquired
calmly, but I could see more than a hint of anxiety in his brilliant
blue eyes.

"Yes, I have." I smiled at him.

"What have you decided?" He looked a little afraid. "I'll understand if you never want to see me again."

"Why would I want that?" It seemed inconceivable to me that I
would ever want such a horrible thing.

"Well, I did give you a new, alarming view of reality."

"I love you. The rest doesn't matter." I knew as I said it that this
was the right answer.

"Are you sure about that?" He gave me his irresistible half smile.

"I am absolutely certain beyond any reasonable doubt!"

He kissed me energetically and pulled me outside to his car.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"We are going to my house. We're having a family night with
home movies and lots of popcorn and other delicious, high-calorie,
junk food. There is a video of my home planet I want you to see. I
hope you won't be too bored." He laughed. I laughed with him. As if
home movies taken on a planet outside our own solar system could
ever be considered boring.

His home had a theater room in the basement with a projector and a huge screen that covered one entire wall. There was a bar
laden with all kinds of snacks, popcorn, and soft drinks. We filled
our plates and sat in actual rocking and reclining theater seats, complete with cup holders and head rests.

His brother, Adam, explained, "I asked each family member to
pick a short video he or she wanted to share with you, Tiana. Hannah volunteered to splice it all together for your viewing pleasure.
I'm not sure what all is on it, but it should be entertaining." He
turned off the lights and started the projector.

The first scene was their parents' wedding. They were in an
exquisite, white, churchlike building. The film showed the outside
architecture, which resembled the Taj Mahal crossed with a Greek
Orthodox cathedral, and then it zeroed in on the cavernous edifice where the ceremony was taking place. It was decorated completely
in white with accents of green, gold, and silver and filled with dozens of white flowers positioned along the walls in huge urns made
of precious, gleaming metals on glass tables. There was an immense
chandelier hung with crystal stars in the center of the room. The
longest walls were mirrored on two sides, reflecting eternally back
and forth. His parents looked almost identical to Andrew and his
sister, Hannah. They wore strange, flowing, white robes adorned
with shiny, metallic silver and gold trim. The ceremony was compelling, although I couldn't understand the words. Andrew whispered
their vows in my ear. They promised to be bound together forever
and to cherish and honor each other with eternal love and respect.

It showed them leaving the spectacular building. Outside, the
landscape was tropical and filled with unusual trees, plants, and
flowers. I recognized some of the flowers as I had seen them around
the waterfall in Andrew's backyard. It looked very much like Miami
or Hawaii. I was a little disappointed that it wasn't quite as different
as I had expected.

The next part was at their wedding reception. Many guests were
mugging for the camera. They all wore colorful clothing that was
made of some silk-like fabric. Their ceremonial clothes resembled
fancy, embroidered Japanese kimonos in vivid shades of tangerine
orange, lemon yellow, lime green, and fuchsia. They were having a
feast with strange-looking food that was completely foreign to me.
I did recognize that a lot of it was fruit, although it didn't look like
any fruit available here on Earth. It was evening, and the happy
couple was seated at the head of a long, silver metal table in a tropical garden on the edge of a lake. Everyone sat on puffy, fur-covered
stools that looked oddly like giant pink and purple mushrooms. The
reception area was lit by many torches on top of tall columns. They
appeared similar to immense candles, but they weren't made of wax.
I had no idea from what substance they were constructed. It looked
like a glossy, ceramic material. The camera panned out and then
showed the star-strewn firmament of the unusual night sky. There
were three moons. One was very large, about five times as big as our moon when it's at its fullest and closest to the Earth. The second
one was about a fourth of its size. The last moon was just a fraction
smaller than the second. It looked to be just a bit bigger than our
own moon. The three moons were all at full-moon stage and formed
an odd, bright triangle among the wide expanse of unfamiliar star
patterns.

The next video was of Adam as a young boy holding two small
children on his knees with help from his mother and his father.
Andrew and Hannah were adorably cute and tiny babies with toothless smiles. Again, the words were foreign. Andrew's mother took
the babies, and Adam pointed out the window. The camera followed, showing the Earth moving rapidly toward the window. The
view was surreal. It was coming so fast; it was almost a total blur. If
I hadn't known the spaceship was capable of hyperspeed, I would
have been worried they were destined to crash uncontrollably into
our planet.