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Thursday, September 13, 2018

An "Alien" Among Us - A Short Story [#30]

The Blog revamp will come next week alongside the extra-long story I talked about Tuesday. Until then, I have this silly story to fill in for today.
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            "Gentleman," Bill began as he greeted his five housemates. "After living with you for five years I've come to a realization. There is an alien among us!" Everyone at the table let out an audible gasp.
            "Are you certain?" Hugo Manfred asked while he adjusted his tie.
            "Absolutely," Bill assured. "Please wait here, I'll be right back with my proof. Don't go wandering off now, the alien might get yeah," Bill winked and left the room to a pregnant pause.
            The five housemates remained at their circular table: Hugo Manfred, Jonathon Smith, Perry Bronson, Jameson James, and Zorgoth Xandar. Each an upstanding member of the household. A beloved member of the community and lifelong friends. Yet all of them had a similar thought pass through their minds, 'They're on to me!'
            Hugo Manfred, the lovable office man, was the first to noticeably sweat. 'Twenty long solar cycles down the drain,' he thought, 'how did he figure it out? Was it when I probed the neighbor's dog? Did he see my shed scales in the bathtub?' Hugo wiped his brow with a napkin and hoped the other four didn't notice his panic. Fortunately for him, their minds were elsewhere.
            Jonathon Smith, the gardener, maintained a more stoic visage. Which hid his internal breakdown. 'This can't be true, my disguise is flawless,' his mind spun in panic, 'I knew I shouldn't have seeded that rose bush last week. That coy harlot has doomed me again. If she didn't flash her thorns so shamelessly this would never have happened.' Despite his mental anguish, Jonathon maintained his stone-faced appearance. Not that it mattered, as his housemates were too busy with their own problems to notice.
            Perry Bronson, the up and coming actor, struggled to not break character. 'Impossible,' he denied the situation. 'These puny brained humans cannot possibly see through my disguise. Let alone perceive my true form.' He pinched the bridge of his fake nose. 'It must be a bluff,' he rationalized, 'a pathetic attempt to lure me out into the open, but I won't falter.' While Perry continued to deny reality, his last two housemates verged on complete wrecks.
            Jameson James, the IT guy, showed no reaction to the news. However, within his body, his internal circuits buzzed with concern. 'SUBJECT: BILL HAS SUGGESTED HE IS AWARE OF THIS UNIT'S TRUE IDENTITY,' he processed. 'WORST CASE SCENARIO CONFIRMED. ACCESSING EMERGENCY PROTOCOL...ERROR NO PROTOCOL. REASON: THIS EVENT WAS DETERMINED TO HAVE A .000000009% CHANCE OF OCCURRING. ERGO NO DISK SPACE WAS ALLOTTED.' Jameson's internal computer was in complete meltdown as it tangled with this scenario. Yet, the last housemate was perhaps the worst off.
            Zorgoth Xandar, the "normal human person," adjusted his comically large sunglasses with his long, gray fingers. 'I knew it! They were only humoring me all this time,' Zorgoth sweated. 'I just had to give them my real name in a panic. All that effort in my disguise was pointless because of one stupid, little mistake.' In his hysteria, Zorgoth tightened the straw hat on his oversized, oval-shaped cranium. He readjusted the Hawaiian shirt on his tiny body and straightened the sandals on his giant, two-toed feet. As flustered as Zorgoth was, his housemates were still too far lost in their own issues. They never spared him a single thought.
            As each of the five reached the crescendo of their anxiety, another shared thought slipped through each of their minds. 'I must destroy them all before I am exposed further.' As each came to this same conclusion, every one of them prepared their own method of offense. Hugo began to bare his razor-sharp, reptilious claws beneath the table. Jonathon began to shed the lower half of his body. Which revealed numerous vines covered in poisonous thorns. Perry began to focus sharply and draw upon his vast well of psychic powers. Jameson slowly began to transform his obscured hands into large rifles which hummed with energy. Lastly, Zorgoth reached into his loose pants to retrieve an almost toy-like ray gun he had taped to his thigh.
            In a flash, all five housemates brandished their weapons and opened fire. Hugo slashed at Jonathon, who whipped his vines at Perry, who fired a blast of psychic energy at Jameson, who shot twin laser blasts at Zorgoth, who fired a ray of energy at Hugo. Before any of them could realize what was happening all attacks hit. Each of the housemates and the room they stood in were obliterated in mere seconds.
            Only a moment later Bill returned to the room. A cake shaped like a green alien head held proudly in his hands. "Told you there as an alie...What happened to the living room?!" Bill's mouth stood agape. The room his five housemates stood in was reduced to a single wall which he stood adjacent to. As Bill remained there, frozen in absolute shock, a remnant of the room fluttered to his feet. It was a calendar. The current date was circled in red, "April 1st: 5th Housewarming Anniversary."

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This was one of the story concepts I came up with months ago, then filed away and forgot about. It was fun to write, and works as nice little send-off for this era of my blog. Next Tuesday, the blog gets a revamp and an actual schedule beyond simply "a random story every Tuesday and Thursday."
Until then Read, Comment and Enjoy.

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