~ SIX YEARS LATER ~
Arrow sat in the grass, waiting for Marlene to arrive. She was his truest friend, and The Field had been their meeting place for a while now. Arrow had been thinking about what to say to Marlene as he walked to The Field. You’re very pretty… Yeah, he could say that, and look like a weirdo? Not a chance. What if he messed up their whole vibe!? You’re the smartest person I know… no. Then she might not understand what he was trying to say. What was he trying to say!? Gosh! 16 was such a weird age!
Meanwhile, Marlene was walking under the highway bridge when she heard a weird, other-worldly noise. As she came from under the bridge she looked up and found out that weird symphony of whooshing and beeping happened to be a U.F.O. spinning by. it’s round, black shadow making Marlene’s heart jump. That’s what her father might have to fight? Those huge, egg yolk-shaped flying disks that could kill someone with the blast of their killer beams? Marlene’s stomach swirled. She hated thinking of it, but the Earth was in danger.
Ever since the mega satellite that orbited earth had started picking up alien signals, humans have been gaining lots of connection with extraterrestrial beings. Though most became allies, some Aliens didn’t like humans for one reason or another, so they became Earth’s enemies. The ‘Artificial Supernovas’, nicknamed A.S. by humans were a bad one, threatening to kill any human that came onto their planet. Earth was currently at war with them now.
Marlene finally had made it to the field, her baggy jacket containing her foldable laptop in the big front pocket at her stomach.
Arrow seemed to be mumbling to himself, spinning grass blades in his hand.
“Arrow?”
Arrow dropped the grass blades and looked up. “Huh?”
“What are you doing?”
“Uh, nothing, nothing. Just waiting for you. So… you’ve got the game codes for that mew RPG adventure game I wanted to play!?”
“Yep.” Marlene smiled. “But… what do you have for me?” she asked smugly.
“This,” Arrow pulled out an old, hardcover book. The spine had lines from being opened hundreds of times, and the edges of the book were white where the material had worn off. It was a green book with small, shiny, blue letters on the front.
“The Forest brothers!? How did you get a physical copy of this book!?” Marlene asked him, her eyes stuck to the book. She quickly took it out of his hands.
“The library my mother worked at was closing and getting rid of all its books. No one reads physical copies anymore.”
“I do!” Marlene said, slightly offended.
“I know.” Arrow replied. “That’s why I got this book for you.”
Marlene looked up at Arrow, speechless. He smiled warmly at her. Then his smile turned smug. “Now, about those game codes…”
“Oh, sure.” Marlene opened her laptop and quickly sent Arrow a copy of the code document she had typed up.
“Thanks.” Arrow said, and got on the RPG adventure game.
As he was busy taming a dragon, he heard Marlene huff beside him.
“Is everything okay?” Arrow asked Marlene.
“...No. The War, Arrow. It worries me. How the A.S. keep saying they’ll win the Earth… whether it’s intact or radiated into an oblivion, it scares me. My dad might have to fight in that war… and I’m just so worried about him… about… my family!” Marlene huffed. Tears rose and blurred her vision.
“I know… it’s stressful… but, you’re not alone in this. I worry if everything is going to be okay too.”
“I know. I’m glad to have you, Arrow. I really am.”
And then, Marlene leaned over and put her head of soft black curls on Arrow’s shoulder. Arrow’s heart jumped. Was this really happening?
To Marlene, this was nothing special. Arrow was her best friend. He was her anchor to the real world. The one to make her laugh, one to make her smile. His shoulder reminded her that she was not alone, and she hardly felt afraid of any aliens when she was by Arrow’s side.
For Arrow, now was the best time to say how he had been feeling for a while.
“M-Marlene, you mean a lot to me.” was all Arrow could say.
Marlene couldn’t believe her ears.
“You mean a lot to me too, Arrow.”
And that was all they said.
After a round of playing the RPG game while Marlene made fun of all the times Arrow messed up or died to the dragon, the two headed back home. Their smokey, next-gen tech savvy home.
As they walked under the highway bridge that marked that they were in StarTech Metropolis, they heard the scream of a woman, clanging and banging.
Then an explosion sent glass and metal flying everywhere.
Two bullets shot off at that exact moment.
BWIZZ-BWIZZ!
The green beams slashed past Arrow and Marlene’s sides at jet speed.
“AHH!” Marlene yelled.
Arrow dropped to the ground and dragged a worried Marlene with him.
Two Alein men from the Artificial Supernovas group were running towards their direction.
“Think I shot some Earth Soldiers!” One tall Alien said to the other, his green thick whiskers wiggling around involuntarily as he spoke.
To Marlene, this was nothing special. Arrow was her best friend. He was her anchor to the real world. The one to make her laugh, one to make her smile. His shoulder reminded her that she was not alone, and she hardly felt afraid of any aliens when she was by Arrow’s side.
For Arrow, now was the best time to say how he had been feeling for a while.
“M-Marlene, you mean a lot to me.” was all Arrow could say.
Marlene couldn’t believe her ears.
“You mean a lot to me too, Arrow.”
And that was all they said.
After a round of playing the RPG game while Marlene made fun of all the times Arrow messed up or died to the dragon, the two headed back home. Their smokey, next-gen tech savvy home.
As they walked under the highway bridge that marked that they were in StarTech Metropolis, they heard the scream of a woman, clanging and banging.
Then an explosion sent glass and metal flying everywhere.
Two bullets shot off at that exact moment.
BWIZZ-BWIZZ!
The green beams slashed past Arrow and Marlene’s sides at jet speed.
“AHH!” Marlene yelled.
Arrow dropped to the ground and dragged a worried Marlene with him.
Two Alein men from the Artificial Supernovas group were running towards their direction.
“Think I shot some Earth Soldiers!” One tall Alien said to the other, his green thick whiskers wiggling around involuntarily as he spoke.
To Marlene, this was nothing special. Arrow was her best friend. He was her anchor to the real world. The one to make her laugh, one to make her smile. His shoulder reminded her that she was not alone, and she hardly felt afraid of any aliens when she was by Arrow’s side.
For Arrow, now was the best time to say how he had been feeling for a while.
“M-Marlene, you mean a lot to me.” was all Arrow could say.
Marlene couldn’t believe her ears.
“You mean a lot to me too, Arrow.”
And that was all they said.
After a round of playing the RPG game while Marlene made fun of all the times Arrow messed up or died to the dragon, the two headed back home. Their smokey, next-gen tech savvy home.
As they walked under the highway bridge that marked that they were in StarTech Metropolis, they heard the scream of a woman, clanging and banging.
Then an explosion sent glass and metal flying everywhere.
Two bullets shot off at that exact moment.
BWIZZ-BWIZZ!
The green beams slashed past Arrow and Marlene’s sides at jet speed.
“AHH!” Marlene yelled.
Arrow dropped to the ground and dragged a worried Marlene with him.
Two Alein men from the Artificial Supernovas group were running towards their direction.
“Think I shot some Earth Soldiers!” One tall Alien said to the other, his green thick whiskers wiggling around involuntarily as he spoke.
They were both smiling until the one with the mustache looked down. “No, you didn’t shoot any soldiers. Just managed to miss a couple of kids.” The one with the mustache one said.
“Please don’t hurt them!” An old lady from behind a building bravely peeked out at the A.S. dogfaces.
“Oh, shuddap.” said the taller Alien and shot at the old lady, who managed to get out of sight right before the bullet hit her.
“Hey! You can’t just go shooting at old ladies like that! She didn’t do anything to you!” Arrow spoke up.
The taller Alien refocused his square yellow eyes on Arrow. “You can’t tell me jack boy, you might as well just head over to your sad excuse of a home before we execute you.” The tall Alien turned to Marlene. As for you, I don’t like you too much.” The Alien then took hold of Marlene’s hair.
“GET OFF YOU AWFUL ALIEN!” Marlene yelled, then turned and shoved her knee into the Alien’s gut.
“Gaaahh!” the Alien yelled and let go of Marlene’s hair.
“RUN MARLENE!” yelled Arrow at the top of his lungs.
While Marlene began to run, Arrow felt pressure in his chest. How dare that Alien take hold of Marlene’s hair!? He gave that alien a good punch in the face.
As that Alien went falling to the ground, the one with the mustache raised his gun to Arrow.
“Now I’m gonna kill ya’ ye’ little son of a-” darn! The Alien with the mustache was out of bullets! Of all times when there was a pesky kid!
Arrow shoved that Alien out of his way and began running. He’d have to run to some other neighborhood to try and lose them before going home. This was going to be a longer afternoon than he hoped but it was worth it.
He had got to tell Marlene how he’d felt… at least somewhat.
Marlene was running as far as she could away from the aliens.
Please let Arrow be okay. Please let him be okay, Marlene thought to herself over and over.
The cold wind blew in Marlene’s face, and in the distance she could hear a projected video speak.
‘Say your prayers, Humans. The Earth is ours.’ It was a message from the A.S.
Marlene was tired of being afraid. She ran on home, the whole while thinking of what she would do if an alien from the A.S. crossed her path again.
TO BE CONTINUED
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