An Alien Love

Help from Friends

“Natasha, are you okay?” Jenna’s voice came softly from outside of the walled shower Tosh was hiding in. Raising her gaze, Natasha saw Amanda and Jenna looking in at her with concern on their faces.

“No. No, I’m not okay.” Tosh’s voice was choked with sobs. Her two friends entered the shower and sat on either side of Tosh. They each put an arm around her in a comforting embrace and began to cry as well. All three sat in a heap on the floor in the shower crying and hiding in their own private space. After several minutes, their cries became softer and each one wiped tears from their faces while comforting the other.

“What happened?” Amanda asked Tosh softly as she wiped the last of the tears from her own cheeks. “We were wondering when you were going to cry. But why now?”

“I had a dream about my family. It was awful. My mother was so sad. You know this would have been our first Christmas without my father. And now she’s having to lose me too. Not to mention my poor dog. Ziggy has separation anxiety.” Tosh sniffled as new tears came, and her friends hugged her close once more.

“I know. My mother is probably a wreck right now. I was her only child and now I’m gone with no clue as to where I could possibly be.” Jenna cried.

“At least you know how your families are feeling right now. I have no idea if my family is missing me at all. I know they know I’m gone but I doubt they even cried.” Amanda’s voice was dry and cold.

“What do you mean?” Jenna said, sitting back to look at their friend as if for the first time.

“You know my family wasn’t ever very good to me. They acted like us kids didn’t exist most of the time. They never got us anything for our birthdays or Christmas. There would be presents under the tree for appearances when people would come over, but all those were empty boxes. Christmas day would come and go and no presents at all. My parents would always tell us that we didn’t deserve presents. One year, as a joke, my family had put something in those empty boxes. They would have us shake the boxes and we would get so excited. When we opened them on Christmas day, it was just medicine from the medicine cabinets. They spanked us when we cried about it.” Amanda’s family had always been off-putting to Tosh.

The girls sat together in awkward silence, remembering the fake presents under Amanda’s tree and the anger they had directed towards her one day when the girls had gone to her house with presents from their families. Shaking themselves to rid their minds of the memory, the girls sat together talking about Christmases past.

“You know one year my dad broke the lights in the living room with one of my brother's presents.” Tosh chimed.

“How did that happen?” Jenna asked.

“He had a toy helicopter that flew straight up in the air when you pulled a string on its launching device. My dad told Daniel not to play with it in the house and decided to show him why. When he pulled the string, it went straight up into the light fixture overhead. Glass shattered everywhere.” The girls laughed. They shared their stories and giggled together until the lights in the main room came flicking to life and other women began filling the bathroom.

Moving into the main room, the friends sat together at a table situated in the middle of the birthing area. Other women that the girls had spoken to joined them in various states of alertness, some chiming in with stories of their own.

“It’s weird not having any Christmas music playing or any decorations anywhere. I wonder if the aliens even know about Christmas.” Jenna looked around the barren room.

“Maybe we should ask them the next time we talk to them.” Amanda joked, and a few other girls snickered in amusement. Most looked away with fear.