#strangestrangetown

[mooseabides]

“I just want to offer my help, if you could use it. That’s all.”

If the woman was unsure of herself, or losing patience, it didn’t register in her voice. Probably the perfect mom, Alexa thought, frowning.

“Jen, let’s just go. You can’t save everyone," her companion finally interjected,  sighing as he added, “You and I both know that.” 

“Alright. Wait,” Alexa stalled as she weighed her options. 

Do you have a better alternative? They could be just what they seem - kind... normal, she thought as she turned the lock, Here’s hoping.

Alexa wasn’t sure what she expected as she hesitantly pulled the door open, but she stood in stunned silence as absolutely nothing happened.

“Well. I’m Jenny. I'm not sure how much of what Jill told me is true, but either way, by the look of you, I imagine you could go for a good meal and a hot shower right about now!”

Oh. Watcher. Yes.

For a moment, Alexa forgot about panic, wariness, survival, and even the fact that she’d crashed a space ship on an unfamiliar planet.

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[mooseabides]

Just. Two. Ordinary. People?! At this point, Alexa was starting to feel a bit irked that things seemed to be almost painfully ordinary, while she still couldn’t shake the feeling that they were all just... wrong.

The next series of knocks was joined by a woman’s voice - sweet, but not saccharine, with a detectable strain of weariness. 

“Hello?” the voice inquired, and the knocking ceased, “My girl, Jill, she didn’t give me a name, but she said there may be someone here who needs help.”

Alexa paused to consider. “Where’s the kid?” she croaked, realizing then how parched she was.

“What kind of mother would I be if I let my daughter venture off to an abandoned building to meet an alleged... space pirate?”

The question was returned with silence.

Fair point.

[mooseabides]

The knocking continued, gentle, but insistent. Thump, thump, thump, pause. Repeat.

Nearing the building’s front entry, Alexa held her breath as she cautiously closed the distance to the door, moving almost silently.

She stood back and peered through the filmy glass and it’s reassuring steel mesh.

[mooseabides]

Awaking sheltered, and somewhat rested, Alexa was no longer feeling the same frantic instinct to survive-at-all-costs that had driven her since the crash. No. She was confident she was going to survive because she was going to keep it together. Because that’s what she has always done. 

If she wanted to get through this - alive - she needed to gather information. She didn’t even know where she was. SimEarth?  That couldn’t possibly be right. 

She carefully started to examine the damp newspapers scattered over the floor. Regardless of her confidence, an unsettled feeling began to take root in the back of Alexa’s mind as she continued to discover striking similarities to her own home planet.

Before she could give further thought to the matter, she was startled by a sudden, repeated tapping. 

The door? -

- the kid, genius! Alexa thought, reproachful that she’d been so easily rattled. And even if it’s not the kid, it’s still someone... something, that would bother itself with knocking on a door.

Still, she stepped carefully, making her way up the well-worn stairs as quietly as  she could.

[mooseabides]

Fuck.

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[mooseabides]

[mooseabides]

[mooseabides]

“Hey, uh… Hey, kid?” Alexandra found it odd that the girl hadn’t diverted her attention from whatever she was constructing - even once - as she had approached, “I was hoping you might be able to help me out a bit.”

The girl slowly rose, but only stared at the grown woman silently. She looked uncomfortable, but not alarmed, quizzical, perhaps. Alexa began to wonder if the girl was curious as to why an adult she’d never seen was stopping to ask her for help. Are her parents going to come barging out of one of these houses with a gun? She’d certainly been met with hostility for far less than accosting someone else’s child on visits to societies that were less-than-hospitable to foreigners in the past.

A moment passed. No angry parents arrived, but the girl remained silent. She may not even speak Simlish, Alexa chided herself, Foolish mistake to assume, just because she appears human.

Since the girl made no further attempt to communicate, but gave Alexa her attention, Alexa proceeded to give an abridged account of how she’d arrived on that road. Still, the girl was silent. “So maybe you could just tell me what planet this is? Hopefully I can figure out what to do from there…”

“SimEarth. I think my uncles can help you,” was all she said in response.

Alexa’s mind reeled. SimEarth? It wasn’t possible. There was no way the ship could have traveled that far from the time she lost the controls. Where was she? “What?”

“Why didn’t you just go straight to town, though? Are you trying to stay out of trouble?” the little blonde posited.

“Let’s just say, I didn’t come by my craft entirely legally.” Alexa admitted hesitantly.

“No WAY! Are you a space pirate? You are, aren’t you?! I love to play space pirates!”

Alexa shrugged, chagrined, “Yeah, that’s me, kid. Space pirate. In the flesh.”