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Epilogue.B
We Are All Aliens
For hours, Foxx sat on the Camper’s roof, looking upon the stars for a sign of his guardian. He wasn’t alone for most of it, Frost sat vigil beside him, Free too. However, eventually, Frost fell asleep, and Free went into low power mode.
He was alone now, left to think and wonder on that word, “Guardian.”
One by the one the stars dropped down like stones into a lake, rippling into shadowed, fractured islands which followed a river’s flow. The last star dropped in front of him, forming as an evergreen island of sky-tall trees, shadowed like the others, save for its edge and a light which glowed from deep within.
Foxx focused on the light and found himself suddenly in a clearing at the forest’s heart, where great crags and cliffs jutted from the earth—all pointed to the silver outline of a new moon, Wolves stood atop each.
From highest to lowest, the wolves howled—except for the very last one, the one closest to Foxx. It looked at him expectantly, sitting tall.
Foxx shook his head and bowed, then left to follow a path of purple bell-shaped flowers.
Foxes don’t howl after all.
The flowers led Foxx to a humble house with a wind chime on its porch. He opened its door to see two still figures around a kitchen counter, and a fridge with a note on its door.
The smaller of the two figures, a little shorter than Foxx, wore a crocked, pointed, wide-brim hat and hovered a little bit above the ground. The other had spikes which shot backwards from its body, the end of each spike was tipped with a soft padding. More people he should have known the names of, but again, all he felt was a sense of deep familiarity.
Foxx read at the note, most of its words were missing, blanked or scratched out. “Goodbye, hello, farewell… Strapped for time… I promise I’ll…” And at the very bottom, “...It’s the only one we got!”
From the note shadow filled the room, surrounding Foxx in a starless void until the Sun rose from behind the umbral horizon, carrying along the figure with a kind smile.
Like a wall cracked open, another part of the figure became clear—a serape with animal patterns which ran, slept, and ate, across its surface as if each were alive. The figure turned around—
Then all returned to normal, he was on the roof of the Camper. But next to him now was a constellation drawn in dust, one which resembled a four-pointed star—each point aimed in a cardinal direction, marked by four distinctly bright stars.
A small piece of space rock bounced off Free’s head, waking him up, “How long, yawn, was I out?”
“Not long,” Foxx said.
Free stretched, “Any sign of your guardian?”
Foxx shook his head.
“Well, I can manage sitting up here for a few more—”
“That isn’t necessary.”
“...Why’s that?”
“No one is coming for me.”
“Oh,” Free struggled to find what to say, and in that time, Frost woke up.
“I understand now,” Foxx stood up, his ears pointed high, “I must find home myself.”
“Wait—you remembered where you come from?
Foxx shook his head and turned to the stars, “I remembered there are people waiting for me. Home.”
“So… I guess you’re gonna be with us for a little while longer,” Free said.
“Is that ok?”
“Of course!” Free cheered. “Right, Frost?”
“Mm-hmm,” Frost answered. “We pledged to deliver you home, that is what we shall do. In the time between, consider the Camper as your home like it is ours.”
Foxx bowed, “Thank you
Free stood up, “With that settled—let’s eat and get some real rest, a long road’s ahead!”
“Humph, as always.”
“Ok.”
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