He Fell From Stars

Sitting on his back porch, smoking a cigar, Logan watched as a roundish shaped object fell from the sky and landed in the middle of his suburban backyard. "Holy shit." Was his dazed expression while he uncrossed his ankles and took them down off of the railing to stand up. He had been sitting there for well over an hour, why he had no idea but his mind told him to sit outside tonight to smoke.

What the hell was that?" His whisper had been drowned out by the sound of his boots on the wood planks. His jeans rubbed together as he walked down the steps and out to the giant hole with a glowing blue object in the middle. Standing at the edge and looking down at the orb, the glow faded and revealed a shiny bluish green metallic craft resembling a large raindrop. He bit down on his cigar and bent over to try and see if anyone (or thing) was inside.

Part of the top outlined a small square hatch that opened to reveal a lanky figure in a shiny dark purple spacesuit and what looked to be a motorcycle helmet of the same color. It was human. Or something that looked human.

Logan had started to wonder if it was dead or alive or just unconscious because there was no movement after the top opened up. He stood up and looked around his backyard, over the fences of his neighbors and then back towards the house. "Someone woulda heard that. Can't risk the feds comin down on me cause of a cheesy movie prop killin a kid in my backyard." Glancing over his shoulder, at the mediocre sized house, he considered getting the being out of the craft and inside. "Gotta hide this thing, too. Joy."

Slowly, he climbed down and carefully picked the being up from under the arms. He stood on the front end of the craft and struggled to steady himself as he leaned the figured against him before turning to his left and pushing the body up onto the ground. It wasn't a really deep hole but, the figure was taller than him and the craft had sunk down a few inches at the extra weight. He tilted his head up again to check for planes or choppers hovering about, and then bit even harder on his cigar as he pushed himself up out of the hole. As he stood, he dusted his hands and bent down to lift the figure up as if helping a drunk friend to the sofa.

He noticed that underneath the suit the being felt almost human. The bones in the wrists and the ribcage seemed of a human skeleton but the skin could have told a completely different story. His goal at the time was to get the thing indoors before attention was gathered to his backyard. The weight of the limp body was one thing, getting it up the porch steps and through the sliding glass door was another. It wasn't all that heavy but the limpness of it made it all the more difficult to maneuver.

As his left hand let go of the wrist to slide the door open, he jumped as the helmet moved an inch on it's own. Pausing to see if there would be anymore movement or a full struggle, Logan placed a foot inside the house and raised a brow at the figure he held. When no other movement transpired, he shifted his weight to the foot inside and shoved the figure through the door. A magenta, short shag carpet hushed any footsteps as Logan walked through the dining room with the kitchen to the right, to place the figure on the plush brown leather sofa, to the right of the entrance.

The head rest on an armrest facing the backyard while the body was being laid out on the sofa. Despite the suit and helmet, it looked almost peaceful. The legs were straight and the hands rest on his chest as if it were a royal burial.

Taking a last look, he shook his head and went back outside to find a place for the ship and cover the hole. As strong as he was and using as many levers and winches, Logan was unable to even budge it an inch. Putting everything back and bringing a tarp to conceal it, Logan glanced through a window and saw a flash of blue light. "What the Hell?"

As he closed the door to the backyard, it flashed again and he hurried around the corner to see what it was. The thing in the suit lay exactly as it had been but something on the suit had flashed as if trying to get the wearer's attention. When it flashed again after a few minutes, it was followed by three beeps in almost a musical tune. Bending down to get a better look at the spot where the flash came from, it looked to Logan like a watch with a bubbled face but it was attached to the suit as a watch. His next discovery about the suit was that it had no opening for skin or any seams at all.

Logan stood and thought about a beer and needing one after his hour of non-reality. Going to the fridge and grabbing a bottle of beer, he listened to the sounds of possible waking in the other room. He closed the door and came to stand at the corner to observe the movement, if any.

The figure had indeed moved but it was only the arm that slipped from the chest to the floor. After a moment of nothing else the helmet turned to the left only a few centimeters but noticeable. Minutes after nothing again, the hand continued to move and feel around a small portion of the rug as if it were a bare hand.

Watching from the place he had stopped, Logan raised an eyebrow and took another sip. What sounded like a moan caught his ears as he narrowed his eyes and cleared his throat to let them know there was someone else in the room.

It was almost mechanical the way the body sat up stiffly and turned to place their feet on the floor and return their hands to their lap. The head turned to fully face Logan and snap one layer of a visor back for a better look at the other person. Another layer snapped back for an even better view before the outline of the suit lit bright crimson as Logan came into the room and stood across from it, the helmet turning to watch him.

"Nice effects. Yer a ways away from Hollywood, though. Do you need to call yer agent or somethin'? Is there anyone we should let know yer alive?" Logan paused a moment as the being was motionless. "Well then, if you don't mind gettin' yer movie prop outta my backyard, I'll call you a taxi and get ya on yer way back to Mars." Turning to start back to the kitchen to get the phone, he took two steps and stopped as the being stood up immediately as if on guard. "Okay. Maybe not."

The figure was tall and slender and stood straight as a pillar with only the head to move and watch Logan's movements. The red outline brightened as Logan took a step towards it.

"Wait a minute, here. I'm just tryin' to help. This ain't a movie set and I ain't a co-star. Can the dramatics and come get yer toy from my yard." Hostility entering his voice as the charade had taken long enough.

A hiss of air and a snap at the neck as the arms moved up to remove the helmet. With a twist of the helmet and lift, the red line faded as the helmet came off to reveal the face of a young man with unusual eyes. Strands of auburn hair fell over the face that stared calmly at his host.

Logan huffed. "Must be a newcomer. At least I know you have a face instead of starin' at that helmet all night." Turning back to the kitchen, he asked over his shoulder. "Are ya hungry?"

The eyes narrowed as he tried to understand the speech. Looking at the flashing light on his wrist, he glanced back to where Logan had been and spoke. "Yes."

Next.