12: Not So Completely Alone

Sora didn't know a lot about human behavior at this point.  She realized that the only humans that she had really interacted with at this point was Jess and her aunt and uncle.  She wondered if all humans were as odd as these three.

Mayor Cartwright spent an hour comparing Sora's map with another map, like the one hanging on the wall in the entrance hall.  Its rounded features enabled the viewer to see all of the land on the earth.  Sora was amazed with how much land was really missing due to the barriers.  Mayor Cartwright was eating up all of the information that Sora shared with him.  He was so fascinated by Sora's map that he took out a small object and began holding it up to the map pushing a button over and over.  Cartwright saw Sora looking at the device strangely and turned it around so that she could see it.  An image of her map was engraved on the front.

Cartwright was obviously pleased to show Sora more detailed what the device was.  "It is a cell phone, and it can take pictures... that is what I am doing with it."

"What is it for?"  Sora asked taking the device from him.

"We are able to communicate with other people with it.  It is a phone that can go everywhere!"  Cartwright took the cellphone away from Sora and proceeded to push some buttons on the front of the device.  He put it up to his ear, paused for a moment, then looking satisfied he handed it back to Sora.  "Put it to your ear."

Sora did as she was told and heard an odd buzzing sound.  She looked up at Cartwright and nodded encouragingly.  Finally, there was an end to the buzzing...

"Hello?"  A girl's voice answered.  Sora did not respond.  "Hello?  Uncle Bill?"

Cartwright took the phone from Sora and put it back to his ear.  "Jess, you can come in now.  I was just showing Sora how a cellphone works."

There was silence for a moment, then Cartwright said, "Okay, I'll tell her.  Okay, buh bye."

Cartwright pushed a button on his cellphone and placed it on his desk.

"Jess had to go back to her apartment for a little while.  She has class at the University in an hour.  She asked if you could hang out with me while she is there."  Cartwright seemed elated at this development.

"Oh, well, I would like to walk around for a while."  The last thing Sora wanted was to spend the day with this odd human.  "I could come back here in a short while, if that is alright."

Cartwright seemed slightly hurt, but beamed anyway and walked her out to the entrance hall.  He lead her over to his wife's desk and explained the plan.  She opened a bag sitting at her feet and produced a small green piece of paper.

"Please dear, I know that you don't have any money with you," Janice held out the green money with a kind smile on her face.  "You can get yourself something to eat and see some of the things that down town has to offer."

"Thank you, that is very kind."  Sora took the money, realizing it would hurt Janice's feelings if she did not.  "I will see you later then."

They waved her off and Sora walked out the doors.  Cartwright had given her some basic directions to get to an alien museum and to a few restaurants close by.  Apparently restaurants were places where humans went to eat different kinds of food.

Sora knew that she wouldn't be hungry for some time, so she decided to just walk for a while.  She wanted to find some quiet place to think, away from Roswell.  She turned onto Main Street and began walking toward the south.  The sun was beginning to warm up nicely.  She closed her eyes and pointed her face toward the sun.  The heat rays seemed to emanate right through her body, warming every inch.  Sora had always loved the sun, and the warmth that it brought.

Sora continued walking.  She walked across other streets that were controlled by green, red, and yellow lights.  The metal contraptions.... cars had to follow the lights.  Sora just walked, and those cars would stop if she was crossing the street.  Some of the humans didn't appear to be too pleased to stop for her.

Sora noticed all kinds of different humans.  There were scroungy looking humans, and very shiny polished humans.  Some had very dark skin, some had brown skin, and some had white skin.  She was amazed at how different many of them look!  As Sora was walking toward another stop light, she saw a male human walking toward her.  He didn't seem to even notice her, but he was talking to himself, as he walked.  He held a similar device like Cartwright had, but it was not up to his ear.  Sora did notice a shiny black bug of some kind sitting on top of his ear.  How bazaar!

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Sora had walked quite a ways.  She even passed where Jess's apartment was.  But she came to a street that was named McGaffey Street.  She decided to walk west on that road.  She still hadn't found a quiet place to sit and think about what she wanted to do next.

She walked for some time and finally came to a place where there was not as many buildings and houses.  She found some tall crops of corn growing and decided to find a nice shady spot to sit inside the field.  When she found a small clearing in the field, she sat down and nibbled on some of the dried fruits that were in her pack.  Sora felt finally alone and comfortable so she laid back and stared up at the clouds as they passed over her head.

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Sora had no idea how long she had been lying there in the corn field when she heard some footsteps making their way through the field.  They were obviously human foot steps; she could tell by the steady, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp.

Sora sat up quickly and gathered her things together.  Just as she was putting her map back into her pack when a tall human male walked into Sora's little clearing.  She had to look twice before she realized that this was Jess's neighbor Justin.

"What are you doing out here?"  He seemed a little bit shocked to run into someone else in the crops.

Sora looked a little sheepish, "I was just resting in the shade.  I was trying to escape this town for a little while."

Justin watched as Sora stood.  "Oh, wait!  You are my neighbor's friend aren't you?  I saw you leaving with her this morning."

"Oh yeah, Jess let me stay at her house last night."  Sora suddenly felt very uncomfortable with Justin staring at her.  "I'm just passing through, really."

"Where are you from?" asked Justin.

Sora took a deep breath.  "Well, I'm not from around here, or anywhere that you know of."

"Okay?"  Justin had a smile creeping over his face.  Sora couldn't help but reciprocate.

"I come from a land called the Kiswone Nation.  I am the only one of my kind to come into the human realm in thousands of years."  Sora felt awkward telling him this.  Glancing up at Justin's face, she saw a small reaction to what she said.

Justin laughed out loud.  "So you are an alien?"  He was obviously amused with this story.  "Come on, did Jess put you up to this?  Her whole family tries to convince the whole town that there are aliens.  Her uncle swears he saw them land here a few years ago."

Sora scrunched her eye brows.  She began wondering about Jess and her family.  They seemed a little odd, even for humans.

"No, Jess did not ask me to say that to you.  I am not an alien, and I did not come from outer space."  Sora was getting a little bit angry.  She slung her pack over her shoulder and said, "I have to go now, I have some important work to do."

With that, Sora wheeled around and began walking back out of the corn field, the way she came in.  Justin didn't let her leave.

"Wait!  Wait!  You didn't even tell me your name!"

Sora stopped in her tracks.  She turned to face him.  "My name is Sora, princess of the Kiswone Nation."

Justin paused for a brief second.  He was looking at Sora with a thoughtful expression.  "The Kiswone Nation eh?"

"Yes!"  Sora said.  She was getting very tired of this silly game that he seemed to be playing with her.

"I'm sorry for being rude.  Let me at least give you a ride.  You have found yourself quite a ways away from Jess's apartment."

Sora appraised Justin carefully.  He did seem to be sorry... "Well, okay.  I have to go back to the city hall."  Sora really did not like those cars, but she did see the value in them.  It would only take them a few minutes to drive the distance that took Sora an hour to walk.

Sora followed Justin the opposite way through the corn field.  He led her to a little house where there was a very large car waiting for them.

"Wow!  This car is very big.  I like this much better than Jess's small one."  Sora exclaimed as Justin opened the passenger door of his black Dodge pick up truck.  Sora climbed in.

"This is not a car."  Justin said, "It is a truck.  They are much better than cars."  He then shut the door behind her and walked around to the other side, climbing in to his seat.

As he started the truck and began to pull onto the road.  Sora began to change her mind about these huge metal contraptions.  This big truck was not so bad.  She felt much more safe.

Justin broke through Sora's thoughts when he said, "So, Sora.  Tell me more about this Kiswone Nation..." he paused.  "The name sounds a lot like a place that is described in stories and legends that have been passed down from generation to generation in my family."

Sora whipped her head toward Justin in awe.  She swore that she saw resemblance of a Kiswan in him earlier that morning!  Could it be.... could he be....?

11: Meeting New People

Jess led Sora out the door and back to that horrendous car.  Sora was not a fan of those huge metallic contraptions.  As they were walking out to the parking lot, Sora caught a glimpse of what she thought was another Kiswan!  She wheeled around and found herself gawking.  Only once she saw his features full on, she was slightly disappointed.  He had many features that the Kiswans have.  The difference is that his short hair had faint highlights to it, and his skin was very light, and looked like it was bordering a tan.

Jess noticed that Sora had left her side and turned to see who the distraction was.  Jess walked to Sora's side with a coy smile on her lips.  "Ah, I see you have noticed my neighbor, Justin.  He is very hot, isn't he?"

"Hot?"

"Nearly every girl in town has tried to catch his notice.  He used to come over to watch movies with me when I had a roommate.  I think he liked her..." Jess trailed off, pensively.

"Huh, well maybe you can introduce me later," Sora said as she turned back toward Jess's car.

"Oh, okay..." Jess said hesitantly, "Only, don't get too excited, he doesn't seem to ever want to hang out anymore.  Let's go."  Jess seemed quick to change the topic.

The drive to the court house didn't take nearly as long as the drive the night before.  Once they arrived Jess led Sora up the steps to the large doors.  After getting inside, Jess walked up to a desk and began talking with a pleasant looking older human.

Jess explained that Sora wished to see the mayor.  She then leaned forward and whispered something into the woman's ear.  The woman's reaction told it all.

"Alright!  Well, I will see what I can do about getting her in with him.  Have a seat over there (she motioned to a few rows of chairs), and I will send a message to Mayor Cartwright's office."

"Thank you Janice."  Jess said politely.

Janice the welcoming woman stood up to walk toward a hallway.  Before she turned away, Sora noticed how she gave Sora a good look over.  She seemed pleased with something, and scurried off down the hall.

"Janice is my aunt," Jess leaned in to Sora as they sat down.  "She'll make sure you get to see Mayor Cartwright, since he is my uncle."

"So this Mayor Cartwright..." Sora glanced up to the high ceiling.  "He is the king?"  Sora was very impressed with his palace.  The decorations and the artwork in the carvings were impressive.

Jess giggled.  Her giggles were starting to get on Sora's nerves.  "No, he is not the king.  We don't actually have a king."

Sora gave her full attention back to Jess.  "You don't?"

"No.  There is a leader for every town, that leader is called a mayor.  There are many leaders, but the main leader for the United States is referred to as President.  He is the one that oversees all things pertaining to the U.S.  He just has help."

Why does this president need so many people to help him?" Sora was confused.  Her father never needed any help.  She wondered if these humans were really so weak.

Jess stood up and walked over to a wall.  On the wall was a huge map.  "This is the United States."  She outlined the country with her hand.  Then she pointed to a small point at the bottom of the country, "This is Roswell.  This is where we are."

Sora stood back and looked at the whole map.  The kingdom was enormous!  To the left of the map was another map that had rounded features.

"That map is of the whole world,"  Jess pointed to where the United States were.  "There are many countries, with many different leaders."

Sora was in awe.  She studied every detail of the map while Jess sat back down to wait.  She wanted to remember every small detail so that she could compare it with her own when she was by herself.  

Finally, Sora heard Janice call Jess's name.  Jess hopped up and trotted over to her aunt's side.  The conversed for a few minutes and Jess called Sora over.

"Okay, Sora," Janice said.  "Mayor Cartwright is ready to see you.  He is pretty excited to meet with you!  Good luck!"

Jess sat back down on one of the chairs as Janice lead Sora down the hall and to a large wooden door.  Janice knocked twice then opened the heavy door.

A portly man stood up from his large desk and walked around to greet Janice with a hug and kiss on the cheek.  She blushed, winked at Sora, then left the room closing the door quietly behind her.  Sora wondered how such a heavy door could close without making a sound.

Mayor Cartwright approached Sora with his hand outstretched.  Sora was unsure of what she was supposed to do, so she mimicked him.  She stuck out her left hand, and the mayor awkwardly grasped her fingers with his right hand.

"Well now, Sora," he said pleasantly, "isn't my wife lovely?"

"Oh yes, she is very nice."  Sora had spoken with many important Kiswan, but this was the most uncomfortable meeting she had ever experienced.

"Have a seat, please!"  Mayor Cartwright said.  "We have been wondering when we might make another contact with your kind!"

"You mean, I am not the first to be here?"  Sora was puzzled.  How could this be?  The barrier has been up for centuries upon centuries!

"Well, in 1947 a space ship crash landed just outside of town... there weren't any survivors."  He looked genuinely concerned.

"What is a space ship?"  Sora was confused.  As the mayor opened his mouth to explain, it all snapped into place.  The things that Jess had been going on and on about were spaceships and aliens.  This man thought I was from the sky!

Mayor Cartwright was saying, "...so you see, a farmer found the crash sight, since it was on his land..."

"Um, mayor."  Sora interrupted the speech.  "I am not from outer space.  I come from another nation on this same planet.  Only, none of you humans know of its existence.  You think that my land is ocean.  I am princess of the Kiswone Nation.  I was sent here to inform you humans of our existence.  We have been hiding ourselves from view by manipulating the earth's core power into forming a barrier.  This barrier has been in place since the first humans were placed on this earth."

Mayor Cartwright was silent, and he had a slightly dumb expression on his face, so Sora continued.

"The earth's core grows weak.  It cannot sustain the barrier much longer.  If it loses its power, then the earth will lose its ability to grow vegetation and sustain life.  It is urgent that I speak with your president.  I need to inform the world of our existence in order to break the barrier."

Cartwright finally found his words.  "What you are implying will change life as we know it!  How do we explain to billions of people that we are not alone on our very earth!?  It could cause wars upon wars!"

Sora hadn't thought of that kind of repercussion.  She began to realize that she could not do all of this alone.  She needed help.  This human world was about to change.  She just had to get this mayor to believe her story.

Sora opened her bag and pulled out the rolled up map.  She spread it out over the desk and began her rehearsed account of the Kiswone Nation.

10: Take Me to Your Leader

I am here to say, that I have finished the most horrendous course that I have taken in a very long time!  I think I will pass with a B, which I am very excited about.  My next class is World Literature, which I am extremely excited about!  So, let's celebrate with me finishing this post (I have had it 1/2 way done for nearly a month now)!  

I changed my mind about rewriting the last episode.  That just seemed like way too much work, and it was giving me writer's block.  I guess this little paragraph is to acknowledge that the facts of the Carlsbad Caverns were not accurate, and that maybe one day, I will fix it to be more accurate.  I learned what they are really like when I made a visit there just about one month ago.  Anyway.... without further adue!

The ride in the car was not a quiet one.  Jess was the type of human that would not let anyone get a word in.  She talked and talked and talked.  Sora was not completely sure, but she thought that maybe she had dozed off now and then.  Jess, the human, jabbered on about aliens and how they were obviously real.  She was a firm believer in them, and she suspected Sora as being one of them.  Sora supposed that she was an alien of sorts, since she was not familiar with the human realm, and none of the humans had ever seen a Kiswan before.

Sora assured Jess that she was not an alien, and when she tried to explain where she came from, Jess would seem to interrupt and continue on to another topic of conversation.  Sora had never seen the likes of such a talkative creature.  She was growing slightly impatient, because she was already missing her kingdom, and--Witold.

Sora had been successful in not thinking about Witold up until that moment, when she was in an alien world, with no one that truly knew her.  She could picture his beautiful green hued eyes.  They were piercing and bold.  She began to relax a little bit upon thinking of him.  She even had a hint of a smile forming on her face.

Sora's thoughts were not her own for very long.  Jess interrupted with a string of questions, that Sora didn't even have time to answer before she was fired another.

"So where are you from?  Jess asked without taking her eyes off of the road.

"Well, it is kind of hard to explain."  Finally!  Sora needed to get on with this quest.  "I am from a place called the Kiswone Nation."

"Huh."  Jess didn't even seem to be listening.  "So, where is your family?  Do you have a boyfriend?"

Sora did her best to answer each question before another was fired.  "My family is back at my home nation.  What is a boy...?"

Jess sped around a huge, black, round, and shredded looking thing in the middle of the black path.

"What was that on the black path?!"  Sora asked.  Her heart was thumping.

Jess looked over at Sora.  Her eyebrows were scrunched together.  "The black path?"  Jess said it like a question.  "That, my dear, is a road.  We drive our cars on it.  And the thing in the middle of the road was a tire."

"A tire?"

"Yes!  They are the wheels that help our cars go!"  Jess seemed amused at this game of, you don't know the obvious.

Jess laughed out loud.  "I guess I am going to have to teach you a whole lot of things in order for you to even seem normal!"

The drive in the car took a very long time, but Sora was sure that if she had tried to walk that distance, it was sure to have taken her six or seven days.  She was very relieved when Jess drove her car into a little path that led to a house.  Jess let Sora inside the house and instructed her to get comfortable.  She was going to be sleeping on the couch.

Jess walked out of the cozy room and Sora immediately laid down on the couch.  It was not as comfortable as her bed at home, but it was comparable.  She was asleep within minutes of laying her head back and closing her eyes.  Jess came strolling back into the living room, probably wanting to talk some more, but she was greeted with Sora's light breathing, and no conscious person to talk to.  So instead of sitting down, Jess went back to her bedroom, and went to bed.

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Sora awoke to a loud buzzing sound coming from a door down a narrow hallway.  She had to relieve herself, and wondered where a bathroom might be.  Sora walked back into the room that she slept in.  There was a big black shiny thing hanging on the wall, and there was a shelf next to it filled with little boxes and very life-like pictures all of the the little boxes.  Sora picked one up and saw that it opened.  Inside was a shiny circle.  Sora thought it was all very peculiar.

Jess opened the door from which the loud buzzing had just shut off.  She walked over to Sora and asked if she wanted to watch a movie.  Sora put the little box back on the shelf and walked over to Jess.

"Do you have a bathroom?"  Sora was getting anxious.

"Oh, yeah, sorry Sora

"Alright," Sorry replied.  She entered the bathroom and shut the door.

It took her a few minutes to learn how to get the water to come out of the little waterfall on the wall.  But she did.  Sora cleaned up, and put her second pair of fresh clothes.  As she walked out of the bathroom with wet hair, Jess looked up from the couch that she was sitting on.

"Are you ready to eat?"  Jess was scrutinizing Sora very closely.  "Maybe we should take you shopping.  You look like you could use some new clothes."

Sora said, "No thank you.  I do not need new clothes.  What I do need is to speak with your leader."

Jess giggled.  "Oh, so you want me to take you to my leader?"  Again, more giggles.

"Uh, yes.  Please."  Sora thought that Jess was very strange.  "I have some things that I need to discuss with the leaders of your realm."

"I KNEW IT!"  Jess hopped up off of the couch.  "Come on, let's eat.  Then I will take you to city hall.  Maybe you can get in a meeting with the mayor."

Sora sat down at the table.  Jess had set out two bowls and two spoons.  Jess filled her bowl with little bits of dried food.  Sora followed suit.  Then Jess poured milk over the top.  She inserted her spoon, and began eating the contents together.

Jess looked up at Sora with a raised eyebrow.  But before she could say anything, Sora poured the milk and began to eat the very delicious... cereal.

9: A Close Encounter

Sora spent some time eating some of the dried fruit and vegetables that she had brought on her trip.  She sat in the mouth of the cave and watched the sun rise in the east.  Despite the early hour, the air was warm and comfortable.  Sora felt so free.  She felt like the roof had been blown off of her existence, and she was ready to experience it all.

Sora retreated back into the cave.  She rolled out her bed in a far corner, and was asleep within minutes of lying her head down.

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Sora awoke with a start.  She looked around confused about where she was exactly.  One event to another, the realization dawned on her.  She could hear voices echoing through the cave.  She sat up and rolled up her bed as fast as she could.  Just as she was tying it back onto her pack, a group of humans came strolling down one of the smooth paths lined with an iron bar.  Many of the humans were holding onto the bar, almost like it was keeping them from falling over.

Sora tried to slip back into the corner.  She had no idea what they would think when they saw her.  A few of the humans glanced at her as they passed not even giving a second glance.  But the very last human was trailing behind looking at a map and walking anything but straight down the path.  This female human had orange hair that was pulled back, and pale white skin.  Her arms, legs, and face were dotted with little brown spots.  It reminded Sora of a leopard.  The human was wearing short pants, and a shirt that showed her shoulders and her arms.

The female glanced up right as she was about to pass Sora.  She started just a bit, but smiled at Sora.  Sora looked up the path then looked back at the human.  She smiled back.  The female said, "Are you waiting for someone?"

Sora's jaw dropped open.  She did not expect that she would be able to understand the human.  "Uh, no.  I was just on my way out of this cave."

"Oh.  Have you already finished your tour?" Asked the human with genuine interest.

"Tour?"  Sora scrunched her eyebrows at the term.

"You aren't from around here are you?"  The human said.  She approached Sora and held out her hand.  "Come on, you can come with me.  It can be so annoying to follow a tour guide.  I'll show you around.  I've been here so many times."

Sora hesitated, but she took the human's hand feeling very foolish and childlike.  "You are from around here," Sora guessed.

The human female smiled up at Sora.  "Born and raised.  Well actually, I'm from Roswell.  I just decided to take a day trip to visit the caverns.  They are one of my favorite places to explore."

Sora nodded her head.  She had no idea what Roswell was.  The human interrupted Sora's thoughts.

"I'm Jess Lewis." The human stated.  "What is your name?"

Sora looked at the human and said, "My name is Sora."

"Sora what?"

"Just Sora."  Sora wondered what she was getting at.

"Oh okay, I won't pry.  I understand."  Jess looked down at the map for just a second.

"You are very tall," Jess said.  "I am lucky to be five, five when I have heals on.  You have got to be at least six feet tall!"

"I haven't ever really thought of it.  My dad is much taller than I am."  Sora said matter of fact.

Sora glanced up at the humans ahead of her and Jess Lewis.  She had noticed how odd shaped they were.  A few of the male humans were taller than her.  But most of them were shorter than her.  She was very used to looking most Kiswan in the eye, or even looking up.  She noticed a few humans that were shaped round like fruit, while some were very thin, like a stick.  She was very intrigued at how different each human was.

Jess Lewis didn't seem to notice Sora's pensive moment and continued on.  "Wow!  Your dad must be tall!  My dad is barely taller than me."

Sora didn't know how to respond, so she just kept walking.  Jess looked over at Sora and said, "You have gorgeous skin.  How do you get that healthy glow?"

Sora was beginning to be a little uncomfortable.  She wondered if Jess Lewis even realized that she was not as involved with the conversation as Jess Lewis was.  "I don't know.  All of my family has the same skin."  Sora replied.

"Oh."  Jess laughed, which made Sora look down at her.  "I was hoping you had some magical way to make pasty white skin, beautiful and golden.  I try to tan, but I just burn, then freckle."

Sora lifted one of her eye brows.  She needed to learn more about what this human was talking about. 

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Sora walked with Jess Lewis further into the cave.  This was the last thing that she wanted to do, since she spent the last day and a half in a cave.  She wanted to get some fresh air, and decide her next move.  But something about Jess Lewis held Sora by her side.  The more and more Jess Lewis talked, the more Sora realized how different this world was.  Sora definitely needed a friend.

Jess Lewis talked on and on about a boy that she really liked, but he had no idea that she existed.  Sora thought, 'What is a boy?'  Jess Lewis didn't even seem to miss a beat she immediately started talking about highlights, and how Jess Lewis was wanting to get them.  Sora thought, 'What are highlights?'

After mentioning the highlights, Jess Lewis' face lit up.  She turned to Sora and said,  "Hey!  Where did you get your hair done at?  Yours looks beautiful!  How did they get the golden color to match your eyes so well?"

"Uh."  Sora paused.  "What?  My hair has always been like this, and so have my eyes.  Dark with a tint of gold, like the sun."

It was Jess Lewis' turn to look confused.  "Oh, okay... That's alright if you don't want to share your secret."

Jess Lewis looked down at her feet as they walked.  Neither of them were paying much attention to the surroundings of the cave.  Sora realized that she made the human, Jess Lewis feel really bad.  But she just didn't understand why.  Jess Lewis remained quiet for the rest of the tour, which was nearly over.

They walked out of the cave, and Jess Lewis said, "Well, it was good to meet your Sora.  Maybe I'll see you around."

"Oh, ya.  You too Jess Lewis."  Sora then turned around and walked toward a path made of hard black rock.

She stepped on the hard rock path, and began walking.  All of a sudden, Sora heard a high pitched wailing sound.  She whipped around just in time to see a huge black animal charging right at her!  She jumped off the path into the sand and brush, just in time.  She was almost trampled!  Sora sat up to see that the big black animal had stopped.  She looked harder at it, and noticed that it did not have legs.  It had enormous circles that were very shiny in the middle.  She saw it lift its wing, but she gasped at what she saw next.  A human climbed out from under the wing!

It was one of the old human females that was in the same tour group that Sora had been in.  She waddled over to Sora.  It was obvious that her feet hurt her from the long walk in the cave.

"Oh dear!" She clucked.  "I am so sorry!  I didn't see you there!"

Sora had just stood up on her feet, and she was looking past the old human at the big black animal.  It had lost all life.  Sora then glanced around a little bit more.  She noticed more of those animals.  Some were very big, while some were tiny.  There was even a few that a human would just sit on top of, like a horse!  Not only were they so varied in size, but there were so many different colors.  Sora was amazed.  What kind of animals were they?

The human noticed Sora looking around.  She said, "You aren't from around here, are you dear?"

Sora shook her head.  "What kind of animals are those?  I need to find out where to get their eggs, so I can take them home."

The old human looked at Sora like she was crazy.  She finally composed herself a little bit and said, "Those, dear, are cars.  We drive them?"  She said it like a question.  "You have never seen a car?"

Sora shook her head.

"They are machines that we control, in order to go where we want to go?"  Again, like a question.

Sora watched as a green car sped out of the corral, and onto the black path.  It could go very fast.

The old human turned to see the green car that Sora was watching so closely.  "Okay.  Dear, I am going to leave now, since you are okay."

She didn't give Sora a chance to respond.  Before Sora knew it, the old human female was in her car speeding down the black path.

Sora shrugged her shoulders and continued her walk in the same direction.  This time, she was more careful to watch out for those cars.

Sora walked quite a ways.  She followed signs that pointed to the town Roswell.  She had no idea why, maybe because it was the only thing that she knew about the human world.  Jess had explained about how aliens crash landed not far from Roswell.  Sora had inquired what aliens were exactly.  Jess's description of them was, 'Little green men that live up past the stars.'  She then proceeded to tell Sora how odd it was that she had never heard of aliens before she asked if Sora had never watched TV.  Sora made a mental note to find out what TV was.

Sora came upon a table next to the black path, so she decided to stop and eat.  She nibbled on some dried meat and vegetables.  She was so tired, and she was so lost.  The hardest thing that Sora has ever had to do was to find a way out of the kingdom.  Now that she was out, she had no clue what to do next.  The only thing she knew was that she needed to contact the human leaders and inform them of the Kiswone Nation.  Before she could break the barrier, humans had to know of the existence of the Kiswan.  Otherwise, they might attack.

Kiswan had no way of protecting themselves.  They were not skilled in wielding weapons.  They were skilled hunters when it came to hunting game for meat.  However, no Kiswan ever enjoyed taking the life of an animal.  It would be so much harder to take the life of a human, that might very well be the Kiswan equal.  All in all, if not taken care of properly, the entire Kiswone Nation could be in jeopardy.

                                               ****************************************

The sun was past mid sky, and Sora knew that she was traveling North.  She had never experienced the heat like she was experiencing it there.  It was dry, and the sun's power was magnificent.  Sora was not inexperienced to heat.  But the Kiswone Nation has plenty of foliage and trees that help a Kiswan cool down on a hot day like this.  Here in the human realm, the sun was just pure and unadulterated.  Sora's water skin was quickly depleting.  She had to consume so much water in order to stay hydrated.  She wondered how much longer it would take her to get to this village of Roswell.

Sora plugged along for hours.  The sun was getting close to the horizon, and Sora looked forward to the break she would receive from its power.  A few cars passed by every now and then, but for the most part, Sora did not see many humans.  She saw plenty of lizards and bugs.  She even saw an enormous spider that was as big as her hand.  She stayed away from it, for fear that it might have poison.

As the sun began to set, Sora would look West at all of the colors that filled the sky.  From the western horizon all through the sky, oranges and purples were reflected off of the clouds.  Sora had never seen such a magnificent sun set with nothing to block the view.

After the last moments of light passed below the horizon, Sora began to pick up the pace.  Even though it was still very hot outside, the sun drastically changed Sora's fatigue.  She began a slow jog north.  She could hear animals out in the brush coming out to hunt and play.  She could hear their every move, and she caught glimpses of them as they dashed in between the brush.  She began to feel at home in nature.

Her comfort was short lived, because one of those cars pulled up next to Sora.  She was startled at the bright lights on the front of the car.  They were just like eyes.  She was wary, but stopped her jog in order to address the human.

"Hey!  Sora!"  It was Jess Lewis.

"Oh, hi Jess Lewis,"  Sora said, a little out of breath.

"You can just call me Jess, Sora.  So, have you been walking this whole way?"  Jess never seemed to be too surprised by Sora's odd behavior.

"Well, yes.  I have never had any other way to get around.  I am pretty used to it."

"Where are you headed?"

"That village, Roswell."

Jess laughed out loud.  "You will be walking all night, and all day, and then all night again before you reach Roswell.  You had better hop in.  I'm going there anyway."

Sora was not to sure about this.  The whole car thing just did not sound very safe.  Jess seemed to notice Sora's discomfort.

"Come on, it will be okay."  Jess hopped out of her big red car and walked around to the passenger side.  She opened the door and motioned with her had for Sora to sit in the black leather chair inside.  "Have a seat."

Sora finally gave in.  She turned and sat her rear on the seat with her feet still on the black path.  Then she pulled each leg in, one by one.  Once she was all the way in, with her pack tucked by her feet, Jess slammed the door shut.

"Put on your seat belt."  Said Jess as she climbed back in behind a large wheel.  "I'll get us to Roswell in no time."

When Sora didn't move, Jess over exaggerated putting on her own seat belt in order to show Sora how to do  it.  "We can't leave until you strap in.  It's my rule."  Jess was very adamant.

"Okay," Sora imitated Jess's actions, and they were speeding down the road, Sora's eyes wide with fright.

Jess looked over at Sora, who had not taken her eyes off of the black path in front of them.  "So you have never ridden in a car either, have you?"

Sora shook her head without saying anything.

"You're an alien aren't you?"  Jess was eager, and excited.