In Alien Hands: Family Ties

Homecoming - Part 1

I had finally grown tired of the crackers. Sure, they were far better than the pellets I had eaten for the three days prior, but real food would be nice. My Dog-man, Merle, was fiddling with the buckles I had been so polite as to not have messed with, for the past couple hours. I had spent the first few trying to adjust it, and he had spent that time trying to stop me.

The dog-men sitting behind and across from us were friendly, trying to get my attention most of the ride. They were happy to have me offer my hands for them to touch, but I needed them to get the straps off, so I took my hands back. Merle was good natured about it, I decided to stop when he snapped and held my hands in front of me for several minutes. Shortly after, he started giving me crackers one by one. I resolved to eat each one in as tiny bites as possible, it looked like he only had a few. He should've brought toys.

My arm was still bandaged, as I had been attacked by the monster just a few days before. I didn't let it get to me, though it seemed to bother him. Every time he brushed up against it, he jumped like he was the one hurt. He touched it like it was broken, or would explode. I hadn't seen it since it was fixed up, I wondered what it looked like. Feeling had come back to it, but there wasn't any particular pain. It felt like maybe it was a bit bruised, nothing like what really happened to it.

I still had the collar on my wrist, I hadn't bothered to try and take it off. I had tried that the first time one was put on, it was like trying to take handcuffs off. It was comfortable anyways, it wasn't even inhibiting my ability to move. He didn't have anything attached to it, that was the Buckle's job.

While he fiddled with my straps, I looked around. Everyone else was, too. I panicked for a moment, thinking we were crashing again. Last time I was asleep when we crashed, but that didn't mean we couldn't be going down now. I looked at Merle, my eyes wide. I calmed down quickly, he was completely calm. He put his furry hand on my cheek and smiled at me. Scratch that, he wasn't calm. He was ecstatic.

I quickly realized he was unbuckling me from the seat. I attempted to help, but was met with a firm "no" (or the dog-man equivalent anyways), so I sulked. He hooked a leash onto the collar once he finally got the buckles open, trying to lead me out into the hall of the ship.

I decided to give him some trouble, because it kept things interesting. He seemed light-hearted once again, because he responded to my crossed arms by tickling me. I heard several dog-men coo at the sound of me giggling while Merle lifted me out of my dear and onto the floor of the ship.

I followed, still grinning from his earlier attack. He held the leash shortly, I could comfortably move my arm, but couldn't get too far from him. He had one ear turned towards me, a sign that he was paying attention. I decided not to do anything to get myself in trouble and spoil his pleasant mood. We passed through a bit tunnel with the other passengers, several of which waved to me as they walked past.

The tunnel opened into a huge room, where I saw Grene waiting. I had met him once before, so his smiling face was familiar to me. He greeted Merle first before offering me a bottle of water, which I happily drank. I was startled to have Merle suddenly lift me up, carrying me out of the building with Grene.

We came to a van. Merle opened up the back and set me down inside, unhooking the leash. He tried to shut the doors with me inside, Grene chuckled when I wouldn't let him. Merle eventually gave in and jumped in with me, Grene didn't join us, I presume so he could drive.

I was happy to find several toys in the back to entertain me, even a game to play with Merle. It was similar to the game I had been given on the alien planet, though I was disappointed to find it didn't dispense treats. The buttons lot up in a pattern, and you had to match the pattern. Each time you successfully matched it, another button was added to the pattern. I resolved that the two of us could break my record of 18, but we only made it to 17 before we arrived.

I was exhausted by this time, so I asked Merle to carry me. He had no qualms, happily lifting me and carrying me across a pathway. It was dark, but I could see a big field to one side and a house on my other. The lights in this house were off, too. I could hear the hushed voices of several dog-men speaking to Merle, I couldn't be sure if they were trying to keep me asleep, I figured they'd be able to tell I was at least half awake.

Merle took me into a dimly lit room and sat me down. I was on a huge easy-chair, dog-man sized. He handed me a bowl of something warm, which I was happy to dig into, making sure not to eat so fast as to be forced to eat slower by a slow-feeding fork. Merle was eating something similar himself.

He took the bowl away as soon as I had eaten everything, placing it just outside the door. I heard foot steps
Down the hall, then the scraping of the bowl being lifted. Normally I'd be curious to see who was there, but I was far too tired to bother. I didn't put up a fuss when Merle changed me into some pajamas, not even questioning where he got them. He laid me on a bed and set me down to rest, I think I fell asleep before her even finished covering me with the blanket.

Published 11/6/18