A Spaceship Odyssey [Scene 12]

Director's Cut: World Edition!

Coyotes are known to be highly monogamous creatures. A study done showed that the majority of coyotes settle with one mate for life after finding their soulmate. 

Another fact, although unconfirmed, is that certain coyotes native to the California region have developed an acute sense of business aptitude, modeling human swindle and scamming tactics to prey on vulnerable humans and their kindness and or naivety. 

Action!

***

She kissed me. It was our first kiss. Not to be negative, but it's not how I imagined it would go. Her lips felt like metal and were cold to the touch. There was no grace or carefulness, just a block of iron on my nose. Which made it all the more strange that I enjoyed it. 

If it weren't for my internal organs being crushed 10,000 feet in the air attached to the body of a flying space robot, I'd almost think it was romantic. Can't say that I'd ever flown this first class with a woman before. The wind kept hitting me in the face at alarming speeds and really hoped it would be intact when we landed. Please, put me down!

It had only been a month since we became official, and a lot had happened. For the better and for the worst. Somewhere in between seemed fair enough. She moved in, got a job, started adjusting to human life, snuck her way into my bedroom, but something still felt off. That lonely dream of her staring at the red moon actually was real. A certain emptiness in her became more apparent the more the days passed. And today, it almost seemed as if she was jealous. If she somehow fixed her spaceship, would she truly leave Earth? A weird feeling came about at the thought. 

It was sunny today and the blue sky seemed just right. Yunaria slowed down a bit, thank God, and started to glance around as we approached a lone desert. Come to think of it, this was rather historical. I was going to see a real-life spaceship. All of the movies, the tropes and bastardization of aliens, had proved to be wrong. The alien woman I had come to know was far more idiotic, yet even more intelligent than the smartest human at the same time. She wore a quiet, reserved look on her face. I still didn't know what went through her mind. Sometimes I forgot she really wasn't from Earth. Actually, not really, but still. 

"Oh, there it is!" Yunaria screamed over the wind. 

It was a spec at this point, so I couldn't see anything. The suspense was killing me. A real-life robot alien spaceship. I was practically salivating. 

We lowered to the ground and immediately, the humidity of the desert hit me. My face began to sweat. I didn't exactly know where we were, but all that surrounded me were sand dunes and miles of dirt. An empty street separated us from the other side of the desert and there loomed a lone metallic figure in the distance. A tumbleweed blew by us before we crossed the road, and I took it as a great sign. Those types of things only happened in the movies. 

"Are the skies always this blue on Earth?" Yunaria asked me out of nowhere.

"No, not always. But sometimes. Why?"

"Yalina only has red skies. It never changes. It's nice to see something different. Maybe if I can't fix my spaceship, you could show me all of the different skies on Earth,"

"Maybe. I have a demanding job. I'm usually surrounded by idiots that are watching me at every step, maybe even now..."

I shuddered at the thought of Ben and the crew popping up in banana suits singing in a mariachi band. God, I have got to let that nightmare go. 

"Besides, you have a job now," I mentioned, "You can't just leave work anytime you like,"

"Why not?" 

"Because you just can't, it's how jobs work,"

"That's unfortunate. It doesn't leave you much time of the day."

"No..." I trailed off. The "spaceship" came into view.

 "...it doesn't."

I should've known. When I expected something to be normal, it turned out to be completely insane. And when I wanted to see something spectacular, it was utterly mundane. I wanted to cry. Ben definitely had something to do with this; he ruined everything fun in my life. He and his demon imp executives. They all wore suits and ties and had red little horns sticking out the sides of their heads, waiting to sabotage me at every turn.

"Ah, I'm so glad my spaceship is still intact," Yunaria exclaimed.

Her "spaceship" was literally a four-door sedan. There's no need to try and imagine.  I swear, you could, no exaggeration, find a more modern car like this at any local dealership. Even a junkyard. My fantasies were crushed. 

“Are all spaceships from Yalina like this?”

She walked around the spaceship to inspect the outside, “Something’s wrong.”

“Well, yeah. You said it was broken, right? And, uh, by chance, are there other types of spaceships on Yalina or the galaxy, ha,” I really needed to know.

“It is broken. For some reason, it won’t take off anymore,” she paused, “Wait,”

Was she ignoring my question?

Yunaria opened the door and to my surprise, it actually was a full-blown spaceship. I couldn't believe it! A green light illuminated on the inside and when you stepped in, it felt like the size of a large room. I walked in and tried to duck my head, but it turned out I was looking up at the ceiling. The floors were metallic gray in a gridded pattern, with complex control panels and buttons all around the ship. 

What the fuck? This was huge. Imagine if the government or research scientists found out about this. We could discover space travel and other galaxies. Although, I don't know how Yunaria would fare in a series of interviews and subject testing. My stomach dropped. How would this change things? 

Even if she stayed here for the rest of her life, I had a horrible feeling that things couldn't stay how they were after finding this. 

"I knew something was off," Yunaria muttered in the distance. Was she upset?

"Put me down, you blue freak!" a tiny voice yelled. 

Oh shit. Was this another alien? This was almost as rare as being mauled by a bear in the middle of an ocean.

 I bet Einstein couldn't even have guessed that if you wanted to attract aliens, all you had to do was leave a trail of gasoline and they'll be like moths to a flame. Maybe cheese to a rat. 

When I walked around the corner, Yunaria was holding up what looked to be like a human. Not an alien, okay. A bit disappointing, but I'd come to expect that.  She was a woman, but extremely short. I think the correct term these days was dwarfism. Her hair was long, and jet black with skin that looked sort of tan, and she wore a knitted sweater with traditional garments as the design. Ironically, what stood out was that sweater. Why not take it off? My face was drenched.

"Yunaria, please put her down," I pleaded.

"This human tried to steal my craft. I have no choice but to eliminate them," 

"Ahhhh!" The woman shrieked.

Yunaria's eyes glowed red and she was going to put a beam right through this poor lady. Some stereotypes are true, hm. I suppose it was a robot's instinct. I'll keep that in mind for future arguments. I'd almost think this was a fever dream and I'd wake back up in Japan. Never directing Space Cowboy Robot Love, meeting a stupid coyote, finding a four-door sedan spaceship, no banana suits. That'd be great. 

But that would also mean I would've never met Yunaria. I suppose she'd be the only thing I wouldn't erase from this nightmare. 

"Woah, woah, woah," I stopped her, noticing her eyes switch back to normal from scary robot mode. "Let's ask her a question. We don't know her reasoning."

Yunaria set the woman down and sighed. "You're right. I've learned humans resolve conflict differently."

"Exactly," I turned to the woman, "Why are you here?"

"I was going to steal it," she replied. 

I blinked a couple of times. I often did that to remind myself I was real. I should've known by now that this was my life. In the middle of the desert, a woman tried to steal my robot girlfriend's spaceship.

These events only started after I met Yunaria. Excitement is a thing that all good relationships had. 

She definitely made my life interesting; I could only laugh. 

***