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The first snow of winter had wrapped the world in a blanket of dazzling white. The young boy and his tiger crowded the kitchen window, as his parents listened to the news-radio station for the announcement every child longs to hear on these kinds of mornings.
“It’s a mess out there, the streets are near impassable, and we’ve just received word from the district, schools are closed for today… and tomorrow! Enjoy the snow days, kids!”
Calvin let out a cheer, happy for a reprieve from the drudgery of school. His father glanced at him, and grinned, “Excellent! This is a good time to build some character, young man. Our sidewalk needs shoveled, and you’re old enough to help this year!”
Excitement bubbled in Calvin, as his mind took flight into the possibilities of the day. He vaguely heard his father say something, but whatever it was didn’t seem as important as the adventure waiting for them just outside the door. He glanced over to Hobbes who looked as excited as he was. They both leapt to their feet, nearly knocking over Calvin’s father.
“Calvin! Did you hear a word I said?” his father cried, narrowly avoiding a collision. Calvin glanced up at his father, “Huh? No, Hobbes and I were too busy thinking about our plans for the day!”
“Well, as I just told you, you’re old enough to help with the snow this year, so you need to clear the pathway from the front door to the sidewalk. You’re responsible for this, and I don’t want you inside until it’s finished. And no blaming Hobbes if you decide to slack off.”
Even that proclamation couldn’t temper his excitement as he yanked on his boots, hat, and mittens, and Hobbes wrapped a scarf around his neck and donned his own hat, before they bounded out into the yard, snow crunching under their feet.
Following them outside, his father reached out and grabbed a package from the porch to hand to him, “Here, I got you a gift. This should be just the right size for you.”
As Calvin opened the package, removing a small snow-shovel, he envisioned that he was an interplanetary explorer armed with only his wits and a shovel, as he and Hobbes exited through the hatch of the UEF Cruiser Tygris to be the first Earthlings to set foot on this frozen planetoid.
“First Officer Hobbes, check the stellar charts and tell me the name of this place!”
“Why am I the First Officer?” Hobbes grumbled, “I should be the Captain. Tigers are natural leaders, you know!”
“Look Hobbes, see this shovel? This is the Captain’s Shovel, so that makes me the Captain.” Calvin smirked, “Besides just the other day you were telling me that tigers never get lost. So, you’re my faithful first officer, my infallible navigator, my right hand tiger!”
Fine. whatever.” Hobbes rolled his eyes, and tapped some buttons, Cap’n, The chart says we’re on a tiny frozen planetoid. Galactic Classification Eisus-Snikred V.”
Calvin considered this for a moment. “Wasn’t there a memo about this place from the UEF? Something about it being unchartable for some reason?”
“That’s right Cap’n!” Hobbes snapped his fingers, “The last crew to come here never came home! That was Captain Moe’s ship! They just vanished with no trace!” The First Officer glanced from side to side, “Maybe we should leave before it happens to us too!”
“Not a chance. We have a Mission from High Command, direct from the Commandant himself and we must complete it, or we can’t go home, you heard him. Besides, you’re not a scaredy cat, are you?” The Captain peered into the distance ignoring the dirty look the tiger gave him.
“First Officer! Do you see that in the distance? It’s looks like some grotesque form of alien life! I didn’t know there was any life to be found here. Do you think it’s intelligent?
“I see it Cap’n, It seems kinda cute.” Hobbes considered it for a second. “I think it might be. It looks like it’s waving at us, trying to get our attention. Maybe we should investigate.”
“Well, Hobbes old boy, that’s why we’re here! To explore new worlds and meet strange new life. And by the looks of it, It doesn’t come much stranger than that!” He paused for a moment, “…Cute? Maybe you need your eyes checked. That thing has multiple tentacles and looks like it’s oozing something. This should be great!”
“You’ve got the shovel, Captain, so you forge the path ahead, lead the way and I’ll be right behind you and let you know if you go off course. Like a good navigator should.”
Susie Derkins left the house in her warm winter coat with her matching hat and gloves, and a handmade scarf wrapped around her neck. The neighborhood was a blank slate of snow, silent and cold. Her parents told her to go enjoy the day, but where was everyone? The streets were empty and quiet as she strolled down the snow covered sidewalk, lost in thought, the only sounds the whispering of the wind in the trees and the crunch of the snow beneath her boots.
As she approached the block Calvin lived on she heard him talking to his stuffed tiger, and struggling with a snow-shovel, Stopping at the end of the path to his house, she waved to him to catch his attention. She noticed him peer at her in the distance, and point to her, arguing with the tiger before resuming shoveling to clear a path to her.
She hesitated, knowing just how volatile relations between the two of them could be, and if she were honest, that came from both sides at least a bit. She enjoyed riling him up, and loved to give as good as she got. But today she was lonely and wanted to see if he was up to playing. So, she continued to wave and waited for him to reach her.
As he approached, she heard snippets of the conversation with the tiger, something about hideous tentacled ooze aliens on this snow planet. Sighing to herself, she knew it was going to be one of those days. Calvin could be a lot of fun to be around, but he so frequently got lost in his own imagination, he lost sight of everything around him.
She smiled to herself, as she made the mental adjustment to step into his world, and play up the role she’d been given She began undulating her arms, waving them back and forth, front to back, side to side, making grotesque faces at the approaching explorers.
“Cap’n, the alien creature has noticed us, and it seems to be even cuter than I previously thought.” Hobbes squinted into the distance, “It seems pretty impatient. Should we pick up the pace?”
“I dunno Hobbes, it looks angry to me. And malicious. Maybe we should attack before it gets us. We don’t want to share the fate of that other crew, do we?”
The First Officer made a face, “But Cap’n, how do we know that they didn’t do that. Maybe that’s why they vanished. Moe always thought with his fists before anything else, maybe that was his undoing!”
Calvin considered the options. As good as a full-on snowball assault sounded, he knew he was being watched by his father, and more importantly, the unseen agents of the Claus. It’s not that he was worried about vanishing without a trace, but he was unwilling to risk the displeasure of the Claus, so he decided on a more cautious course.
“Hobbes, one of us needs to get closer to see what its intentions are. And that’s where you come in. If it doesn’t try to eat you, then we’ll know it’s safe. And if it does…” Calvin looks uncomfortable at the thought, “Well, you’re a tiger, I’m sure you can handle it. I’ll be back here arming myself with snowballs just in case.”
“No. No no no no.” Hobbes dug in his heels, “I do not like the ‘Use Hobbes as bait’ plan. I am a jungle cat, not a snow creature. Just keep clearing a path. I get the strangest feeling we’ve seen this creature before.”
Calvin watched in horror as the alien shuffled its way through the snow towards them, tentacles waving wildly as it approached, “Hobbes! It’s coming at us! We need to do something!”
The creature roared, lunging forward, “Calvin you jerk, I’ve been over there waiting for you to clear the path for me and you’re just standing here arguing with that stuffed tiger!”
Calvin was startled out of his reverie at the alien's approach. “Hobbes! The alien knows my name! Help! Hurry!!” He paused and took a closer look at the creature, who, he had to admit, was not as nearly hideous as he’d originally thought. “Susie Derkins!" he shouted at her, "I might have guessed you were really an alien! It all makes sense now!”
Susie rolled her eyes, “If you’re on my planet Calvin, then guess what, that makes YOU the alien! And a hideous one at that! I was trying to scare you away.” Susie grinned at Hobbes,” At least the tiger is cute. I guess if he comes along you can visit.” She watched Calvin’s face to see if she’d scored a hit.
Calvin paused for a moment, his face contorting as he grappled with the logic. “Augh. You’re right! I’ve been the alien the whole time! And you think I’m hideous? Susie, that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me!” He beamed a huge smile at her, causing her to burst into laughter.
“Calvin you are such a weirdo.” She glanced past him to see Calvin’s dad approaching rapidly.
“Hey! You’ve only gotten halfway done! What have you been doing this whole time?” he looks Calvin in the eyes, “C’mon kid, this need to be done before it freezes”
“I’m sorry,” Susie jumped in, surprising both Calvin and herself “It was my fault. I came over and distracted him. I didn’t have anyone to play with, and didn’t realize he was supposed to be working.” Calvin stared at her, mouth open, as his dad’s lips twitched in a fraction of a smile.
“Well, I guess I can understand that. I was young once too, believe it or not.” He gestured to the house, “Why don’t you kids go inside and warm up with some hot cocoa. I’ll finish up here. Just this once.”
“Really? Thanks Dad!” Calvin grabbed Hobbes and headed into the house, as Susie followed. She turned to glance back, and saw Calvin’s dad wink at her before turning to finish the path through the snow.
As she caught up with Calvin, she heard him whispering, “Y’know Hobbes, maybe Susie is okay after all.”
She smiled to herself, and thought, ‘And maybe I’m not the only intelligent life out here after all.’