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I saw her fall down the stairs. Her hair trailing behind her. The soft, pale skin I had once desired, now bloodied and bruised. It’s a shame. I take off my glasses and sit down at the top of the stairs as everyone around panics. My eyes adjust quickly and the colours change back to the black and white scheme. They only care about the people they like. The people they see all the time. Definitely not me. I stay hidden. The bushes concealing me as I try and learn how to be like them. Human…
[ HUMAN; being, relating to, or belonging to a person or to people as opposed to animals: the human body ]
They push me around, no matter who I’m with. I always fall down too, but I get back up. Why won’t she get up? Her head’s still attached. Limbs intact. Only the pool of blood concerns me. Why isn’t she regenerating? The people behind her shrieked for her as the group pushed her down. One hand on her back making her fall ten steps. They laugh, so I laugh with them. I thought we were playing a game, but games don’t hurt people. Their smiles twitch and fade as their faces turn to horror. The side of her head had a dent. That wasn't there before. Tears start streaming down her face as her eyes roll back. I can do that too. Only for a few seconds. She lasted until she got taken away. They covered her with a white cloth, and I don’t know what happened after. My mother says white is only for special people. She is special. She’s my special friend.
.
The flowers surrounded her dead body. White, pink, and purple. Her favourites. As instructed, I placed the white one to match the cloth. I was waiting for her to pop out from the walls again so we could do it together. We always do things at the same time. She helped me, so I thought she was nice. When everyone grimaced at my tanned skin, she bought me the same glasses she had so I could see things in the Earth’s sun. I didn’t need them when I was at home. When I bled, she gave me a thing they call a “bandage” to cover it on my arm. Was the white cloth a big bandage?
So she’ll eventually get better, right? The huge cut on her head will be gone soon. She always said, everything will be alright. All the scars she had from the scissors cutting across her arms. I questioned when she sat in the bathroom, crying. Humans are weird. They cry when they are happy, sad, hurt, and surprised. Or is that happy, too? Even the buckets of water poured on her head when she came into class looked like big tears. In sports, when the ball came flying towards her stomach. But she always had that big smile whenever she saw me. Shielding me from any harm. I want to bring her to my home planet. It's not that far from Earth. I think she'll like that. I want to show her the beautiful flowers that match the colour of her blood. She always has that colour on her clothes. I offered to remove the stains, but she said, “No, it'll come back the next day,” and it did. Humans don't lie. She had told me that she wanted to disappear. When will she come back then? I don’t understand. You can’t disappear, be invisible, or just vanish into dust. Humans can’t do that. I can’t do that.
Humans wave whenever they leave, but she hasn’t waved yet. Does that mean she’s hiding? I’ll look for you. I can properly play “hide and seek” now. I want to play, I want to learn, and I want to be with you. She called it love when you want to spend the rest of your life with someone else. But she said she loved my personality, and I love hers too. I live for centuries, so I won't ever leave her. I only “kissed” her once. On the cheek. She said it wasn’t official. But it's been months since I arrived here from my home planet.
People started to walk out the door, but they haven't waved either. It quickly got dark outside. Night. Her favourite time of day. When she was free and could dance and jump and splash in the rain puddles. I was alone with the flickering light above me.
I cried. Because that’s what humans do when someone “dies”.