My Friend is an Alien - Edlund Niklas. Страница 41

At one point, exploring some tall grasses in the woods, Keyro put up his hand. "Wildlife!" he whispered.

Martin gulped. That could mean anything from a chipmunk to a bear. "What is it?"

"A member of the ophidia family." replied Keyro.

"A what?!" exclaimed Martin, wondering not for the first time if Keyro was really as close in age to himself as he actually looked. The way Keyro spoke sometimes, it was very hard to know for certain.

"A member of the ophidia family." said Keyro again. "In this case it is one of the limbless specimens of…

"Let me see." said Martin. He had no idea what Keyro was talking about. He'd never heard of an «ophidia». He edged around Keyro and looked about twelve paces further along, and saw the animal Keyro was talking about.

It was, in plain language, a snake. A large one, at that.

And Keyro was clearly clueless about it.

Martin nearly wet his underpants. He didn't know if this thing was poisonous or not, and didn't intend to hang around long enough to find out. "Keyro?" Martin squeaked.

"Yes?" asked Keyro.

"RUN!" cried Martin, turning around and taking off at full speed, barely looking over his shoulder long enough to see if Keyro was following. He was. After a few minutes, the two boys stopped. "That was a snake!" said Martin.

"That is the standard term, yes." agreed Keyro.

"Some of them are dangerous!" said Martin. "And they're all creepy."

Keyro blinked. "I didn't know some of them were dangerous. I haven't gotten that far in my reading yet. Was that one dangerous?"

"I don't know." said Martin. "An' I don't care."

The two boys slumped to the ground, Martin leaning up against a tree. "Keyro, how can you sound like you're so smart, act like you know so much, and then something like that happens?"

"I'm still fairly new to this world." replied Keyro. "And there's a lot of animals on this planet."

Martin sighed, and stood. "I gotta pee. I'll be right back."

"Plenty of bushes around here." commented Keyro. "It's not as though I'll be offended."

Martin just shrugged. Inwardly, he didn't really want to separate from Keyro. The forest seemed to be getting thicker. So he turned his back on Keyro, lowered his shorts, and aimed at the nearest bush. He could also hear Keyro stifling a giggle. "What's so funny?" said Martin once he had finished.

"A very dirty you compared to a very clean butt." replied Keyro. "You sure you want to keep wearing those shorts?"

"Yes, and stop lookin' at my butt." replied Martin.

"Well, sorry, but the sun's glare off it was a little too much to ignore." giggled Keyro.

"Why, you —!" said Martin, who looked to try to tackle Keyro, but the young alien was to his feet and running off into the woods too quickly. Martin gave chase. "Come back here!" yelled Martin. He followed the sound of Keyro's dashing through the dense leaves and bushes. Then, abruptly, there was a shriek and silence.

Martin froze in his tracks. That wasn't a good sound. He paised and listened. "Keyro?" No response. "KEYRO?!"

From off in the distance, Martin heard a distant, "Help!"

Martin swallowed hard. The woods looked a lot creepier all of a sudden. Martin didn't move. Then he heard it again. "Martin, help!"

Martin moved forward towards the sound of the cry. He couldn't tell what was ahead, but it seemed to be getting a bit lighter. "Keyro?" Martin said, but not as loudly as he should. He couldn't seem to work up any volume.

Then Martin emerged from the woods and almost wished he hadn't. There was about ten feet of grass, and then — nothing. It was a cliff. Martin could see more forest on the other side, but he was too scared to get close to the edge, and even as it was, it looked like a long way down. And there was no sign of Keyro. "KEYRO!" he screamed, not taking one step closer to the edge.

There was a long pause. "Martin!" came the response. "I'm — holding on here — just past the edge. I need your help!"

Martin got on his hands and knees and crawled to the edge of the drop-off, trembling every few inches. It took every ounce of courage the boy had to look over. It was a terrifying sight. Keyro had grabbed a thick protruding branch about a foot and a half down from the edge, which wasn't very far, but he had no way of climbing up. To even reach up and shift his entire weight too much, and would almost certainly cause the branch to break off. It was a good sixty or seventy feet down — probably more — to a pile of jagged-looking rocks. Not even Keyro could withstand that, and there would be little way to get the injured alien out of there. "A — Are you okay?" Martin squeaked.

"Yes, but I can't get back up myself." said Keyro, sounding as terrified as Martin felt. His voice trembled. "I need your help. You've got to reach down to me."

Martin backed away, terrified at the prospect. "Can't — Can't you bring yourself up the way you lifted my shirt off or something?"

"No!" cried Keyro, not angrily but now showing his own terror. "No one can do that! It doesn't work that way!"

Martin was close to tears. "Keyro — I–I don't think I can do that."

"Martin, I can't climb up on my own." said Keyro as calmly as he could. "You're the only one who can save me. Martin, please! You're my best friend. Please!"

Martin bit his lower lip. He thought about all the wonderful times he'd had with Keyro, including today. He recalled teaching the boy that it was okay to show affection for someone else that you really cared about. He balanced that against the terror he was feeling at the idea of lowering himself over the side far enough to reach Keyro.

Finally, with a determination he had never felt before — and wasn't entirely sure he ever wanted to feel again after he got through with this — Martin choked back his tears, and his fear, and launched himself at the drop-off and reached out to Keyro. He caught the boy's hands just as one of the rocks he'd been hanging onto broke away. The weight was nearly enough to drag Martin over the edge. Keyro did his best to move his feet against the edge of the drop-off even as Martin squirmed to back up and bring his friend back from the edge. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Keyro was brought back to safety. He and Martin collapsed into an exhausted, relieved, sweaty, grass-stained, dirty, soot-covered heap.

Keyro rolled off of Martin and both boys just laid there for a time. Martin started to cry. Keyro still looked shaken. Finally, though, the young alien turned to his friend. "Martin, I'm okay."

"My fault." sniffed Martin. "If I hadn't chased you…"

Keyro reached out to his friend. "I was going to suggest a race in that direction anyway. This isn't your fault. I was looking over my shoulder to make sure you were following when I fell. There's no need for — whatever's happening to you. The water from your eyes."

Martin sniffed again. "I'm sorry."

"Nothing to apologize for. Sometimes I wish — I could do that. Maybe I can and don't know it. It's just not how I was raised."

Martin tried to gain control of his crying, with little luck. "What about you? You couldn't do anything to save yourself? You know so much."

Keyro paused, looking at the confused boy.

"You're so smart and strong and everything…" said Martin in gasps between tears.

"Not — as much as you think." said Keyro, coming as close to tears as he ever had, and surprising himself at that. "Martin, I know how I act sometimes. That's just — how I am. How my people are. But I'm not that much stronger than you. And I'm no older."

"You're not?" said Martin, his tears finally calming.

"I guess Jahv and I never told you. We calculated it. We're the same age — ages — as you and your friends. The difference is — too small to even mention."