Submitted for the December 2023 prompt: Treasures, Brightly Wrapped

“My father was an alien.”

 

The doctor didn’t believe me.

 

She sent me away, and now I’m stuck with a bunch of freaks.

 

I got a message from the planet Nalia that my father mated with a human, and I was the result. Now, I am the one who can bring the two cultures together. My mission is to tell people, and peace and unity shall ensue.

 

Instead, I ended up in a hospital.

 

I don’t understand why they decided to put me here.

 

A woman is picking paint off the walls in the shape of a W, she said that stands for victory in a language we could never understand.

 

A man dances the macarena by himself, with no music. Everyone knows the song, and people hum along while he’s moving and shaking.

 

Most of the people here sit around and stare off into space. My mission is to leave.

 

The nurse comes up to me, looking me up and down.

 

“Are you going to group this afternoon?” she says. “The only way you can go home is if you go and talk to people.”

 

“I don’t know what to say to humans,” I say. “They’re not like me.”

 

“I think a lot of them are like you.” She smiles at me and walks away.

 

I can’t believe the doctor put me in this place. She should have known I’m special.

 

My mother never told me who my father was. I always believed he was someone amazing.

 

The message came to me while I was working at the post office. I got a letter mailed directly to me at my booth, special delivery, that informed me that my father was from planet Nalia. My job was boring. Everyone despised working there. I knew I was destined for greater things. I found out it was my mission to save the world.

 

As a young girl, I sensed I would be famous. I liked to dance and sing, and I thought I would end up being a star. But these days, it’s too hard to make it, even if a person is talented.

 

I am going to bring the Earth closer to the stars, and nobody can stop me. Not even the people in the hospital.

 

“How is your anger?” the group leader asks the man.

 

“I’m angry because I don’t think life is fair,” he says, clenching his fists.

 

“Of course, life isn’t fair,” I say. “Everyone knows that.”

 

“Who asked you?” he mutters.

 

“You did,” I say. “You were asking for advice. I know a long of things that nobody else does. My father was from space.”

 

“You’re crazier than all of us,” he says.

 

“Don’t talk like that, Robby,” the group leader says. “We have to respect each other here.”

 

“This is a waste of time,” Robby says.

 

“It is,” I say. “We should be preparing for when my family comes. Why are we here? We should get ready to celebrate!”

 

“I think you should be quiet about the alien stuff,” a woman named Melanie says. “You’ll never get out of here that way.”

 

“I don’t know what you mean,” I say. “Do you think I’ll have to ask permission?”

 

“Okay, we’re getting out of control,” the group leader says. “I think we should end this now.”

 

I sigh. I want to understand why these people don’t believe me. Do they think I’m crazy, too? I’m not.

 

Dinner in the day hall is always interesting. Some patients on the unit are allowed to go to the cafeteria, but I don’t have those privileges yet. Only the sickest ones have to stay on the unit.

 

I eat my meat loaf and mashed potatoes slowly.

 

The man in front of me holds up a spoon of peas.

 

“Every one of these had a soul, and now we’re eating them.”

 

“Bon appetit,” I say.

 

I come to the conclusion that my family will cure these people when they came to Earth. That will be a miracle.

 

One Thursday, the sky appears clear, I look out the window at the stars and dream of space and the family I have never met.

 

I feel a rumbling in my stomach. I think it’s because I’m hungry, but I see a bright light in the sky, moving closer to the hospital.

 

“It’s them!” I scream. “They’ve come for me.”

 

“Who has?” the nurse asked, looking out the window.

 

“My family! They’re here to save me.”

 

“They won’t be able to come in here. This place is locked. Who are they?”

 

Three aliens appeared on the locked ward.

 

They have wavy tentacles coming from their faces with an eye on each of them. Their mouths are on the top of their heads.

 

Everyone in the locked ward cowers in fear.

 

“Niece,” one of the aliens say. “I am your uncle. We have come to save you from your disastrous life.”

 

“Thank you!” I say. “Nobody here believes what I say.”

 

“They will believe you now,” he says. “Come with us.”

 

He takes me in one of his eight arms, and holds me. I have never felt anything so compassionate.

 

“We will save you, and the whole human race as well.”

 

A light flashed, and I left the hospital.

 

It is my destiny to save humanity, but nobody in the locked ward had believed me, because it sounded insane. But what could be crazier than wanting to save the world? My alien family will help me bathe the world in the beauty of peace and love. And there’s nothing crazy about that.

 

My family will save all the people on the locked ward, and make them healthier and happier, and the world will come to understand that we all come from the same stardust, and we should learn to enjoy finding beauty in ordinary things, while it’s still possible.