Parrajeep

I waited for a parrajeepney with a route from Greenbelt 1, Earth-44 to Greenbelt 2, Earth-89. One came but it was full. I held on the steel bars on the door to hang but the driver stopped me.

'Bawal ho ang sabit. Pasok ho kayo, may isa pa.' [You are prohibited from hanging. Please come in, there's one seat left.]

I was grateful that there indeed was one small space left for one passenger. I squeezed my self into the seat. It was too narrow for me. Only one cheek of my butt is sitting on the seat. But the jeep has already started running so I have no choice but to endure.

Along the way, I felt too uncomfortable that I decided to get off.

'Boss, para na ho dyan.' [Boss, I'll get off here.] I recon we might be at Earth-56 by now but it doesn't matter. My leg muscles are cramping due to my impossible position. I have to get off. But the driver stopped me.

'Bawal ho bumaba dito. May ParraPolice'. [You are prohibited from getting off here. There are ParraPolice in the area.] So I endured.

At long last, we arrived at Earth-89. It was a great relief. The passengers started getting off. I follow suit. But the driver stopped me, to my irritation.

'Bawal ho kayo bumaba. Hindi pa kayo bayad.' [You are prohibited from getting off. You haven't paid yet.]

Death of the family

I will miss all of you. I will miss our fun times together. I will miss brother's noise. I will miss sister's nagging. I will miss father's advice and mother's concern.

I will miss our bonding. Our family time watching soaps on TV while eating popcorn. I will miss spending Christmas with you. I will miss our exchange gifts.

I will miss everything.

But it has to end here. You have to go. I have to let you go. I have to do this for myself. I have to be free. Free from all of you. You should not control me. You should not be dictating how I live my life.

So this is goodbye. After this I'll be free. And all of you will be gone. Stuffed in some gray box and buried somewhere in this forsaken room full of all my forsaken things. It's time.

I will miss you. But you have to go. Goodbye everyone. Goodbye my Sims Family. I had a great time playing with you.

The Waiting Shed at the Border of the Blackhole

"Going South?"

"Yeah. How do you know?"

"My gift." She said, while pointing to the thin, pink almost gelatinous antenna on her forehead. "They call these caldousil. It's like an advance nose in your race."

I looked at it with feigned amazement. I've never seen it in person but I have read about them before, sometime over the last 40 years during one of my Xenopology classes. 

"I'm Klathykksi. You can pronounce it Klat with your tongue." She offers her hand to shake. But I know she's not shaking hands. I've read it before. So I pull my hand out, spit on the back of my palm and slaps it to the palm of her outstretched hands. She seem quite surprised by what I did, her black eyeballs widened. But her eyes then start to close into a slit. She is feeling the spit with her hypersensitive skin.

She is a Krayohian. From the 178th quadrant of the Andromeda galaxy. Marine-based lifeform. Salt-based. The have highly enhanced senses of smell and feeling. But almost completely blind. Life span of 255 Earthian years. Only female exists. They reporoduce asexually via psychomitosis. 

I learned it all from college.

Our race is one of the weakest lifeforms in the universe. We don't have special organs or body parts. We did not evolve any extraordinary appendages. Even the lower lifeforms in our planet are more equipped with special organs than us. What we excelled in is learning how to use tools and using them to our advantage.

That's why the Earthian government decided that we should excel in knowledge. But not the knowledge to exceed the Wikians. Their mental prowess are far, far superior than us. Almost infinite brain capacity. What we did focused on is on the 'street  knowledge' of the universe. What things do we need to know to protect ourselves. How can we survive out there. 

You may think it's almost combative and competitive in nature. Learning how to survive by finding out things about other races. Learning other's weaknesses.

But it's how we survive. How our species will survive.

'Nice meeting, you. You have a nice life ahead of you.' The Krayohian greeted as a warpbus docks. 'And by the way, if you happen to pass by 178th, just spittulate and they will know that we are acquaintances. See yah!'

In that entire conversation I said exactly only 5 words. And yet I have forged an alliance between two races from different corners of the world. My mission here is accomplished.

Another warpbus arrives. Time to proceed to the next target.

DELAYED

"The flight to Earth-203 has been delayed".

The huge speakers on the altport blared.

"The flight to Earth-203 has been delayed".

The huge speakers repeated.

I looked at the giant Jumbotron and searched for my flight. EARTH-203 slid on the ticker. DELAYED followed it.

I't doesn't bother me really. I have all the time in the world, or at least in the world I'm going to. I had an x-deal with self-203 last year. He likes to be alone, (I believe he is a painter) and he needs to be in total solitude while doing his art. But he have many very cheerful relationships in that world. ANd relationships means noise and distraction.

Good thing, I happen to be a loner in this world. A lone wolf going wherever I wan't to, doing whatever I want to. But loneliness gets wearisome at times. Depression is my enemy here. And I have resolved to be in good terms with everyone I know now.

But I don't want to start from scratch, start rebuilding bonds. It's too tiresome. Hence the x-deal.

I'll live his life of endless ruckus. He'll live my life of infinite solitude. And I'm fine with that. I'm tired of being alone.

"The flight to Earth-203 will proceed in 0200 hours".

I saw my altplane materializing on the dropway. As soon as the door opened, I saw many people got off. Most of them looks familiar but different.

Then I saw myself getting off.

 I look so goddamn awful.

When he looked at me, I feel like he's thinking the same thing.