Alien Caller by Greg Curtis Page A

get some
breakfast. But the question became, what do you feed an alien? And
would it be safe?
     
    His first
thought was corn flakes, his normal breakfast, but then he looked
at her fangs and thought again. The lady wanted meat.
     
    He put the corn
flakes back in the cupboard and pulled out some bacon and eggs. But
he still had no idea whether she could eat it safely. He didn’t
even know if she knew. There was really only one solution. He
carried the bacon and eggs over to her and asked her to smell them.
She wrinkled up her tiny nose at them in what he assumed was
distaste, and he wondered what next. Hunting in the fridge he found
some cold sausages, a pint of milk and cheese, yoghurt and fruit
bran, and one by one he let her smell them. Oddly it was the
yoghurt and bran that appealed.
     
    Then he had to
try and explain about safety, and spent an interesting few minutes
pantomiming eating and falling down sick. Either he wasn’t very
good at it, or she enjoyed watching his clowning around, because
she simply didn’t seem to get the idea. Then, when he was finally
at the limit of his frustration, she got up, poured the fruit bran
into two bowls, covered it with the yoghurt and began to munch.
Evidently she wasn’t too worried. And equally he realized, she
didn’t feel like eating alone.
     
    Feeling a
little shell shocked by the whole thing he reached for the other
bowl and a spoon, and sat down on the stool beside her. Soon he was
tucking in to a good breakfast with her. And it was good. Not only
was the breakfast quite tasty, it was somehow reassuring to be
eating with her. Sharing food he recalled, was a universal custom
used in getting to know people. Or at least it was on Earth. Now it
appeared that it was a practice enjoyed further afield as well.
     
    He studied her some more while
she ate, as she in turn studied him, each starting to discover that
they had much in common as well as their obvious differences. They
both enjoyed the fruit bran; maybe she had a cholesterol issue
too . They both expressed
that enjoyment through smiling and making similar noises. They were
also both right handed, using the spoon in the same way. She had
used a spoon before. He wondered if she had used spoons on her own
world or previously on Earth.
     
    When the first
bowl was gone, he poured her another, realizing she was probably
hungry. He didn’t know how long she’d been wandering around out
there hurt and lost, but it was a fair bet she hadn’t eaten for at
least a day or so. He noticed she didn’t object as he poured it
into her bowl. He left her with the yoghurt and went to put on the
kettle. Coffee, was always his truest breakfast. But he wondered if
she would be interested in it.
     
    Carefully he
brought the jar over to her, letting her smell the contents, and
also a packet of tea bags, and some hot chocolate mix. It was the
chocolate that caught her interest and she pointed at it with
interest. Soon he put a cup of hot chocolate down in front of her
with some milk and sugar beside it for her to add if she wanted. In
return she handed him the empty cereal bowl and nodded her thanks,
another typically human custom. For a moment, a few fractions of a
second perhaps, he was overcome by the familiarity of it all. The
homeliness.
     
    Here she was, a
woman who was completely alien to his world and who was nothing
like any human being, and yet they were playing happy families in
the kitchen as though they were old friends. It was peculiar to say
the least and he was sure she felt it too.
     
    The moment
passed and she reached for the milk and sugar. Soon she was taking
good sized sips of the drink and rubbing her stomach while making
yum yum noises. David realized that she was both telling him that
it was good, and also poking fun at his earlier pantomime as he had
worried human food would harm her. But it was in a light hearted
sort of way, as though she shared a joke. He was becoming quite
good at reading her expressions,