When the aliens arrived

by Jim O'Loughlin

When the aliens arrived, we didn’t notice them at first, what with invisible space ships and their chameleon-like ability to blend in with humans. But soon it became apparent that something had changed. All those creatures always staring at us, horrified by the process of eating, amazed by the yellow painted lines in the road that kept cars on either side. The aliens couldn’t understand why we had to sleep, and they could never remember to stay on the sidewalk.

There were other things as well. The aliens had no interest in computers. They were afraid of elevators. The aliens stood too close when they spoke to us. They weren’t polite, always asking questions about our age, our weight, and our last bowel movement.

Some of us thought that the arrival of the aliens meant the end of life as we knew it, and we hid in our homes with guns or moved to Idaho with more guns. But most of us just thought it would pass. We waited for the aliens to go back into their space ships and fly home.

But the aliens didn’t leave, and after a while we all got used to them. We began to drive more carefully, competitive spitting became a televised sport, and we all began to look to the skies, watching and wondering what might happen next.