The Toothpicks: Part One

A normal day gets a one-way ticket to Weirdsvale when a liitle girl sees something shiny came out of the bright blue sky.

Down the street from my Dad's house was a large, plant-filled field. It didn't belong to anyone who lived in the tucked-away neighborhood, so the grass was never cut, the saplings grew tall and the weeds were bigger than us kids who played there. It was the best place to play in the secluded, twelve house neighborhood.

 

There was only the two of us, Katie and me, unless Katie had friends over. I was only there on the weekends, but we had tons of fun with what time we had. We did everything we could in those two days. We played with Barbies, tag, hide-and-seek, and anything else you can think of. We were the best of friends.

 

One weekend Katie couldn't play. She had broken her leg and wasn't allowed out and I wasn't allowed in. I spend the day wondering around the field, daydreaming. I looked up into the bright blue sky but couldn't smile. My best friend was couped up in her room, not able to be out here in the loving sunshine.

 

I spotted something in the white clouds. I darted into a thick group of saplings and looked at the large, shiny thing coming out of the sky. It landed in the center of the field and a piece near the bottom separated from the rest and made a ramp to the ground. I could have walked under it and my head won't touch it,but I wasn't a tall girl.

 

Four strange creatures came out of the UFO. They looked like they were made of light tan wood and had dark green wings that looked like they were made of moss. Their hair was moss green, too, and their eyes were black as coal. I didn't think they had noses and they didn't have lips. Their arms and legs were thin as twigs, their feet were large and flat, and their hands reminded me of spiders with three missing legs.

 

They started talking to each other and, to my surprise, I could understand them. Their voices sounded like crunching leaves and snapping wood and they weren't speaking English.

 

“This is the place, right?” asked the shortest one. Not that it was short to me. I could be standing on my shoulders and I would barely be at the thing's shoulder.

 

“Yes,” answered the one farthest from the ship. “Earth, Mylocdin Galaxy.”

 

“They call it the Milky Way Galaxy,” said one of the two closest to the ship.

 

“One of the last of our stops,” added the other close one.

 

“Good,” said the short one. “I wanna go home. I am tired of that ship and the Hyten.”

 

The other three nodded and agreed.

 

“Lets clear the area so we can start the collecting,” said the one furthest from the others. It pulled a wooden sword from behind it's back. The other three pulled out swords and joined the one closest to me. The swords began to glow faintly and I knew that these things were going to kill everyone in my little neighborhood.

 

They were going to kill Katie.

 

That thought stuck in my head. I jumped from my hiding place and put myself between the killers and my friend.

 

“Aw. Look here, brothers,” said the short one. “I think the little wingless girl means to stop us.”

 

The four laughed.

 

“I won't let you hurt my friend!” I told them stubbornly. That was one thing I could do no matter how scared I was. I could be stubborn. “I won't let you!”

 

The four exchanged curious glances.

 

“Do you understand us?” one asked.

 

“Yes,” I huffed. “You well not be clearing this area!”

 

“I think Hin should know about this one,” said the one that had asked me if I understood him. It seemed to be the leader. “Humans don't know our language.”

 

One of the others went inside the ship and the leader put his sword away. “See, little one, I put my weapon away,” said the leader. The other two followed his lead and put their swords away. “I'll keep it away if you come with us on the pretty ship.”

 

I thought for a moment. If they were going to the trouble of contacting their leader then they wouldn't hurt me. I knew I had to be careful, however.

 

“I will, but if I am not home by dark people will notice. You can't go through with your plans if this entire area is crawling with police officers, can you?”

 

The leader looked at it's companions and they seemed to be talking silently. After a moment he turned back to me and said, “Alright, little clever one. We will behave ourselves. Will you come with us?”

 

I nodded and walk into the ship on my own, ignoring the hand the leader offered.

 

The inside of the ship had so much green in it I thought I was stuck in a green crayon. Every shade, every tone, any kind of green you can think of was backed into the one room. The circular walls were covered in screens and buttons and levers and flashing lights. Three more of the creatures were sitting in wheeled chairs and they seemed to be in charge of the technical part of the ship. Four seats are in the center of the ship and the one that came in before us was already sitting down. The chairs are made for these taller beings and I fell like a baby in an adult's room.

 

“Would you like to sit down?” asks the leader. I nod and he easily lifts me and sets me on the largest chair. It is very comfortable and the others sit in their sets while the leader stands next to me.

 

“My name is Or,” said the leader. “The short one is Twee, the one to your right is Ver, and the one on your left is Rev. What is your name, little one?”

 

“I'm Brittany,” I said. I heard the ramp close and the ship seemed to move. “What's going on?”

 

“We are taking you to our leader, Hin,” said Or. “He wishes to meet you. You are a very strange human, Brittany.”

 

“Yes,” added Twee. “So tiny, and yet you decide to defy us. You are either very brave or very stupid.”

 

“What do you want with Earth?” I asked. “Why are you here?”

 

“As you may have guessed,” started Ver.

 

“We love the color green,” finished Rev.

 

“We are the Toopathains, from a galaxy very far from here. We all love green so much that we decided that we want every bit of green in the universe,” Or explained. “So that is why we are here. Earth is just full of green things.”

 

“But if you love green so much, wouldn't want to share it with everyone?” I asked. “If you are taking it all then that makes you really greedy.”

 

Or smiled at me. At least, I thought it was smiling at me. Without lips smiling was creepy-looking and all sharp, dark brown teeth. “Your eyes are the most stunning shade of green, little one. The sparkle with life and change color from deep green to light green to gray-green.”

 

“Truly marvelous,” commented Twee.

 

Ver and Rev nodded and muttered their agreement.

 

I sighed and settled back in the high chair and waited for my meeting with their leader.

Author's Note

I used to tell this story to my younger twin sisters beofre they went to bed.
XD