When I opened my eyes again, I was no longer on a spaceship. I was in my old bedroom on Earth. I did not have the energy to figure out how I felt. I was just so tired and wanted to close my eyes again. I did not get permission to do this. Mom came into the room and was surprised to see me on the bed. She did not hug me and start crying and telling me how worried she was and how much she loved me. She started asking where I was and how could I ever show such disrespect by running away. I tried to whimper and tell her I was so sick and could be dying. Mom just told me to stop being a drama queen and walked out.
This was not what I expected. I thought of Zenko and Sandra. They were somewhere deep in space and I am sure that they missed me. It is a strange feeling that every time that I looked up at the stars, I would know that I had two friends there. How many could say that? Despite that, I could not think straight, but I knew that I already missed them.
Mom and Dad could finally see that I was seriously ill. They took me to the emergency at the hospital where the doctors admitted me and told my parents that I was seriously ill. I could see that my parents did not like this as it most likely interfered with their schedule. This didn't bother me as I spent most of the time in the hospital room asleep. When I was awake, I could hear the doctors talk about that it was a virus that they have never seen and they did not know what to do. This made me think that death was a possibility.
The good thing was that I did not die. I slowly started getting better. The doctors could not explain why I was getting better. I liked to think it was Earth air and my strong will to survive. I remembered that Zenko and Sandra would tell me to fight and not give up. They would be so proud of me. It also made me smile a lot more as being sick can be depressing and it makes you worry. It's also hard as you can't do anything but sleep and wait. At least now I was able to sit up in the bed.
My parents wanted to take me home. However, the doctors warned that I should be observed as the virus I had was an unknown one. They did not know how it would affect me and if it could come back. This did not suit my parents. My sickness disrupted their busy schedules and their career and to be honest, they did not understand or know what to do because I needed extra attention.
Besides all this, they thought that I have run away and came to the conclusion that I have done the most immoral things just to survive. I could not help thinking of how much I missed the zoo and Zenka and Sandra. Still, I could count my blessings as I defeated the virus and once again was healthy. I do believe that I was close to death and was lucky that I could be alive.
My mom and Dad kept on pressuring me on why I ran away. I told them everything. I told them the truth that I was abducted by aliens and have been part of a human exhibition at the zoo. I told them what life was like there and how much I liked Sandra and Zenko. I talked about what it was like to be owned by a zoo and locked in an enclosure. They just stared at me when I told them that I was very popular and the top attraction at the zoo. I realized that when I was talking about Galaxy zoo, that I was speaking so positive about it. I was smiling and enthusiastic. I wanted my parents to know that I was happy and well taken care of. I knew that they would never understand that I was loved!
Mom and Dad were in shock. I suppose I could understand why. Their daughter has just told them that she was abducted by space aliens. I never thought of this before my parent's reaction. People that claimed to have been abducted always tended to be considered people with mental problems or they were just seeking attention. I could see that mom and Dad had a similar look. This made me think if it was wise to tell them.
Dad looked at me at sternly as he could and warned me never to tell a living soul that story. Mom on the other hand was walking back forth and shouting at me. She was shouting and saying that she did not understand me. First, she had to deal with me running away from a perfect home, and everyone wondering if this was because she was a bad mom. Now she had to deal with a fabricated story, that some aliens have abducted me.
"What are you up to?" she asked, "Why can you not take responsibility for your actions and own them? Is it the attention you want? Being selfish and lies will do that. Listen to your Dad and come back to your senses again. It's top to stop this drama!"
The nurse came in and seen Mom and Dad were giving me a hard time by yelling and giving warnings. The nurse was quite surprised and asked my parents was this any way to treat a sick child and demanded that they left. She tried to cheer me up, but the damage was done. My parents did not believe me. This may not have hurt before I was abducted, however, since then I have tried being loved and wanted. This may have happened far away in space, but I could not forget what it was like being loved. My parents have not shown me any love since I came back. I felt that they were mad at me for being sick.
It was soon time to go home again. Mom came to get me from the hospital and complained that it was very inconvenient as she was so busy at work. The nurse thought this was a joke and commented that children do crave a lot of care, love and attention. She told mom that she had 3 children. I could see that mom was very serious when she told the nurse how sorry she was for her. This was the mother that I was going home to.
As we drove home, mom said nothing. I looked out the window towards the sky and tried to use telepathy to communicate with Zenko. I had no confidence or faith that it worked. It was more like wishful thinking that someone would hear me. I tried praying to God he would help me and that I would be happy.
"Mom, did you miss me when I was gone?" I asked.
Mom told me that she was trying to drive and asked me what I said. I shrugged my shoulder and told her that it was nothing. I realized that I did not want to hear the answer, as I knew that I would not like it.
We were now home and everything was as it was before. Mom and Dad would be sitting at their laptops working for a new promotion. We would eat dinner and they would be talking about financial things and the economy or how someone was not succeeding at the workplace. They would occasionally tell me to stop playing with my food or to sit straight.
Dad told me that he wanted to speak to me after dinner. I nodded my head. I am sure it would have been something about studying or looking like the perfect daughter. I was right. Dad hardly looked up from his laptop as he told me what I was expected to do.
"I expect your friends will wonder where you have been," he said, " Do not tell them that story about being abducted by ET. They will think that you are looney. Do not say you have run away. It will make it look like that you do not have a good home. Just say you were sick and now you are better. I want you to look at your best. Make sure your hair is brushed and you look like you come from a good home. Besides all this, you have missed a lot of school days and you now must catch up on your studies. You must study harder and get the grades that you deserve."
I started to walk out but I needed the last word. I told Dad that most parents would want to know why I have run away. Dad looked at me and told me that he did not want me to mention it again. Mom supported him by asking me if I knew what it did to them? This made me think that they did feel sorry. However, mom started talking about that they had to keep it a secret, as they did not want the family's reputation to be tarnished. They were angry at me for being so selfish and not considering how this would hurt their career and what people thought of us.
The next day I went to school. No one asked me where I was. It was as if they never noticed that I went missing. No one spoke with me and I found myself in the library once again trying to study books. I could not do this as I have done before. I tried being with others. I tried doing more than just studying and working for the next grade. Sandra taught me how to live. Being stuck in the library at school was worse than any enclosure!
I did not sleep very well over the next few days. I was worried about school and the exams that were coming up. I knew that I would never be ready for them. I would pass, but I would not get the top grade. The expectation of an average grade made me cry when I was alone in my bedroom. I do not know if it was because of my parent's expectations or my own. It was no secret that the only thing that I could boast about was my good grades. I had nothing else, not even friends.
Mom could see that my eyes were red from crying and wanted to know if I was still sick. I broke down in tears again telling her that I was afraid of the next exams. Mom sighed and told me that it did not help to cry. I just had to put more effort into my studies.
I did try to study. I would study in the school library and when I was home I would study at the kitchen table. It was so hard to study. I remembered the fun times that Sandra and I had. I tried drawing them as a break from studying. It did not last long though. One day I was drawing a picture of Zenko, Sandra and me in our enclosure. I also had some species in their enclosures in the picture. Mom came and got mad when she saw the picture. She wanted to know why I was obsessed with wanting to be abducted by space aliens.
I stood up and shouted to her that it was because it was the truth. I did not lie when I told them what happened to me. It was not my problem that they did not believe me.
I stormed to my room and hid in the corner.
Dad finally came up and he did not look pleased. He thought we had a deal that I would not mention the galaxy zoo again. Then Dad said calmly that the problem was that maybe I believed in it myself. He told me if this was the case, then he would have no choice to send me to a mental institution. He left me with that threat.
Did my father just threaten me?
I sneaked out of the house once again and went to the place where the UFO took me. I shouted at the stars for Zenko and Sandra to come and get me.
To be continued
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