The Journal of Miriam Kid, Section 1

A selection of journal entries from a young girl foreign to earth. What would it be like to go to a new planet? What if we weren't accustomed to Earth?

2/1/2017

This is the journal of Miriam Dawn Kid. I am a human girl but I was not raised here on Earth. I was raised on Respim, but a lot happened there and I was sent here. I am alright with this order of events, but only because I have always been curious about what it is like here on Earth. My parents grew up here and told me many stories, so now I get to experience them for myself. Kade gave me this journal. He is the Elite who took me here. He visits often but handed me over to his good friends Annabelle and Josie, both humans, to teach me how to survive in this world. They are nice and encourage me to write about anything I want. Josie even said she'd translate the journal into classic English when I have filled it. I hope she does, because Josie seems to be the kind of person to talk before she thinks about what she's saying. Either way, I will be writing in this a lot, I predict. Maybe someday I can take it back to Respim and teach other humans what it's like on Earth.

2/4/2017

I have an aloe plant. It is green and it ejects this nice smooth, translucent anti-poison gel and I like it because it is cold. Although at first I did not know it would be so I sort of panicked and ran outside to the hose to wash it off of my poor fingers. Annabelle told me that I could not only use the strange machinery called a sink, but that aloe was good for me. She did not let me eat it, though.

I only knew about the hose because my friend Kade gave me a kitten. It is such a cute thing, but it is very naughty and does all sorts of things it is not supposed to. I guess we are the same in that way. I try to give it lenience because I like to think we both are trying to understand this world together, but it keeps destroying Josie and Annabelle's possessions. I did not know what to do, so while Annabelle was watering in the flower garden (which I still do not understand why she cultivates inedible things) I asked her how to make the kitten stop tearing things up. She told me to spray the kitten with water, because cats do not like water. I found this strange because my kitten, whom I named Sky, drank water that very morning, but I did not question my friend. The next time Sky attacked the kitchen towel, I ran outside and grabbed the hose from Annabelle, raced back in, and power shot the kitten across the room.

Apparently this is not what Annabelle meant to do. Sky is okay, do not worry.

2/5/2017

Now, I am admiring my hair. I got it cut today. The lady who cut my hair asked me a lot of questions that I did not know the answers to, but when she was done, I liked her work. My hair felt so soft and silky that the entire way to the market I couldn't help but pet it and smile like an idiot. Haircuts back home were never so fancy, and now my hair has a lot of different lengths in it, which was also new.

Josie drove us to the market in a tiny bubble that is made of a variety of materials and hums very loudly. It went very fast on the roads. I felt like I was being sling-shotted through the cold air, though it was quite pleasantly warm inside of the car, but Josie was in control of the machine.

We made it to the market, which Josie called a grocery store. Unlike the ones back home, this market was enclosed in a giant concrete building and you have to show a card to the attendants upon entering in order to prove to them you can shop there. Even being in the parking lot made me feel very high class because only certain people can shop there. Josie is one of these elite card holders, so we got in, no problem.

I loved the grocery store. It was a huge, industrialized playground of food. The owners did nothing to make it pretty, but the layers and layers of items on layers and layers of shelves spoke for themselves. I could buy anything I wanted, but I didn't recognize many of the options so I dragged Josie into a huge refrigerator room where I found grapes and berries. Each box of these products were bigger than my face, and Josie said they were a good price so I could get them! I suppose this sort of shopping is normal for people here, especially in America. It's very different than our greenhouse markets back home.

I am eating a chip. It is a thin, flaky, and very spicy crisp that melts in your mouth. I have yet to get used to the buttery and sugary flavors of this place. I like the chips though because they are salty and I need more salt than I am given here. I'm starting to wonder if my body is different than my friends'. I am human, but it seems I have different needs. I drink more water than they do, I get restless easier, I need different ratios of nutrients and substances, and my hearing is a little more sensitive. Perhaps it was how I was raised.

2/6/2017

I miss my home a little bit. It's just slight, but the aching is weird as I've never been homesick before. Kade says it's normal because our worlds are very different. He also is watching over my shoulder as I am writing and that's how he knows I am homesick. Kade, stop watching.

Josie and Annabelle had a meeting last night which they did not involve me in. They decided I should stay at home for a while until I get used to everyday life here. They most likely know better than I do, but at the same time, I liked being in town with Josie the other day and I want to go again soon.

I guess I'll just have to wait. So far, life has been uneventful. Kade is watching again and is telling  me to write about everything I see as different in my surroundings. Well, for starters, Sky is different. She is white and fluffy and not at all like the cats back home. Ironically, the sky outside is also different. It is golden and blue at the same time, and the clouds are very high up in the atmosphere. I took geography classes on Respim but they did not teach us about why the clouds do that. I will ask Kade.

He said that the atmosphere here is more expansive and less moist than back home.

It wasn't very scientific, but it works.

What else is different? Oh yes, the pencils are. That's a new word for me. I've heard it now and then around town back home, but never knew what it meant. It is the equivalent of our inkers back home, but without the ink part. Also, Annabelle and Josie have rugs attached to their floors here. They call them carpets, and they are nailed to underlying wood. I took a nail out because I couldn't help myself. The nails are serrated differently, too.

Annabelle just got home from work and she is lecturing Kade on being here alone with me. He is very defensive and I don't understand why we can't be alone. Perhaps that's another thing that is different about our worlds--the social order of things.

2/7/2017

If you read this Josie, I am sorry. I have been home alone all day so I snuck out in the afternoon. I walked down the streets to where I knew Kade lived. It was a long walk, but I enjoyed it a lot because I saw plenty of things that were new to me and that I didn't understand. For example, there are these strange boxes perching precariously on sticks in the front of people's yards. I entertained myself by pushing down the pokey red flags that stood up on some of them. I like to organize.

Sky liked the walk less so. She kept trying to jump out of my hands, but I didn't want her to run off.

I finally got to Kade's, and he opened the door on the first knock. I was very glad to see him, but he immediately began lecturing me on disobeying my housemates. I told him they were not my parents, but he was still frustrated and ushered me inside. He told me I could've simply used the phone to talk to him.

I did not know what a phone was, so he took me to the living room and showed me how to use it. I still can't believe all you have to do is push some buttons and someone's voice will talk to you through the earpiece! I used the phone the rest of the day when I got home, periodically calling Kade every two minutes just because I like the squishiness of the buttons. I even tried pushing a new order of buttons than the one Kade taught me, but another man with a gruffer voice answered that time and I freaked out and hung up. I did not want to talk to anyone else but Kade. So I stuck with his button order.

Author's Note

Any more ideas for Miriam? This is just the beginning.