I’d been in the cave for 5 months, maybe 6. Time was almost lost on me, but I kept mark by tallying the sunrises each day on the wall with a piece of rubble I took with me the day of the crash. My ship had gone down and I was the only survivor.

My spaceship had malfunctioned as I was on my way across a dimension and sent me and my copilot into a planet I had not yet seen before. Buried in the dense rubble were my copilot and what little was left of my craft. I was the only survivor. “Why me?” I wondered. What purposes could I possibly serve now? All others I had ever known were light years away from my destination and I’d landed on what I believed to be Earth.

The atmosphere was humid, the trees slightly taller than me, and scratchy blades of green grass surrounded my walking paths. I’d stumbled for days, aimlessly trying to find any sort of shelter. My once gray feet now brown with mud and my long legs weak from the hike. I carried a rock- the only thing I had left from home to cling on to- in the grasp of my three bulbous fingers. Earth had not been too kind to me and gravity was not my friend. In fact, I wasn’t used it at all. Back home, I was used to the black sky that was space and surrounding the stars. My planet was a burning red- volcanic and deserted. I was in a foreign land. Scared. Alone. Confused. Disoriented.

I made my way into a cave I finally found. The trees surrounding me made ominous noises, especially at night- that of howls and barking and buzzing and chirping. Gravity, the trees- no help to me at all. I almost grew to hate the dwellings outside my cave. The animals lurked high and low; I’d almost think they sounded tasty if I had more resources with me. But I was vulnerable. I had needed shelter and food foremost. I needed something to find me. Desperately.

The sky was cloudy most days and the humidity unbearable. My gray-blue skin became slimy and my eyes grew a dark black. I had yet to see the sun and I was imprisoned in this cave I now called home. As winter emerged, long icicles grew in front of me- like prison bars keeping me in.

Hairy creatures on all fours would sniff and pass- most in fear. Wolves I believe. I had seen pictures once… long ago. Birds would land and fly away. Ice began to form in front of my cave and the darkness within my abode began to shield my presence.

Month 4 had passed and weird creatures began to pass by. They walked on two legs like me. I became hopeful. I could see them but they could not see me. But, they were quite ugly creatures. The women had long hair and the men carried supplies on their back. Their feet were covered with laced fabric and they wore coverings over their eyes. Smart.

Then, one late evening, one of the creatures with short hair and a supplies strapped to their back walked my way. Not past my cave, but right in front of it. Nobody had ever gotten this far and stayed longer than a minute or two. The ‘thing’ peered in. What a sight to see. He went past the icicles in front of me and he pulled out a stick of light from his leg coverings. It was dark outside, so he turned it on. His eyes set on me and lit up, just like the stick he was pointing at me, and a big screech was let out.

My stomach began to rumble. “Finally” I thought. Food.