A few short weeks after she graduated from space school, Antaska stood in front of a clear barrier, waiting and hoping to be selected. She held her small gray and white cat Potat in her arms. Energized with excitement and high-strung nerves, Antaska watched the gigantic green alien Verdantes. Crowds of them walked in the curved corridor outside her “viewing room.”
The aliens, Antaska’s prospective employers, looked in at her and the other humans in similar “viewing rooms” built by the Verdantes to suit their purposes. The walls on the sides of her viewing room blocked Antaska from seeing the other humans and which aliens were taking an interest in them.
Now one of the aliens looked at Antaska and paused. The eight-foot-tall giant approached and stopped right in front of her. Antaska looked up to see enormous slanting green eyes staring down at her. Above the eyes, green curly hair covered an enormous cranium. The alien lifted a large six-fingered hand and waved at her. Antaska waved back and smiled.
Maybe I’ll be selected already! she thought.
“Grrrr!!” she heard and looked down.
Potat stiffened in her arms. She hissed and spat at the Verdante in front of them.
The big eyes of the alien got bigger.
“Stop that!” Antaska said to Potat. “Shush!”
But the tiny cat wouldn’t stop.
“Rrrowwwwwwwww!” Potat let out an endless angry meow.
The alien shrugged big shoulders and shook his head. He lifted up his hands as if to say, “What can I do?” and walked away.
Potat stopped meowing and settled back down in Antaska’s arms.
“What is wrong with you?” Antaska asked the little cat.
She didn’t expect an answer, of course, and she didn’t get one.
“Are you crazy? You might have just blown our only chance to go to space! My life’s dream! Don’t you dare do that again.”
Antaska talked out loud to the cat. It was a habit she’d got into. Sometimes, it almost seemed like Potat understood what she was saying.
This had better be one of those times, thought Antaska.
She felt a slight movement and looked down to see the Potat cleaning a snow-white paw.