And Other Stories Read Online Free Page A

The girl grabbed the
boy's hand and tugged him toward the woman's house. The dog stared
at them, then back at the woods, and then followed the girl and the
boy inside.
    At the kitchen table, the girl sat
in one chair, so the boy sat in another. The dog jumped into a
third. The Mom looked at the dog and said, "Down,
Lucky!"
    "But he's hungry," said the
boy.
    "He has food." The Mom pointed at
Lucky's dish, which was full of brown mush.
    "Good!" said the dog as it jumped
down.
    "Lucky sure sounds strange," said
the Mom.
    "He can't speak as well as I can,"
said the boy. "And he can't pick up things in his hands." The boy
pointed at his thumb. "I think it's because hummings have this
special finger, and ducks don't. Tentacles are far more practical.
And far more attractive."
    The girl and the Mom laughed. The
girl said, "Brian's a space alien. I always knew it."
    The boy nodded proudly. "I am
Splortch from Veebilzania. That is Miglick, my partner."
    "Herro," said the dog, looking up
from his dish.
    "How do you like the duck food?"
asked the boy.
    "Good!" said the dog.
    The Mom asked, "How'd you train
Lucky to bark like that?"
    "He di'n't," said the
dog.
    "I didn't," said the boy. "We
learned your language from your television broadcasts."
    The Mom put her hand on the boy's
forehead. "I think you've been watching too much television,
mister. Do you feel all right?"
    Before the boy could answer,
someone pressed the door buzzer. "I'll get it!" the girl
said.
    "Oh," said the boy in relief.
"That's not the sound of you hummings blowing up our space
ship?"
    The girl opened the front door,
then said, "Mom? It's the police."
    "No, it's not." A fat policeman
walked into the room. "It's me, Brian."
    "Rowf," said a tall policewoman,
trotting in after the policeman.
    "Oh, oh," said the boy.
    "Ro, ro," said the dog.
    "Mom!" said the policeman, pointing
at the boy and the dog. "They're aliens and they want to kill
everyone on Earth. We have to stop them!"
    As the policewoman ran toward the
dog dish, the policeman called, "Lucky! Come back here!" The
policewoman barked sadly and returned to the policeman's
side.
    The Mom looked from the two police
officers to the boy and the dog.
    "It's me, really!" the policeman
said. "The aliens switched bodies with Lucky and me. And when the
police showed up, I got put into the policeman's body by
mistake."
    "That is not true," said the boy.
"I'm Pry-on the humming, not Splortch from Veebilzania." He pointed
at the dog. "This is a fortunate duck, not my partner Miglick. Send
away those hummings in blue clothing and let us stay with you until
we decide whether you're really people."
    The Mom stared at the
boy.
    The boy added, "Please?"
    "Brian?" the Mom asked the boy.
"The joke's over now, understand?"
    "It's not a joke!" said the
policeman. "If you don't believe me, they'll turn all the oxygen
into methane, and everyone will die!"
    "Yes, they're playing a joke!" said
the boy. "But not me! I'm really Pry-on! Make the joking people go
away!"
    The Mom said, "This isn't funny,
Brian." She turned toward the police officers. "And you two should
be ashamed of yourselves, playing some game like this—"
    The policewoman whimpered. The
policeman said, "Oh, dang."
    The girl pointed at the policeman.
"Mom, that's Brian."
    The woman stared at the boy. "Then
who're you?"
    "Oh, all right," said the boy,
sighing. "I'm Splortch. I traded bodies with Pry-on."
    The dog said, "But where are our
real bodies?"
    "Right here," said someone at the
door.
    "Hey, great!" said Brandi. "Space
aliens!"
    The green alien pointed a tentacle
at the policewoman, who was hiding behind the policeman. "Just
don't let me eat dog food, okay?"
    "Don't worry, Sergeant," said the
policeman. "Lucky does everything I tell him to. Except when he
doesn't."
    At that moment, a man in cowboy
boots walked in the front door and stared at the two aliens, the
two police officers, the two children, the dog, and the
Mom.
    "Dad!" the policeman yelled,
wrapping his