The Blue Alien

Hello friend.

My name is Emma. I want to tell you the story of my friend Blue. I call him that because he is blue. He is also an alien. He is my friend…the Blue Alien.

I first met Blue one night. I was supposed to be sleeping, but I was not tired. I was lying in bed listening to music through my earbuds connected to my phone. I was bored, and I could not sleep. I heard my closet door creak, and I saw the door slowly open, just a crack. A head appeared from behind the door.

Blue’s head was the shape of a normal person’s. It had large, slanted, almond-shaped eyes, barely any nose, a small slit for a mouth, and tiny ears. It was also blue. The head stayed perfectly still, staring at me. I was very scared and about to scream. I took a deep breath, ready to scream. The head turned completely white and disappeared behind the door.

I hopped down from my bed and went to the closet. I stared at the door for a long time. I was waiting for it to move. I had already planned to scream and then jump into bed and hide under the covers. I did not know if that would save me, but it was a plan. The door did not move.

After waiting a long while, I felt brave. I opened the door slowly. There was nothing there but toys scattered on the floor and clothes hanging on the rod above them. I was no longer scared. I was confused about what had happened. It was very late, and I was tired. There was no alien in my closet, so I left the door open and lay down and went to sleep.

The next night, Blue returned. This time I was on the floor drawing with crayons. Blue cracked open the closet door and looked at me. I saw him but ignored him. Maybe it was my imagination, and he was not real. I kept drawing with my crayons. Blue entered my bedroom and sat across from me. He looked back and forth between me and my drawing, but said nothing.

I did not know what to do. Was Blue real, or a dream? I was not certain. However, I was no longer scared. As I showed Blue my drawing, I told him, “I drew my house and my family,” pointing as I spoke. “See, this is my house, this is my mom, and this is me.” I put the picture down and started filling in the line drawing with color. Blue looked at it and smiled. Then he surprised me by changing from blue to green!

I was very tired, and it was late. I told Blue, “I had fun tonight, but I have to go to sleep now.” I climbed up in bed and left the picture on the floor. I did not know how Blue would react. I snuggled my blanket close and watched him.

Blue looked down at the picture and back at me. He seemed to understand. He walked back to the closet and through the open door to go inside. Blue then turned back to look at me one more time, peeking his head past the door. His face turned from green back to blue. He went inside the closet and closed the door.

Blue kept visiting me often, always just before bedtime. He would arrive with his blue face. He turned from blue to green as he watched me play on the floor. When I had to go to bed, he turned blue and entered the closet, closing the door.

I was no longer scared of Blue. He was my friend. He never spoke, but he enjoyed being with me. On the nights when he did not visit, I missed him.

One night when Blue visited, instead of joining me as I played, he stayed at the closet door. He motioned with his blue hand for me to join him. I put my crayons back in the bucket and walked toward the door. As I did, Blue turned green. This was new, and I was nervous. I stopped at the door. “Why do you want me to be in the closet with you?” I asked. Blue’s color started flashing between blue and green. I did not know what that meant. Blue waved for me to keep going. I was unsure what he was doing, but I stepped forward, and the door shut behind me. I felt like I could not go back.

I felt a shiver go up and down my back. I was scared. Did I make a mistake following Blue? The air felt different—colder. This was not my closet. I was somewhere else. Blue opened another door and led me out.

We were in Blue’s home. We walked out of his closet and into his bedroom. Blue led me to a door that opened to a balcony. I asked Blue why he brought me here. He pointed away from the balcony and toward the city. He then turned from green back to blue.

Blue’s home was an apartment in a tall building. His apartment was toward the top of the building. The balcony gave us a great view of the city. Below us were other aliens. They were walking around doing grown-up things: shopping, working, and eating at restaurants. They were all blue, just like my friend.

I said, “Yes, this is a very nice city. Is that what you wanted to show me?”

Blue pointed at the other blue aliens. He was trying to tell me something, but I did not understand. It was then that I understood why mom always told me to use words instead of pouting. I wished Blue could use words.

“You are pointing at the other blue aliens, but I don’t understand why.”

Blue picked up a bouncy ball and motioned me to follow him. We walked through his apartment, through the door, and out into the hall. We took an elevator to the ground floor. Blue then led me through the doors to the outside.

I thought the other blue aliens would be shocked to see me. They hardly noticed me at all. Those who did notice me stared for a while and then turned away to go about their business. It seemed like nothing affected them.

Blue and I went to an open paved area. It was like a playground, but nobody was playing. He then bounced the ball to me. I caught it and Blue motioned for me to bounce it back. He caught it and bounced it back. Then Blue changed color from blue to green.

That is when the other blue aliens noticed. The younger aliens, like Blue, especially noticed. Two of them came over to us and we bounced the ball to them. They also turned from blue to green. Other young aliens came over to play. Some of them brought their own balls. We were all bouncing the balls to each other. It was a lot of fun. All of the younger aliens who were playing changed color from blue to green.

I stopped playing for a moment and asked Blue, “Is this what you wanted? To have fun?” He looked at me and smiled as much as he could with his tiny mouth. I took that as a “Yes!”

I looked around and even some of the grown-ups were now green after seeing the kids playing. It seemed like this was new to these aliens.

I asked Blue, “There are all these kid aliens, and they don’t know how to play? Are any of them your friends?”

Blue turned from green back to blue and looked at the ground.

“I am your friend,” I said. Blue changed back to green.

The fun disappeared from the playground. The other kid aliens stopped playing ball. They left the playground, one by one, going their separate ways. I saw them leave, turning blue. I felt sad for them as I watched.

I asked Blue, “Do they know what a friend is?”

Blue looked at me and shook his head.

All of the kid aliens had left the playground now. It was just Blue and me, alone. I sat for a moment, thinking, “How do you explain friendship to someone who has never had a friend?” Then I remembered my drawings. I showed Blue my house, my mom, me. He understood and turned green.

“I have an idea!” I said. “Can we go back and get my crayons?”

We walked quickly back to Blue’s apartment building, up the elevator, and to his apartment. We went into the closet and back to my bedroom. I grabbed my bucket of crayons. It had all types of colors and sizes. The big fat ones would especially be needed.

We then went back through the closet and found our way down to the playground area. I sat down and picked out a big thick green crayon and started drawing a picture of myself. I colored it in as best I could. Blue sat on the ground watching me. I looked up at him and said, “This is me.” Blue smiled and nodded in approval. Other kid aliens came over to watch.

Using a blue crayon, I drew Blue the best I could. I placed him a little ways away from me. I colored in his head and face with blue and finished the rest of him. I told Blue, “This is you.” Blue looked a little confused but he stayed green. More kid aliens crowded around to watch.

Then I used a brown crayon and drew a wall between us. I pointed to it and said, “This is a wall, and it separates us.”

I moved to a new space and drew another picture of myself. This time I made sure I was smiling and happy.

Using a green crayon, I drew Blue again, but this time his face was green and smiling. I looked at the crowd and said, “This is me and Blue playing together.”

I looked at the picture, then at the kid aliens. Most were still blue. Some were shifting between being blue and green. They seemed confused.

I took a deep breath and said, “Don’t you understand? You should play with each other. That’s how you become friends.”

I took my bucket and emptied the crayons onto the ground. “Come on, everybody grab a crayon and we will draw together!”

None of the kid aliens moved. Finally, one of them stepped forward. He sat down with us, took a crayon, and started drawing…then turned green.

One at a time, each kid alien took a crayon and started drawing things on the ground. One drew an alien with his tongue sticking out. He pointed to another alien and laughed, as if to say, “this is you!” The other alien laughed as they both turned green. Another kid drew a picture of an alien kissing the cheek of another alien. He pointed to a girl alien and his face turned pink. The girl laughed and walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek and they both turned green. They were all laughing, drawing, and turning green together.

The grown-ups saw this and joined in. Some were happy watching their kids play and make friends and they turned green. Others took a crayon themselves and drew notes to other grown-ups. The grown-ups also learned what friends are.

Blue and I went back up to his balcony and looked down and saw how so much had changed. There were hardly any blue aliens any longer. Almost all of them were green. You could hear laughing and playing and all of the fun noises they were making. It was a changed world now.

We went back into his room and then heard the door open and close. Blue changed color to orange, glancing between me, his closet, and his bedroom door. I walked up to him kindly and touched his now orange hand. I said, “It’s OK, I can go back. We did a lot today and I had fun. I know you had fun, too. We will see each other again.” I smiled at him and he smiled back and changed color from orange back to green.

That is my story about my friend Blue. We changed his world from blue to green. We showed his world what friends are. Maybe you learned a little about what friends are, too. It is my hope.

Stay green, my friend.