Chapter 3: Amy and Max and Clayton
If a spiky blob in their backyard wasn’t freaky enough, a talking guinea pig standing on her hind legs was. Her chubby little front paws were on her hips like a ticked off little piggy. Abby and Harrison just stared with their mouths hanging open.
“If you don’t close your mouths then flies will fly in,” said Lucy.
“You can…talk?” Abby shook her head in disbelief. “Lucy, how?”
“Because I’m not really a guinea pig,” said Lucy. “And I’d thank you very much if you stop calling me Lucy. My real name is Amy Beth Maria Louisa Anna Serena Foccacia. But you can just call me Amy.”
“So Amy,” Harrison stammered. “Uh, if you’re not a guinea pig, then what are you?”
“Duh,” replied Amy. “I’m an alien.” She looked at Abby. You were right, after all. Aliens do exist. I’m just glad that the mother ship found me.”
Lucy turned and ran out of the room. It looked very funny to see a guinea pig-looking alien running on two legs. Abby and Harrison looked at each other again, and then both of them took off after Amy. Down the hall, through the kitchen, and out the pet door went Amy. Harrison quietly opened the back door, and the kids snuck out of the house, crouching behind some bushes next to the door.
The alien ship had stopped spewing bubbles, and strange little creatures were marching down the ramp to the grass below. As they marched onto the grass, they lined up single-file, turned around, and saluted towards the open door. Lucy had joined the end of the line and was also saluting. An alien with curly yellow hair, about a dozen eyeballs, and four strange antennas from his head stood at the top of the ramp.
“All hail King Max!” shouted the saluting aliens.
“I’m hungry!” shouted Max. Snapping his fingers behind him, he shouted, “Food!”
Someone behind him handed what looked like a squiggly purple worm. Max grabbed it with his hand and held it up to one of his strange antenna, which promptly sucked the worm up into its vacuum hole. Max proceeded down the ramp with several other aliens following behind him.
When Max hit the ground he marched through the line of saluting soldiers and into Abby and Harrison’s sandbox. An alien with dozens of ears covering his hairy orange body handed King Max a flag and saluted.
“At ease, Sergeant Clayton,” Max said to the ear alien. Max held the flag up in the air before slamming the pole into the ground. “I claim this world for the Wangdoodles!”
A roar rose from the alien soldiers. Abby was nearly in tears. Even though the aliens were quite small, they still seemed bent on destruction. She felt like running far, far away, but something held her back.
King Max continued. “After we visit the White House, this world will be ours!”
King Max turned toward Lucy the guinea pig, now Amy the alien. “Do you have the human?”
“Yes, great king,” Amy answered. She pointed to the bushes. “She’s over there.”
The second that Amy pointed to their hiding place, Abby felt an elbow in her back as Harrison bolted from the bushes and ran from the yard. “AAAHHH!” he shouted. “They’re going to eat my brains!”
“Jackson!” yelled King Max. “Stop him!”
A bright pink alien puppy ran toward Harrison and opened his rather large mouth wide. A spray of pink, bubbly flames shot forth from the tiny creature, but for some reason another alien, this one with three heads and body-builder arms, knocked the flame-throwing alien down. The flames barely missed Harrison as he jumped over the fence.
That was all Abby needed. She tore off after Harrison.