“Agent M to base, Agent M to base – Hello, are you receiving?““We are receiving loud and clear M, please give your co-ordinates.”
“Base, I am glad to have contact, something has gone wrong somewhere. I think I need help.”
“Base to Agent; we see no problem. According to our previous investigations we have set you down in the most suitable area. After exact study of the earth and its population, we placed you in the ideal place where other beings resemble yourself. We are sure that you will soon settle in without being noticed.”
“Base we have made a small mistake. The objects resembling myself do not stay in my form but change. They are known as eggs on earth and these earthly eggs contain creatures.”
“We know this agent M, but our eggs also contain creatures: those of us that have been developed through years of evolution under the surface of our illustrious planet Mars.”
“Accepted Base, but the creatures that leave the eggs on earth have a different shape and form than our good selves. The mother creature, known as bird, is always sitting on me, and sometimes that can be quite unpleasant. We know the details of an earthly disposal system, and my surface is becoming quite unsightly. I am surrounded by other objects known as “chicks” which is the earthly word for a bird offspring. They are in their eggs and then with no warning the egg splits and they emerge, completely naked. The mother creature then flies away and brings them earthly animals to eat, mostly in the living stage. These bird creatures are almost cannibals, although they do not eat each other. They eat live animals. Await further instructions Base.
“Agent M is it possible to perhaps move away from these strange earth creatures and lay in hiding until we can beam you back?”
“Base, birds do not live on the surface or even beneath the surface, as we are accustomed. They have large appendices on each side of their body which move vertically at high speeds rhythmically enabling them to float on the air. For this reason their habitat is in something known as trees, tall vegetable compositions reaching high into the sky. At the moment Agent M is situated half way up one of these trees and it could be that something may break if I try to leave the place where I am. I think it is known as nest, if I remember rightly from my studies on our illustrious planet of Mars.”
“Agent M this is correct. Somewhere a mistake has been made. Bird has been confused with human. Have you seen human species up to now?”
“Base I sometimes hear them from far below.”
“M would it be possible to roll out of the tree when they pass by in the hope that a human might break your fall. You can then try to communicate with human.”
“Will do base, I must wait until bird looks again for living food.”
Meanwhile beneath the trees in the forest Jill and her brother Colin were taking a walk through the trees collecting chestnuts for their games.
“Ow, that hurt” said Jill.
“What’s the matter Jill, did you stumble?”
“No something hit me on the head. There is it on the ground.”
“Well it’s only an egg Jill, couldn’t have hurt that much. I wonder what bird laid that one, it’s bright red. I have never seen a red egg before.”
“Perhaps it’s not an egg Colin, let’s have a closer look. It feels quite warm on the outside. Perhaps it is going to hatch.”
“Put me down at once” said a squeaky voice coming from the egg. Jill dropped the egg immediately.
“Colin the egg spoke to me.”
“I heard it as well” answered Colin.
And then something strange happened. Two pieces of wire grew out of the bottom of the egg and at the side of the egg another two pieces on each side. An antenna grew out of the top.
“Colin what is that, I think we had better go.”
and then a pleading voice came, almost crying “please do not leave me alone, I know no-one here and am completely lost.”
“Jill, I think the egg is talking to us, although it looks more like Humpty Dumpty now.”
“I think you are right Colin.” Jill took her courage in her hands and spoke to the egg, although she felt a bit stupid talking to an egg.
“Who are you?” she asked
The egg answered. “I am agent M from the illustrious planet Mars and have been sent to earth as one of our agents to land on its soil. Somehow a mistake was made by our great leaders and they sent me to the place where others resemble creatures as myself. I seemed to be somewhere together with an object called bird. My base told me to leave bird and find human. Are you human?”
“Yes we are human” answered Jill, “but what do you want from us. Are you really a Martian.”
“Of course I am, you can tell that by looking at me.”
“Well not exactly” answered Colin, “you see we have never seen a Martian before. We have often sent space ships to land on the surface of Mars, but up to now a Martian has never been found.”
“Are you disputing our existence, human?” asked M. “Of course we exist, there are just as many of us as there are humans, only we prefer to live under the surface. Our centre is in the middle of our planet, but our population is expanding and we have started to build our cities on the outer limits of the centre and are now only a thousand miles below the surface.”
“Do you all look like eggs?” Asked Jill
“I do not look like an egg” answered M “I am a fully grown Martian, I only have my hard surface when danger may be around.”
“Well you are safe with us so you can show us how you really look”. Actually Colin thought he was being made a joke of, and somewhere nearby there was someone with a remote control guiding the egg or Martian.
M decided to take the chance “Well if you really say I am safe, I would prefer to change my egg shape – just a moment” and the egg started spinning on its basis, the top of the egg opened and a little red man with three eyes in his egg shaped head was looking at them. There was no mouth or ears, but Colin and Jill could still hear him speaking.”
“Jill I think he uses telepathy”
“You must really be a Martian. So what do you want on our earth. Are you going to invade us?”
“Of course not, our ancestors made that mistake millions of years ago and found only giant monsters with no brain walking around on the planet. It seems that things have changed, but from our planet we get signals of war and disagreements on earth. It just so happens that every one hundred earth years or so, one of us is sent here to take an eye view on things. The last time we were here it seemed that the automobile had been invented and people had started flying. In the meanwhile there were two wars, so we postponed our visits until they were over. We are not sure how things are developing over the next hundred years, but as long as we receive signals we can keep an eye on things. And now I just want to return to my planet and give the report.”
“How are you planning to go back.” Jill asked.
“No problem, I just have to get a message to my central and they will fetch me. A mistake was made this time and the word egg shape made my people decide to put me with other eggs, so I was living in this tree in a nest until I heard you coming. My people will fetch me this evening, so I would like to hide somewhere until they come. Can you help me?”
Jill and Colin had never seen a Martian before and did not really believe in them up to this moment, but they decided this Martian was a friendly sort of person, even if he did look a bit strange with his red body and three eyes.
“OK Martian” they said.
“My name is M” was the answer.
“In that case M I think the best thing is that you hide in this tree trunk and wait until it becomes dark which will be in about three hours.”
“Thank you for your help, I also think that will be a good solution. Thank goodness you only have one moon on earth, otherwise I would have to wait a long while until the darkness would be upon me.”
“What’s he talking about Colin?” asked Jill.
“Jill everyone knows that Mars has two moons.”
“That is correct young human. Our night time is much brighter than yours. So now please leave me, I will send a message to central and they will beam me back.”
“Mr. Martian, can we come back this evening and watch you being beamed. We won’t tell anyone.”
“Of course you can, just make sure you are here in three earth hours.”
After Jill and Colin left M went to work sending a message to his planet Mars.
“Hello base, are you receiving. M calling.”
“Receiving loud and clear, please state your location.”
“Am now on ground at the base of the tree I was sent to. Wish to leave earth when darkness arrives. Await further instructions.”
“No problem M, just stay where you are, preparations are being made to beam you back as soon as the earth moon appears and night has fallen.”
“Thank you base am looking forward to my return. Have had contact with earthlings, known as children. Very nice humans known as Jill and Colin. They wish to say goodbye when I leave this evening. Is permission granted.”
“Permission granted M. It will be better if they do not report meeting with Martian.”
“No problem base, humans do not believe in existence of extra terrestrial beings and they will be ignored.”
“Very good M, your wife and children are awaiting your return eagerly.”
Jill and Colin returned home but they knew they would be leaving again. When their parents thought they were sleeping they were not. They sneaked out of the house and went to the forest to the place where the Martian had been left. He was there standing next to the tree trunk, but again resembling an egg.
“Why do you look like an egg again” they asked.
“Don’t ask silly questions. You wrap yourself up warm when the cold night air comes. We Martians also wrap ourselves up and our egg keeps us nice and warm. So now stand back I can feel the vibrations.”
Jill and Colin stood on one side together and watched. A shaft of light came through the trees focusing on M. M pulled in the wires protruding from the bottom and the side of the egg and the children watched. There was a red vibrating glow and he was gone.
So if you ever take a walk through the forest and see an egg lying on the ground, don’t touch it. It might not be what you think.
Pictures to Words: Reflections Week 5
