“Oh, what the hell? What the freak just happened and why does it feel like I just got ran over by a bus?” saying out loud and holding my head trying hard to open my eyes and sit up.

After what seemed like several minutes but was only seconds, my eyes opened and adjusted to the light. Not quite able to sit up yet, I lay on my back holding my head and try to look around. Something didn’t seem quite right about the light, and as I looked around slowly, my eyes started to focus in on several things that just weren’t normal.

First thing I noticed was the light like I said. It was not bright out, but kind of a slightly purple haze type of hue. At first, I didn’t notice that I was looking straight up at the sky until I saw what I think is a cloud come into view. Now the clouds I know, are usually big fluffy resembling white cotton balls of various shapes and sizes. It was completely different. This thing had a pale-yellow color and shaped like a donut with the hole in the middle, and it was swirling around slowly in a perfect circle. A few seconds later another came into view looking like the first one. Then another. Now my brain started registering that I was looking at the sky and unless I suddenly went totally color blind, this was not normal. I tried blinking over and over, but it didn’t help. It still looked the same.

As I lay there trying to get my brain free of the clear cobwebs in it, I moved my head to the side and decided to focus on anything other than the sky. Now I was looking at what I hoped was the ground. But I wasn’t sure since once again it just seemed far too different from the norm in my head.

Let me say that when I was a kid and would go outside to play or roll around in the grass, it was green and smelled like grass with occasional other colors and smells mixed in from the flowers or weeds. What I was laying on right now was far from green and didn’t smell anything like grass. Now I will say it did have a similar look to grass and felt like it, but that is as far as it goes. This grass had an intense bright blue color to it and smelled more like a rotting lemon that had cloves stuck in it, like the ones we used to make in school as projects to hang in the closets. I did see what I think were flowers off in the distance but couldn’t tell from my angle.

After several actual minutes this time, I slowly started to prop myself up on my elbows. My head was still hurting but not as bad. It gave me a better view of what was around me. My eyes were now adjusted, and my senses seem to be working ok. I scanned the area and did see what appeared to be flowers of different colors and sizes. Too many to describe. My nose started to pick up other smells now, and some were very pungent and others milder. I also noticed what looked like trees. Of course, like the other things here these were slightly different. They reminded me of Weeping Willows with how the branches grew out and hung back to the ground. The trunks had a dull reddish tint to them, and the branches were pale green with the leaves being almost fire orange. There were others in the distance but too far to make out specifics. It didn’t seem like a forest but just trees dotted across what I now saw as a rolling terrain.

I seemed to be all alone in the middle of a field of sorts. I tried to squint and focus but never saw movements in any directions. I sat the rest of the way up and slowly got to my feet. It helped with looking around but didn’t change anything. Still couldn’t see any movement and there didn’t seem to house, buildings, cars or even planes. My head was getting better now, and my thoughts were becoming more evident. I surmised that I was no longer on my planet but not sure where I was. The last thing I remember was talking to my friends about wishing I was anywhere but there. My life was not going the way I wanted it to and just wanted to move and start over. Looking around now, I guess I got my wish.

Now I have to figure out where here is and how the hell I got here. It was not the move I had in mind.

I looked in all directions for any sign of life other than plants and couldn’t find anything. I needed to find someone to tell me what was going on. Since there was nothing around, I just started moving in the direction I was facing. The ground was sort of firm but soft enough for my shoes to get traction, so I was running at a decent pace after a few minutes.

Did I mention I was fully clothed? Guess whoever brought me here wanted me to be comfortable, or they didn’t want to see me naked. Not sure which yet.

Either way, I walked steadily scanning all around for any signs of life for several hours I think. No way to tell exactly how long it was here. I topped several ridges and still couldn’t see anyone or anything that resembled human life.

About this time, I started feeling a little thirsty and hungry. I hadn’t seen any signs of water yet and for that matter, no animals either. Not even a bird. Made me kind of wonder if there was anything here besides vegetation. I figured it had to rain sometimes since the plants were growing. Maybe I would get lucky and find a small pond or lake. Every ridge top I would do my best to scan for water. The problem was with everything looking so different, how was I supposed to know what the water looked like here. I could have seen it and not known. It could have blended in with the scenery smoothly.

I couldn’t tell what time it was because I didn’t see a sun in the sky. I also wasn’t sure how many hours there were in a day here. I figured there had to be some way to tell time on this planet. Maybe when I get to a city, if there even is one, someone can tell me how things work here.

My mind started racing about all the questions I would have. Where am I? Why am I here? How did I get here? How long have I been here? Who or what did this? What can I eat or drink? Is it safe here? Way too many thoughts and questions going on in my head.

One thought jumped out as more important than the others right now. I need to find water, food, and shelter. These thoughts seemed to stick in the front of my brain and kept nagging at me. I decided to climb the next tree I came to and see if I could spot anything from the top of it. I also decided that maybe I should use it as a shelter just in case something dangerous comes out after dark.

The next tree seemed like it took forever to come upon. Once I got to it, I climbed to the very top and started scanning around trying to find anything. I looked for quite a while and even cupped my hands over my eyes to block the light in hopes that it would help. Nothing! I sat there disappointed. Sitting still for a while made me realize I was tired from walking. I decided to sit there and rest for a bit.

Next thing I knew, I opened my eyes and realized I was asleep for some time. Guess from the shock of being here and all the walking and running; I felt drained. I will say that it does get dark here. It was night time. The stars were out, and all the clouds were gone.

I sat there looking at the stars trying to remember from my youth all the constellations. I forgot most of them but didn’t see anything in the sky that seemed familiar. It either meant to me that I was in an entirely different solar system or just on the wrong side of the planet. I went with the different solar system in my head, and of course, it made the most sense to me.

As I sat in the tree, I heard a faint noise. I couldn’t place where it was coming from, but it gave me hope that I wasn’t alone. Then I started to think about things like is it an animal that can kill me, or is it one that can feed me, or is it a pet for someone? Hopefully, it was not a pet and could be eaten and not want to bite me. Then I thought, how do I kill it? I have no weapon. I need to make a weapon. Why didn’t I do this before? I should have done this in the beginning. Guess I was in more shock than I thought. My military and boy scout training should have made me think about it.

I sat there quietly listening for a few more minutes. I was trying to hear if the sounds were getting closer. They were. Now I needed to act. I climbed out of the tree and grabbed the lower branches to make something out of it. I snapped off a limb about four feet long and stripped the leaves. The limb was pretty straight after being stripped, so I decided it would be a good spear. I found what I think was a rock close by and started rubbing the end on to sharpen it into a point. Once I got it to a sharp functional point, I looked for a smaller branch to make into a shiv. Now I had some weapons. I climbed back into the tree and listened again. The sounds were coming closer, and it seemed like there was more than one of them. Not sure how many yet. I still couldn’t see anything but now knew the general direction they were coming in.

The sound kept getting louder and now it was starting to become distinguishable. I never heard anything like it before. It sounded like a mix between a roar and a baby’s cry blended. The different variations of it that helped let me know at least five creatures were coming. There was the tiny sound of movement though. Just a slight whirring noise like a giant bee or fly. Because it was nighttime and very little light from the stars, I couldn’t see very far. I was hoping they would change course and avoid me. But they kept coming and getting louder and louder until suddenly they were right below me. I held my breath and sat perfectly still looking down on them.

What I saw made me wonder what they could be. One was standing right at the base of the tree as if on guard duty. The rest were moving around looking at the ground like they were trying to find something. The noises they were making became almost unbearable. I finally had to let out my breath and hope they didn’t hear me.

Directly below me, the creature looked straight up at me just as I exhaled. The creature didn’t move but tilted its head from side to side. Then he did what I never expected. He reached up to his head and removed what I now know was his helmet. As I sat in the tree with my spear in hand aimed right at him, he just looked at me now with a face you could describe as humanoid. I have to say it scared the crap out of me and relieved me at the same time.

He, I assume it is a he, reached up and waved to me to come down. He didn’t make a sound just motioned. I wasn’t sure what to do at this point, because if he was human then maybe he could help me. Of course, he could always be a cannibal and want to eat me. About that time the rest of them removed their helmets and looked at me. They all seemed humanoid and friendly enough. Judging from the height of the tree and where the first branch was about my height, I guessed them all to be just under six feet tall. They seemed to have a medium build like me and be males. I could be wrong about the male part since they appeared to have suits on as well.

“What do you want?” I hollered down at them. They just looked at me.

“What do you want?” I hollered down again. They tilted their heads and motioned for me to come down. I sat still, keeping the spear aimed at the closest one.

“Who are you? Why am I here? What did you do to me? Are you human?” I asked again with a little agitation in my voice.

They all stood there looking at me and tilting their heads from side to side. The one closest to me looked away to the others, then back at me. Suddenly it started to fiddle with something on its arm and then look back at me. Out of nowhere, I heard someone trying to speak.

“Wwwww,” he said.

“We hhhaa,” he tried again.

“We have ccccooommme,” and again getting better.

I sat there thinking, this could take a while.

“We have come to hel,” saying a little more.

“We have come to help,” saying finally.

I thought to myself, about time. Not sure how the creatures did that but glad they took the time to learn my language. I was glad I wasn’t going to have to master the sounds I heard earlier from them if that was their language. I don’t think I could make noises like that.

“Who are you? Why am I here? What did you do to me? Are you human?” I asked again.

Again, they just looked at me.

“Okay. How about just who are you?” I asked.

“We are Kandiskis,” he said as he kept waving to me to come down.

“Okay, you are Kandiskis. I am human from Earth. My name is Jim,” I said back to them pointing at myself and still keeping the spear aimed at the closest one.

“We are Kandiskis. My name is Melonadeshidush Judehysnoased.” The one in the back said as he stepped forward. Still waiving to me to come down.

“Nice to meet you Melonadeshidush Judehysnoased. How about I call you Mel for short. I don’t think I can pronounce your name all day long,” I asked while slightly lowering the spear.

“You are on Kandiski in the third quadrant of the Eliposo Solar Star System. We saw you land and came to help. I am in charge of the hunting party,” Mel said while waiving his group away from the tree.

“You said hunting party. Where I come from that means you are looking for food. Am I supposed to be your food?” I asked while again raising the spear in defense.

What he did next made me a little scared. His face changed, and I think he was smiling. Couldn’t tell since his face was not exactly human.

Then he stepped forward and again motioned for me to come down while saying “No. No you are not food. We do not eat Kandiskis; we eat animals. We eat plants.”

Then he smiled again. It was a little creepy smile like the one you would see on the Joker.

I shook my head yes and started down out the tree. I kept my spear in hand just in case. When I was on the ground, I noticed they are all about my height and build. It made me feel a little better knowing if I had to fight my way out, at least I would have a chance. I hoped.

I switched hands for the spear and put out my hand to shake. Mel looked at me and tilted his head side to side, then slowly reached out. I grabbed his hand and slowly shook it saying, “Nice to meet you. I am Jim.”

One of the others walked up and shook my hand saying his name, which I could not understand at all. I just called him Jack. Then another did the same, and I called him Ron. Next, another called Pete. The last one came up and shook my hand, but something was different. The grip felt weaker and lighter, and the voice was not as gruff. Still couldn’t understand the name but got a few syllables out and so I said, Beth. I asked if there were any females with them, they all pointed to Beth. I felt good about figuring that part out. I smiled and looked around at my saviors. They just gave me a blank stare back except Mel who had that weird smile again.

“So, I have so many questions for you,” I said looking at Mel, “Like where am I and how did I get here? Why am I here? How did you learn my language so quickly?”

Mel stopped me by raising his hand and smiling again.

“I am sure you are confused. I will do my best to answer all your questions while we walk. Right now, we need to leave here and get back to the city. Come with us. There will be plenty of food, drink and time to answer anything you want to know,” Mel said as he turned and started walking back the way they came. Jack, Ron, Pete and Beth all quietly followed as well.

I stood there for a second looking at them and then skipped ahead to catch up with Mel. I looked back and noticed that they all put their helmets back on except Mel. They were quite scary looking in them. I wondered why Mel hadn’t. I figured it was because it was easier to talk to me this way. And that is what we did. I asked all kinds of questions. Mel took his time answering each one. I learned a lot about the people there and the planet and that I was not the first to “land” here as he called it.

Mel never could explain why I was there because no one knew the answer. All they knew is it happened, and creatures from all over the universe came there and “landed.” He said this has been going on for millions of years and their civilization has grown and integrated with many different species. Not all species were able to survive, and they died for various reasons, like too much oxygen, not enough oxygen, too much light, not enough light, not enough other chemicals in the atmosphere or too many and so on. Everyone here became like guardians for all the species that showed up. They dedicated their lives to helping newcomers to integrate, and this led to developing new technology to communicate with various species at a moment’s notice. It explained how they learned to speak with me. Of course, me being a techie at heart, I wanted to learn more about the tech they used for this. Especially if I was now going to have to live with all those species they said were here.

I wanted to keep asking about the tech but decided there would be time later. Instead, I asked about the race that was from this planet. I figured it would be Mel and his kind, but I was wrong. Mel said there was a little bit of them left in all the DNA of the descendants that lived still, but the original race died out several hundred thousand years ago.

The original race was called Darhistanmas. Based on his description, they looked like what I would call reptiles mixed with cows and walked on their hind feet. So, I guess they were humanoid. But with time and blending of other species, they now look like Mel and his people.

We kept walking and talking, and Mel was getting better at speaking in terms that I could understand. The tech was fascinating me more and more. Before long I looked around and noticed it was getting light out again. I guess we had been walking for hours and I never realized. I also hadn’t thought about food or water in quite some time. I still didn’t see a sun in the sky anywhere. All the colors of the grass, flowers, and trees were jumping out at me again. It was going to take some getting used to in time.

Mel suddenly stopped and pointed to something in the distance. I squinted and tried to focus on it but couldn’t see anything. I told him, and he handed me his helmet and motioned to put it on. I did. It smelled weird and didn’t fit well. I looked again in the direction he pointed, and the helmet seemed to focus on its own. Now I could see it. It was amazing.

There was a city in front of us about two or three miles away. I could make out the tall buildings and some smaller ones with roads or pathways between them.

The first thing I noticed was the tall buildings and the look of them. They looked like huge missiles with windows all around. The windows were reflecting the light off and casting light out in all directions. They seemed to be about fifteen hundred to two thousand feet tall. There were what I think was enclosed walkways on different floors stretched between them with windows wrapping all around. The smaller ones seemed to be more domed shaped and without windows. They were significantly shorter. It was quite a contrast in designs. I stood there in awe of the city before us. I couldn’t wait to get there and look around.

Mel tapped me and said it was time to go. So, on we went with my step seems a little lighter in anticipation of getting there.