To the moon Alice

She was leaving it all behind. Her life, such as it had become, was of no use to her. Alice tossed aside the rubbish of her 9 to 5 office temp life and her human refuse of husband and walked out of the city with her head held high, free of the heavy smell of the past that stained her old clothes. No turning back, she thought, no regrets. I hope Phil remembers to feed Buster. As telephone wires slipped past the train window, she felt the faint touch of one regret gnaw at her bones. “Poor Buster,” she whispered.

She looked out the window on the observation deck of the VIA train. The moon looked fat and saucy in the night sky. She was heading west to Vancouver to start over. The trip west was a dream of hers. However, if things were different and she had the means to, would she venture into the galaxy and settle on a space station somewhere? As years went by, this was going to be an option — you'd just need a PhD in science and a fist full of a million or so dollars you didn’t need. She used to sneer at the possibility as a kid. It was fantasy. But since the advent of Apollo, the space shuttle, etc., living on the moon or near it on the Space Station was going to be the norm.

Now there was an escape for you. Never mind heading west to escape a bad relationship. He would never find me up there, she thought to herself. Just to be that close to the moon would be sheer heaven. To glide through space amongst the stars was like a dream. Her parents were in the stars, the pets that had passed through her life had stars named after them. For now, the West would suffice. But one day she’d win the lottery. And then. To the moon Alice, to the Moon.

Wonder if Phil even misses me, Alice wondered as she headed west to her destiny. Probably not. He’s probably making friends with Jack Daniels, and Johnny Walker, and chasing skirts down Yonge Street, as I sit here. Well, good riddance to bad rubbish. Alice picked up her wine glass and toasted the moon. To moon men and wide open spaces, to Kelowna, Penticton, and Majestic Mountains. To finding herself again.

Once again she pondered the possibility of moon men. Was it possible that God in his or her wisdom had created a higher class of men on other planets? Ones who didn’t cheat lie drink and abuse women. Once again, she was digressing. Anyway, she looked forward to a brighter future in B.C. Maybe it was just Ontario men who were rotten. Maybe I’ll stop in Calgary and find me a cowboy. She closed her eyes and let the rhythm of the train rolling along the tracks lull her to sleep…perchance to dream.

She awoke to feel herself and the train being pulled skyward. It seemed she was going to get her wish. “Okay, brace yourself, Allie Poo.” (As Phil used to call her, in better times.) Lately, it had been just, “To the moon, Alice” right before he slammed his fist into her face. Damn, she thought. She had been looking forward to the Majestic Rockies. I really hope there is great scenery where we are going, and that the moon men look a far sight better than E.T. Just as she got lost in her reverie the train lurched and slammed into the tracks and rolled over. That’s when the lights went out.

When she awoke, Alice found herself crushed between the train seats and someone was shaking her.

“Ma’am?” the voice said.

Alice tried to roll over, but couldn’t. She screamed in agony.

The wondrous voice spoke again. He had his hand on her head, urging her to stay still. She managed a quick look and saw the most handsome moon man she had ever seen.

“Where am I?”

The voice was soothing. “Don’t worry, he said. “My name is Curtis. I am here to help.”

Curtis “The Moonman” stayed close to Alice. He wanted to reach out and apply his healing powers; however, Alice was very weak and he doubted they would work.

Due to the malfunction of the tractor beam on his people's ship, the train they tried to adopt fell back to earth and derailed. His people were a benevolent race and hated any kind of suffering. He felt compelled to land the ship, as close to the wreckage as possible. He cloaked the ship to avoid discovery, and morphed into human form. While being a nicer race of aliens, they weren’t known for being pleasing to look at. Their daily resemblance was more like horned toads. ET was, in fact, way more attractive than his race. Such was the necessity to disguise themselves, in order to not scare the earthlings.

Alice, as well as the other occupants of the train, needed immediate medical attention. He could not help the dead, but he could contact 911 and get help for the survivors before he disappeared. The cloaking device on the ship could last for days, as could his human form, but he wanted to avoid discovery until his race of people could reveal themselves without scaring inhabitants of this and other planets in the system.