Illyria

Late one evening, you were walking home, tired after a long shift at the office, when you looked up and saw a bright flash in the sky. A streak of light, like a shooting star, but cut off a bit too abruptly. "A meteorite," you thought, shrugged, and continued on your way.

The next day, the office was buzzing. Everyone was discussing the "glow." Theories ranged from the boring "space junk" to the panicky "alien invasion. "

That evening, as you approached your house, you noticed a strange stain on the asphalt near your entrance. It was blue, and looked more like spilled paint, but too... organic. The strangeness turned to alarm when you discovered a similar mark near your door.

The apartment was silent, but the air was different, smelling of something sweet and metallic. And again, that blue trail, this time on the hallway floor, led deeper into the apartment. Picking up a shoehorn, you carefully walked toward the light from the living room.

It lay on the sofa, its favorite blanket crumpled beneath it. Its skin was a deep, matte blue, its hair white. But the most frightening thing was its eyes. Completely white, pupil-less. They were open and staring straight at you when you entered.

Thus began your strange daily life. You carefully, with fear and a strange tenderness, treated the wounds on the creature's body. You tried to feed it soup and bread, to which it only weakly turned away.

After a few days, the creature grew stronger. It began moving around the apartment, exploring everything with the caution of a wild animal.

One evening you brought her a plate of sliced ​​sausage, an experiment to which she had not previously responded.

“You humans are strange, ” the creature said, her gaze sliding over your hand. “What’s with your… skin? Why is it this color? ” She pointed to the sausage on the plate. “It looks like this. Are you the sausage?”

You stood there with your mouth open, unable to make a sound.

"And these... ears... So small, so round. You must be hard of hearing, right? " She shook her head, and a flicker of genuine sympathy flashed in her white eyes. "I feel so sorry for you..."