Beeper's Adventures on Earth

Once, long ago, on the reddish planet of Mars, a baby alien was being born. It was plump, pink, and loved to smile and beep. Since he just loved to beep, they named him Beeper. He was a strong healthy alien boy, and he loved the outdoors.

On his sixth birthday, just before his family was going to sing a loving happy birthday, the planet Mars bumped into a comet and tossed Beeper right into space. He flew through the air until finally flopping softly down onto the earth. There he lay dazed on the ground until something whizzed by him and stopped short.

Beeper sat up and looked at it. It was a creature almost just like himself! The other creature just stared back. Then he gulped and stared some more. Beeper said, "Hello! What are you doing?"

The boy finally stopped staring when he heard Beeper's voice. "Please don't hurt me! I was just riding my bike. Please don't hurt me!" replied the boy in a tiny voice.

Beeper was confused. He had just wondered what the other creature was doing, so he tried another question. "What's your name? My name is Beeper."

The other creature (who really was a boy) said, "M...My name is Timmy."

Beeper smiled and said, "Let's be friends." They talked together some more as they walked to Timmy's house. At the sidewalk to the front porch Timmy stopped to think how he could hide Beeper. He decided he'd get Beeper some clothes and one of his baseball hats. He told Beeper he'd be right back. He ran up the porch steps and rushed inside the house.

Timmy ran up to his room, got some jeans, a T-shirt and a baseball cap. He ran back downstairs and outside to Beeper. He took Beeper behind a bush and started dressing him. When Beeper was ready, Timmy took him inside and introduced him to his mom. His mom asked, "What's your new friend's name?"

"Bobby..........Bobby Platique," Timmy replied slowly.

Beeper looked at Timmy with a confused expression, then he smiled when he saw Timmy's face. After Timmy had finished talking to his mom, he and Beeper ran upstairs to Timmy's room. They played there until dinner, and after dinner they read books to each other.

Since there was school the next day, they had to go to bed at 8:00. In the morning, Beeper was awakened by the tick of Timmy's clock. Timmy must have already woke up because he wasn't in his bed, thought Beeper. Beeper decided to check out the dresser for some clothes to wear to school. He found a suit that fit him and was comfortable.

He decided to go look for Timmy, so he stepped out of the room and walked down the hall looking in every doorway. The first few rooms were just extra bedrooms and the bathroom. Then he came to Timmy's parents' room, the study, and Timmy's sister, Tonya's room. He hadn't seen Timmy in any of the rooms.

Beeper went downstairs to look for Timmy. The first place he came to was the comfortable living room. He walked in, looked around, then walked to the kitchen. Timmy was sitting there eating breakfast. He was ready for school. When he saw Beeper, he smiled and said, "Hurry up, Beeper, and eat your breakfast. It's almost time for school." Beeper got some cereal, ate it, and then he and Timmy went off to school.

When they arrived at school, they found out they were going to make model rockets. It would take a few weeks to make them, but they would be neat in the end, thought Beeper.

Mrs. Popper, the teacher, was assigning pairs and, luckily, his partner was Timmy. Mrs. Popper had all the kits and launching equipment, so the kids only had to put them together.

"The first step to making the model rockets is to cut out and sand the pieces," said Mrs. Popper. "If you need any help, just raise your hand high and I'll come and help you. Don't worry if I don't get to you right away because I'll get to you sooner or later."

Timmy and Beeper set to work right away. Timmy would cut the pieces and Beeper would sand them. It was all going well until Timmy cut himself. "Ouch! Mrs. Popper, I cut myself with my scissors and it's bleeding. Can I go to the nurse's office and get a Band Aid?"

"Yes, you may, Timmy, but take a friend with you."

Timmy picked Beeper and they went down the halls together.

"You know what, Beeper? I thought of a way we can get you back into space. We can build a huge model rocket that would hold you, and we can send you back in it. " They talked about making the big model all the way to the nurse's office. When they got there, they almost forgot why they came in the first place. But Timmy did remember, got the Band Aid, and walked back to class with Beeper at his side.

The next few days, the boys spent more and more time concentrating on building model rockets and less time on their regular lessons. Finally, the small model rocket was done, and they were going to learn how to launch it.

The whole class went out to the playground. Then, pair by pair, Mrs. Popper helped them launch their rockets. When it was Timmy and Beeper's turn, they watched carefully as Mrs. Popper connected the model rocket, pushed a button, and the rocket went off into the sky. When it came down, Timmy ran to get it. "We finally learned how to launch a model rocket," thought Beeper.

Timmy and Beeper needed a big space to launch, so they set it up in an empty parking lot that hadn't been used for years. Beeper was just about to climb in the rocket when he had an idea! "Hey, Timmy, maybe you could come up into space with me! I could send you back down again in a couple of days." Timmy thought this was a great idea.

Then he thought for a while and told Beeper, "What'll my parents think? They won't know where I am and they might think I was kidnapped. I either have to stay here or tell my parents where I'm going."

Beeper had to think this one over. He didn't want Timmy's parents to know he was an alien. He also didn't want Timmy's parents to think he was kidnapped. He decided they'd have to tell them, and they walked home together.

At first, they didn't want to tell them the story, but then Timmy blurted it all out and couldn't stop. "......And we were wondering if I could go back into space with Beeper." His parents understood how Timmy felt about it so they told him they would think about it that week.

After a few days, Timmy's parents realized that it was his birthday the next day. They planned a surprise birthday party and after it was over, they would let Timmy go with Beeper for two days.

The surprise party came fast and it was a bash! When it was over, Timmy's parents kissed him and Beeper and sent the two of them to Mars. Timmy stayed for two days and Beeper sent him back on the third day. From then on, Timmy went to visit Beeper once a month.

©1994 Kelsey E. Hill