The doors of the condo’s entrance swung open, as a heap of party goers swarmed out of the party and into the moonlit field next door. Knuffy took a deep breath; and strutted into the crowded room on the other side of the fancy glass door.

He walked through the crowd, barely missing a falling martini as he passed the stairs. Mettalica weighed heavy in the speakers, rattling the expensive china in the glass trophy case next to the window. The hallway seemed to get narrower, as he fumbled toward the magnificent kitchen. A banner hung from the crystal chandelier read, “Happy New Millennium!” Wet confetti was strewn across the floor of the kitchen, as was an empty Coke can, and a few half full Bud lights. A collective groan washed over the party, as we went from hard rocking to “Rick Rolling” compliments of Rick Astley. “Never gonna give you up” should’ve been given up long ago. Knuffy had never been invited to a party this large before in Canada, no wonder Aunt Maggie wanted to move to Miami. After Uncle Vernon died Aunt Maggie had to get out of Vancouver; everything reminded her of Uncle Vernon. BOOM! A giant crash echoed through the house, and all conversation stopped. Everyone ran, including Knuffy, to the end of the stairs, where a teenage Tai girl was laying on the ground, covered in pieces of chipped wood from the broken banister. Knuffy ran to her side. It didn’t look like she was scratched up at all, not even a bruise. He tried to wiggle her awake, and after the first shake she was completely alert. She slowly stumbled to her feet, and then she looked at Knuffy suspiciously, then she whispered under her breath, “You are the one.”

Knuffy looked at her curiously; her black, deep, cold eyes stared back comfortably. By now everyone had left the scene, and the teens in the kitchen had taken their place back next to the expensive oven. “What- What do you mean?” Knuffy asked, as she took his hand. “Just come with me!” she said, while pulling him to an empty table outside on the balcony. She sat down next to Knuffy and introduced herself, “Hi, my name is Num Num.” She stuck out her small hand, and Knuffy took it warmly.

Num Num was very adamant about asking questions. There was no question she was afraid to ask. “What kind of food do you like to consume?” asked Num Num. Knuffy answered awkwardly, “I consume, uh, grapes…” “Is there a certain reflection of light you favor over others?” “Well,” said Knuffy, “I guess I sort of favor the color orange.” She looked at him curiously. “What is or-angee?” She looked as though she had just remembered something and pulled out a book called “‘Tai’ translations” by Jahacka Flecumnum. “Oh!” said Knuffy, “you don’t speak English very well? I noticed you had a sort of accent. You have a very nice accent though.” Num Num looked at him blushing, and then replied, “Oh, No I don’t know English very well. I am from Thailand.” She continued with the questions, but Knuffy wanted to know more. She kept a new looking notepad with her, and started to write down all of the answers in a language, of which Knuffy had never seen before.” “Are you writing in your native language?” said Knuffy. Num Num obviously seemed annoyed with his interrupting because her wide smile turned into a small frown. “Yes, our writing techniques are very advanced.”
“Wow…” Knuffy replied, “Do you think you could teach me a little bit?” She whipped her head quickly at the sound of his words; “No!” she spat, and then continued writing on her notepad. “Is there a coexisting organism that you prefer more than others?” Knuffy quickly answered, “Cat.” The smile on Num Num’s face broadened; “Cat!” She started to say cat under her breath over and over, “Cat, cat, cat, and cat.” She pulled the book out from her green satchel again, and flipped the pages quickly. She loudly tapped her index finger on one of the pages, and shouted, “Cat!” Num Num held the rather large book out in front of Knuffy’s face. On the page a large white cat was lapping up a bowl of milk. Knuffy nodded as she put the book back into her satchel.
“How do we communicate again? Is there a place where we may once again engage in conversation?” Knuffy nodded and told her that they could meet up on the bridge next to the Trust bank tomorrow at 10:00 am. She said that would be fantastic. Knuffy got up from the table on the balcony, and helped Num Num up from her seat. He hugged her goodbye, and as she was walking out of the door, Knuffy saw her looking deep into her translation book, and mumbling bridge under her breath.
The next day, Knuffy got up in an extremely happy mood. He was going to be able to see Num Num again today, and he couldn’t wait. The beautiful morning sunrise was gently climbing over the horizon, and the sky was slowly growing from pink to blue. He was just about to put on his robe, when he heard the familiar knock of the mailman on the door. . He grabbed his robe, and ran down the steps. Putting it on as he approached the door. “Excuse me; will you please put it through the slot?” A confused female voice replied, “Hmmm… They won’t fit.” He quickly slung the door open, and there was Num Num, holding a bouquet of a dozen roses. “Uh… Num Num… I- um, wasn’t expecting you.” Knuffy said with a grin, as he took the roses from Num Num, and set them aside on the table for his keys next to the door. “Why are you here so early?” Knuffy said with a yawn. “I’ve been waiting here for a while now; I decided that at about 6am that I was going to leave. But then I saw that there is a small button at the left of your door, so I decided to press it. So, then you came out and I handed you the 12 roses, and then you asked me why I was here so early, and the…” Knuffy stopped her abruptly with the gesture of his finger across her lips. “Shhhh…” he said in a whisper. “Come inside, you can sit in the living room and wait for me to get ready for our date, Err, I mean meeting.” Knuffy blushed, as he led Num Num into the messy apartment, and closed the bright red door behind her. “It is fantastic!” Num Num exclaimed as she hopped up and down. She ran over to the couch and pulled one of the dirty comforters on top of herself. She wrapped herself up in it like a little Tai burrito. “You can watch TV if you like, but my receiver is kind of screwed up, so you might have a little trouble with the picture.” Obviously Num Num wasn’t paying any attention; she was too busy snuggling up in the putrid, big comforter. “Well, okay, it will only take me a few minutes...” Knuffy jogged down the hallway and into his room. He scanned the room for clean and decent clothes, but yet that task was far too laborious. He picked the least offending garment in his hamper, and pulled out a pair of Not-that-dirty-jeans, and a blue button up. Knuffy took off his robe and changed into the not-as-stinky-and-dirty-as-I-thought-they-were clothes. He jogged to the bathroom and looked in the mirror, “Hello, zombie, how are you doin’ this fine morning?” He grabbed his tooth brush and squeezed the toothpaste until the very last drop had been splattered onto his old, manual toothbrush. As he brushed his teeth, he started to brush his hair, and then afterwards he started to style it with his hair gel. It looked real nice. Sticking up, all spiky, like a blonde blowfish. Then Knuffy spat out the toothpaste, and sloshed around some mouthwash, and he was ready to go. Before leaving the bathroom, he checked himself to make sure no crack, crevice, or hair was out of place. Outside of the door were his penny loafers, so he slipped them on casually. Num Num was still on the couch, in her burrito. Knuffy walked over to her to ask if she was ready to go. He was stopped dead in his tracks by her stare. The most passionate stare in the history of time, a stare that had taken millions of years to perfect. She looked away from him, and he zombied back in to his bedroom to retrieve his aunt’s most prized possession, and stuck it deep inside his pocket.
Knuffy opened the passenger door for Num Num as she dantily got in. Her beautiful yellow sundress matched the blooming daffodils growing in the neighbor’s garden. The red convertible sped towards the bridge. The sky was a stunning light blue, and the sunshine was raining down upon the Miami streets. Today was the most beautiful day Knuffy had ever seen. Num Num asked him question the entire way, writing down every answer as if she had done nothing else her entire life. Each minute, Knuffy was falling deeper in love with her. As the thoughts of the most perfect life dawned on him, Num Num tapped his shoulder hastily. He looked at her with pure love in his eyes. “Yes?” Knuffy said, as the car halted at the red light. “I need to tell you something very important when we get to bridge.” Num Num said with a grin. “Well, I think I’m going to ask you something too.” Knuffy said as he held back joyous tears. He thought the rest of the drive what Num Num was going to say to him, maybe she was going to say that she wanted to marry him! Or that she loves him! All of these incredible thoughts went off like atomic bombs in Knuffy’s head, as they drove passed the Trust bank.

Knuffy helped Num Num out of the car, as she slowly folded back her notepad and placed it gently into her green satchel. The bridge was completely empty, and there was no one around the bridge at all. “Weird, the bridge is usually always crowded.” Knuffy said as they walked, hand in hand onto the old wooden bridge. They sat down at one of the tables close to the edge of the bridge. The sun was high-up in the blue sky, it reminded Knuffy of Num Num’s blue eyes, and bright yellow dress. They talked, and talked, and Num Num kept asking Knuffy questions, and Knuffy answered happily to all of them. After Num Num finished with her last question, Knuffy stopped her hand from writing, and placed her pencil on the metal table. She looked at him curiously. “Do you remember when I told you that I had to tell you something?” Num Num nodded with a small grin. He fumbled in his pocket for his aunt’s most prized possession. “Well, I have something for you, and I wanted to tell you that I lov…” Num Num stopped him abruptly, with the soft gesture of her finger on his lips. “I must reveal my secret before you.” Knuffy rose in his chair, and leaned forward, waiting for her to tell him the great news he had been waiting for.
She got up from her seat, and Knuffy dropped the ring back into his pocket. Num Num walked to the side of the bridge and looked over. The water was sparkling blue. She rested her palm of the wood of the round banister, and them moved it underneath the wood, and pulled out a little ball. “What’s that?” Knuffy said, as he gestured to let him see it. “It is the key to the Taiblattar mother ship.” She said in a warm voice. Knuffy looked clueless, and started to nervously pop his knuckles. “What- What is a s-s-s-s Taiblattar mother ship?” “I’ll show you.” And with a slight flick of her wrist, and a squeeze of the ball, a giant round ship arose from the ocean.
Knuffy was mentally paralyzed. He tried to logically think about this situation, but all logic was gone. Num Num stared at him sorrowfully, and started to pull her notepad out, “Reacts to shock, badly.” She said in a matter of fact voice. Then, she squeezed the ball tighter, and the ship neared closer. Num Num pulled a device out of her messenger bag that looked sort of like a flashlight, except it was rectangular, and not a cylinder. Knuffy’s eyes widened, and he staggered backward. She said in a sweet and loving voice “Thank you very much for your help, your information will very much help with our human research. I am very sorry that I have to do this, but it is for your own good, you will forever be inside my heart Knuffy.” Knuffy stared back in shock. A small tear ran down his face. “I love you Num Num.” She climbed up the stairs to her mother ship, and then grabbed something on her upper back. It appeared to be a zipper. She then unzipped the zipper, and revealed her true body, a giant mutant cockroach. She waved bye, and then aimed the flashlight at his eyes. A bright beam of light shot out of the flashlight and into his eye sockets, and the ship was gone.
“That was a crazy party!” Knuffy muttered under his breath. “I must’ve slept in my car, last night.” He fumbled for his keys, but instead found his aunt’s old diamond ring. He paused, and desperately tried to recall any of the events that happened last night. But his mind was blank. He tossed it into the glove box, and sped off, to get some food.
He paid for his Egg McMuffin, and large coffee, and then walked out of the McDonald’s front doors. While opening his car door, he spotted a cockroach, and instinctively, his converse crunched it into the asphalt. He felt warm inside.