“Little Blue Men Like Cookies”
Rated
G
[Clara
age 6 years 8 months]
12/28/2005
Clara
walked into the kitchen as she wiped the sleep out of her eyes with the sleeve
of her white nightgown. John and Martha
looked at her for a moment before Martha said, “Good morning, Honey.”
Clara
said, “Morning Mommy. Morning
Daddy.”
Martha
asked, “You probably don’t want breakfast now, do you?”
Clara
said, “Yes please.”
Jon
asked, “Aren’t you full from eating all those cookies?”
Clara
said, “Ummm. I did not eat cookies. Mommy make more?”
Martha
said, “No, I didn’t. Four dozen should
have been plenty.”
Jon
said, “Clara sweetie, it’s okay if you ate the
cookies. We were just surprised to see
all the cookies gone this morning.”
Clara
said, “Them ate all cookies! Them like
them! Much! I had want one but let them eat and … ummmm …. them not left one for
Clara!”
Jon
asked, “Who ate the cookies?”
Clara
said, “Oans.”
Jon
asked, “What are Oans?”
Clara
said, “Men … little men … from Oa.”
Jon
said, “Little men? Do you mean boys?”
Clara
said, “No. Old and small like elf.”
Jon
said, “Elves from Oa ate all the cookies?
Clara
nodded her head and said, “I ask them do them cook cookies in tree. Them say no that
don’t know what are cookies. I host them
like Mommy host people and give cookies and they eat and talk at Clara.”
Martha
said, “There must have been a lot of the elves from OA to eat ALL those
cookies.” Clara held up three
fingers. Martha asked, “Only three?”
Clara
said, “Three! Liked
cookies good!”
Jon
asked, “How little were they?” Clara
held her hand up to indicate a height.
Jon said, “Three feet high? Were
they green?”
Clara
said, “No. Sky color … day sky
color. Them
wore red dresses.”
Jon
asked, “Did they have big eyes?”
Clara
laughed and said in a funny voice, “The better to see you with, my Dear! Like Red Riding Hood story! No Little men NOT have big
eyes – have eyes like size of Daddy.
Head like size of Daddy. No hair
top of head … like pretty boy-man took to healing place … him that give Clara Krypto Two. Little men have no-color hair over ears and
round back of head. Clara show you!” Clara left
the kitchen.
Jon
said to Martha, “I didn’t realize that one of her talents was telling tall
tales about little blue men. She has
quite an imagination, but we have to put a stop to this before it gets out of
hand.”
Clara
came back into the kitchen with paper and crayons. She sat at the kitchen table and began
drawing. She held a crayon in each hand
and her arms were a blur of motion. Soon
she had drawn a fully rendered picture of three small men with light blue
skin. They looked like balding, white
haired old midgets dressed in bright red robes.
The way Clara drew the shadows cast by the men indicated that they were
hovering slightly above the floor.
Jon
said, “I’ll never get used to that. No
stick figure pictures of people are going to be hung on our fridge … unless I
draw them myself.”
Martha
said, “Did the little men frighten you, Clara?”
Clara
said, “Ummmm. Them nice. Not smile
much but them good. Scared them take Clara.
Scared them eat all cookies. Ate cookies … left Clara with Mommy and Daddy.”
Jon
asked, “So they came to eat cookies?”
Clara
said, “No. Them
not understand cookies. Them want Clara okay.”
Martha
said, “They wanted you?”
Clara
said, “Ask Clara okay here. Ask Clara
like it here. Talk to
Clara like people talk where Clara from.”
Martha
asked, “What did you tell them?”
Clara
said, “I say I like … I stay. Can I have
French toast?”
Jonathan
said, “We’re glad you want to stay. We
want you to stay too. You know you can
be honest with us. You can tell us the
truth if you eat all the cookies.”
Clara
said, “Okay! I will.”
Jon
said, “So, did you?”
Clara
asked, “Did what?
Jon
asked, “Did you eat all the cookies?”
Clara
said, “No. Told you
that!”
Jon
said, “We know how good they are. We
would understand.”
Clara
said, “Ummm. Them looked good.
Mommy make more so I try some?”
Jon
said, “Clara ….”
Martha
said, “Drop it Jon. It’s harmless.”
Jon
said, “I don’t know.”
Clara
said, “Oh!” She ran from the kitchen
then came back with something in her hand.
She said, “Put away this please.
Don’t want it.”
Martha
looked at it. She asked, “What is it Dear?”
Jon
said, “It looks like a part off my tractor!”
Clara
said, “Little men said push if not want be here. Don’t want it!”
Jon
said, “Give it to me.” Clara handed him
the little device. He said, “This is
silly. Here. Watch what happens.” Jon pushed the button.
Clara
said, “Oh no! No, no, NO! Daddy!
Them come take Clara now! Them take Clara far
away!”
Jon
said, “Calm down. No one will take you
away! I pushed the button and no one
came.” Everyone’s head turned when they
heard the front doorbell ring. Jon said,
“It’s just a coincidence.”
Martha
went to the front door and opened it.
She choked back a scream when she saw the tall red-skinned man in the tight
green and black costume. He had pointy
ears and eyes that had no pupils. Martha
swallowed hard and said, “May … may I … help
you?” Clara ran up to Martha and peeked
out at the man from behind Martha’s legs.
The
man said, “I am Abin Sur –
the Green Lantern of this sector of space.
I was ordered by the Guardians of the Universe to check in on Kayla Jor-El if she ever summoned me. I believe that she just did.”
Martha
said, “I … I … I don’t believe that I know anyone by that name.” Abin Sur raised his arm and pointed at Clara. Martha said, “That … that’s our daughter
Clara.”
Abin Sur said, “She was known as Kayla
Jor-El on Krypton before that planet’s core
exploded. To our knowledge, only Kayla Jor-El and her DNA donors Jor-El
and Alura In-Ze survived
the explosion and only Kayla Jor-El survived the
journey to this world.”
Martha
said, “We didn’t know about her planet … just that her parents are dead and
that she wasn’t from here. We thought
that her name was Clara.”
Abin Sur said, “The name she is called
is of little consequence. But that child
is special in the eyes of the Guardians so she must be special indeed. I need to know, did she activate the device
that summoned me here?”
Martha
said, “No, it was an accident. My
husband pushed the button thinking that it wouldn’t do anything.”
Abin Sur said, “It is my duty to ask
the child if she wants me to take her with me.”
Clara
said, “Don’t take Kayla! I want stay
here!”
Abin Sur said, “That’s all I needed to
hear.” He looked from Martha to Jon and
said, “The Guardians told me that this child’s welfare is critical to the
future of this sector of space and, in the course of time, of the entire
universe. You have been entrusted with a
great responsibility. The Guardians also
told me … they told me about a form of sustenance called cookies.”
Clara
said, “Oans ate them all!”
Abin Sur said, “Typical. The foot soldier does the dangerous work but
gets few of the perks that the leaders do.
It’s doubly unfair because, unlike me, the Guardians are immortal and
never need to eat anything.”
Clara
said, “Mommy make GREAT French Toast!”
Martha
said, “Would … would you … like some French Toast?
Abin Sur said, “If you don’t
mind. I have come a long way and I am
quite hungry.”
Clara
stepped out from behind Martha, took Abin Sur’s gloved hand and led him past Jon and into the kitchen
saying, “Mommy host you. I show you thing called sharing.”
Martha
followed but paused next to Jon and said, “Jon, next time she tells us
something, let’s take her word for it!”
THE
END