Read Online The Alien by K. A. Applegate - Free Book Online Page A

my reading of the
World Almanac
, I knew the “Bulls” were a sports team.
    â€œYes,” I answered. “They can go all the way.”
    Then, it was my turn to ask a question. That is how “making conversation” works. “So, did you know that the cream separator was invented in 1878?”
    Apparently, they did not know. Cassie, her mother, and her father all stared at me in surprise.
    After that, we watched television for a while. It was a fictional depiction of a family. I watched it, and watched Cassie and her parents.
    A human family was a good thing to learn about. I had seen Prince Jake’s family. And now I was seeing Cassie’s family. They are different in some ways. For example, Prince Jake’s family performs a brief religious ritual before they eat. Cassie’s family does not. And in Prince Jake’s family, the father falls asleep while watching television. In Cassie’s family, it was her mother who began to fall asleep.
    â€œI must go,” I told Cassie. “It has been almost two of your hours.” Cassie’s mother revived long enough to say that I was crazy, but I was “still so cute.”
    Her father winked his left eye at me and waved as I left. Then he laughed at something from the television.
    Outside in the cool evening air, Cassie sighed heavily. “Well, we got through that without it being too much of a disaster. Come on. I’ll walk you out a ways, till you can morph back without being seen. By the way, here’s a book for you, since you’re done with the
World Almanac
. It’s a book of quotes. Stuff that famous people said.” She held it out for me to take.
    â€œThank you,” I said.
    I felt strange walking into the dark. Walking away from Cassie’s house. Strange. As if it were cold out, although it wasn’t.
    â€œSo what did you think of my parents?” Cassie asked.
    â€œI liked them,” I said. “But why has your father removed the hair from his head? Hair. Hay-yer. I meant to ask him, but forgot.”
    â€œHe’s going bald,” Cassie said. “It’s probably better not to mention it. It’s a normal thing for humans. But some people get sensitive about it.”
    â€œAh, yes. My father’s hooves are getting dull. It’s normal as well, but he doesn’t like to talk about it.”
    â€œWhat’s your father like? And your mother?”
    â€œThey are . . . just normal parents. They are very nice. They are . . .”
    â€œGo on.”
    â€œMy throat feels strange,” I said. “Like there is an obstruction. I am having difficulty speaking. Ing. Is this normal?”
    Cassie put her arm beneath mine. “You miss them. That’s normal.”
    â€œAn Andalite warrior may spend many years in space, far from his home and family. That’s normal.”
    â€œAx. You said it yourself. You may be an Andalite warrior, but you’re still a kid, too.”
    I stopped walking. I was far from the light of the house. I could change back into my own shape without being seen. I realized I was looking up at the stars.
    â€œWhere are they?” Cassie asked, following the direction of my gaze. “If you’re allowed to tell me that.”
    I pointed with my human fingers at the quadrant of space where my home star twinkled. “There.”
    I watched that star as I melted out of my human form and returned to my true Andalite body.
    â€œAx, you know that Jake and Tobias and me, and even Rachel and Marco, we all care about you. You know that, right? You’re not just some alien to us.”
     I said. Once more an Andalite, I ran for the forest.

I spent part of the night reading the book of quotes. I should have been resting, but I felt disturbed.
    More and more I thought of how easily I could turn the radio telescope at the observatory into a Z-Space transmitter. The idea of contacting