Eddie took the money out of his pocket. Yesterday he picked up his paycheque at the construction site. He had drunk away most of the wage the day before but today he found coins for two beers. Oh, just right he could bounce back. Eddie took two bottles of beer from the shop assistant who was frowning at him and headed out a nearby hill. No one will disturb him there, and the other smarties sticking out all day at the happy store will not stick to his beer. Eddie had his own place where relaxed in solitude. He climbed a nearby hill and lied down near a bush with a flask of whatever he happened to put his hands on.

The same scenario was realised today. Eddie lied down on the grass. He immediately emptied two bottles. Then he lay on his back, contemplating the sky and reflecting how to sweet-talk a foreman to pay an advance because for Eddie two beers were not enough to chillout and what’s more he was broke.

Eddie was lying there. The sun was pleasantly warm. Clouds were moving in the sky. It started to fall asleep. Then, suddenly, there was a flash in the sky. A long trail of light with a point at the end. Storm? Eddie raised himself on an elbow. He wasn't a meteorologist but those clouds didn't look like storm clouds for him. Probably hallucinations. He fell back onto the grass and was about to close his eyes when anxiety came. Some strange feeling. He felt bad. Was the beer shop-soiled? Eddie felt uncomfortable. Inwardly he was starting to curse the dishonest shopkeepers who exploit human need so viciously, when he heard a noise in the nearby wood. Something was moving, walking, crawling… God knows! Some a wild boar or some other rhino would come here.

He started to get up. Likely Eddie wasn't up yet and was just sitting, because he would have fallen. A strange creature came out of the forest and froze at the sight of the man. Eddie petrified and goggled in stupor. The creature had two legs and two arms but was dressed in a space-suit-dress and a helmet. Something was shining there, some strange lights.

„What the devil?”, Eddie mumbled. “Are they playing some kind of joke, some kind of carnival or something?”

The creature stood baffled for a moment. Concerned Eddie rose to his feet from the ground. He was frightened when the creature pulled out a box-shaped object and pointed it at the man. Eddie stopped mid-movement, convinced that it was some kind of weapon. He held his breath, waiting for the shot. Meanwhile, the mysterious box shined and started blinking some lights and emitting soft squeaks. Eddie fully upright. He stood in front of the newcomer and immediately felt better. The creature was shorter than him, and under that “jumpsuit” he seemed small in stature. The most important thing was that the alien took the helmet off its head, then Eddie’s right hook and the stranger would be on the canvas. It was only needed to say something to the creature, force it to talk so that it opens its visor.

„Who are you?”, he asked the newcomer, not very pleasantly.

The newcomer didn’t answer. The stranger was infinitely focused on its box. Aiming at Eddie, it moved the object up and down.

“You, what are you doing? Are you taking photos of me? Bloody paparazzi, focus on these celebrities, don’t disturb a poor overworked man resting after labour here! Why are you standing like this? Get off my pot!” Eddie was getting nervous.

He abandoned conventions and moved towards the intruder. His fists clenched. Some screeches came from the alien’s direction.

“What are you talking about? Speak English because I do not speak aliens’ language.”

Finally, the long-awaited moment arrived and the newcomer was pressing some buttons on the cuff of its suit. First, the dark visor of the helmet opened. Eddie groaned at the sight. Then he sat up in shock as the creature removed the helmet. A large gray head appeared before the builder's eyes, hairless, but with huge black eyes. It had no nose, only two nostrils and a thin mouth.

“Hey you, where did you come from?” Eddy asked overwhelmed.

The stranger pointed to the sky.

“What, did you fall from the sky?”

The newcomer seemed to absorb for a moment what Eddy had said, then gave approving nod.

“You don't look like an angel, more like a devil.”

The newcomer, not discouraged, took a step towards Eddy.

“What are you up to now? Eddy began to get up clumsily.

As he performed this momentous deed, though gravity was pulling him towards the grass, he saw that the stranger was already beside him. Up close, Eddy saw that the shining box the alien used was a notebook. The newcomer clicks, knocks something, moves it around. Finally, being close Eddy, the stranger directed the box towards him, and it started making some sounds.

“What are you up to, are you spying on me or what?”, Eddie was annoyed.

When the strange creature was very close, Eddie belched longly, straight from the gut. The stranger stopped abruptly. It had no ears but seemed to be listening. Its eyes narrowed too.

“You don’t know such noises, do you? Such is life. And if you are so curious, you have this too…”, and Eddie released the gases of his intestines.

This time the alien was seen to move its nostrils and stepped back, perhaps in disgust, although its facial expressions didn’t show it. It basically said nothing. The stranger had beeped something into its device.

“Did you register my fart? You're a pervert!”. Eddie started laughing.

The newcomer ignored this comment. It gave the human a wide berth and approached the bush where the builder was resting before disturbing his siesta. Eddie watched the alien silently, standing unsteadily. The newcomer bent down and picked up one of the beer bottles and brought its head close to it. It moved its nostrils and clicked in its suit. A pocket opened. With its other hand, it pulled out a container and put a beer bottle inside. Then the creature turned back and started walking towards the forest. Eddie stood unsteadily, stunned for a moment. Finally, when the alien reached the first line of trees, the worker woke up and called after him:

“You are thief. There was a deposit on the bottle, now I won't get the money! You would come from nowhere and steal”, with these words Eddie fell to the ground and fell asleep exhausted.

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"Interplanetary contacts part 2"