Moon Boots

By: Lila DeJessa

Sun shone through the curtains of the townhouse. In the kitchen, unpacking groceries, stood Anna Marie. A stunning make of a woman, her long blond hair crawling down her back and hovering at over six feet tall, she smiled as she hummed along to a record that lazily played on the turntable in the living room. Over by where the Chet Baker echoed from, sat a seven year old boy pushing Tonka trucks around.

”Theodore, come over please and take this to the trash for me” called Anna Marie.

The boy grumbled and got up, his frown and squished nose moving his glasses up his face. He grabbed the trash bag from the can as his mom kissed his blond bowl cut.

”I love you honeybunny,” she smiled.

”I love you Mom” he called as he walked into the back alley. Theo removed the lid from the tin can and mindlessly chucked the bag in over other week-old garbage. He stomped back inside, humming a tune. Inside the trash can, the bag rustled. The can began to glow.

Theo kicked his feet under the dinner table. His mother heaved a scoop of spaghetti onto his plate. The two joined hands and bowed their heads in prayer.

”Is all of your homework done?”
”Yeah. Can we go to Blockbuster tomorrow? I wanna see Twister.” ”We’ll see about that. It might be too much for you, you know.” ”No,” Theo whined, “It’s not! I’m big enough now.”
“Finish your food and we can go watch television.”

The two sat on the couch, Theo resting on his mom’s shoulder as she stroked his blonde hair. X-Files played on their TV. Anna Marie yawned and checked her wristwatch. 

9:37.

She scooped Theodore up and carried him up the stairs. In his dark room, illuminated by fake plastic stars on the ceiling, and set him in his bed. Changing him into his pajamas as he softly groaned and hugged his mother, she pressed a kiss onto his head and left the room. Soon, the entire house was asleep.

Until a large bang came from their trash cans, and Theo shot up with a jolt. By his back bedroom window, a large glow emanated from the trash. With his nose pressed against the window, he peered down below. Something rustled and then shot straight up from the can. An orb? Theo dismissed the thought. An alien? This could be. He had to act like Mulder. Somewhere down the hall, his Scully was sound asleep. He had to handle this on his own. Theo slid open his window and leaned out. The alien, still floating, spotted him and came down to his level.

Fuzzy, pink, and bug-eyed, it smiled. Its rotund body whirred and glowed. It had to be a real-life extraterrestrial.

”Hello.”
Theo’s jaw dropped. It spoke?
”Don’t speak Human English? 你好.”
”I—I do speak English,” Theo stuttered. “You’re from China?”
”No. I am from Gorbakapan. My planet has been destroyed, and I am the last of my kind.” Its high-pitched voice Theo hoped his mother wouldn’t hear.

”Why are you here?”

”This planet is comparable to my home planet‘s atmosphere. I need your help in sending me into this galaxy’s sun.”

”The sun?” Theo shouted, “I can’t get to the sun!”
“Yes you can!” it shouted back.
”I don’t even know your name!”
”It is too complex for the human brain to comprehend. The alien dove into the

trash can below. It came back up with an empty shoe box. “You can call me Moon Boots”
”Moon Boots? Okay. How do I keep you safe?” “Bring me to your leader.”

”Bill Clinton?”
”Is he here?”
”Why would Bill Clinton be in my house?”
Moon Boots tried to force its way into his bedroom window. Theo backed up, and the glowing fuzz ball illuminated the room.
“Gee, you really glow in the dark.”
”Where should I go if you cannot take me to Bill Clinton?”
Theo looked around. Moon Boots really did look like one of his stuffies. Could he go in his toybox? “My toybox?”

”What is that? Do you sleep there? That must be your sleeping pod.” Theo laughed.

“No silly goose, that’s where I put my toys! You can sleep there tonight. You look like my stuffies anyway.”

Moon Boots nestled in amongst his Tonka trucks and teddy bears.

”I suppose I will be fit for tonight. Tomorrow you have to take me to see Bill Clinton.”

”Sure Moon Boots. I’ll see you when the sun comes up.” ”I will be waiting.”
Theo closed the lid of his toy box and went to bed.

The next morning, ready to leave for the office, Anna Marie went to wake Theo for school. When she opened the door, she noticed that Theo’s bed was unmade and covers strewn about the room. He was muttering something into his toybox.

“Theo honey, what are you doing?”

Theo’s head shot up so fast he cracked it onto the lid that hovered above him. He stared at his mom, and in the next moment, began wailing. Anna Marie rushed over and whisked her boy up, hushing him and holding him. Beneath her, in the toy box, something moved. She stared at it as Theo cried. The lid creaked open, and a small hand crept from the box. Her eyes widened as Moon Boots crept out of the box.

”Are you okay Theo?” it asked.

Theo stopped crying in an instant. He turned whiter than his mother as they both stared at the alien. Moon Boots came up to Anna Marie’s shin when she was in her work heels.

”What,” she cried, “is THAT!”

”Mom, wait!” Theo cried.

But it was too late. She had already bolted down the stairs. Moon Boots chased after them, screaming along with them.

“What are we running from?!” shouted Moon Boots.

This only caused Anna Marie to scream louder and run into the kitchen. As she tucked herself into the corner, Theo wrestled his way out of her grip. He ran towards the alien, acting as a barrier between the two. Theo took a deep breath in.

”Okay, Mom, so basically last night Moon Boots crash-landed on Earth and yes he’s an alien and he’s the last of his kind and he landed in the trash next to my old pair of Moon Boots so I named him Moon Boots because it’s like Space Invaders and I just thought he was cool and he’s fuzzy too and I’m kinda his Luke Skywalker to his Yoda and I think—“

Theo gasped for air.

”—And I think he needs our help and he really needs to see our leader so I thought we could take him to work with you Mommy because sometimes you work with Bill Clinton and I also thought we could get him to play saxophone for us if we had the extra time after—“

”Theo. Slow. Down. Is this actually an alien?” 

Moon Boots peaked out from behind Theo. ”Yes!” it squeaked out.
”And you’re from...?”

”Gorbakapan.” Anna Marie sighed.

”Of course. And you want to see Bill Clinton? Why exactly?”
”I have been informed that he is your leader.”
”Of the States, yes.” Anna Marie checked her watch, “It’s your lucky day. I have a briefing with Rudy Giuliani at ten—he’s the mayor. He’ll know what to do with... an alien.”

”Mommy, are we going to work with you?” Theo asked. ”I’m sure as hell not leaving you two alone here.”

New York City is a fascinating place. This is at least, what Moon Boots had figured out from taking the Subway. Swaddled in blankets, Anna Marie held the alien like a baby. The World Trade Center main line whisked the odd trio into a bustling hub. It was a good thing that Anna Marie decided on tightly holding the alien close to her chest. It was a busy Friday morning. The three shot straight past the tourists into the elevators. What was normally a speedy ride up the South tower could not have been slower. On the eighth floor, a businessman walked in, not looking at anyone. Moon Boots decided that this must be Bill Clinton.

“Bil—!” The comment from the alien was met with a harsh squeeze from Anna Marie. The businessman slowly turned to see the tight-lipped mother muttering profanities at her baby. He quickly got off.

When they got to the twenty-fourth floor, the three got off and scurried into Anna Marie’s office. Shutting the doors behind her, she began to lay down the law.

”No touching anything. Do not answer the phone. Do not open the door for anyone except me. Do not make any noise. I will be back shortly with Rudy Giuliani or whoever can fix this damn mess. I expect you to be in the same spot I left you.”

And with that, she swiftly shut the door.

Theo had never seen his mom more militant in his life. Looking at Moon Boots, who was already across the room messing with a plant, he wondered who this Rudy guy must have been. Could he play the saxophone too?  Anna Marie rounded the corner straight into her boss.
 

”Tom, thank god you’re here. Where’s the mayor?”
”Anna Marie! You don’t have your meeting for another ten minutes. What’s the rush—“
”Where is the mayor, Tom?”
”In the conference room. What the hell is the matter with you?”
 

Before she could answer him, she was already racing down the hall to the conference room. Throwing open the door, she burst into the room. The mayor looked startled.
 

”Mrs. Tendler! What is the meaning of this?” ”How fast can the President be here?”
”I’m sorry?”
”I said, how fast can the President be here?”

”Why on Earth would we need President Clinton for a New York City infrastructure presentation?”

”You know Mr. Giuliani, until today, there wasn’t a reason on Earth that Bill Clinton had to be here. But that reason crash landed into my goddamn trash can last night and is sitting in my office so if you don’t mind, I’d like to have the president here.”

”What are you—“
Moon Boots and Theo slid out from behind Anna Marie.
“Hi, Mom.”
The men in the room gasped at the sight of Moon Boots.
”Clear out the floor,” declared Giuliani, “Get everyone out of here and get the President, the Army, and whoever else right now.” 

”Are you Bill Clinton?”

Anna Marie turned around to face her son and the alien. ”You two are about to meet a lot of people very fast.”