I used to be much taller. When I first got here, I was over seven feet tall, but Earth’s gravity has shrunk me to about 6’6″. I am told that I am still tall by human standards, but not as I used to hear people say, “freakishly tall.” I think the freakish must be rare because other humans are often quick to point out when someone or something reminds them of one. I’ve never seen one so I wouldn’t know it if I met one. You could say Earth’s gravity has made me less freakish (hight-wise), and therefor easier to fit in the human world. My friend, Rick, thinks this is good because people don’t stare at me as much as they used to. Risk is always concerned about attracting too much attention. He says I should try to fit in when I am with people who don’t know me. “Fitting in” seems to be important to many humans.
This makes me think about other things besides gravity. I know some human languages and many of their customs. I have learned much about human history. I have learned what they like and don’t like, what makes them laugh and moves them to tears. I know many of the things humans seek and some of the things they fear. This knowledge enables me pretend I am human which, as I said before, Rick thinks is best. He says that other humans wouldn’t understand if they knew the truth about me. He says they would be afraid and try to hurt me or take me away. It comes into my mind that maybe this is what happened to all the freakish. Maybe they were taken away somewhere.
I love the humans, and I even like many of the human ways, but sometimes I don’t want to pretend. No matter how long I live here or how much I fit in, I am always Klyvian. Sometimes I dream about telling all the humans about us. I wonder if Rick is right. Would they really be afraid?
