Where the Forest Meets the Stars(2)

“What will police do?” She said it as if she’d never heard the word.
“They’ll haul your butt home.”
The girl crossed her arms over her skinny body. “What will they do when I tell them I have no home?”
“They’ll take you to the police station and find your parents or whoever you live with.”
“What will they do when they call those people and find out their daughter is dead?”
Jo didn’t have to feign anger this time. “You know, it’s no joke to be alone in the world. You should go home to whoever cares about you.”
The girl tightened her arms across her chest but said nothing.
The kid needed a jolt of reality. “If you really have no family, the police will put you in a foster home.”
“What’s that?”
“You live with complete strangers, and sometimes they’re mean, so you’d better go home before I call the cops.”
The girl didn’t move.
“I’m serious.”
The half-grown dog that had begged for food at Jo’s fire for the past few nights skulked into the outer circle of firelight. The girl sat on her haunches and held her hand out, cajoling him in a high voice to let her pet him.
“He won’t come closer,” Jo said. “He’s wild. He was probably born in the woods.”
“Where’s his mother?”
“Who knows?” Jo set down her phone and turned the skewers. “Is there some reason you’re afraid to go home?”
“Why won’t you believe I’m from the stars?”
The stubborn-ass kid didn’t know when to quit. “You know no one will believe you’re an alien.”
The girl walked to the edge of the prairie, held her face and arms up to the starry sky, and chanted some kind of gibberish that was supposed to sound like an alien language. Her words flowed like a foreign tongue she knew well, and when she finished, she smugly turned to Jo, hands on hips.
“I hope you were asking your alien people to take you back,” Jo said.
“It was a salutation.”
“Salutation —good word.”
The girl returned to the firelight. “I can’t go back yet. I have to stay on Earth until I’ve seen five miracles. It’s part of our training when we get to a certain age—kind of like school.”
“You’ll be here awhile. Water hasn’t been turned into wine for a couple of millennia.”
“I don’t mean Bible kind of miracles.”
“What kind of miracles?”
“Anything,” the girl said. “You’re a miracle, and that dog is. This is a whole new world for me.”
“Good, you have two already.”
“No, I’ll save them for really good stuff.”
“Gee, thanks.”
The girl sat in a lawn chair near Jo. The grilling chicken breast oozed greasy marinade into the fire, smoking the night air with a delectable scent. The kid stared at it, her hunger real, nothing imaginary about it. Maybe her family couldn’t afford food. Jo was surprised she hadn’t thought of that right away.
“How about I give you something to eat before you go home?” she said. “Do you like turkey burgers?”
“How could I know what a turkey burger tastes like?”
“Do you want one or not?”
“I want one. I’m supposed to try new things while I’m here.”
Jo put the chicken breast on the cooler side of the fire before going inside to gather a frozen burger, condiments, and a bun. She remembered the last cheese slice in the refrigerator and added it to the girl’s dinner. The kid probably needed it more than she did.
Jo returned to the yard, laid the patty over the fire, and put the rest on the empty chair beside her. “I hope you like cheese on your burger.”
“I’ve heard about cheese,” the girl said. “They say it’s good.”
“Who says it’s good?”
“The ones who’ve already been here. We learn a little about Earth before we come.”
“What’s your planet called?”
“It’s hard to say in your language—sort of like Hetrayeh . Do you have any marshmallows?”
“The Hetrayens taught you about marshmallows?”
“They said kids put them on a stick and melt them over a fire. They said it’s really good.”
Jo finally had an excuse to open the marshmallows she’d purchased on a whim when she first moved to the cottage. She figured she might as well use them before they went stale. She got the marshmallows from the kitchen cupboard and dropped the bag into the alien’s lap. “You have to eat dinner before you open them.”
The alien found a stick and sat in her chair, marshmallows sheltered in her lap, her dark eyes fixed on the cooking burger. Jo toasted the bun and placed a skewer of browned potatoes, broccoli, and mushrooms next to the cheeseburger on a plate. She brought out two drinks. “Do you like apple cider?”
The girl took the glass and sipped. “It’s really good!”
“Good enough to be a miracle?”
“No,” the alien said, but she downed more than half the glass in seconds.
The girl was almost done with her burger by the time Jo took a bite. “When did you last eat?” she asked.
“On my planet,” the alien said around a cheek bulged with food.
“When was that?”
She swallowed. “Last night.”
Jo put down her fork. “You haven’t eaten for a whole day?”
The girl popped a potato cube into her mouth. “I didn’t want to eat until now. I was kind of sick—from the trip to Earth and changing bodies and all that.”