Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ The Tour ❯ The Tour ( Chapter 1 )

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The Tour

It had been a particularly troubling day for Celeste. She had given, thus far, four tours, and in each one her customers asked harder questions, and demanded to know things that she had no way of knowing. “That's it,” she decided, “I'm sick of keeping these people safe and answering their impossible questions. After tonight, I'm leaving, and I'm never coming back.” Unfortunately for Celeste, she had one more tour to lead, and this one was full of children, who always asked more questions than anyone else, and who also seemed to try to put themselves in the middle of trouble far too often. Celeste hoped that, this time, their parents would have some sense and keep an eye on their young. Her hopes were dashed, however, when she met the group, and saw about eight children chasing each other around, squawking wildly, while their parents sat, watching idly. Celeste sighed. It would be another long night.

She approached the group. “Hello,” she said, “And good evening. My name is Celeste. Before we start, I'd like to remind you that the creatures we are going to see can be very dangerous, so we must stay hidden from their view. This means that all children should be kept close at all time. There will be no flying off without warning by anyone, and we will stop for a head check every few minutes, or as necessary. I see that most of you brought children along. It's fine, but I hope you are aware of the dangers involved. I'd like you each to fill out these forms,” she said, gesturing to a pile of papers she had carried and placed beside her.

“What are they for?” one of the fathers asked, looking over the form.

“It's a liability form. If someone gets hurt, or killed, or goes missing, it's not the tour company's, or my, fault.”

“Does that happen often?” a mother, who had until this moment been lax in her observance of her child, asked, bringing the child closer to her.

“Not often at all,” Celeste assured her. “As long as everyone stays close and keeps a close eye on the children, everyone should be fine.”

Reluctantly, the group signed the papers, and every parent pulled his or her child closer. Celeste breathed a sigh of relief. “Good,” she thought, “That makes my job a little easier.” She gathered the papers and hopped over to the tour office, dropping them in a corner for her managers to go through. Then she made her way back to the group. “Okay!” she said cheerfully, “Let's begin. Remember, don't make eye contact with the creatures, and if one tries to catch you, run away. They usually give up the chase after a moment or two. Let's go.” She led the group down the street, where one of the creatures stood, looking like he was waiting for something. The creature paid them no mind; instead, he focused on a piece of paper in front of him.

“What is it doing?” a girl asked.

“Here we go, the questions,” Celeste thought. “He's reading,” she replied.

“They can read?” a boy asked. “Mommy always told me that they couldn't.”

“They can read,” Celeste replied, “Although they do not read in our language.”

“What language do they read in?” a father asked.

“They have their own languages; many of them. We have yet to discover just how many there are.”

“Wow,” chorused the tour group.

“Let's move on, shall we?” Celeste suggested. The creature reading the paper had finally noticed them, and although Celeste didn't think he would attack, she also didn't want to take any risks. They walked down the street, being passed by several of the creatures, who paid them no mind.

“Why do they ignore us?” a girl asked.

“We're nothing unusual to them,” Celeste explained. “We run these tours all the time, so they're used to seeing groups of us walking down the street.” She gestured toward two creatures, one smaller that the other, standing by a window.

“It's a baby!” one of the boys cried out.

“Well, a child,” Celeste agreed. “I can't tell whether it's a boy or a girl, but it is with its mother.”

“How can you tell?” a father asked.

“The females of the species are usually more brightly-colored, and are usually much prettier to look at. Although that isn't always the case.”

“Strange,” a mother said. “Look out!” she cried suddenly. The child-creature had broken free of its mother and was running toward them, laughing gleefully. The tour group dispelled, with everyone running in different directions.

“Meet back here when it's gone!” Celeste shouted, flying off as fast as she could. A few minutes later, the child had given up its pursuit and had gone off with its mother. Celeste arrived back at the spot where she had left the group. Slowly the other group members joined her. Celeste performed a quick head check, and, deciding that everyone was present, moved onward.

“That was exciting!” a boy said.

“Yes, well, the children aren't usually so dangerous, although they're usually the only ones who will try to catch us. The young adult males are the ones we need to watch out for. In order to proclaim their dominance, they sometimes catch one of us, and sometimes they even kill us.”

“I've heard of that happening,” a mother said. “Is there any way to defend yourself from their attacks?”

“We can usually outrun them,” Celeste said, “And it seems that they won't try it in public. We're not sure why. So as long as we stay in heavily-populated areas, we should be fine.”

“Can you point out a young male to us, so we know what they look like?” a father asked.

“Of course,” Celeste said. “There's one.”

“What are those things coming out of his ears?” a boy asked.

“We think it helps them to hear,” Celeste said, “Although we're not sure. Many young females wear them, too.”

“They're funny-looking. And why do they walk on two legs instead of four, like most animals?” a girl asked.

“We believe it's because they aspire to be like us.” This got a laugh from the group. “No, it's true. They read and write in their own language, and they walk on two legs, just like us.”

“Yeah, but they can't fly,” a father said.

“Well, they can. Haven't you seen those things flying in the sky?”

“Those gigantic machines?” a mother asked. “Yes.”

“They build those in order to fly.”

“How silly,” a boy said, giggling.

“Yes,” Celeste agreed. “It is silly.” She looked up at the sky. The moon was beginning to show and the sky grew dark. “Come on, we should head back. The tour is over.”

“Aww,” the group said, but they dutifully followed Celeste back to the tour office. Celeste said goodbye to the group as they all paid the tour manager their money. As soon as they left, her manager looked at her.

“How was it?” her manager asked.

“Alright,” Celeste said. “I had a lot of questions today.” She decided not to mention the fact that earlier, she had wanted to quit her job.

“Oh, really?” her manager asked. “Did you have any adventures?”

“A minor one,” Celeste said. “Hey,” she said suddenly, “You know how the humans built all of those buildings and the flying machines and things?”

“Yeah,” her manager said. “Why?”

“Well, do you think that they may be more intelligent than we think? Like, maybe they think we're the ones who have lesser intelligence?”

Her manager snickered. “You've been studying them too long. There's no way they're capable of that kind of intelligence.”

“Yeah, you're right,” Celeste said. “What was I thinking?”