Stopping for a Visit

To their credit, they called ahead, asking if they could stop for a visit.  They were very polite about it all, and they apologized for not being fluent in our language.  But really, they did alright considering that we have so many different languages.  They thought we would only have one.  It could be forgiven that they chose Mandarin.  That hurt the rest of us though.

As they got closer, their massive ship detected by radar and our large telescopes, they asked, again very politely if they could enter our atmosphere and land somewhere without causing any trouble.  But then when they fell into an orbit around us they told us that they didn’t want to take any chances of inter-contamination, noting that our genetics differed significantly.  They felt more research was warranted before attempting physical contact.

They asked questions about our history, culture, and technology, but we were hesitant to tell them too much.  They apologized for making us feel uncomfortable and sent us a library of information about themselves.

They said they were going to ask for water, but realized that our ocean were full of living organisms and would go elsewhere for it.

They apologized again for any inconvenience or distress they may have caused by visiting our planet so abruptly.  They said goodbye, wishing us well.

And they left.

To their regret, there are billions of nervous people not sleeping very well tonight.