Dedicated to Genderal Emil of Braith - For your particularly insane love of aliens. But also because of everything else. You're an amazing, wonderful, spectacular person. Thank you for everything. Every conversation, every piece of advice, thank you.

(1 September, 2017)

Monday, 21st August, 2017
Brighter, hotter. A little bit greener and wetter. Less ice, more people. Louder, heavier, faster. That was my first impression of Earth when I got here. You know, I never thought that I would get here. Even when we were on the spaceship. I mean, it took such a long time that I might as well have been experiencing life on the spaceship rather than on Earth, but what do you know? I’m here now. Here on this heavy, hot planet. Here meaning Earth by the way. You see, I used to live on a tiny planet called Pluto. I hear that on Earth our planet’s status as a planet is a confusing thing, which just confuses me more, but I just smile and nod along when the topic comes up (which isn’t often by the way, though it’s more than I’d like). Before I arrived here, it didn’t even cross my mind that my home would be considered something other than a planet. I mean, I didn’t do any research on how people on earth thought of us because I figured I didn’t really need to know. Apparently, most of them don’t even know Pluto is inhabited which I find quite strange considering we all know Earth has humans. Well, I suppose it is just another thing to tell people when I get home, which by the way, probably won’t be a long time.

Well, I suppose I should explain why I’m here. Just warning you, I might drift off track a little bit, that’s what people tell me I tend to do anyway. Though that was a long time ago.

Basically, I am part of a set of test trials. The first part was the spaceship, luckily that worked because no one would have known that I had died if it had exploded. A mystery forever. I wonder what that would be like, to be in a spaceship that had exploded. Anyway, the second part of the trial is to see if I can live here and pass for human. I mean, I would rather tell everyone that I come from Pluto, but apparently people would freak out so here I am, pretending to be something I am not. No one has guess yet. I suppose that’s because I look relatively human. I mean, my skin is thicker, my hair is dark blue, my skin is extremely pale and my eyes look slightly different, but apparently it’s close enough. Apparently I look the most human out of all the people in my city. Really, I wasn’t given a choice. Oh well, I get to have an adventure at least.

It’s all very strange here. The man that told me to come here (He hasn’t told me his name, so I’ll call him The Man) has been telling me about Earth and what people are like. They seem to to be very different. Much more violent than us (he was telling me history), so many wars. Humans are a weird species. I don’t think that they would like it on Pluto. Well, technically, they couldn’t survive because of the atmosphere, but you know.

Tomorrow is when things really begin, or so I’ve been told. I don’t even know what that means yet. Well, time to go to bed and wait for tomorrow. Oh! I also found out that humans sleep a lot more than we do, strange isn’t it?

Tuesday, 22nd August, 2017
Stranger and stranger. Earth is a very strange place and so are humans. I mean, they feel the same emotions as us and they walk and talk like we do (well, in English and a bunch of other languages rather than Nainotulp). However, some of them don’t smile like we do, some of them have blank eyes and some of them even go out when they are sick! Properly sick too, not just sneezing. Do they not know they could make themselves sicker? It’s all very strange here, I didn’t think it would be. Maybe we are just extra careful on Pluto, but I doubt it.

Heavier, heavier, heavier. I forgot to mention, Earth is tiring. I feel so much heavier here than I did on Pluto. It is very confusing. I mean, everything is just another weight on top of weight. I already knew that things were going to be heavier on Earth compared to Pluto, but I didn’t realise how hard it would be to walk. Well, I’m getting better at it, but it is harder. I weight about 12 times more than I do on Pluto! So, I suppose it would be weird if I didn’t find it difficult. I hope that it gets easier. Humans seem fine with all the weight so maybe I’ll get used to it.

Wednesday, 23rd August, 2017
Food! The food here is so strange! So many different types of food. So many different flavours. So many different textures and temperatures. So many different options. So many different diets that people can have. It’s crazy! I suppose it’s one thing I like about Earth that you definitely can’t get on Pluto. The food there is rather plain, I suppose because we don’’t have so much sunlight so we can’t grow as many fruits and vegetables so we can’t make everything that they have here. Although, I would quite like to show some of the people at home some of the food here.

The food fits in perfectly with the rest of Earth. Bright, different, strange and I bet if it could talk it would be loud as well. Although, I met a girl today. She was quiet and I was confused. I had been so used to the loud voices of the other people that I’m around that I was taken aback when she didn’t shout at me. She was kind, really she has been the only person that seemed to actually care about me and how I found it here. I would have thought that The Man would have been the kindest person here, but he barely talks to me. Maybe she was kinder because she was closer to my age? Obviously she doesn’t know where I have actually come from, but she didn’t ask, so it was all okay. She has been the quietest human that I have spoken to, but she has a different smile. Different to the other people that I have talked to (The Man and his fellow researcher friends), different to us on Pluto, but I have seen smiles like hers from other people that I haven’t spoken to. It is a strange smile, but it seems common here so I suppose I shouldn’t think too much about it.

It was strange, today I felt homesick for the first time in a year. I don’t even know why! It was very odd, perhaps it was all the food. I hadn’t been expecting to get homesick, you see to get here it took three years so I had gotten used to being without my family. I’m most likely going to stay on Earth for three years and then go home. I think that is how it is going to work anyway. The Man hasn’t exactly told me, although I have asked. Maybe I’ll ask again tomorrow. I really would like to know. I suppose all my siblings and friends have grown and changed a lot. I have probably grown and changed a lot.

By the way, I’m 14 Earth years old apparently. We don’t really have years on Pluto. Not like here anyway. It takes far too long for the planet to rotate around the sun for us to measure our time like that. We have our own ways. Well, I am being called. By that girl actually.
I wonder why?

Thursday, 24th August, 2017

Oh! Last night was good. I actually got to talk to the girl quite a lot. Her name is Erika. She was teaching me about all the things that she likes to do. She must have thought that I was a very clueless human, but she didn’t seem to mind. Some things I had never even heard of before and some things I had. Most activities don’t happen on Pluto, but there are similar things. It was strange, having someone to talk to. I mean, on the spaceship on the way here, I didn’t have anyone to talk to except for the occasional “good morning” and that trip took three years. So, I’m still not used to talking to people. I was probably really strange to talk to, but for some reason she didn’t seem to mind. Actually, I think she might have enjoyed. One time, her smile wasn’t the strange Earth smile and for some reason that made me really happy. I don’t know what I don’t like about the Earth smile exactly, but it is different and it seems that when a normal smile takes it’s place she is happier. I suppose I’m just overthinking these humans. They are a strange species.

It is odd, they look similar to us, they act similar to us, but they are different. So different. So very different to us on Pluto.

Now, for the strange events of today. I was given a newspaper to read this afternoon because The Man thought that I should read it to get an idea of what is going on here. It was a horrible thing to read! So much violence and, and, I don’t even know. Some parts I had difficulty reading because my English isn’t perfect yet, but I’m working on it. Not that I really needed to read it. It really, really wasn’t very pleasant. I wonder why people are so violent here on Earth? Maybe it’s because there are more of them here? They don’t seem to like people that are “different” to themselves, but they are all human. Aren’t they? I was very confused.

Friday, 25th August, 2017

Humans. People. Animals. I’m so very confused. Today The Man told me that if the humans found out that I wasn’t human they wouldn’t classify me as a person. I was very confused. He didn’t exactly tell me why he told me, but I assume it was so that I don’t tell them that I am not human. Unfortunately for me, I don’t really want to be human, but I would rather not tell them than they hate me, so I will not tell them. Humans are very, very something. I’m not quite sure what yet, but I hope to find out because they are something.

I don’t see why they don’t all treat each other the same. They are all the same species, they all have brains. I don’t see how they work things out here. It is all very confusing. It is certainly the strangest thing about Earth. People going out when they are sick is the second. But really, I don’t understand. I think it would be so strange if humans came to Pluto, I hope that they never do because it would be absolutely terrifying. Not to mention that Pluto is smaller so they would be able to get around quicker.

I was reading some more about human history and it was horrible. Well, I have to go now, I am being called. Very loudly, I might add.

Saturday, 26th August, 2017
I’m getting more and more frightened. Today I was brought into a plain white room. There were cameras in each corner. Everyone left me in there. I wasn’t told what to do or if there were any rules. So I went up to each camera and turned them away to face the wall and then I checked to see if the door was locked, it was. So, I danced. I practiced a type of dancing that we perform on Pluto. Well, not all of us, but I do anyway. It isn’t quite like anything I have seen on Earth yet, not that I have seen a lot of dancing. It was strange dancing without anyone else. Usually we dance in pairs or groups of three. It was nice to practice again though, I haven’t done it for about three weeks so it probably wasn’t very good.

I think that they must have thought that I wouldn’t know how a camera works because when they came back in they were very surprised that I had turned them away. They were fairly angry, but it didn’t really bother me too much. I hadn’t wanted cameras recording me while I danced so I turned them away, I thought it was fair. As for not knowing how a camera works, that was just odd. We have very advanced cameras on Pluto because it is so dark that we need different types of cameras to the ones on Earth.

I still haven’t found out why they locked me up in the room, I asked several times, but my questions were just met with glares. Except for a concerned look from Erika. It seems that she and I are the only children around here. I suppose, while I’ve got a lot of time, I should explain where I am.

I am in a strange compound of buildings. There are about ten buildings and about thirty people. Apparently, it is where a group of people research space. Which, I assume is why I have been brought here because they still haven’t told me exactly why I’m here. Actually, they haven’t given me answers to almost any of my questions although I wish they would. I really would like to know when I am going home, why I am here, why humans are so strange, what I should be doing, why I was locked in a white room. So many questions, but no answers. The Man keeps telling me that they will be answered one day, but I very much doubt that. Most of the other people in the compound just glare at me, although there are a few that will stop and have a conversation. That’s how I got the very little information I have now. I am starting to wonder if The Man has told anyone else that I am not human, because why else would they lock me in a room?

Sunday, 27th August, 2017
Today is the last time I will be able to write in this journal. I will tell you why soon, but first, I will tell you about something happier.

Erika and I got to spend most of the day together today. It was really nice. She has been my first friend for three years. Every day we have seen each other and spoken to each other. So many times I have come so close to telling her I am from Pluto, but I didn’t want her to be afraid. Finally, today I told her, very softly almost hoping that she wouldn’t hear me. It turns out that she has very good ears and she could hear me. The Man was wrong, she wasn’t afraid of me. Actually, I think she was curious. Her smile went from the Earth Smile to a normal one again and she hugged me (I think that’s what it is called). She spent the rest of our time together asking me about Pluto and telling me how much she wishes that she could come back with me and live there with me. I said that I wished she could too, but she wouldn’t be able to breathe there. So, we both decided that it was best that she didn’t come back with me.

I asked her why people did the Earth Smile instead of smiling normally. I thought that it was safe because her Earth Smile had gone completely. She just laughed and said that it was just something humans did. I kept asking her about Earth and she had answers to some of the questions, though they were harder to answer than the ones she asked me. All in all it was fun until The Man came.

It turns out that he was taking me back to the white room. This time I had strict orders. “Talk about Pluto and myself. So I did. I walked into the centre of the room and told the cameras some things about Pluto. I told them about our language Nainotulp, our dancing, our food, our measurements of time, but I didn’t go any further than that really. I didn’t particularly want to share out whole history with a bunch of cameras, so I continued on to myself. I told them that I was a Plutonian girl, I am 14 Earth years old, I dance. I didn’t know what else to say so I sat there, in the middle of the room, silent.

About an hour later I was beckoned out of the room. To my surprise it was Erika rather than The Man or one of the other researchers. She looked extremely panicked. Hurriedly she explained things to me. The Man and the researchers were going to conduct experiments on me. She told me that I had to get out and quickly at that. She handed me a bag and told me to get out using a passage that she showed me. She said that she couldn’t come today, but she would try to come tomorrow. Once again she hugged me (I think that is what it is called) and told me to go. I nodded and then went. Through passageways, not looking back. I didn’t particularly want to be caught and experimented on so I went. Running despite the weight of myself and the bag. I still haven’t quite gotten used to how much I and other objects weight.

So, that is why I cannot write in here anymore. I can’t risk taking enough time to write in here so I will just place it in my bag and keep it for another time.