Mergatroy

Mergatroy

by Michelle Stiles

          One morning Millie Workshire awoke to a loud blast. Her eyes alarmingly opened when she heard a sonic boom. She quickly got up out of bed and put her robe on over her long night gown. She peeked outside of her window and saw something incredible. It was a giant hole in the sidewalk with a little pink man inside of it. Frightened, she screamed so loud that her two cats Foo-Foo and Buttercup hissed with excitement. “What is that?” she thought to herself. In all of her years living in New York City she had never seen something so bizarre. 

Being a former reporter she had to investigate. So she rushed to her old desk and got out her camera, a pen, and a small notepad.  Millie slipped on her slippers and ran downstairs. The mix of fear and adrenaline was overwhelming. She had no idea why she was running to see it but she just had to find out what it was. Millie moved extremely fast for an 82 year old woman. When she got to the main door of her apartment building her senses came back to her and she pondered about the possible danger of what was out there. However, that did not stop her. Millie quietly opened the door. The slow creaking would have normally freaked her out but she was too curious to turn back now. As she opened the door a cool gust of wind blew through her white curls. She looked out and saw the pink man sitting on the bottom of her stoop. It did not look like any man she had seen before. He was pigmy sized, had no ears and was nude. He was making some weird muttering noise to himself. Millie took a deep breath and mustered up the courage to talk. “Excuse me sir, but who are you? And what are you doing in front of my apartment?” 

The creature slowly turned his head and Millie witnessed that he had huge dark eyes that looked to be crying. Suddenly she had a realization that this was no man—it was an alien! Her fear came back to her as the alien stood up to face her. He stood like a human but had no hair and two little slits for a nose!  She immediately screamed in fear, “Ahh!”

 Just as she was about to run back upstairs and call the police the alien spoke. “I mean no harm. I am Mergatroy. I was on my way to Saturn when my spaceship got trapped in a black hole. I somehow landed on this planet. Earth I believe. Can you help me?”  

Millie was shocked. Her doctor had told her she was in the first stage of Alzheimer’s. But this was so crazy that it was more than just forgetting what her late husband’s name was. Was she losing her mind? Was she off her rocker? She could not tell. Millie just took a deep breath and acted like it was just a tourist who had lost his way. “Wha…What do you want?” she stuttered. “Do you need to go somewhere? I can call you a cab.” She did not know what else to say.

Mergatroy replied by saying “I need to go someplace where there is vegetation. I need pollen to power my spaceship.”

Millie automatically thought of Central Park’s Strawberry Fields.  “I know where to take you. Come with me. First I need to get some things from my apartment and then we can take a cab.” Millie realized that she had to keep her knowledge of Mergatroy a secret because otherwise people would think she had gone mad. Her son Rick would probably try to put her into an insane asylum or nursing home again. Millie was too proud to be put in a home. There was also something about Mergatroy that she trusted. Perhaps it was the fact that he was about the same height and size of her great-grandson Billy.  Or that he was so polite when many people in the city are so rude. 

Millie led Mergatroy upstairs to her apartment. When she opened the door Foo-Foo pounced at Mergatroy. Mergatroy was scared but Millie assured him that Foo-Foo was harmless. She offered him a snack while she got ready—peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Mergatroy was delighted since he had never tasted anything so yummy. While he was eating Millie changed her clothes and freshened up. She decided to give Mergatroy one of Billy’s old outfits since there is no way that she can walk around New York City with a little naked man! Besides, Billy is so young that he would not care.

Millie has not seen Billy or his mother, Ruth, in several months. Her granddaughter Ruth stopped visiting ever since Millie refused to move into a nursing home. Ruth and her father Rick have been trying to convince Millie to go for the sake of her health. They claimed that it was not good for her to live in an apartment all by herself with just her cats as company. Millie did not see it that way. They argued, fought, and just decided to let Millie be. Ruth however, did not want to expose her young son to Millie’s forgetfulness and disagreeable attitude so she stopped bringing him around. Millie was saddened by that but she was set in her ways. She used to babysit Billy all of the time. She would bake cookies for him, bathe him, clothe him, and sing him to sleep. She also used to make him peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for their picnic lunches at Central Park. It was Billy’s favorite sandwich. Oh how she missed him.

Millie came out of her bedroom all dressed and ready to go. She handed Mergatroy Billy’s outfit and told him to put it on. Billy’s outfit was a pair of denim overalls with a plaid T-shirt and little converse sneakers. She also gave him a denim hat and a pair of sunglasses to hide his face. After Mergatroy put on the outfit he looked so much like Billy that Millie shed a tear. After she collected herself, they were off to Central Park. Millie hailed them a cab and they drove through New York City. They passed main attractions such as the Empire State Building and Time’s Square. Mergatroy was looking out the window with awe. Never had he seen so many things going on in one place. The hustle and bustle of the city was so appealing to him. When they passed the Planetarium though, Mergatroy jumped for joy in his seat.

“Ooh can we go there after?!” he whispered to Millie.

Millie said “Yes of course”. She was enjoying the ride through the city as well. It made her nostalgic of her cab trips to the park with Billy. Eventually they arrived at Central Park. Millie paid the cabbie and they headed to Strawberry Fields.

Millie told Mergatroy to hold her hand so it looked like he was just a tot with his grandmother and not an alien life-form.  When he held her hand she was surprised at how slimy it was. She also noticed that he only had three fingers. It made her cringe but she had to put on a show. She missed the feeling of Billy’s chubby little hand when she held it. Until she held Mergatroy’s hand she felt as though he was Billy. The reality hit when she felt the slimy fingers in her palm. They walked passed a pretzel stand, a man playing the saxophone, and a woman drawing a caricature of a young couple. Central Park was at its best. All of the trees were lush, the sky was blue, and the tourists were admiring the general splendor. Both Millie and Mergatroy were enjoying themselves.

They finally arrived at Strawberry Fields. Luckily there were some dandelions so Mergatroy picked a bouquet and put them in his overalls pocket. After he collected his pollen he looked up at Millie and noticed that she was crying. He did not understand why she was sad—he did not know about humans and how they can have so many feelings. To make her feel better though he gave her one of the dandelions he picked. She smiled and thanked him. They walked back to the street to hail a cab to the Planetarium and then back to the house.

During the cab ride, Millie told Mergatroy all about Billy. Mergatroy was touched that he was making her so happy by spending the day with her. He could tell how sad and lonely she was by missing her great-grandson. On his planet, having a close family was a rare thing. They had to travel alone all of the time. There was no real company. For his kind, there were no kin relationships. The males would just mate with the females and that was it. Once the mother alien birthed the child alien they left forever. Mergatroy was on a quest to Saturn to find a mate. Hearing Millie’s sentiments of Billy made Mergatroy feel sorry for his future spon. They will not know the comfort of having anyone actually care for them. Mergatroy did not know of that comfort either until now. Lost in his thoughts, Mergatroy was surprised that he and Millie had already arrived at the Planetarium.

When they went into the Planetarium, Mergatroy felt at home. The displays of the planets, stars, and space crafts were all that he knew. He loved being there. Millie saw how happy being at the Planetarium made Mergatroy and that made her happy in return.  She bought Mergatroy a miniature model of the solar system and with a pen she had in her purse wrote on the planet Earth “To Mergatroy Love, Millie”. Mergatroy thanked Millie and Millie gave Mergatroy a kiss on the denim hat he was wearing. After they finished visiting the Planetarium they headed back to Millie’s apartment. In the cab they talked about how much fun they had and how they enjoyed each other’s company.

When Millie and Mergatroy arrived at the apartment they were both sad. Millie got to experience a fun day with a little man that reminded her of her estranged great-grandson. Mergatroy got to experience a fun day with a female who cared for him like family which he never before had experienced. Although Mergatroy was saddened, he still needed to fix his spaceship and go to Saturn. Mergatroy fueled up his spaceship with the dandelion pollen and it turned back on. He packed up his miniature solar system and went to say good-bye to Millie.

 While handing back Billy’s outfit, Mergatroy said to her “Thank you very much for all of your productive help. I thoroughly enjoyed myself today. Goodbye.” Millie started to tear up but then gave Mergatroy a kiss on the head. “Good-bye little one, I am going to miss you.” Mergatroy then got in his spaceship and took off into the sky. Millie took out the dandelion Mergatroy had given her and held it close to her chest. There on Earth sitting on her stoop, old little Millie Workshire waved up to the sky and said “Good-bye. I love you, Billy.”