[TEN YEARS AGO]
"Good night, Mama! Good night, Papa! I love you both!" I mumbled, before closing my eyes to sleep.
My parents gave me a soft kiss on the forehead after tucking me in. With their sweet-sounding voices, they told me, "Good night, baby! Mama and Papa love you too!
For a little cute kid like me, with chubby red cheeks and pigtails, the night was just the start of a new adventure. My parents sent me to sleep in the most comfortable bed I ever had. With my favorite character, the blonde girl in bun hair wearing a sailor suit as my bed and pillow covers, I snuggled safely into the arms of the moon princess and dream about fighting aliens alongside her.
In my dream, we were fighting a human-sized alien cockroach or an insect-like creature. Our foe bit people and made their bodies swell like little marshmallows. After we punched and kicked it to a pulp, it ran towards the playground to flee from us.
"Sailor Miyu! Use your powers to stop the alien cockroach from escaping!" the sailor princess shouted as our enemy ran with its thin brightly colored green legs and scurried itself to fit into the canal with metal grates.
"Miyu's Ribbon Dance!" I yelled, magically producing a pink band tied to a short stick in my hand.
Before the alien insect could evade us and attack someone else, I announced my special attack, "Miyu's Ribbon Gift Wrap!"
The silk leash quickly flew towards the alien pest, enclosing its body tightly from its arms to its legs. It lost its balance and fell to the ground, but before we could approach it, the alien cockroach shrank into its tiny size and freed itself from the pink sash.
"Oh, no! It's going to escape!" the sailor princess yelped as we both watched the little alien pest hurriedly runoff into the filthy sewers.
Disappointed for not catching the alien monster, I mashed my lips and slumped on the floor. Water clumped on the corner of my eyes and before the sailor princess could console me, I cried out my discouraged heart.
"There… there… Miyu. Don't cry," the sailor princess said, patting my head. "We'll get that alien cockroach next time, okay?"
Suddenly, I felt my spirit lifted from her comforting words and stopped rubbing my fists into my eyes. With a brightened face, I lifted my chin and nodded, which made the sailor princess reply with a cheerful smile while shrinking her eyes.
Before I could stand up, my body trembled. The ground shook below us like a volcano was about to erupt. I tried to stand up but my legs were too fragile to withstand the tremor. Then the earth opened and what came out troubled both me and the sailor princess.
"THE ALIEN COCKROACH TURNED INTO A GIANT!"
We screamed our lungs out and ran frantically to avoid getting squashed like a bug by a giant insect. Each step of its giant feet shuddered the ground below it. Finally, the alien giant caught us and threw us into the air. As we fall, its monstrous mouth opened, ready to devour us like little squiggly worms.
"KIYAAAAAAHHHHH!"
"Miyu! Miyu! Miyu!" my mother called, waking me from my nightmarish slumber.
At first, I thought she came into my room after hearing me screaming, but when I felt our house shaking like the way I had in my dream, I quickly wrapped my arms around my mother, who carried me outside our home.
Outside, my father stared blankly at the reddened sky, burning like fire. The frightening image was like the way I watched in the movies, where a giant monster roamed and destroyed the city where we live. The ground continued to tremble, and the entire neighborhood stood outside the street. It stunned everyone as we watched the mystery unfold itself in our eyes.
"Stay by the car. I'm going to get food and water," my father said.
But as he stepped towards our house, an enormous nautilus-like ship fell from above and crashed into our home. The intense heat burned every piece of wood and concrete it was made of and turned it into a dust of brimming coal.
"Our house!" I shouted, watching the ashes of its remains flew into the fragile breeze.
My father ran towards us as the door of the bizarre dark-purple ship unfolded. Two-legged creatures with rounded heads hovered out of the vessel one by one. Their messy purple suits glimmer in the light.
As we all watched in bewilderment at the creatures landing their bottoms on the ground, a police officer came with his gun aimed at the eerie strangers from the large pod.
"W-Wh-Who a-are you?" the officer stuttered with his hand shaking and face sweating.
The strange things didn't answer. Their marble-like heads reflected the frightened faces of the people on the street walking towards us to take a glimpse of the odd creatures. Then, the one in front of them suddenly lifted its two limbs like surrendering itself to the officer, gripping a firearm.
"WE… COME… IN… PEACE…" the bizarre being said in a monotonous voice like a robot speaking.
Everyone gaped at hearing the odd creatures speak in our language. We all have forgotten that the ground already stopped shaking and the reddened sky cleared, displaying the moon with a ball-like new neighbor hovering beside it.
"I'm going to ask again!" the officer stated and asked, "Who are you, and why are you here?"
One by one, the mysterious strangers moved their limbs and held their heads tight. Frightened, I held onto my mother's neck and buried my face in her shoulder. But as a curious kid, I turned my face in their direction and peered with one eye open.
It fascinated me when strange creatures revealed themselves to us. They were white-haired beings with a pair of pointy ears, like elves. Their pair of purple eyes sparkled like diamonds. Thin, long noses were prominent in their faces. Almost all of them appeared the same except for the dots like piercings in their ears.
One of them caught her gaze and stepped towards them. The officer quickly aimed his gun at the mysterious being, placing its two limbs on the ground.
"H-Hey! What are you doing?" the officer asked, aiming the barrel of the gun at the being with his shaky hands.
But the white-haired being ignored the officer. When it got near us, my father stood in front to defend me and my mother from it.
"What do you want from us?" my father asked.
The mysterious being stretched its limb and opened its palm, showing a pair of trinkets in the shape of a crescent moon in front of me.
"Take… this… and… be… a… princess."
With my teeny-weeny quivering hands, I reached for them and innocently accepted the gift.
Who wouldn't want to be a princess?