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2013 - London, Earth

"-Mum, mum stop okay, I'm working. I'll call tonight. Okay bye."

Jennifer Collins hung up her cell phone and slipped it into her pocket. She was twenty-four years old and currently in a rut, in her mind at least. She had dreamed of serenading the world with vast stories of fantasy and sci-fi, twisting the world people knew into something so much better, more interesting. Jennifer had gotten her degree in Creative Writing from Birkbeck, University of London. Jennifer had been writing fiction since she was five years old. She would stay up late and jot down notes for stories or characters and of course her mother would chide her for staying up late. Her parents were supportive though, as they put her through college so she could focus solely on studying and not worry about money. She still lived with her parents and cooked and cleaned, just to help out however she could. Yet some of her friends were doing so much more, moving out and getting real work while she felt stuck in place. Her only passion that was saving her slow slow life was writing. She loved to write, while some used coffee for fuel, she used writing. She had dreams of becoming like J.K Rowling. 'That'll be the day.' Jen thought, laughing at herself. She was at the home of Jason and Miles Smith. Jason and Miles were in their first year of high school and needed help with English and Jen needed to extra cash so she took on being their tutor every weekday after their school got out.

Lately, the boys' parents had been busy so Jennifer found herself taking on the role of "nanny" which meant picking them up from school on the bus and then making them a snack and helping them with homework. Jen had been tutoring the boys for about four months so far but in the recent weeks, she noticed something odd and it was keeping her up at night. She had witnessed a very weird event about two weeks ago and wrote about it:

The Aliens Down the Street by Jennifer Collins

I crept along the hallway, the smell of fear evident on my parted lips. The air seemed thick, clogged not only by fear, but by curiosity. I had been working for the Smith family for so long, yet I knew so little about them. Their sons had low marks in English and I was hired to fix this problem as quickly as possible. And for a while, everything seemed fine, harmless. Until one Friday evening when I stopped by the house to take the boys out for ice cream to celebrate their marks, I came across something unbelievable. I moved slowly down the hallway toward their parent's bedroom. There was a small intake of air but no one noticed me. I had a spare key tucked away in the back pocket of my trousers but instead of seeing it as a benefit, I know wondered what real weight it held. Reaching the end of the hallway, their door was ajar and I peeked around, ever so slowly. It was then I heard a zipper and the back of the mother came into view. There was a glowing lightly and the skin fell to the floor like a trashy Halloween costume. There stood a large overweight alien. There was nothing I could do, not even blink. Before I could be detected, I turned and headed back out the door and turned to knock, this time I would watch and wait, their image burned into my mind. And as the door soon opened to reveal the father, I couldn't help but stare, to see if I could find the zipper and unmask these awe-mazing creatures.

The newspaper she worked for, Kilburn Times, labeled it as fiction in the editorials section even though she insisted it was real, not fiction. It had happened to her about two weeks ago and yet she hadn't quit her job, sadly her tutoring hours paid more than her crummy part time job at the Kilburn Times. Jennifer walked out of the kitchen and into the living room of the flat where the Smith family lived. She hadn't anything to worry about, she knew the Smiths didn't read the newspaper, not the one she worked for anyway. "How's the reading going boys?" She asked as she knelt down between the two youngsters. Being a creative soul meant that it was nearly impossible to discredit whatever she had seen. While many would shy away and distance themselves, Jen was too interested to just walk away, pretending to be oblivious. But bringing up the topic of aliens and outer space was difficult to do without causing too much alarm. "Maybe we should watch a little classic Star Wars when we're done as a nice reward." It was a nice chilly autumn day, perfect for movies and tea. "The creatures in that movie, pretty awe-mazing huh?" Jen nudged a little. Just then the front door opened and their parents entered and said they would be gone for the night and asked Jen to stay and look after them. Their faces were sweaty and flushed, this wasn't the first time they seemed in distress. "Are you alright?" Jennifer questioned and stood up. "I can make some tea." She offered but they quickly went back outside. She rushed to the door but they were nowhere in sight.

It wasn't the first time Jen had been pushed into taking over. 'Again?' She asked herself, a bit annoyed. 'I have to get to the bottom of this!' She looked back at Miles and Jason, knowing she couldn't leave them alone though. In the end, she decided that finding the truth was more important than having a job so she told the boys she would be back soon and just ran down the hallway and down the steps of the apartment complex. She looked around and took out her cell phone, she had the parents' numbers and called them both. There was a faint ringing so she hurried off to locate it. As she ran, she asked herself what she would even do once she found them. She slowed down and made a face. Slight panic began to override her curiosity and she stood where she was. On one hand, she really wanted to know who the Smiths were but on the other hand, she knew she was in way over her head. Her muse didn't want to argue so she just went back to jogging along the streets. Thankfully not too many people were out and about. "Mr. and Mrs. Smith!" She called out, feeling a bit foolish. She walked around and a flier caught her eye. It was about another disappearance in the local neighborhood. It was an older man, that would make him the fifth in the past few weeks. Police were on the lookout but to Jennifer's knowledge, no one had a clue. Jen's imagination started to wander, 'What if they're man-eating aliens!' She thought. After about twenty minutes of looking around aimlessly, Jen called it a day and went back to the Smith household and waited for the parents to come back. In the meantime, she made the kids pasta and got them into bed.

Something was still nagging at her. When the parental units arrived the next morning, they paid her and practically pushed her out the door. "Geez, thanks for looking after our boys again on no notice what so ever, oh you're welcome, I love kids." She grumbled, having a conversation with herself, imitating the parents. Jen wasn't a kid person but she found it a bit annoying to be dumped on, she had things to do for the Kilburn Times and while it wasn't great work, she still found joy in it. Sadly the joy she wanted to find in the mystery with aliens, wasn't as easy to figure out. She called her mother on her way home. "I got held up again. I know. I know. I'm coming home to change then I'll be headin' into work. I'll see you tonight for dinner, what do you want? Ew no." There was a pause. "Really? Okay, great. See you. Love you too...bye." She hung up and felt a bit better. After getting home, showering and getting dressed, she shook away the thoughts centered around green blobs and focused on her real job which could turn into something long lasting because there was no way on Earth that she would ever be a tutor for the rest of her life. Jen had on a pair of jeans, a black long sleeve shirt and a light grey cardigan on, her long brown hair left to fall down her back. She took the bus to work and arrived just in the nick of time. She scrambled inside and reached her small desk. She looked around and leaned over to her mate, Nikki. "I'm gonna pop over to the cafe on the corner, cover for me and I'll bring you back a latte." Jen smiled and ducked out.

She hated coffee so she often got tea or hot cocoa. It only took her nine minutes before she was entering her work again, both hands full with liquid sweetness.