Imagine it’s two o’clock in the morning.
I’m peacefully asleep.
Suddenly…
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Not my neighbour.
Not my food delivery.
Not even that one friend who always forgets their house keys.
An actual spaceship has landed right outside my house.
I wake up confused, terrified… and strangely excited.
Because, let’s be honest…
Meeting an alien has secretly been on my bucket list for years.
I slowly walk towards the door.
My brain has already started preparing for the worst.
“This is it.”
“I’m either about to make history… or become history.”
I open the door.
Standing there is…
Well…
I honestly have no idea what an alien is supposed to look like.
Maybe it’s green.
Maybe it’s purple.
Maybe it has twelve eyes.
Maybe it looks exactly like a giant mosquito.
Imagine surviving millions of years of evolution only to travel across galaxies and end up looking like the thing that ruins my sleep every summer.
Or maybe aliens look like cows.
Think about it.
They spend half the day silently staring at us.
Suspicious, if you ask me.
Or maybe they don’t have eyes at all.
Maybe they communicate through thoughts.
Maybe they’re tiny enough to fit inside your pocket.
Or maybe they’re so enormous that Earth looks like a marble to them.
The truth is…
I’ve never met one.
So until they officially introduce themselves, I’m allowed to imagine them however I want.
Let’s settle on this.
A strangely shaped creature with enormous black eyes, ridiculously long legs, a head slightly too big for its body, and an expression that somehow says,
“We’ve seen things you wouldn’t believe… and honestly, your species is confusing.”
Without asking for permission, it casually walks into my house, sits on my sofa, looks around for a moment and says,
“Nice curtains.”
I freeze.
Not because there’s an alien sitting in my living room.
Because it just spoke perfect English.
“You… you can speak our language?”
The alien looked mildly offended.
“Of course I can.”
“We’ve been observing your planet for centuries.”
Then it paused for a second before adding,
“Although after spending five minutes on your social media, we’re still not entirely convinced humans understand their own language.”
Fair enough.
The alien reached into what I can only assume was an intergalactic backpack, pulled out something that looked suspiciously like a notebook, adjusted a pair of glasses—because apparently even aliens have paperwork—and sat a little straighter.
“We’ve travelled across thousands of galaxies.”
“We’ve studied countless intelligent civilizations.”
“Some were more advanced than your civilization.”
“Some were less.”
“But humans…”
It paused.
“Humans are by far the most confusing species we’ve ever studied.”
I wasn’t sure whether to feel honoured…
…or mildly insulted.
The alien continued.
“We’ve watched humans discover gravity.”
“We’ve watched humans split the atom.”
“We’ve watched humans land on the Moon.”
“We’ve watched humans create music that made entire civilizations cry.”
“We’ve watched humans write poetry about love.”
“We’ve watched parents sacrifice everything for their children.”
“We’ve watched strangers risk their lives to save people they’ve never met.”
Then it turned another page.
“We’ve also watched humans start wars.”
“Destroy forests.”
“Fight over borders they drew themselves.”
“Hate people simply because they look different.”
“And spend hours arguing with complete strangers on something called… the internet.”
It sighed.
“We’ve collected all the data.”
“The problem is…”
“Nothing about humans is consistent.”
“Humans build hospitals.”
“Humans build bombs.”
“Humans search for life beyond their own planet.”
“Yet struggle to understand the people living next door.”
“Humans are fascinating.”
“But we still don’t understand them.”
Then it looked at me.
“So we’ve decided to ask one human.”
I instinctively looked behind me.
There was nobody there.
Apparently…
I had just become Earth’s spokesperson.
Which, in hindsight…
Was a terrible hiring decision.
The alien smiled.
“Before we decide whether humans deserve another planet…”
“We have a few questions.”
1. Humans call Earth beautiful.
Then why do humans spend so little time looking at it?
I looked outside the window.
“We really do think it’s beautiful.”
We write songs about sunsets.
We paint mountains.
We travel thousands of kilometres just to watch the Northern Lights.
But somewhere along the way…
We forgot how to look.
We’re always looking through a screen instead of a window.
Recording moments instead of experiencing them.
Searching for the perfect photograph instead of the perfect feeling.
Maybe Earth never stopped being beautiful.
Maybe we simply stopped paying attention.
2. Humans have discovered galaxies millions of light years away.
Why is it still so difficult for humans to understand one another?
That one hurt.
Because it’s true.
We’ve discovered black holes.
Mapped distant planets.
Sent machines beyond our solar system.
Yet we still struggle to understand people who grew up in another city.
Another religion.
Another language.
Another opinion.
Perhaps knowledge and wisdom aren’t the same thing.
Science taught us how the universe works.
Empathy teaches us how people work.
We’re progressing remarkably in one.
We’re still beginners in the other.
3. What is the greatest thing humans have ever created?
The alien probably expected me to say electricity.
Or the internet.
Or artificial intelligence.
But I think our greatest creation is…
Hope.
Because hope built every bridge before it existed.
Hope wrote every book before anyone read it.
Hope discovered every scientific theory before it became a fact.
Hope convinced people to plant trees whose shade they knew they might never sit under.
Everything humanity has ever built…
Started because someone believed it was possible.
4. What emotion makes humans the most beautiful?
Love would be the obvious answer.
But I don’t think it’s love.
I think it’s compassion.
Because love often belongs to the people we choose.
Compassion belongs even to the people we don’t know.
The nurse who stays a little longer after her shift.
The stranger who donates blood.
The person who stops their car to help someone they’ve never met.
Compassion quietly reminds me that despite everything…
Humanity still has a heartbeat.
5. If Earth disappeared tomorrow…
What would you miss the most?
Not the buildings.
Not my phone.
Not even my books… as heartbreaking as that sounds.
I’d miss ordinary things.
The smell of rain before a storm.
A hot cup of tea.
The sound of birds before sunrise.
Libraries.
Children laughing.
Long conversations that make you forget to check the time.
Most of all…
I’d miss the people I love.
Because I’ve realised something.
Home isn’t really a place.
It’s the people who make a place feel like home.
6. If you had one minute to convince the universe that humanity deserves another chance…
What would you say?
I’d say…
Please don’t judge us only by our mistakes.
Judge us by how often we get back up after making them.
Judge us by every scientist trying to cure a disease.
Every teacher who refuses to give up on a child.
Every artist creating beauty during difficult times.
Every volunteer helping strangers after a flood.
Every parent quietly sacrificing their own dreams so their children can chase theirs.
We’re imperfect.
Painfully imperfect.
But we’re also capable of extraordinary kindness.
And I still believe that counts for something.
7. Why should we trust humans with another planet?
I stayed silent for a while.
Because I wasn’t sure we should.
We’re still learning how to care for this one.
We’re still learning how to live with one another.
We’re still learning that progress without compassion isn’t really progress at all.
But if you ever decide to trust us again…
I hope it’s not because we became perfect.
I hope it’s because we finally learned from our imperfections.
The alien quietly closed its notebook.
It looked at me for a long moment.
Then it smiled.
“You know…”
“Every intelligent species we’ve ever met believes it’s extraordinary.”
“Humans are different.”
“Humans are extraordinary…”
“…because they’re still deciding what kind of species they want to become.”
I waited.
“So…”
“Did we pass?”
The alien looked back at Earth through the window of its spaceship.
“We don’t decide that.”
“You do.”
The spaceship slowly disappeared into the night sky.
Within a few seconds…
It had become just another star.
For the first time…
I wasn’t wondering whether aliens existed.
I was wondering whether we had become the kind of humans we once hoped to be.
Anindita Rath
@scrambledwriter
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