An Alien in Paris

BRB (he/him)

“Did you know about negative Paris?” I looked at the man next to me on the iron park bench. I was filled with a sense of accomplishment. “Finally.” I thought triumphantly.

“No!” As Nonchalantly as possible, afraid I might spook him.

Shadowy people strode by. They felt distant. Hard to relate to… The Alien, however, was so vibrant.

For the previous ten years I’d been searching for the supernatural. A successful entrepreneur and a student! At 18! Impressive.

Since childhood I had wanted to find Aliens.

I had wanted to discover something amazing. I had the time and the money to do so, and so I did.

Then I learned about the bench. The bench under the lampost in Paris. The green light. People joked that it looked like a tractor beam. In Le Jardin De Plantes. There was this beautiful walkway arched over with trees.

Once I found it, he had simply appeared on the bench. Just popped into existence next to me. Gave me a hell of a fright the first time. Fell out of my seat and lost him. The next night, however: tonight, I was ready for him.

And there he was! This squat, black man with inquisitive eyes. He seemed oddly shaped, and yet somehow normal? It was hard to explain. As I thought about it I looked at him again. I felt I was getting mixed messages. Maybe I thought he looked normal because he wanted me to.

He had been talking and I had been ruminating. “Are you listening?” There was a childish sort of naivete in his suspicion.

I jerked back to the present. “Yes! Yes. Of course. My apologies.”

“Anyway,” he resumed somewhat obliviously, “did you know where they got the stones for the buildings in the city?”

I shook my head no.

“They got them… from underneath the city!” He said, obviously delighted with himself. Like a magician doing a reveal.

I guffawed in my amazement.

He went on, excitedly. “There wasn’t any kind of rule about where you had to get the stones for the buildings! So, the builders saved money by quarrying it from as close as possible.”

He paused as if to ensure I was still focused on the story.

“So now… because of this going on for ages and ages, there are whole empty caverns roughly the shape and size of the buildings they helped to create! Like a photo negative. Some say that’s where the iron for the tower came from.” He glanced sharply sideways at me. “You know what photo negative is, right?”

I said I got the general idea. He nodded. Satisfied. He paused and looked at me gravely.

“Geraldine…” He ventured. “Why do you think I brought you here?”

“You didn’t” I thought. I also hadn't told him my name. I played along.

“I don’t know!” I said, shrugging coyly.

“I brought you here… because I want you to do something.”

Then he was gone.

Shaken, but exhilarated. I got up and walked to a nearby all-night cafe. Where I met my friend, Jack. As I chewed on a hunk of buttered bread I thought about what he’d said.

It was weird that he hadn’t just opted to tell me. Of course I still had a lot of questions. “Why a bench in Paris?” I thought bemusedly. Jack was supportive, but tired. “It’s probably nothing. Best just to sleep tonight.”

Then I packed up my stuff and went home to sleep.

Home in this case is one of many tiny living spaces shoehorned into the top of an old building. Apparently these used to be for the servants. Now it’s home to American immigrants, tourists, and me. Basically a hostel. I thought it was cozy; endearingly grungy even. Some said it was haunted! Exciting. I slept well there.

When I woke up the sky was still dark. I kissed Jack goodbye and walked back to the park. My thighs had barely touched the wood and he was there again. I jumped a little in spite of myself.

“Good morning, G!” Said the Alien, cheerfully munching on an impossibly large sandwich. I said “Hi” A little sheepishly.

He went back to his sandwich, apparently relishing every bite. He had such an absent minded, good tempered air. Tenaciously, I picked up where we had left off last night.

“What is it that you want me to do?”

He looked at me, chewing thoughtfully. Munch. Munch.

“Something important.” He said earnestly.

“Okay…” I said, a little rankled at his circuitous nature.

“The thing that I need you to do…” He said, pausing to take a huge bite of his sandwich. He masticated intently for what felt like far too long.

“...Is to have a great time and enjoy Paris!” The Alien grinned as if it were the punchline to a joke.

“Are you serious?” I asked, unimpressed. Also confused.

His voice dropped by about three octaves and his face was suddenly terrifying. “As a heart attack.”

Then he looked around, a little guiltily and said airily: “Well, time to be going!”

With that he stood and was gone.

Where he had been sitting, there was a ticket stub for “See the sights of Paris!”. I had avoided such tours, thinking them a little gauche. Thinking I could rely on the internet and Jack to show me “the real city”.

Against my better judgment I looked up the tour and found that one was starting in an hour.

To my surprise, it was more enjoyable than I’d expected! At the top of the Eiffel tower there was a bench! This bench looked out of place. Naturally, this piqued my curiosity.

I sat on the bench. Instantly the Alien was there. “Thank Gods you took my advice!” he said the moment I sat. I wasn’t sure how it would look to passersby, so I nodded to him and smiled.

He looked a little puzzled but continued. “Go look over the edge.” He said. I might have been projecting, but he sounded sort of grim?

I got up, but suddenly thoughts of being pushed over the edge filled my head. I turned to look back at him. He seemed to realize my trepidation because he chuckled reassuringly and said: “Don’t worry, I can’t leave the bench!”

I walked to the edge he had indicated and looked. Nothing. Just an incredible view of the city at night. I turned to look back again and question him, but he was right next to me. I froze. He whispered in feverishly in my ear: “Don’t look out. Look down, dear.”

Gulping, I did.

And there they were. Waving back and forth like a bloody pendant. The face was hard to make out… As if some magic hid it from me. I couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman. They were hanging by one hand, tied with a rope. Below the handrail so people wouldn’t see it.

I looked back at the Alien. He grinned wickedly. “Now you understand. It’s a deeply negative experience, no? My dear, if you don’t find the person who did this soon, you will die.”

I couldn’t tell if he was threatening me. It didn’t really seem like it.

“How soon? I asked. He looked intently at his watch. “Mmmmmm…. ‘Bout 15 minutes? I think?”

It felt like a kick to the stomach. I looked around frantically. “I need more time!” I gabbled.

He smiled patiently. “You’re so negative, G. I told you last night! You should have done something!”

Nonchalantly, he jumped over the side and disappeared.

Think. Think! I needed to know more.

I hauled the body back over the side of the platform, frantically rifling through its pockets. Strangely, no one else seemed to notice or care.

The body wore a necklace. Then to my utter shock: “Are they still breathing???”

I wasn’t a medic and it was hard to tell. A bigger shock, however, was coming my way. Glancing at the necklace, I saw the inscription on the back. A name. My name. Geraldine.

My eyes widened. I began to understand.

Ditching the body I ran to the elevators. There was a fire axe between them. They had a hatch inside which I climbed out of. Saying a prayer, I swung the axe at the elevator cables and emergency breaks.

As the elevator began its freefall, I scrambled inside the car and used the axe to jam open the door. “This is suicide” I said to myself. I fully expected the elevator car to smash at the bottom of the tower, and it did. More or less.

Thankfully my suspicions were correct and the jarring crash lasted only a moment. A green light spilled in through the busted doors as I hurtled downward.

Or what should have been down. Gravity had reversed. We were going up! Daylight flooded through the broken doors as the floors rushed passed.

Strangely, the doors weren’t broken anymore. The speed became more controlled. Doors opened and daylight streamed in.

How long had it been since I’d seen daylight? In that light my hands looked thin and insubstantial.

Clutching my axe, I stumbled out of the elevators. Immediately my eyes leapt to the place I’d found the body. My body?

There on the platform I saw the last thing I’d expected.

A group of my friends from the hostel! Specifically, Jack. He was laughing at something and he turned and saw me. I could see it in his eyes. No one else could, but he did.

Memory crashed into me. I realized all of the dichotomies. The lies I’d told myself. I wasn’t a successful entrepreneur hunting the supernatural. I was the supernatural. I was dead. Or nearly.

I lunged out of the elevators toward Jack, axe in hand. I guessed I couldn’t hurt him, but maybe he didn’t know this?

Seeing an axe wielding ghost approaching, he backed away, terrified. He was backing to where I assumed my body was still hanging. I swung the axe at him. Just close enough to miss.

Horrified, Jack jumped backward toward the railing. This was my moment.

I leapt over the railing, screaming.

My scream continued as I slid into my nearly dead body. With my last vestige of strength I reached up and grabbed Jack by the back of the neck and pulled him over.

Naturally, our friends looked over and saw me. Exclaiming with shock and horror they pulled me back to safety.

Lying on the iron plates of the tower I closed my eyes. Triumphant.

Epilogue: The Alien

I spent a while in hospital after that. I was trying to pull a chair closer to my bed. My hand closed on the iron armrest and there he was again. The Alien.

“You’re not an alien are you?”

He smiled. “No. But I’ve met one before! Although my speciality is with the dead. I saw your spirit on that bench and I couldn’t help myself.”

He paused and with a hint of mischief in his eyes he said: “it’s against the rules you know. Helping the nearly dead.”

I teared up a little. Then explained.

“Jack and I had just met,” I said. “We had hung back on a school tour. Jack wanted to make love and I said no, so he crushed my skull with something heavy.

Terrified, knowing our friends would be back soon, he found a small length of rope, tied my wrist and rolled me over the edge to where no one would have looked. Too distracted by the incredible view to notice me just beyond their field of vision.”

The Alien shifted in his seat. “That’s a terrible plan.” He said, chuckling a little.

“In Jack’s defense.” I said “I think he only had about 1 minute to come up with it.

The Alien smiled. “I’m glad you made it.”

Then he stood, and was gone.