If Pobbi could’ve shrugged, he probably would have. Instead, he decided it was his job to take full medical responsibility and wake their guest.
He carefully licked her forehead first, then her cheeks. With great satisfaction, he saw her eyes slowly open. They were deep, striking eyes—violet pupils glowing against skin that had the faintest purplish hue. Only her skin showed just a tint, but her pupils were filled entirely with that color.
The girl yawned, stretched, and stood up very slowly, almost lazily. She looked around without a trace of surprise at where she had landed, then simply fixed her hair. One side of her head was shaved, while the other side was covered with dreadlocks, their ends tied with colorful ribbons that danced in the breeze.
She stared at them insistently and started gesturing. Neither of them understood. Pobbi made a clumsy attempt to mimic her movements with his paws, but failed miserably.
“We don’t understand you,” Erich said, shaking his head. In a blink, the girl zipped right up to him. She filled her lungs, then exhaled a cloud of greenish particles, like pollen. Erich, caught off guard, inhaled some by accident—well, he had to breathe anyway!
A pleasant taste spread across his mouth, sweet like the best honey. She did the same to Pobbi. Then, with a hoarse, surprisingly rough voice, she asked:
“And who are you?”
Her voice was so low, so guttural, like an angry grown woman speaking through her. Erich snapped to attention like a soldier and stammered out:
“I’m Pobbi, the dog. No—wait… he’s me. No, I mean—oh, I messed it up again!”
“You’re confusing,” the girl remarked with a frown.
“No, no, it’s just… we don’t usually have girls falling from the sky inside giant ice coffins, so I got a little mixed up. Pobbi’s way more confident than I am. If he could talk, he’d explain everything himself. But since he can’t, I—”
“I already know,” the girl interrupted. She crouched down and laid the back of her hand gently on Pobbi’s paw. The dog gazed at her with serious eyes. “Your name is Erich. You live out here on the edge of the woods with your mom and Pobbi. You go to school, and your mom works as an astronomer.”
“No way! Buddy, you really told her all that?” Erich exclaimed, scratching Pobbi behind the ears as the dog purred with pride. “Yep, that’s us. That’s exactly who we are. And you—who are you, if it’s not a secret?”
“No secrets between me and Pobbi. I’m still confused by your words and customs, but if I’ve understood right, this is when I’m supposed to tell you my name. A standard greeting ritual, yes? Then let me be… Nibi. I like the sound of it.”
“And I do too,” Erich admitted, already thinking what an amazing new friend he’d just found. “But what does it mean?”
“I suppose it means… me.” The girl said it with grand importance. Erich and Pobbi burst into laughter. The dog’s laugh came out like a coughing fit after devouring ten pounds of ice cream, but he still managed to smile. He knew perfectly well this friendship would’ve been impossible without him. Nibi, on the other hand, only blinked at them in quiet puzzlement.
At last, when the laughter died down, Erich offered her the cup of tea he hadn’t touched yet. The three of them settled on the mattress, with Pobbi sitting in between like the supervisor of their meeting.
“How marvelous!” the guest exclaimed. “So you too consume liquid in order to keep living? And not colorless either, but flavored?”
“You bet!” Erich grinned. “And if you tried my grandma’s lemonade, you’d totally lose your mind.”
The girl leaned forward curiously.
“And what does that mean—lose your mind?”
“I don’t know,” Erich shrugged. “But it sounds awesome. How else can you describe lemonade that’s the best of the best? Anyway, where do you live?”
She hesitated, flexing her fingers like she was playing an invisible piano. Then she answered with the same strange phrasing:
“How can you describe something you don’t have? I’m everywhere and nowhere. I fly here and there—wherever I want.”
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“There’s no way that’s possible!” the boy declared firmly. “Everyone has a home. It can be a house, like ours. Or a whole country, or a village, even the entire Earth. That’s a home too—home for everyone, and we all know it belongs to us.”
Nibi glanced at Pobbi and spoke slowly.
“My home is wherever I am. Even my capsule wasn’t really a home.”
“You mean the one that melted away?” The curious boy leaned in, eyes wide. “But then… how are you gonna travel again?”
The girl waved her hand—she must’ve picked up that gesture from him—and answered carelessly.
“No big deal. Once it gets colder, a new capsule will form. And then…”
“You’ll leave?” Erich almost asked aloud, but bit the words back. She hadn’t even truly arrived yet. And while Nibi was here, there was still so much they could do together! She hadn’t even met his mom yet—who had always dreamed of someone falling from the sky into her life. Though, okay… Mom probably wouldn’t have wanted it to happen quite so literally, because that would’ve scared her to death. She didn’t have her own brave Pobbi around to protect her.
“But should they even meet?” Erich wondered, studying the faintly glowing Nibi as she tugged on Pobbi’s ears and stared into his eyes, like they were having some deep secret conversation. “She’s nothing like us. Mom might report her straight to the institute where she works. And then it would spiral out of control—the President himself would come, asking Nibi about faraway worlds. And they’d tear us apart forever… No way! Never!”
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