Sidewalk Story

A short story using an improv fiction technique

So I’m walking across the street the other day and I see this guy bent over looking at something on the sidewalk. I think to myself “should I?”

The answer is over course “yes, yes I should.”

So I walk up to this guy and ask what the fuss is all about. He doesn’t even look up at me. He just mumbles “the aliens got to him.”

Ok. I kinda had stuff to do that day, but this is obviously more important. A million questions flooded through my mind at that moment.

Who are the aliens? Where are they from? How did they get here? Who did they ‘get to’? What do they want? What do they look like? How do you know?

Though my curiosity abounded, I simply replied with a dry “go on.”

“You see that green paste?”, he asks.

“Sorta. It looks faded though, are you sure this is recent?”

“Who said this is recent?” he retorted. “These are them time traveling aliens. They got to him long time ago. But they left evidence!”

At this point, I’m in for the long haul. “Got to who?”

“My grandfather.”

“The aliens got to your grandfather?”

“Affirmative.”

“How do you know.”

“They secrete green paste when they get scared.”

“When they came for my grandpa, he put up a fight. Pulled a gun on those damned extraterrestrials. But it turns out aliens are bulletproof.”

“Why are you here now?”

“Well I’ve been getting this odd feeling lately. I know they’re coming for me soon. Those green weirdos. I figured I’d come check out the place where it all happened to look for clues. How to fight back.”

“Makes sense”, I said. Then after a short pause, I took in a deep breath and said “Welp, it was good meeting you my friend. I wish you luck on your mission.”

He looked me in my eyes, gave his head a quick nod, and went back to analyzing the sidewalk.

Originally published at https://dostuff.substack.com.