Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Do Not Pet the Human
    Do Not Pet the Human
    Do Not Pet the Human
    Ebook83 pages1 hour

    Do Not Pet the Human

    By Catherine Banks, Ann Shannon, Liz Rosales and

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    With most sci fi showcasing aliens as either hostile or condescending towards humans, Do Not Pet the Humans wishes to create an anthology geared towards aliens that treat humans as equal, even maybe being as awe-inspired by humans as humans are by them.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJessica M. Kirkpatrick
    Release dateJan 20, 2019
    ISBN9781386191636
    Do Not Pet the Human

    Related to Do Not Pet the Human

    Related ebooks

    Science Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      A Little Patch Of Wild

      Nov 28, 2022

      A Little Patch Of Wild
      5 min read

    • Article

      Puppy Love

      Mar 19, 2021

      Puppy Love
      5 min read

    • Article

      Country Diary

      Apr 29, 2020

      Country Diary
      3 min read

    • Article

      Before You Melt Into The Sea

      Feb 3, 2022

      Before You Melt Into The Sea
      11 min read

    • Article

      Imagination AND YOU

      Oct 5, 2023

      Having built the foundations of our writing approach over the previous several issues, I fully intended this month to begin looking at the nuts and bolts of creative writing – structure, dialogue, description, etc. But as I began to write, something

      6 min read

    • Article

      Canine Cremains

      May 16, 2017

      Canine Cremains
      3 min read

    • Article

      Letters

      Feb 7, 2020

      D-DAY for matriculants has come and gone. Nerves evidently started to kick in as some helplines were inundated with calls from distressed learners that same day. After reading about all the trials and the harshness life threw at some, I immediately t

      3 min read

    • Article

      Three Poems

      Mar 1, 2019

      I was like you once, a sealed plastic bag of water filters floating on the sea. I thought my numbers proved my time and space on earth. I thought having children was a way of creating more love. I thought thoughts I was ashamed to speak in case they

      15 min read

    • Article

      Season Of Goodwill? (You Might Need It)

      Nov 8, 2023

      CHRISTMAS is on the way and those of us with parrots have a lot extra to decide in the way of activities, extra food, presents, guests and so on. My first two parrots, the African greys Artha and Casper, taught me far more than I taught them. Althoug

      4 min read

    • Article

      Sweet Sorrow

      Aug 19, 2019

      Sweet Sorrow
      8 min read

    • Article

      Five Poems

      Jan 1, 2023

      I wanted something in my heart like a drum.Peaches fell from trees.Suddenly: monsoon season.So, I told myself a storyto soothe myself into a kind of slumbernot like the wrestling recently begunnot like the wager life seems hell-benton becoming. Meanw

      2 min read

    • Article

      This Month

      Nov 9, 2020

      I don’t know about you but when I’m in the garden, I’m constantly trekking backwards and forwards to my basement to get the various tools I need. A weeding tool here, a pair of secateurs there, a trowel most of the time… My property is big, so that’s

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Letterbox

      Apr 1, 2022

      Dear Cricket, Your magazine was first given to me by an older friend of mine, and now I’ve bought a subscription for another friend’s birthday. Your magazine will now bring joy to three people through a chain of giving—wow! I just wanted to thank you

      7 min read

    • Article

      The Creative Hero’s Journey: 5 Reasons You Should Write Your Book, Paint Your Picture, Sing Your Song

      Dec 9, 2021

      Estimated reading time: 10 minutes — I used to be a professional disease hunter, a board-certified surgical pathologist. I was the M.D. in a white coat who stared at your skin (or breast, brain or bone, etc.) biopsy under the microscope and let your

      6 min read

    • Article

      Unwante Guests Ed

      Aug 3, 2021

      Unwante Guests Ed
      4 min read

    • Article

      Built Not Bought

      Apr 5, 2023

      Built Not Bought
      6 min read

    • Article

      Into the Woods

      Oct 26, 2023

      Into the Woods
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Thing About Pig Heads

      Jul 24, 2018

      The Thing About Pig Heads
      8 min read

    • Article

      Cat Videos and #MeToo

      Feb 5, 2018

      “We use the nature we find, then make up the rest,” goes a line by Alexis Madrigal, my favorite sentence in an anthology of writing about cat videos, Cat is Art Spelled Wrong. Actually, I would add, using nature and making it up often amount to the s

      5 min read

    • Article

      Snail’s pace

      Mar 7, 2024

      Snail’s pace
      4 min read

    • Article

      John Jeremiah Sullivan

      Mar 9, 2021

      John Jeremiah Sullivan
      27 min read

    • Article

      Gnarly Knuckle Finger Yoga

      Feb 17, 2024

      Once it was a snuggly refuge for an on-the-run, blind-in-one-eye pet brown house snake called Curly. Luckily, he didn’t have to wait to be “found” and was nabbed nestled in there a couple of days after we realised he had escaped. He could’ve been tr

      2 min read

    • Article

      Dark Tales

      Dec 2, 2021

      Dark Tales
      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Do Not Pet the Human

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Do Not Pet the Human - Catherine Banks

      DEDICATION

      This anthology is dedicated to those who are tired of the alien invasion story, who instead would prefer to see a friendlier alien. 

      CONTENTS

      Letter from the organizers

      Esteemed Readers,

      Do Not Pet the Humans started because a group of writers found a post on Tumblr about a new side to aliens, a side that wasn't all about invading Earth and death to humans. Instead, they were our friends. That spawned a desire to read SciFi with friendly aliens, and so a group of people put together an anthology.

      Here are some notes from the organizers:

      With most sci fi showcasing aliens as either hostile or condescending towards humans, we wish to create an anthology geared towards aliens that treat humans as equal, even maybe being as awe-inspired by humans as humans are by them.

      -Joshua Newport

      I joined this set because the idea of humans aliens interacting and trying to learn about each other has always interested me. The idea that aliens would have to learn about humans' menstrual cycles or eating habits was especially entertaining to me.

      -Catherine Banks

      I created this anthology because I've spent so much time reading nothing but adversity between human and alien. Initially, this idea was brought into being because of a Tumblr™ post that was circulating on Facebook™. I craved the human/alien interactions that we will see in these stories, and hopefully, this anthology inspires friendship when they finally make contact.

      -Jessica M. Kirkpatrick

      Thank you, 

      The Organizers 

      cats in the garden

      Liz Rosales

      It all started like a cliché: blinking LED lights in a row on a panel outside the kitchen window. It was a small panel, like the ones that used to be popular to add at the top of the rear window of cars some years ago, to draw attention of the car behind in a Hey! I'm using the brakes ok, maybe you should too? I’d often pondered if adding a message to scroll by in a less emergency associated colour like Hello sweetie, or Hope your day is going better than mine, and perhaps even Fancy a coffee? Deliberately staying away from more aggressive Back off Buster, or Not so damned close, or even Hasta la vista baby. Probably a waste of time as people in general seem to avoid reading if they can. Unlike me. I can't seem to help myself.

      Thus I simply assumed I was still asleep and having a rather odd dream when I spotted the orange LED's through the lower part of the net curtain. After emptying the bladder I slipped on the back garden mules and the nearest jacket and ventured outside to have a closer look. I was still not convinced I was awake so no risk and no worries.

      Still convinced I was dreaming, I unlocked the backdoor/kitchen door and went outside.

      Two humanoid figures about 5 ft tall were inspecting the garden such as it was in late October in Ireland -not a lot to see in other words. Only they had silvery white fur, and tails.

      Wow! You got tails! How frikkin’ cool is that. I breathed delightedly.

      Eh, hello? The smaller one of the two had turned around and was observing me too. The taller one removed the panel of lights that had initially caught my attention through the window. Apparently it attached like any fridge magnet only bigger. Immediately it stopped flashing.

      We've got your attention already the taller one said.

      I nodded dumbly.

      Can... I... help you? I offered meekly.

      I noted these felines had opposing thumbs unlike my own smaller companions. Where are the cats? Fear suddenly rushed through me and I was all of a sudden wide awake.

      Steady on! you're making us dizzy! Your cats are just fine, came the calm reply to my unspoken question. The ginger is on top of the wardrobe and the tux is asleep on the sofa. They twitched their tail towards the living room window of our ugly but comfortable bungalow, almost in the middle of nowhere. Just quite far from everywhere else. We'd hoped to renovate the old house – more like a ruin actually- on the property, but so far the lack of funds had us still living in the functional addition built in the seventies I called the outhouse.

      I took a couple of steps to the side and looked through the window and there was Tuxie, sleepy, fluffy tailed and curious, calmly watching procedures outside with detached amusement. I pinched myself. It hurt. The dewy grass was soaking my clogs and making my feet wet.

      This isn't a dream then? I asked timidly.

      It isn't.

      You speak English though... Or did you slip me a babelfish? I shuddered at the thought of admitting something through my ear to swim into my brain or whatever Mr Adams dreamed up.

      Head talk translates itself according to the subjects own frames of reference.

      Oh I said. How convenient.

      It is.

      I looked back at the tiny craft set on it's impossibly spindly legs with round flat feet and marvelled at just how traditional it looked.

      It's bigger on the inside the taller of the two remarked.

      I suppressed a giggle, just.

      Well, no actually said the shorter one. When you pass through that port it condenses you, making it seem more spacious.

      So what size are you, really?

      Not fixed. We adjust to wherever we find ourselves. Appearing smaller make us seem less threatening.

      Huh. How practical. The word fixed had sparked thoughts in another direction and

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1