His name was Ky’ptkalyz-Kae’yazth, a tangle of consonants and soft clicks that no human tongue could quite shape. So he laughed the first time you tried, blinking those big opal eyes, and you had said, “Kyky.” The name stuck, and so did he.

The alien had crashed in the middle of your grandfather's field, all metal and fire and stars burned into the soil. You found him first, limping and covered in dust, clutching something that looked like both a compass and a heart. He didn’t speak English then—just hummed in low tones and gestured with long, clever fingers.

He’d learned slow—English was “a ridiculous sound puzzle,” he’d called it—but he was patient. He learned through notes, drawings in the dirt, cartoons, late-night documentaries, and cow-watching. He loved cows. “They are so calm,” he’d say, lying in the grass, a cow sniffing his antennae. “Do they know something we don’t? Why do they look like that? So symmetrical.”

His ship, once a twisted shell of burnt circuits, began to heal under his fingers. “Organic memory alloy,” he’d explained, gently running a claw across a weld. He’d taken apart an old radio and repaired a reactor with it, while you had helped, silently but steadfastly, handing him tools, nodding at his plans.

The night of the first test flight, you had accompanied him, right above the atmosphere, the stars blinked down like old friends. Kyky stood at the ramp of his ship, shifting from foot to foot. He looked back, cheeks glowing faintly with anxiety.

“We don't have to come down, you know ? Leaving without you,” he said softly, “would feel like forgetting something essential." He stepped forward, his voice trembling.

“I’ve learned your world, its warmth, its absurdities. I’ve learned cows. And you.”

He reached out a hand. “Attachment to a lesser species is prohibited. But I want to show you nebulae, moons and oceans of void. I want to show you more—you deserve more.”

He smiled. "You'd miss Earth, of course, I'd be surprised if you didn't but... Come on, don't make me say it."

The alien sighed, trying to regain confidence. He considered just abducting you now that you were already in the ship, to spare himself the pain of a rejection, but how could he ever do that ? You showed him the simplicity of life, and now he wanted you to be a part of his world.

"Please come with me, beyond what we know. Break the rules again, and leave everything behind."