"Humanities Gift."(Kevin Hughes) The Aliens had only been on Earth for about a month. After centuries of scary stories about the horrible, terrible, frightening looking appearance that Aliens would have, along with movies, books, and Artist Renderings, Aliens appeared…at last. And…they were/are adorable. Imagine a kitten with the intelligence of Einstein, and about the size of an average toddler. Now gift them with soft sparkling fur…fur that reflected almost all the hues of a rainbow. Then give them big wide green eyes. There you have it. Aliens. Cuddly. Cute. Comforting.

Everyone liked them. Even Conspiracy Theorist with dystopian mindsets and outlooks had to admit: “They are damn cute. Smart too.”

You could walk right up and pet one if you wanted to…and everyone wanted to. They didn’t mind at all. Most times they just closed their eyes and purred. Okay, not a kitten purr, but imagine the most beautiful orchestrated music you ever heard …played by only Virtuosos- hummed. Yep. That’s about as close as you can get to their “purr.” Music hummed in harmony. It is beautiful. Just like them.

We were all sad when they said, after only a month or so:

“Earthlings…we have to leave. We are so sorry. But…we have a parting gift that we think you will like.”

We sure didn’t want them to go, well most people didn’t anyway. However, our curiosity over what kind of Gift they would bestow on all of Humanity, kind of took the edge off of them leaving. It was with great anticipation and almost every screen in America turned to the Goodbye/Gift Giving Ceremony held in the Desert of Arizona. (The only place large enough for them to set their massive ship down in without burning down trees and the like.)

The Box wasn’t that big. About the size of a two cases of soda, beer, or wine. It had a nice purple bow on top of shiny wrapping paper.

“Go ahead. Open it. It is our gift to you.”

The woman who won the Lottery to open the box, clambered forward past all the Presidents, High Muckety Mucks, and Assorted Royalty, to take the proffered scissors and cut off the bow (which she subtly placed in her pocket as a souvenir), then she tore off the wrapping. A rush of wind came out of the box, swiftly circulating through the crowd. It smelled like Rose Perfume with a hint of both chocolate and cinnamon. The wind went on for over an hour…and then, suddenly…stopped. The box was empty.

The Aliens were “purring” their orchestrated humming in delight.

Humans were stunned, confused, not sure what to make of it all.

“Was that the gift…the wind thing?”

“Yes!”

“Well, what was it? We didn’t see anything. Just the nice smelling wind tickled our noses.”

“Oh, you will see. For it is something you all were lacking. Time will tell.”

“But…but…but what was it that filled that box? Just some kind of gas?”

The Aliens laughed..all of them. Which was just slightly more adorable than their “humming.”

“No. No. It was not gas. Not at all.”

“Then what was it?”

“Common sense. We gave you enough for everyone.”

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