Alien Scrooge - Zara Zenia Page 0,12

wanted to get more pictures, she told herself. She continued to avoid any unwanted thoughts of the grumpy alien man and the conflict she was sure to be faced with later. From the adjacent room she heard the toaster pop, and her parents bustled around to finish the meal. The two came into the room, plopping the plates on the table.

"What are the plans for today?" Cara wondered aloud.

"I don't have any," her mother responded as she sat down, her long dark hair escaping from the bun on her head in loose, curly tendrils that framed her face like a painting. "What about you, Dennis?"

She looked at him for his answer to find him staring back wide-eyed with his mouth full of food. He did his best to smile with his cheeks full and nodded vigorously. Cara laughed at her father's goofy expression while her mom rolled her brown eyes dramatically.

"The food isn't going anywhere, Dennis." Her mom laughed lovingly at her dad who blushed in response. Then she turned her attention to Cara. "I may get the Christmas decorations out, will you be home any earlier tonight?"

"I should be," she assured her mother. "I captured a beautiful sunset last night, so I'll do some daytime shots today. I was thinking about picking up some supplies to develop the shots too. I want to see how they turned out as soon as possible."

"Well then, I suppose we can do some decorating together when you get back."

"Maybe we can play some cards too," her dad cut in.

"That sounds lovely." Cara smiled, thrilled to be home with her family again. "I'll head out to do some shopping after breakfast then and I'll make sure to be home before dark."

After breakfast and a shower, Cara headed to town to collect some supplies. When she had discovered photography as a passion, she realized she preferred film cameras to digital and learned to develop photographs wherever she could, even going so far as to rearrange her bathroom so it could be used as her studio and dark room for years before going away to college. Now, whenever she visited home she only needed to buy whichever items needed to be replaced or replenished. She stored her purchases in a big black bin in the back of her car before heading back to the beach for another day of landscape photographing.

The walk was easy and familiar, as it had been the day before, but she carried her camera openly this time. She snapped amateur photos of anything interesting that drew her attention, intentionally stalling her progress toward the cave even though she didn't want to admit it. When she came to the rocky incline that led into that private corner of the beach, she tried to make excuses for why she didn't want to continue forward. Finally, she had to admit that she was worried about meeting Egrix again after the way things had ended the night before.

"Suck it up," she mumbled to herself, hating the pathetic feeling eating away at her stomach. After scaling the rocks with her gear, she walked toward the cave with her camera and peeked around the outer wall into the blackness beyond. She knew that there would be more light just beyond the dark void, but she was surprised to notice, again, that it was completely unnoticeable unless you ventured deep into the foreboding cavern. Seeing no sign of movement within, she snuck toward the hidden campsite, sticking close to the rock wall. As the cave floor sloped back upward and light began to penetrate the darkness again, Cara tucked herself into an alcove and observed Egrix's alien base, gauging her feelings about the situation.

Egrix paced around the scattered containers, muttering impatiently to himself. She felt a reservation against approaching him, his noticeable agitation pushing her back toward the mouth of the cave. He had done a number on her mood yesterday and she couldn't convince herself to interact with him. Cara told herself instead that she didn't have to, she had only come here for the photos.

She simply didn't have the energy, so she retreated to the flat rock outcropping where she'd left her gear the day before. She traipsed around the beach setting up and capturing a new variety of photographs. After a few panoramic images and some shots that highlighted the play of the day light on the distinctive beach setting, she set up another long exposure shot to trace the sun moving down in the horizon,