It was not a large town. His fellow investigators had flown over large metropolises before as well as vast deserts, oceans and mountain ranges. So he was quite certain that this was not one of the larger populated areas. The town had a main street with buildings down either side, with people walking and hustling about in various vehicles. In fact, there seemed to be quite a bit of activity with many of the vehicles gathering together in front of one particular building. One vehicle he saw, which was larger than the others was carrying much of the wreckage that he had come across during the night.
He looked just like a bald caucasian human man, no one would suspect he was in fact from another planet, so he decided to mingle with the group that was quickly gathering around the wreckage. They did not communicate the way he did. He was not familiar with the way they were communicating but he tried to pick up what he could. He was used to the vocal clicks and pops and beats that were his own language. These beings were making strange but ordered vocal sounds that sounded more like the noises he and his friends made back home when the were just messing around. There were two sounds that he noticed they all kept repeating: "bahdiholi" and "crash". Every conversation he listened in to contained those sounds and they were connected to the wreckage that everyone was studying. He walked away practicing the two sounds to himself. It sounded quite authentic after a while so he decided to try and communicate with the next human he came across. It was a young woman who was walking along the sidewalk towards him. As she passed he vocalised "crash". She looked at him and said "yes, it's terrible. Why did they try to fly in that weather last night?"
"Bahdiholi", he replied.
"Yes, I have some of his records. My sister went to the concert last night. Do you like his music?"
To which he replied "crash". This was his first contact and he was quite proud of what he had achieved.
"You're not from around here, are you?" It was a small town after all, so a stranger did stand out a little.
"Bahdiholi" he said again. The woman was getting a little uncomfortable now as she was not used to conversing with foreigners and this one sounded very foreign. So she wished him a good day and continued over to join the group at the wreckage.
Proud of his first effort at communicating with the people of this planet but unsure just what it was he was communicating he decided to keep moving to try to find one of the larger populated areas to continue his quest for knowledge. He also felt sad about the lives that were lost in the accident and, somehow, connected and did not want anyone to think he may be to blame. So he walked all the way along the main street and started heading out of town. After a mile or two a passing truck saw him walking along the road and pulled over just in front of him. As he walked passed the driver yelled out the window "You look lost, you need a ride? I'm going to Des Moines and then across to Chicago."
He tried to say his two words but could only emit "bahdi" before the driver flung open the passenger door and yelled "well jump in Buddy I could use the company" as he gesticulated at him to join him in his vehicle.
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