An Alien Discovery

[scribblefoxx]

It was several long moments before the astronaut could find her voice. The crackly, popping voice of the others back in the base rang in her ears, echoing in her helmet.

"Hey, talk to us! Did you find something? We're picking up static in this atmosphere and we can't get a reading on your exact location." A few moments went by and then the voice came again. "Come on, answer us! Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine," she managed to get out eventually, staring around at the landscape around her. "There... there's life here." She bent her head down, inspecting the green plants growing close to the ground, right around where she'd planted the flag, which seemed out of place now.

There was a sharp intake of breath from the other side of the communicator. "Are you sure?"

"Definitely," the astronaut responded. "I see all sorts of plants here, but no sign of animal life yet." As soon as she had said the words, however, she became aware of how neat the ground seemed, how diverse the plant selection was - it didn't feel natural. "It's a garden . . ." she breathed, almost inaudibly.

"What was that?"

She opened her mouth to respond, but a sudden rustling in the plants behind her made her freeze. She didn't dare turn around, and for the second time that minute she was speechless. Instead of from wonder, this time she was frozen in fear.
Finally, finally, she got the words out.

"I . . . I don't think I'm alone here."