Читать книгу The Kid Who Came From Space - Ross Welford - Страница 23

All right, do you want the long story of how I came to Earth, or the short story?

I shall give you the short story. The long story you will have to pick up along the way. Assuming we get there – at present there are no guarantees.

Anyway, here is the short story.

I, Hellyann, am eleven years old, and from another planet to yours. (I know, I know: it will all become clearer later. This is the short version, remember?)

I live in a world where human beings like you (but not like me, for I am not a ‘human being’) are exhibited in zoos. I think this is wrong for so many reasons and I must do what I can to put it right.

And that is how I ended up crossing the universe with two boys and a chicken.

A Note on the Translation

I wrote my part of this story in my native language and it was translated into English by Philip.

I now know that Anthallan does not sound much like a human language. To you, it sounds more like a series of grunts and squeaks and sniffs. My Earth friend Ignatius Fox-Templeton (Iggy) told me I sound like ‘a pug being strangled’ and he and Ethan Tait did not stop laughing for forty-two seconds.

Where the exact word does not exist, Philip, a robot, has tried to choose the nearest equivalent word so as not to interrupt the flow of the story.

(By the way, he is not a metal robot that walks around with a face and flashing lights. He is more … Well, you will find out.)