When Shaw touched the planet's surface, it was daylight. Looking out the window of his space capsule, he could see two suns and also seven moons circling in the sky.
Sensors indicated that the atmosphere on the planet was breathable. Shaw donned his spacesuit, opened the airlock, and carefully exited the capsule.
It seemed as if he had landed in a desert area. Mountains of sand were spread as far as the eye could see and everything was orange in color. He took off his helmet and took a deep breath of air.
Only then did he notice it. Alien craft on the horizon.
He kept hovering over the mountains of sand, coming closer every moment. The craft landed nearby and a door opened. Two figures came out. They walked on two legs and their body shape was exactly like humans. However, that's where the similarities ended.
They were very tall and their skin was a sickly shade of green. Their limbs were long and thin and their heads were large and bulbous. They have no ears, no nose and small, thin mouths without lips. He had strange, shining black eyes that almost looked like mirrors.
As soon as he saw the aliens approaching, Shaw was careful not to make any sudden movements. He didn't want to scare them. When they came closer, he waved towards them in a friendly gesture and extended his hand. The aliens looked at him curiously, but kept their distance.
"My name is Andy Shaw," he said. "I come from planet Earth. I come in peace."
The aliens smiled at him and nodded. They spoke to each other in a curious language of clicks and squeaks. For a while, Shaw tried clumsily to communicate with them. It seemed clear that they understood him, but he could not understand them.
He waved at her and pointed towards his spaceship. They wanted him to follow them. As soon as he boarded the plane, the door closed behind him and they took off.
The aliens brought him to their city. They took him to a huge, intricate building that looked important and he followed them down long halls and corridors until they came to a room.
As he stepped inside the room, he was stunned by how familiar it looked. The interior was an almost exact replica of a normal house on Earth. There was a table and a chair, a bed, a wardrobe and a toilet. One wall of the room was covered with long, purple curtains.
One of the aliens left and when he came back, he had a tray in his hand. It placed the tray on the table and motioned Shaw to sit. He obeyed and when he lifted the lid of the tray he was shocked to see a plate full of food. Real food. It was a dinner, just like a normal dinner he ate on earth.
He was impressed by the lengths the aliens had gone to to make him feel at home.
The aliens turned and walked away and as the door closed behind them, she heard a click. Shaw was hungry. He picked up the knife and fork and started eating.
Just then, he heard a faint, buzzing sound and the curtains on the wall slowly drew back. Through the window, he could see hundreds, if not thousands, of aliens outside. They were gathered there, staring at him.
Then his eyes fell on the bars on the window.
And signs.
There were lots of strange alien symbols on the sign, but beneath them, printed in perfect English, were the words: "Earth creature in its natural habitat."
