Zib Falls Sick!

The bell of Chacha Rasheed's bicycle rang down the street — "Trin-trin!"

"The alien bell has rung! I am coming!" His voice carried all the way to the mango tree.

Danish's heart thumped hard. The ship was still humming softly — "Ting… tong… ting!" — as if it were singing happily to itself.

"Zib! Silence the ship!" Danish whispered. "Chacha Rasheed is coming!"

Zib laid his four fingers on his wrist-band and pressed. The ship's lights dimmed one by one, but the humming did not stop. Zib pressed again. And again.

"Why… why won't it stop?" Zib said anxiously. "The ghanti-coil is new. It likes singing!"

Danish quickly shut the ship's lid and piled dry leaves over it. But the song could still be heard from under the leaves.

Just then Chacha Rasheed arrived under the tree. His bicycle torches were shining, his notebook was open, and on his head sat the same old shoe that had landed on him in the kabari shop.

"Inside the tree!" he shouted. "The sound is coming from inside the tree!"

He swept his torch beam through the branches. The light passed close to where the ship was hidden — and suddenly a small blue glimmer appeared!

Danish held his breath.

But the blue glimmer was not the ship — it was Madam the cat's eyes! Madam sat on a branch, her eyes gleaming, as if she were teasing Chacha Rasheed.

"Meow!" Madam said loudly.

Chacha Rasheed jumped. "Cat! What are you doing here? Have you seen the alien?"

Madam flicked her tail and leapt down. Chacha Rasheed ran after her, and his foot caught on a root — "DHARAAM!" He fell on the grass, and his notebook flew up and got stuck in a branch of the tree.

"My notebook! My proof!" he was shouting.

Danish did not waste the chance. He grabbed Zib's hand, and the two of them slipped quietly towards the street. Behind them, Chacha Rasheed's voice followed: "I will come again tomorrow! The alien cannot escape me!"

At home, Danish shut the storeroom door and took a long breath. "We escaped!"

But Zib did not answer. He had curled up in a corner. His big eyes were half closed, and on his blue cheeks were tiny glowing drops — like little stars.

"Zib?" Danish asked, going closer. "Are you alright?"

Zib shook his head, then sneezed hard — "Ah… achoo… ting!"

With the sneeze came a tiny bell sound! And the sneeze sprayed little sparkling specks, as if someone had scattered glitter into the air.

"Zib! Your sneeze is ringing!" Danish gasped.

"I… I have caught Earth germs," Zib said in a weak voice. "The dust of the kabari shop… and the cold night air… On Golmol our germs are round and they laugh. The germs here… they prick!"

He sneezed again — "Achoo… tong!" — and this time his hands began to glow softly too.

Danish touched his forehead. It was hot — very hot — and its glow kept growing.

"You have a fever, Zib!" Danish said worriedly. "A glowing fever!"

Tears came into Zib's eyes — and those tears glowed too. "Danish… if I stay sick… will I not be able to go home? The Golmol Gate…"

"It closes in seven days now," Danish said softly. Looking at the calendar, his heart sank. Seven days — and the chand-pattar still was not fully charged, and now Zib was sick.

"Don't worry," Danish said, putting a hand on Zib's shoulder. "We will look after you. First the fever, then the chand-pattar. One thing at a time, and everything will get done."

Zib gave a weak smile. "You… you are my Earth doctor?"

"Yes!" Danish said. "And the doctor's first order is — warm milk and a blanket!"

He brought a glass of warm milk from the kitchen and an old blanket. Zib looked at the milk and said, "This white… this is moon water!" Then he took a sip, and milk stuck to his upper lip like a moustache. "Delicious moon water!"

Danish laughed, but his laugh stopped quickly — because Zib sneezed again, and this sneeze was so strong that the storeroom window rattled — "Achoo… ting… tong!"

At that very moment, Ammi's voice came from outside. "Danish? My boy, what are these sounds coming from the storeroom?"

Danish's heart jumped into his throat. "Ammi! Nothing… nothing! I… I am playing with toys! A new toy with a bell!"

"A toy with a bell?" Ammi's voice came closer. "Danish, open the door."

Zib pulled the blanket over himself, but his glow showed through the blanket — as if a tiny lamp were burning under it.

Danish opened the door a little. "Ammi, I am fine, just—"

But Ammi pushed the door fully open. Her eyes fell first on Danish, then on the glowing shape under the blanket.

Silence filled the storeroom. Only Zib's soft breathing could be heard, and then one more tiny sneeze — "Achoo… ting!"

Ammi said slowly, "Danish… who… who is this?"

And from under the blanket, two big, glowing eyes looked back at her.