How do you define an Alien?

The other week as I glanced in awe out of my window at the gorgeous scene before me I couldn’t help but ponder on the question of how to define what it takes to call something an alien?

It was another cold. wet and misty winter  morning  just like the other days of the week had been. The difference being that this morning we had a unique visitor grazing amongst the usual mob of kangaroo. All week there had been sightings from various neighbours of this graceful creature that was virtually unheard of in our little rural part of the world,, but so far it had managed to escape capture on film.  I had seen it briefly once before, my eyes hardly beleiving what they saw as it ran into the trees, up the hill and disappeared. This morning it stood there, serene and splendid amogst the thick fog. I couldn’t get a clear picture, the rain was too heavy, but a neighbour had caught a shot the day before of not one but two graceful deer happliy grazing alongside the kangaroos.

Now to most people in the Northern hemisphere a deer sighting might not seem that unusal, but firstly they are not native to Australia, are not usually found roaming wild and free amongst our native animals or wandering into our front paddocks and certainly the most unique and special of all was that one of the deer was white.

As I quietly observed her feed in sheer amazement and glory I couldn’t help but ponder on how weird it actually was to experience such a beautiful sight. The deer looked so out of place and yet so at home. She was an alien creature in an alien land and yet she was fitting right in. Then I had the thought that perhaps to others viewing this scene, the kangaroo might appear to be the alien creatures with their tiny front paws, strong hind legs and massive thumping tails.

Webster’s New World Dictionary defines an alien as :-
“(adjective)  belonging to another country or people; foreign; strange.
(noun)  1, foreigner    2. a person living in a country of which he is not a citizen.”

So I guess that makes the deer an alien to me, but a freindly one that I welcome with open arms and would invite to return to my property on any given day

Putting the dictionary definition aside, how do you define an alien?

Is he an ET type character that we all came to know and love from Steven Spielberg’s  1982 classic movie?
Maybe they are the scarier version outlined in the 1986 science fiction movie ALIENS directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver.

The Universe is a very large place to explore, making it possible for aliiens to come in all shapes and sizes depending on our imagination. We can choose to make them friendly, cute and cuddly, curious or even mischievous. The three Bradberrie brothers find out quickly what sort of mayhem a mischief an alien can cause in my upcoming children’s alien advetnure sereis for early and reluctant readers.

In Gingerbread Aliens they mix up a whole lot of fun when disater abounds in the kitchen causing a sequence of events that madly tumbles so out of control that not even even the quick minded reader will see what iscoming next. Gingerbread Aliens is available for purchase from the side link.
Book 2, Alien Shenanigans will be released soon. The boys find themselves unwittingly in a whole lot more trouble as they discover the truth behind the alien and try to keep the secret. For more on Alien Shenanigans click on the above page link. Updates on an expected release will be posted there as well as my facebook page. Books 3 through 5 are still in the writing process.

What or who is your favourite Alien?