6th Grade Alien - There's An Alien In My Backpack Part 9

I turned the card over.

The message on the back was simple: Life is weird. Wish you were here.

Love, LinnsyvecBur

CHAPTER 20.

[PLESKIT].

A Letter Home FROM: Pleskit Meenom, on the occasionally amusing Planet Earth TO: Maktel Geebrit, on the distant but beloved Planet Hevi-Hevi Dear Maktel: I thought you might enjoy seeing these notes that Tim and I made about our latest adventure, especially since you and Tim have become friends, sort of.

Now that the situation is finished, we canlaugh about it, and laughter is a very good thing. But we had some pretty tense moments while it was all going on. I have to tell you, sometimes trying to figure out what's right, good, honorable-well, it can can make your brain hurt.

The Fatherly One and I still have a tense matter hanging over us here in the emba.s.sy- namely, the question of whether there is a traitor on the staff. I have discussed the matter with the Grandfatherly One, but he has no clues as to who it might be. And I dare not discuss it with anyone else. The Fatherly One has even ordered me not to discuss it with my bodyguard, which is most disturbing.

I will be sure to keep you posted if anything comes up.

The Fatherly One did do something else that was quite amazing: he apologized for getting so wound up in his work that he had been, in a way, twisted out of shape for a time.

"I do not want to lose the Earth franchise," he said. "But neither do I want to lose myself. I regret my threat to remove you from your school, Pleskit, and appreciate that you and Tim were able to see the right thing and do it."

So that was pretty cool (as the Earthlings like to say).

Please give my regards to your Motherly One. I hope you have recovered from our adventures on Billa Kindikan!

Fremmix Bleeblom! Your pal, Pleskit

A Glossary of Alien Terms

Following are definitions for the alien wordsand phrases appearing for the first time inTHERE'SAN ALIEN IN MY BACKPACK. The number after a definition indicates the chapter where the word first appeared.

Words used by Pleskit are usually of Hevi-Hevian origin. Words and phrases used by Beebo are sometimes Frimbattian, but are mostly Standard Galactic.

For most words we are only giving the spelling. In actual usage, of course, many Hevi-Hevian words would be accompanied by smells and/or body sounds.

Definitions of other extraterrestrial words appearing in this book can be found in the volumes of /WAS A SIXTH GRADE ALIEN where they were first used. A complete glossary, covering all the extraterrestrial words used in the series, can be found at www.brucecoville.com feezlebort:an herb found in the northern wamp-fields of Hevi-Hevi.Feezlebort can be brewed into a fizzy soft drink that has a delicious tangy taste, but paralyzes the tongue for about five minutes. For this reason parental units often encourage children to develop a taste for the drink, as it sometimes provides the only silence they can get in a day.

(2).

feezledee-goopus:This was originally an expression of relief, uttered in thanks by parental units who had just given their children some fizzlingfeezlebort and were experiencing the first silence of the day. Eventually it came to be used in any situation where one experiences sudden relief after a period of intense anxiety. (8) Frek(plural:Frekki):Term of respect for head of the combined Frimbattian family unit.

Since a complete family includes six species and a total of seventeen different genders, beingFrek can be a dangerous, tense, and emotionally difficult job requiring enormous organizational and diplomatic skills, not to mention great physical stamina.

Frekki are often hired to run huge multiplanetary trading companies, since they consider the job fairly simple, and a pleasant relief from their homelives. (14) glasparaznik!:A cry of astonished horror, something like "Yikes!", but considerably stronger in meaning.

The exclamation point is part of the standard spelling. (10) gleepde reepdeep:An expression of embarra.s.sment used when one makes a social faux pas, such as using the wrong table utensil for your soup, or accidentally using the fart of derision when you intended to emit the fart of compa.s.sion. (Such speech errors are commonly referred to as "b.u.t.t blurps.") Standard Galactic (10) grindlezark:A hideous beast found in the southern wampfields of Hevi-Hevi. Though thegrindlezark weighs several tons, it never attacks creatures anywhere near its own size, and is known for the way it likes to stalk small, helpless creatures and terrorize them before it eats them. If thegrindlezark lived on Earth, its favorite meal would probably be baby bunnies.

ipskypekoobies:A Frimbattian cry of delight, somewhat similar to "yippee" in meaning. (10) kribbl-pam:Frimbattian term of relations.h.i.+p, indicating the third offspring of a mating pair three degrees of speciehood away from either theFrek or theFrek's spousal unit. The Frimbattian language has four thousand different terms of relations.h.i.+p, and most of the first two years of school are spent learning them. (19) paznak (plural:paznakki):Bizarre and dangerous life form that originated on Peldrim Seven, but has spread through much of the galaxy by stowing away on trading s.h.i.+ps. No bigger than a human hand, a paznak is often described as "a stomach with legs" and can eat seven to ten times its own body weight in a day. A group ofpaznakki can strip an entire field in a matter of hours. (3) seekl-fingus:Literally, "someone who trips over a grain of sand." The expression is used, derisively, for anyone who is too worried about small details. (5) wizzik(plural:wizzikki):Wizzikkiare small, round, hardsh.e.l.led insects. Children on Hevi-Hevi sometimes use deadwizzikki as pretend currency when they play "Traders and Pirates" and other money games. (7) About the Author and the Ill.u.s.trator BRUCE COVILLE, the author of more than seventy-five books for young readers, was born inSyracuse,New York . He grew up in a rural area north of the city, around the corner from his grandparents' dairy farm, where he often dreamed of traveling to other planets. His favorite writers included Hugh Lofting, Eleanor Cameron, and (a little later) Edgar Rice Burroughs.

In the years before he began to make his own living as a writer, Bruce worked as a gravedigger, a toymaker, an elementary-school teacher, and a magazine editor (among other things). Now he mostly writes but also spends a fair amount of time traveling to speak at schools and conferences. He also produces and directs unabridged recordings of fantasy novels for children.

Bruce and his wife, Katherine, live in an old brick house inSyracuse , which they share with a number of strange animals and whichever of their three children happens to be home at the moment. Bruce's best-known books includeMy Teacher Is an Alien, Goblins in the Castle, andTheSkull of Truth.

TONY SANSEVERO received his art education fromBoston 's Ma.s.sachusetts College of Art. He has ill.u.s.trated several picture books and teen novels and is an award-winning fine artist as well. He lives inSyracuse,New York , with a menagerie of weird animals and his collection of sci-fi toys.