King's Alley. This part of the city was full of run down neighborhoods. The kind that most people seemed scared to go into. The people in these parts of towns talked about wanting to get out and move on to better things. At least that was what Rick heard all the time as he sat by the same trashcan in the same alley. The trashcan was one of those construction sized trashcans that Rick can sit behind and not be seen by the passersby. They walked up and down the sidewalk pass one side of the alleyway. A brick wall blocked off the other side of the alley. Rick usually saw no one come down this alley, so he knew he could have silence most of the time. Lately though, since this alien had supposedly come to Earth, Rick had company all the time.

Rick didn't move much. He only walked out of the alley for a moment or two to find someone to mug and, hopefully, rob. Rick needed money or something valuable. Rick's dealer was always at the next corner. Rick would see the man standing there waiting for his money to just roll in.

Rick had thought his life was made. He would get up in the morning and shoot up all day long. He would sleep at night and repeat the process in the morning, every morning.

Rick was a scrawny dirty fellow who didn't like most people, but he kind of grew a liking to Vixxaml. Vixxaml looked to Rick like a yellow colored triangle with a bunch of small and short tentacles, that Rick guessed, the alien used to walk and stand with.

The Planet Hertold.

It was always cold.

Vixxaml was among some the druggies on Hertold. Mostly the ones from Vixxaml's town. They all traveled to the southern most hottest regions.

The heat wasn't much fir Vixxaml's drug wants. The temperature was maybe thirty degrees above zero, but it was better for getting stoned than the constant freezing temperatures of Vixxaml's hometown.

As he sat there in the dazed silence of the other druggies, Vixxaml thought about his friend Dgrettff. Dgrettff was gone now. No one knew where he was or if he was even alive. Vixxaml thought that he had traveled to another planet. Dgrettff had always talked about a mythical place called a "Desert".

Dgrettff had said one time, "There are planets out there that are full of them.” Vixxaml had thought him a little crazy.

"There is at least one planet out there that has to be all desert.” Dgrettff had said.

Vixxaml had thought him to be crazier after that statement.

An all desert planet was something that little Hertoldians knew wasn't even true. It was like a joke that always went along with a punch line that had drug addicts in it. Almost every time a desert was mentioned there was always that undertone of drugs that went with it.

Dgrettff was a dreamer and Vixxaml knew that if there was a planet somewhere out there that had a desert on it, Dgrettff was probably there right now.

"Tell me ‘gen why in'da hell you decided ta'come to earth, man'n?” Rick asked.

Rick really just wanted to hear Vixxaml's voice. Rick was just trying to make conversation anyway. Vixxaml's voice was better than the normal sounds that passed through the alley or passersby. Vixxaml had a very comforting voice to Rick.

"I have told you this story a hundred times.” Vixxaml replied.

"I know, but I ke' forgetting, ma'an.” Rick said.

Rick had always been interested in Sci-fi. he loved to see it, read it, and hear it. He had loved going to "The Matrix when he was stoned out of his mind. Rick was one of those Star Wars fans that hated Star Trek.

It wasn't that Rick thought he was a nerd or anything, Rick had just liked sci-fi. Vixxaml had kept reminding Rick of Sci-fi for obvious reasons.

Rick knew that he was no stranger to hallucinations, but if Vixxaml was an hallucination, he sure as hell stayed around for a long long time.

For some reason, Rick wasn't surprised that he was talking to an alien. He had always thought about meeting an alien and thought that he would act a lot different than he was.

"You earthlings. When will you all learn that telepathy is the way to go?” Vixxaml said.

"Man, you go' telepathy?” Rick asked.

"How in the hell do you think that I can talk to you? Do you think that even though I come from another planet, I can know the language and the dialect and slang that goes with it?” Vixxaml said.

"Fuck you man'n.” Rick replied. "You know tha' I ha' trouble even remembering wha' day it is."

"That's cause the drugs have overtaking your brain." Vixxaml said.

"So?" Rick said.

"Ya, it's not like I can say too much. I know that I 'm a druggie too."

"See there." Rick said as he moved around to get another hit ready.

"Yes, but you just sit here all day long everyday. I want to get out and see things. I want to see the desert the most." Vixxaml said.

Rick remembered when he was younger and wanted to travel more. He had quickly realized that the money he spent on the traveling was money that could be used for drugs.

"Traveling is overrated, man'n." Rick answered.

"That's cause you are a pure junkie."

"Well, you're an alien. And ugly at that."

"To me you're the ugly one. At least I got enough motavation to actually want things." Vixxaml said.

"What did you just say?" Vixxaml asked.

He was with a pilot in a large cargo hanger. Vixxaml had gotten word through his friends about this pilot.

"Just what I told you. There is a planet that had many deserts on it." The pilot said.

"Are you sure?"

"I've been there myself. I've seen it. I don't too much into that druggie stuff though. That's why I didn't stay. I couldn't stay. I don't want to be flying in a drugged up state." The pilot went on and on.

"How can I get there?" Vixxaml asked.

"I can take you as far as earth, but you are going to have to find the place you want to go after that." The pilot said.

Vixxaml knew then that he had to have been an offical druggie. Never before today would he have believed in a desert.

"Why are you doing this for me?" Vixxaml asked.

He wanted to make sure that this wasn't a joke from his friends.

"Cause I am in need of a manual laborer. There are packages to be loaded." The pilot said. "I got a business to run. I look for ways to cut costs everyway possible."

"Isn't it illegal to do that?" Vixxaml asked.

Now, Vixxaml thought that the pilot might be setting him up.

"So what? I don't have any moral obligation to you or what you do with your spare time. I don't care. I just want some free labor."

Vixxaml thought about it for a moment and thought that the pilot wat genuine.

"Okay. When do we leave." Vixxaml said.

"I still don't really understand you humans' drugs. I mean, what gave you all the idea to kill your brain like you do. All those organs in your bodies and you go for the most important one. And you kill it!"

Vixxaml said.

Rick looked at him as he leaned back against the brick wall behind him. Rick had just released the tourniquet and the heroin was through his body. Rick didn't really care that he was killing himself. He felt good and that was that as far as Rick was concerned.

Rick remembered when he had first gotten introduced to drugs. Like most druggies that Rick had heard about, he had started off small and worked his way up. The fact that drugs were around at all when Rick was that age was amazing to him. Now, however, things like being homeless and talking to an alien weren't all that surprising to Rick any longer.

"You go' a better idea, ma'an?" Rick asked.

"Of course, there is the heat." Vixxaml said.

"Wha'?" Rick replied.

"You humans just don't know the greatness of heat. The heat speeds up my people's energy."

"How in'da world does..."

"Our equivalent of your atoms get sped up and increase our energy making us get high. It's like an amphetamine."

"Cool man'n." Rick said. "But, what are ya' doing here? Shouldn't you be in'da desert?"

"The pilot who brought me here to earth couldn't take me but this far."

"We nee' to go to the Arizona and New Mexico area. There's peyote there fa' me and heat for you."

"Do you have transportation?"

Rick didn't really want to go to the desert. He really wanted to find a way to just stay in this alley right by this trashcan for the rest of his short life.

"I can steal some right quick." Rick said.

Rick saw Vixxaml start shifting back and forth quickly like he was excited.

"Man, I was jus' joking, man'n." Rick said.