I wait.

I begin to think too much about needing to pee, and then it becomes necessary.

I call out, “I need to pee.”

Some of the alien chatter stops for a moment but then, after a second, picks up again.

I wait.

No one comes to help me.

I wonder if I can go pee right here on my feet and then move to the side. It is raining, after all. What’s one more wet spot on the wood? I decide I cannot hold it anymore and give my bladder what it wants.

But even after my mind has given my bladder the go-ahead, it hesitates. I close my eyes and concentrate on peeing. I think about sweaty faucets with running water, and then finally, just as my veil is lifted, I pee like a racehorse. The flow doesn’t stop as a couple of hundred silverish-blue alien faces look up at me. They begin talking and laughing at me and pointing at me as urine runs down my legs, soaking my purple trousers.

I know I should feel ashamed, but I’ve never seen aliens before, so I only feel shock.

The alien male who has lifted my veil says something; his words sound like a weird kind of shrilling. I’m relieved, though, that despite their unintelligible language, they are humanoid with two arms and two legs, but unlike humans, they have a double-layered elf ear. I cannot see their teeth well and remind myself those could be razor sharp. I look around, and my stomach drops. This looks like a meat market or a farming center, and I feel I will be auctioned off.

When I’m done peeing, I don’t move. I stand there in my puddle of urine and return the gazes of all the blue eyes focused up on me. They’re talking quietly like they’re waiting for something to begin.

The alien male next to me on this stage or auctioning block or whatever it is smells of a strange kind of cleaning supply that’s too sweet, but I allow him to take my hand and guide me out of my piss pool. As he does, he begins talking to me.

I shake my head. “I don’t understand.” The silvery alien male continues to talk, but I won’t repeat myself. I just watch him. Then I ask, “You understand me?”

He nods in a universal sign and then points out to the crowd. I look at the silvery blue faces and their blue eyes and wonder what I’m supposed to say. I look back at the alien male, and he encourages me again to speak with his hands.

“Hello. I’m from Earth,” I say softly, and my voice shakes.

The crowd looks back at me blankly.

The alien male encourages me to speak again, using his hands to indicate more enthusiasm or something. This can’t be real. I can’t be selling myself, am I? Well, I’m not going to do a good job of it, am I?