I have a trick for when I get writers block – which I do very often!!! I ask someone to give me three random words or short phrases. Then I bring these words together into a storyline. What follows is the text which arose from three words suggested by a friend: Essence Ka tha’ras on 25th July 2026

I learned a lot on that trip, but it wasn’t what I expected to learn. 

Let me explain.  My name is Glale and I come from a blue star circling around one of the suns in the Almaak cluster.  Since I was a small child, I have had a fascination with the history and ethology of the peoples who populate a tiny little blue planet several light years from Almaak.  The inhabitants call their planet Earth.  Many of my family members think I am totally insane being so fixated on such a minor planet and they are absolutely fed up with me constantly repeating the stories which originated from there.  But I didn’t let that stop me.

As soon as I was of the right age and had gained the necessary qualifications and permissions, I signed up with the Galactic Discovery Force.  The GDF is a research facility whose task is to record the characteristics – physical, mental, emotional etc of different dominant species.  They also have a specialist area which records the history of the planet.  My research field is in the preservation of the stories passed from generation to generation. Study of these things gives us information from which we can project the likelihood of the alpha species of the planet becoming mature enough to join the Galactic Council.

The GDF were planning to send an exploratory team, under cover, to a very small part of the planet which the locals call Transylvania and it just so happened that this is the exact part of that globe which fascinated me so much.  I applied to be part of the team, and, after many interviews, medical and emotional stability checks it was finally announced that I would be joining the team boarding the highliner ‘Galactic Starlight’ on its maiden voyage to Earth.

I was very excited when I boarded the Starlight.  I was less excited during the very long and tedious journey, but I utilised the time researching the natural habitat where the stories and the creatures which intrigued me most, were birthed.  In particular I was interested in a very strange creature which inhabited the Transylvania area and seemed to hold all kinds of magical abilities but had failed, during their evolution, to utilise these abilities for the benefit of the Earthen population.

Apparently, these beings could change shape.  Often choosing to become a small flying creature.  They were nocturnal, finding sunlight to be perilous; and as they lived in large stone castles perched on the top of mountains, that ability to fly would definitely have made life a bit easier. 

Eventually we arrived and moved into orbit around the planet.  The Galactic Starlight unfolded to it full length and we all settled in, waiting for clearance to proceed with our various research projects.  I was very excited as we prepared to descend to the planet and although our physical form is not dissimilar to humans, as in, two legs, two arms and a head, it was necessary to undergo some temporary cosmetic changes so that we could blend in with the populace.  For example, I am a lot taller than the average human and my blue skin and blue hair would definitely mark me as alien to this planet.   

Finally, it was my turn to walk through the portal, which was programmed to take me to Sighisoara, the ancient town known as the birthplace of the very first vampire – a man with the most intriguing name of Vlad the Impaler.  I stepped through the portal and arrived in a narrow street with colourful houses on each side and a cobbled road winding its way uphill. 

A human, probably just as awed as I was, bumped into me.

“Sorry Mate,” he said.  “I’m so busy looking at my map, I wasn’t watching where I was going.  You don’t happen to know where the pub is do you?” 

“Err.  No.  Sorry.  I just got here.”  I replied, hoping my translator was working ok.  I had understood him, so it was entirely probable that everything was fine. 

“Bugger,” said the man.  “You look like you could do with a bevvy – want to come with me?  Find it together?” 

I was excited.  I’d made contact with a human already!  I followed him up the hill and eventually into one of the houses.  There were a large number of humans in the room, all making a lot of noise and drinking glasses of some golden-coloured liquid.  A glass was pushed into my hand, and I very carefully tasted it.  My immediate analysis was that this was mildly toxic – definitely not something to ingest a large amount of.  I was interested in the human experience, so I drank some more.

Over the course of the next few hours, I drank several glasses of the beverage and spoke with many people, discovering that no-one had ever seen a real vampire.  Most people thought that they were something imaginary, made up about Vlad the Impaler who, by all accounts was a nasty piece of work.  Then, an American woman who had obviously had more than the required amount of the toxic beverage, told me where I was most likely to be able to see vampires at work.  A place in her hometown of Hollywood called Universal Studios.

I was a bit wobbly on my feet as I went back to my transit point, reset the portal and stepped through into a very different world.  I had no idea where I was, or where I needed to go, so I stopped a passer-by and asked where I could find the vampire.  He looked at me with a very strange expression on his face and then pointed to a door and hurried away. 

I walked through that door and immediately a large person grabbed my arm and shouted at me, “Finally.  You got here.  We’re just about to shoot your scene with the vampire.  Come on.  Follow me.” 

You would not believe how excited I was.  I was taken to a large couch and told to lie down and not to move.  I needed to pretend to be asleep and I must not open my eyes until I was told to. 

I lay still.  I heard people around me and then I felt someone lean over me.  I kept my eyes closed as I felt breath on my face and the person took hold of my chin and moved my head slightly to one side, exposing my neck.  I felt his breath on my neck and I braced myself, ready to become the first alien species to be bitten by a vampire. 

I felt his mouth on my neck.  His lips.  His teeth grazed my skin and something cold and horrible overflowed from his mouth and ran down my neck.  Then I heard someone shout the word “Cut” and the vampire moved away, leaving me alone on the couch.  I touched my hand to my neck, and it came away red which was unusual because my blood is blue. 

I looked up at the vampire, he looked down at me and he spoke.

“Yuck!  I really hate cold tomato soup!”