Postcards From the Beyond - Chapter 3

With their return to school Sebastian and Maddy forgot about trying to find the person responsible for the postcards. Maddy had been moved up two grades due to her intelligence and this made her suddenly rather unpopular with her peers.
Most brothers would not have been seen dead hanging out with their little sister at school, but Seb felt it was his duty as an older brother to protect her from the bullies. He was proud of his clever sister, and he detested bullies! So most lunch breaks and break times Maddy would join Sebastian and his friends. Seb’s friends didn't mind either, they were always getting Maddy to help them with their homework, or picking her brains on how to overcome some puzzle in 'Space Calamity III' or whatever game was currently popular.
One day Sebastian got back late from school after football practice to find a note on the door.

'Gone to the supermarket, back soon, love Mum and Maddy'

Seb let himself in through the back door, throwing his muddy football kit in the direction of the washing machine as he went. He was just pouring himself a glass of cola when he heard the stair creak. He froze, listening hard. He could have sworn he heard footsteps upstairs. Carefully putting down the cola bottle he crept into the hall. The house was supposed to be empty, Maddy and Mrs Oakes were at the shops and Mr Oakes was still at work.
More noises came from upstairs. Seb’s breathing seemed to have stopped as he crept towards the stairs. His cricket bat was standing by the hall table. He picked it up as he passed, gripping it tightly. Seb stepped over the stair that creaked and onto the landing. The noises were becoming louder all the time. Now he saw they were coming from his bedroom! Outrage seemed to replace his fear as he strode forward, bat raised, to confront the intruder.
The bedroom door flew open with a bang as he entered ready to attack. But what he saw was not what he had expected. Instead of some grubby burglar he found a pig-sized furry creature with a long tail busy rummaging under his bed. The creature, hearing Seb enter jumped in surprise, bumping its head on the edge of the bed as it extracted itself and turned to face him.
Seb stood frozen in amazement, the bat still raised. The creature looked at the bat nervously with its shiny black eyes, its nose and whiskers twitched in agitation. It had large feet like a kangaroo, which it shuffled nervously. It was about half his height but rather round and fat. And oddest of all, it was wearing some kind of uniform; a smart deep blue jacket with shiny buttons and a peaked cap. Sebastian didn't know whether to hit the creature or laugh at it. In the end he did neither.
“What are you, who are you?” he asked instead, then, at last taking his eyes from the odd creature he noticed what it had been doing. The postcards that Sebastian had been keeping in shoe boxes under his bed were scattered all about, some half thrown into a large brown sack beside the creature.
“What are you doing, are you the one responsible for these cards?” he asked lowering the cricket bat.
The creature shuffled and picked at its tail fur. Its nose had flushed red. Could it be that it's embarrassed that I caught it, Seb wondered
“Me, the cards, oh no!” the creature stuttered. It spoke English with a slight accent that Sebastian could not identify. “T-There seems to be a problem with one of the mail wormholes, the postcards come here by mistake. I've just been sent here to recover them.” It blushed further as it finished explaining.
“Wormholes!” Seb exclaimed excitedly, “so, you come from another world? From outer space?” he asked tentatively, not wanting to appear ignorant.
“Well, yes, I suppose you would call it 'outer space,'” the creature agreed.
“But don't you have e-mail and communicators and holograms in space?” Sebastian wondered, picking up a stray postcard by his feet which had a discussion about String Theory written on one side. The alien creature seemed to choke in surprise at this.
“Oh no, those things are no good at all. Of course we have them but you can't beat an intergalactic postcard! You can't put a hologram in a scrapbook!” the alien said dismissively. Tentatively the creature bent down and began gathering the postcards into its bag again. Not knowing what else to do, Sebastian helped him.
“Most kind of you sir!” The alien bowed graciously as Sebastian dropped the last card into the open sack. It seemed to have overcome its earlier embarrassment and fear at being discovered and Seb found himself taking a liking to the creature. He saw it to the door.
“Will the postcards stop coming now?” Seb asked, feeling he would miss them if they did.
“Oh I expect not,” the alien replied with a sigh, “not until an engineer comes out to fix the problem, which could take light-years at the speed they work!” The alien rolled his eyes.
“So, I'll see you again?” Seb asked excitedly.
“Um, well, you might,” the creature admitted, “though, you weren't supposed to see me this time!” it added flushing red again at the thought.
“I'll keep the postcards safe for you,” Seb promised.
“That would be most helpful!” The alien beamed at Sebastian. “I'm Gileon Underfoot.”
“Sebastian Oakes,” Seb replied.
“Nice to meet you Sebastian,” Gileon said then he doffed his hat, swung the sack of postcards over his shoulder and spun on his heel. Sebastian expected him to go out through the door, but as the creature turned a most peculiar thing happened. The frosted glass in the front door seemed to wobble and ripple like water. Then it blurred altogether and a vortex appeared. Gileon Underfoot was sucked into the crackling portal and vanished, then the vortex collapsed in on itself and closed with a crack. Seb was left stunned, staring at the frosted glass and a lone postcard that fell onto the mat.
Sebastian was still staring in amazement at the spot where the alien had vanished when Mrs Oakes and Maddy returned.
“You could have opened the door for us,” Mrs Oakes grumbled as she struggled through the door carrying several bulging shopping bags.
“What's wrong?” Maddy asked seeing the dazed expression on her brother’s face. Seb grabbed her arm and dragged her up the stairs to his bedroom.
After he had told her about the strange alien creature and the vortex in the door she stood gaping at him, unsure if he was playing a joke on her or telling the truth. He wasn't the kind of brother who usually teased her, but on the other hand, a giant rodent-like alien and a portal into space in their front door was very far fetched. But they had been working on the postcard mystery together so in the end she decided to believe him.
“Still, I'm a bit sad that it isn't faeries in the end,” she said.