Whenever I talk about my blog the first question that comes up is “Why is it called The Purple Paragraph”. Not a bad question of course. Names are important! So I try and give a smart answer. Oh I think it’s catchy! I like how it’s an alliteration like my name. Or there’s the good old “the name I wanted was taken”. But I’m ready to confess. The blog is called The Purple Paragraph because I like the color purple. That’s it. There’s no deep intellectual reasoning. I was up late at night planning things out and it came to me. At the time it made sense and I thought it sounded good Sue me! I had other ideas but I liked The Purple Paragraph. It felt right so I didn’t overthink it. Ahh well this fits nicely. I got that of my chest and it segues into my next story. In this short fiction the main character defiantly overthinks things!

Evidence
By: Lili Lang

Okay it’s time to set the record straight. What takes girls so long in the bathroom!? Is it just to annoy little brothers or something more sinister.

Just today she spent close to an hour in the bathroom. I had all but given up and was headed to see if the backyard was free when I heard the door open. I sprinted for the bathroom. As I was washing my hands I noticed some goop on the counter. It was green and gritty and tasted awful (don’t ask me how I know that). Hmm, could it be? There was only one way to find out.

I crept up to her room with the nerf gun heavy at my side and bike helmet strapped on, after all anything could happen. With as much stealth as I could muster I cracked open the door. At first I was blinded by the boy band posters but soon my eyes adjusted. It was so horrific, so terrifying I could hardly believe my eyes. Yet there it was, there was no denying it. My sister was an alien.

I was second guessing everything I had ever known. What could this all mean? How could it be? Surely I would have known that there had been an extraterrestrial being across the hall this whole time. Well the obsession with lip gloss and Tom Holland made a bit more sense now. There was always something a little off about her. I knew I only had one option left. I had to expose her before she probed us all and the invasion began!

We sat around the kitchen table for dinner. Mom had made spaghetti my favorite. Any other night I would have dug in but I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She could pounce at any moment. I flinched every time she glanced my way. Did she know? The last time she kept my gaze narrowing her eyes. “ Okay that’s it, why are you looking at me like that?” she said. I sucked in a breath readying myself. “ I was just wondering how you liked your food, it must be different from your home planet. “ For a moment her confused expression almost fooled me but then I shook it of. I stood up and climbed on top of my chair and declared “Or was it the mother ship!” Now I had Dads attention as well. “ What are you talking about , get down from their” he said. But I was prepared. “ I have proof”. Whipping out the ziploc bag from my pocket. Inside was bits of the green goop I’d collected from the bathroom. “This is obviously martian sludge” I said spinning around to show them. “That’s not all here’s pictures of her in the alien form!” I declared waving my evidence around. “ Wait -” mom began. “She is an alien. I know this may come as a shock to us all but it’s obvious the only thing to do is turn her into the FBI, who knows we might even get a reward!” I looked over at her, she looked rather red. “Hey look shes about too transform!” Apparently she didn’t take too kindly to this since she let out a groan stood up and stomped off to wash off her plate muttering some words I probably shouldn’t repeat. I looked towards my parents expecting them to leap into action. Call 911, NASA, or at least tell her to push in her chair. Instead they just sat there for a moment. Till the burst out laughing. Mom covered her mouth with her hand trying to stifle the giggles. Dad was bent over guffaws escaping. Then it dawned on me, they were brainwashed! Well mom quickly dispelled that theory. “Andrew, that’s your sister’s facial mask.”