“Thanks for coming over. You know best about this stuff, after all.”

“Oh, you flatter too much. Now where’s our purple young man?”

“That’s me! Am I a real live alien yet?”

“A-ha-ha!”

“What’s so funny, Grandpa?”

“Jill, you called me just for this?”

“What are you talking about?”

“If you had said periwinkle-lavender and glitter I’d have answered you more easily! Your son’s fine!”

“What are you talking about? He’s got purple on his face!”

“I’m sure that must have been shocking, yes, but back home in Sixam, this is as common as they come! It’s just a case of… Oh darn, I can’t remember what the word back home was, but it translates literally to ‘periwinkle.’”

“’Periwinkle?’”

“A childhood illness of sorts. It’s not contagious and only affects aliens. Probably was attached to a spaceship and ended up here. He might be a little sluggish for a while, but it’s summer vacation and he can certainly afford an extra nap or two, right?”

“So… will he be purple forever?”

“No, no. Although back when I was a child, there was a fad where colony drones actively tried keeping the purple on, but it never quite worked out.  It should be gone in a few days, maybe even sooner since the bug had to have come a long way to get here. Just don’t panic, okay?”

“Oh, thank the watcher!”

Charlie: “Aw, but I wanna be purple forever!”

“Hey, Dad? Can you come over? It could be an emergency and I don’t know if Charlie’s okay and I’m scared and-”

“Jill? Jill? Calm down. My hearing’s not as sharp as it used to be.”

“Sorry, I just… Charlie’s face is covered in purple.”

“Purple?”

“Yes! Purple!”

“I’ve never heard about anything like that… How about I visit and take a look myself?”

“Yes! Please! Thank you so much.”

“It’s not fair! No one’s gonna know I’m an alien!”

“Charlie, remember what grandma said will happen if you keep making faces?”

“It’ll freeze that way…”

“Let’s not have that happen, then. What seems to be the problem?”

“Connor’s got green freckles and I don’t! If I don’t look like an alien, who will believe me?”

“Hey, kiddo, you can express being an alien in different ways, you know. Like I use makeup and my favorite t-shirt.”

“But I wanna look like an alien for real! And makeup’s too girly!”

“Hm. You are just under ten, after all. Maybe some alien features might come in when you get a little older.”

“Can that really happen?”

“I think so.”

“I can’t wait to get older, then!”

“It would be so cool to be an alien like Grandpa!”

“Well, your mother is half alien, so that makes you and your brother a quarter alien.”

“Then how come we don’t have any green?”

“Um, my freckles are green.”

“Woah! You’re right! They are! Dad! Dad! Do I have any green freckles?”

“Nope, just regular ones. Sorry.”