The Venusian Marketplace

It was only Phil’s second trip to Venus. His first such voyage had been during the early days of interplanetary exploration. The ship he had skippered had been the first to land and make contact with the inhabitants of the planet. He figured they found him and his crew just as strange to look at, as he and his crew viewed them. The Venusians were similar to humans in that they had one head, four limbs, and a body. They were different in that they had what could be called soft scales over much of their body, a large head with disproportionately huge mouth and teeth, more fangs than human-like teeth. And their legs were disproportionately short. By far most of their height was the upper part of the body.

Over the years since then the inhabitants of both planets had slowly developed a working relationship. There were some forward steps, and some backward ones, the latter followed by days of interplanetary silence. But now the two peoples seemed to be able to get along well enough to establish a planet-to-planet tourist business.

Now it is 10 years later, and he has arrived in a passenger ship with his wife and his two children. It is so different now from the first time, when he and his crew met a small number of Venusians. For Phil and his family are in a city that he did not learn about until two years after his exploratory trip. There are buildings, tall and triangular, and roads upon which hover-cars sped up and down with a kind of soft whoosh. 

The sidewalks on main street had a hover function too. This came as no surprise to Phil that something like this existed. He had learned on his first trip that Venusians do not like to walk far, and they cannot run. With the hover sidewalks, they don’t have to do much of the first, and any of the second.

He had plans for the next part of the visit. Friends that had made the tourist trip before him said that they should go and see the Venusian marketplace, as it was quite a sight. So that was where they were headed.

Our Venusian Marketplace Experience – in Phil’s Words

Although the kids liked looking at the triangular buildings for a little while, and the hover sidewalk amused them for a longer period of time, that too got a little old before too long. They did, however, want to see the Venusian Marketplace. They had heard so much about it from their friends as well as from ours.

The first thing that strikes you about the Venusian marketplace is that there it displays a tremendous show of colour. The clothing sold at the triangular stalls in the marketplace is woven in flashy shades of usually ordinary colours, and they form complex patterns that you would never see on earth. I was tempted at first, to make a purchase that would weird out my conventional, conservative neighbours, but the one-piece outfits had the pants-part way too short, and the shirt part too long and lanky.

But the plants are possibly the strangest things that earthlings can experience in the marketplace. Especially as some of them move their main stems and what can be called their arms on their own accord. No wind that I can feel makes them wave this way. That freaked the kids a bit. While those plants definitely caught the kids’ attention, neither one wanted us to buy one and take it with us back to earth. Angie said she wouldn’t be able to sleep with those ‘creatures’ in the house. She could imagine them sneaking into her room and scaring her when she would open her eyes.

Those trying to sell the plants tried to tell us that they were great for eating, moving their large mouths in such a way that probably indicated that the plants were ‘yummy’. Angie told them and us that she did not want to eat a plant that moves. I didn’t want to ask her why then she wasn’t a vegan, as cows, pigs, and chickens move. That would not be appreciated.

All this walking about made the four of us hungry. But each of the fast food places served only the plants that Angie would have nothing to do with. We were feeling that we were running out of options, and would have to wait until we went back to the Earth-tourists only hotel where we were staying, when we saw a sign that gave us hope. My skills in the Venusian language are not the greatest, but I knew enough to be able to read what this one said. “We serve Earth-Beings here”

When I read this out loud, the children were enthusiastic. Finally a place that might serve what son Ralph called ‘real food’. The kids ran to the front door. We were greeted by someone who stared at the kids for several seconds before he or she (still not sure with Venusians) spoke in halting English. “Yes, we do serve earth beings here. Are you sure that is what you want?” I said that it was. Then we were directed to a table near the back and told that someone would see us shortly. 

I could hear some rather loud discussion in the background, but they spoke so rapidly that I could not understand what they were saying. Then, finally, someone who had the bearing of some kind of management figure approached us with careful steps.

With a halting English he (I am guessing) said, “You came here because of the sign, ‘we serve earth beings here’. Is that right.”

I responded in the positive, nodding my head to be sure he understood. I had learned that it was a gesture used by the Venusians with the same meaning as we have. 

He looked directly at the children, and asked, “Are you buying or selling?” 

When I didn’t respond, he reworded his question, “We serve earth beings such as yourself here. People come here for the…..delicacy. Are you selling these children? Or do you want to eat the earth-beings we serve here? You are not the earth-being who is our usual supplier. We are confused.”

           At that point, I was very glad that Venusians cannot run, because there was no way that he or his employees could catch up with us as we sprinted out of the building, and away from the Venusian Marketplace. They did try.