Snail House Literary

June 2026 – Short Story

The Pooshways

by Shyla

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far far away, there was a planet, home to some of the smartest creatures in the galaxy. The planet was called Pooshivani, and in Pooshivani lived millions of Pooshways. Pooshways were extremely smart creatures. They were purple with antennas that stuck out of their heads, had tiny arms, long legs, and four eyes. Although these creatures were extremely intelligent, their lifespan was only one year. Over the years, Pooshways were looking for a new planet to live — a planet that would have a kind of climate that would extend their lifespan beyond one year. On every new planet they discovered, they would send a Pooshway to test to see if the new planet was suitable and extend the lifespan for all Pooshways, but they could never find the right one. Year after year, the Pooshways never found a planet they could live longer on. Along with not being able to find a planet, the Pooshways were running out of food and materials on Pooshivani.    

Finally, after centuries, the Pooshways finally found their planet. It was Earth. Earth had the perfect climate for one Pooshway to live up to one hundred years! The only downfall about Earth was that it was inhabited with a lot of insanely smart animals, including humans. The Pooshways decided to send a Pooshway named Greg down to Earth. Greg’s task was to somehow find a way to transfer all the humans to a different planet so the Pooshways could take over Earth.

Greg landed in the home of a mother and a boy. The boy was named Louis. When Greg first landed, Louis and his mom were scared, but later Louis convinced his mom to let Greg stay. Louis and his mother were convinced Greg was a cat just born different so that’s why he was purple. Over time, the boy and Greg became really good friends, although his mother was very skeptical about Greg. But she didn’t say anything because she knew it would hurt Louis’s feelings.

Every night, Greg would escape to examine and explore Earth, while researchers at Pooshivani did their research. Greg learned about the foods animals and humans ate, how they acted, and every language on Earth. Eventually the Pooshways decided they would transfer all the humans to Pooshvani, and Pooshways would inhabit Earth. They would transfer all the Pooshways through a giant breathable bubble.

When the day for the Pooshways to take over came, Greg suddenly had mixed feelings. He had this strange feeling in his stomach. Greg then thought about how it would feel if some creatures from another planet just came and displaced everyone to a new home. Greg immediately called the Pooshway headquarters. He tried to tell them to stop, but it was too late. The Pooshways already sent their spaceship full of bubbles to capture every living organism on Earth. Greg started to panic. Louis got worried.

“Mom, I think our cat is going to die,” Louis said, worryingly.

“I’m not going to die, you’re going to die. OK, not like that,” Greg blurted out.

Then Louis screamed really loud for a long time.

“I didn’t know purple cats could talk! Wait, did you say we’re all going to die?” Louis screamed again.

“Louis, stop! I’m not a cat, I’m a Pooshway, which you would call an alien. For centuries, my planet was looking for a place to live, because on our planet we can only live for one human year. But on Earth we can live an average human lifetime —” 

Greg stopped. He heard the Pooshway spaceship landing. Greg ran so fast while Louis and his mom followed. When the giant door opened to the spaceship, everyone froze. People were outside taking videos and staring. News reporters were out. Some people hid in their homes. Greg spoke something in Pooswayin. 

All of a sudden, Louis said, “Why can’t we make something on your planet that makes the air like Earth? I mean Earth has a lot of smart people. I’m sure we can make it.”

 Everyone stared at Louis. Then Greg translated to the Pooshways. The Pooshways said something. Greg translated back to the humans.

“They said we never thought about that. If you guys are willing to do that…” Greg translated.

“Of course we’re willing to do that! Anything to keep our planet from being taken over,” one person said.

It took a couple of months, but with the help of Pooshways and humans, they were able to make a machine that made all the air on Pooshvani good enough for the Pooshways to live an average human lifetime. The best part is that when two of the smartest creatures in the universe come together, they can make anything possible. Humans and Pooshways got along very well, and they built many things. Their best and most well-known creation was a spaceship that went from Earth to Pooshvani. Greg and Louis became best friends for the rest of their lives.