Short Stories and Nonsense. W.R. Lacy
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Название: Short Stories and Nonsense
Автор: W.R. Lacy
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Публицистика: прочее
isbn: 9781648011832
isbn:
The hole in the snow never changed. It stayed the same size all the time. I made it my goal to get closer to them, but every time I thought about it, I remembered all those teeth! Oh well, sometimes you have to do what you have to do. I moved my chair closer to the window. I was going to try to make contact with them. I watched intensely, every move they made. I waited for one of them to notice me.
Suddenly, the baby came to the window I leaned down, and it put its face on the glass. I smiled and waited for all those teeth, but when the little one smiled, it had no teeth. Great! Safety! Just as I started to place my hand on the window, one of the larger creatures snatched the baby away. Well, so much for that plan. Still, I wanted them to know I wouldn’t hurt them. I stayed close to the window for the rest of the day. Finally, I put my hand on the pane. White hair came up! He placed all twenty of his fingers on the glass. I could feel heat, not hot. I smiled and nodded. He smiled and nodded back. Just as I expected, it flew through the glass. This time, I didn’t jump back.
“Who are you?” I spoke quietly.
In a squeaky little voice, it answered, “We are from the planet Xaynox, not of your solar system. We are here to gather germs from your planet. We need them to help us survive. We thought the winter would be a good time of the year to come. You seem to have more germs during this time. We come often and gather as many as we can carry back to our planet. They are a staple food for us. That is why we have so many fingers and toes, as earthlings call them. We catch the germs and contain them until we have a full load. Then we go back to our planet and process them.”
“You could get a lot more if you were in a hospital or inside houses,” I said.
He seemed to think this over.
“You are probably right, but we don’t want your species to see us. We have to hide, and this is the only way we can work successfully. This way, all we have to deal with is all the weird animals that you have around here.”
There were so many questions I wanted to ask, but I could tell he was anxious to get back to work.
“We will talk more later. I’m sure you have many questions about us,” he said.
I was so relieved. I could hardly wait until they had time for my questions. I went to bed excited and anxious. The next morning, I was up at the crack of dawn, anxious to have a talk with my new friend. I pulled the drapes expecting to see a lot of commotion going on, but nothing was moving. No activity at all. I looked closely at the hole in the snow. It had been squished down.
It looked like nothing had been going on. I ran outside and took a good look. Sure enough, it looked like nothing had ever been there. I was so sad. I really wanted to know more about those little snow bunnies. Oh well, perhaps another snow day.
To the Moon and Back
When I was younger and had more energy, I could go all night or all day long at whatever I was doing. As I have gotten older, everything has slowed down. So before I got too old to enjoy myself, I decided I would take a road trip. I started on my trip, and I was really looking forward to it. I had always dreamed of going to the wild, wild west. I started out with a packed car and an excited little dog. I was thrilled that this trip was finally going to happen. Everything started out at a good clip. Things seemed to fall into place. So far, I was having a great trip. The scenery was beautiful! The weather was beautiful, and everything was going according to plan.
I planned to just take my time and stop whenever I wanted and to look at everything I wanted to look at. I stopped at a roadside park for a break and a snack. I was walking my little dog and enjoying the cool breeze and the gorgeous mountains when suddenly Tink started barking and pulling at her leash. I figured she saw a squirrel or a rabbit. I looked around, and at first, I didn’t see anything. Suddenly, a flash of bright green light burst in front of my face! I was blinded for a few seconds. When my vision returned, nothing seemed the same. I didn’t recognize anything. My car was gone, and none of the buildings or other cars were there. The road was now a narrow trail. Thank goodness, Tink was still with me, but she was scared to death! I picked her up because she was shaking to beat the band.
Since nothing looked the same, I decided to take a walk down the trail and see what I could see.
I walked for some time, and the terrain stayed the same. Soon, I came to a large clearing. In the middle of this clearing was an old-fashioned log cabin. There was smoke coming out of the chimney even though it was ninety degrees outside. There was no one around. Some chickens were pecking and scratching in the yard, but other than that, nothing stirred. I walked a little further into the clearing, thinking maybe someone was in the cabin. I yelled, as was the custom, but got no answer. Tink had not tried to get out of my arms, and as I started to put her down, she got clingy. So I continued to hold her. We walked around the house, but apparently, no one was home. A well sat in the middle of the yard, and as it was a hot day, I decided to get a drink. I put the bucket down into the well and pulled up a half bucket. A dipper hung by the well, and I used it to get a drink. The water was cold and sweet. Perfect! I gave Tink a drink from my hand, and she lapped it up. Apparently she liked it also.
We started to go up on the porch and sit in the shade until someone came home and we could find out where we were. Just as we started up the step, a loud clanging came from inside the house. It sounded like an alarm clock in a bucket. Just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. I was surprised when a giant of a man came to the door. Long black hair and a beard were part of his attire. He looked at me and acted as if I weren’t even there! He walked up to the bench, took a dipperful of water, and drank deeply. As he finished with his water, he turned to me. He looked me up and down as if he had never seen a woman before. He never said a word. He snapped his fingers, and before him, a table appeared. It was loaded with all kinds of food, main courses, and desserts. It smelled heavenly too! He motioned me to sit down, and a dinner chair appeared. I sat down and was suddenly ravished! He handed me a plate and proceeded to pass all the food to me. I took what I liked, but some of the food I didn’t recognize. Still, he didn’t speak. I waited for him sit down, but he just motioned me to eat. By that time, I was ready! He motioned me to put Tink down, but she would have no part of it. She growled at him, but he appeared not to notice.
I held her and ate until I could hold no more. It was probably the best meal I have ever had. When I could hold no more, he looked at me and raised his bushy eyebrows. I nodded, and he snapped his finger. All the food disappeared! I sat with my mouth open. Still he had said nothing to me. I started the conversation with, “Where is this place?”
At last, he spoke, “This is on the far side of the moon.”
I laughed out loud. I had never heard of anything so preposterous.
His expression never changed. “Why do you laugh?” he said.
“I have never heard of such,” I replied.
“Well,” he said, “this is so.”
I told him what had happened to me and wondered how I got where I was. He chuckled and stated that this sometimes happens. “A stranger will be picked out to discover our secret.”
“What secret?” I asked.
“You will find out soon enough,” he replied.
Now I was really interested! Just what was supposed to happen?
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