The Light House

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

The work day was almost over. The last tourists were leaving the lighthouse and traveling down the dirt path toward the beach. Rocks protected both sides of the path from the water. The hundred year old lighthouse belonged to the local historical society. Every day from 8:00 AM to 4:00 AM, Mr Hansen would give tourists a little education of the history of the lighthouse. The tourists could view excerpts from the logbooks and the old lantern. They would learn about the duties of the lighthouse keeper before lighthouse were under the control of the Coast Guard. Mr Hansen was 85 years old. He worked at the Lighthouse before the Coast Guard donated it to the Historical Society. Now Mr Hansen would clean up the place. But today was different. Today Mr Hansen would remain at the lighthouse beyond 5:00PM. As the tourists traveled up the beach to the road, a truck pulled up and parked. Several men got out of the truck, walked across the beach and started down the path to the lighthouse. Mr Hansen was about to have visitors: Some had been invited. Others had not.

A few blocks from the lighthouse, a boy's voice filled the air with happiness. "Schools over!" Little Tommy ran home from school with joy and enthusiasm seldom matched by an adult. He was anxious to show his mom his report card because he got good grades in all subjects. "Yahoo!!" He jumped over the low fence surrounding the freshly cut lawn and ran toward the front porch. He jumped on the porch skipping a few steps and opened the door. "Mom! I'm home!" He yelled waving the report card.

His mom was in the kitchen making a salad. She wiped her hands with a towel hanging on wall and took his report card. "Very good!" she said, "Very good." she paused, "You are not suppose to wear your bathing suit to school."

Tommy looked surprised.

"Its sticking out of your pants." She tried hard not to laugh.

This summer promised to be very hot. And Tommy would take advantage of the good beach weather. Today he looked forward to walking the path to the Light house after 4:30 PM and listening to the stories told by Mr Hansen. Tom's family knew Mr Hansen well.

He looked at the clock. It was 4:00 PM. He started for the door.

"Eat first," his mom said as she served dinner, "Call your brother and wash your hands."

"Ricky." he shouted.

His younger brother came out of the bedroom.

"Ricky got a good report card too." Mom said, "Right, Ricky?" Mom turned off the stove burner.

Ricky smiled and sat down. "Hey!" he yelled.

Mom turned and looked at Ricky.

"Tommy put more peas in my dish." Ricky complained.

"Tommy, you have to eat your peas." She turned to tend to the dirty pans.

Ricky ate and started walking away from the table. Tommy threw a pea at Ricky. It missed and landed in the sink.

Mom turned around and sat next to Tommy. "Eat your peas." She watched him until all the peas were gone. "Thats better. Now you can go out and play. Don't go swimmng without a life guard." she tapped Tommy on the shoulder as he and Ricky walked toward the front door. "And I mean a real life guard. Not Ricky. Understand?" She gave them a big towel.

Tommy and Ricky shook their heads up and down.

"Good!" said Mom, "Now go out and have fun!" she smiled as she watched her two boys jump off the porch and run down the sidewalk towards the beach.

Mom picked up the phone.

Mr Hansen had talked to Dad the other day. Tommy didn't understand much of it but he understood that Mr Hansen might have another job. Tommy wanted to ask Mr Hansen if he'd still be around to tell all those exciting stories. But he knew he shouldn't. Instead he asked mom who assured hm that Me Hansen would only be away for a short while.

One the beach, three men were roping off the area where the path led out to the lighthouse. One man took a folding chair and set it down at the foot of the path. The other men went back to the small grey car and sat in it. After a few moments, the car proceeded down the road and out of sight. The man sitting in the chair was very tired. The lifeguard's chair was about 500 feet from the path to the lighhouse. It was empty.

In the lighthouse, two men forced Mr Hansen to sit in a chair and tied him to the chair and gagged him. One man took out a pistol and pressed it up against Mr Hansen's chin, warning him to be perfectly quiet. Sweat was dripping from Mr Hansen's chin. The men looked out the window. On the horizon, a tiny object appeared on the water. A boat.

A half block down the road from the beach, Tommy and Ricky were running around and laughing. They were slowly approaching the beach. When they reached the beach, the man guarding the path to the lighthouse was asleep in the chair with his hat shading his face.

Back at home, Mom hung up the phone wondering why Mr Hansen had not answered. She did not want the boys playing on the beach if Mr Hansen was not there. She came out the front door of the house and started walking down the sidewalk towards the beach.

Tommy and Ricky ignored the sign and jumped down into the sand and over the rope surrounding the area.. They ignored the sign which said: "Keep Out." They walked toward the rocks that led out to the light house. A man was sitting in a chair in the sand. He was sound asleep with his hat on. The two boys giggled at his snoring.

"I got an idea." whispered Ricky. Ricky picked up a crab and placed it on top of the man's hat.

They both gigled some more. Then the two boys continued traveling on the rocks towards the light house. They would periodically look back at the man and giggle some more. They reached the Light House and heard some angry voices inside. Perhaps they should head back. But they didn't.

They were about to peer in the window when a loud sharp reverberating sound filled the air. They looked at each other surprised.

"A firecracker?" asked Ricky.

Tommy shrugged his shoulders. They peered in the window and saw Mr Hansen slumped over in the chair. What were they to do? They saw the boat approaching the lighthouse. They had no choice but to hide someplace so that nobody would see them. But where? The only place to hide was under the water. There were no bushes or rocks near the lighthouse. Only a steep slope on all sides of the light house. The only rocks were on both sides of the path to the lighthouse. So the boys retreated to the water. They selected a spot where they could not be seen from window or door. Hopefully they also would't be seen by the occupants of the approaching boat.

Tommy and Ricky ducked under the water and stayed submerged for as long as they could. But they had to come up for air. Their only hope was that the people would not see them surface. Tommy got an idea. They swam underwater alongside the rocks until they reached a large rock. They hid behind the rock. But it was to no avail. One of the men in the boat spotted them and yelled at them. Then two men came out of the lighthouse and yelled at them. Tommy and Ricky dived into the water and began swimming for shore. Suddenly Tommy went under. He tried to come back up. He surfaced for a moment and then went back under. The boat was approaching. One man jumped out of the boat and went underwater searching for Tommy. The other man grabbed Ricky and told him to calm down. The first man found Tommy just as Tommy inhaled some water. The man lifted Tommy up to the surfaced and put him in the boat beside Ricky. Tommy was coughing up water. The men got on the radio and called for an ambulance.

The guard had woken up to the feeling of a crab crawing on his hand. But somehow it was no longer funny to Ricky. They had Tommy and Ricky sit in the sand. They went to their car and got a few large blankets. They covered each boys from shoulder to foot in the blanket. Then the ambulance and the police arrived.

"Didn't you see the sign?" The policeman asked.

Ricky shook his head back and forth.

"You can read it from here." The policeman pointed to the sign. "What does it say?"

"Keep out." Ricky answered.

"Next time you see a sign and a rope like this, what are you going to do?"

Ricky lowered his head. "Going to keep out."

"Thats right," said the police officer, "These signs are posted for your safety."

Mr Hansen came walking down the path and approached the two boys. "It's okay. I know these boys."

"Mr Hansen! We thought you were ..." Ricky voice faded and hehugged Mr Hansen.

Mr Hansen smiled and said, "No. No. Nothing like that. We were rehearsing a scene."

"Rehearsing a scene?" Ricky asked.

"Yeah. For a movie."

"You're making a movie? Really? Could I be in it?" Ricky was jumping up and down.

"Sorry but the movie has no youngsters in it."

Ricky's face dropped.

"But I'll tell you what. I spoke to the director and he said you could watch us make the movie."

"Cool!" said Ricky

"But you have to behave and not run around while we are working. Understood?"

"Yes!"

The ambulance technicians were strapping Tommy in the stretcher while his mom was consoling him.

And in the process Tommy learned about the job opportunity that Mr Hansen talked about. Tommy realized their oversite. They had looked inside the light house window but never saw the man in the small mobile vehicle supporting a camcorder on a tripod!

When Tommy's mom and dad arrived at the hospital, they were very happy that he was okay. But they were also very angry that Tommy once again had broken the rules. They did not have to worry. This scary experience would stay with Tommy a long time. Tommy would never again swim without a life guard present . And he would never again ignore beach signs. He had learned that it was easier to listen to mom and dad than it was to learn from his own experience.

Shadows: An Alien Phenomenom

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

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"I don't understand. It was here last night. I saw it," Jim's long blond hair swayed as he shook his head back and forth. Jim walked around the small opening in the woods. There were no soft bare spots to indicate that some alien spacecraft had been buried there. The whole area was grassy. They was in the middle of a two mile wooded area one mile outside the city.

"Are you sure it was here?" asked Gary.

"Of course I'm sure!"

"Maybe it was just a dream."

"A dream! What! You don't believe me?"

"I'd like to believe you but it just doesn't add up. You think someone took it?"

"Too big. It was buried in the ground with only the tip showing."

"What was it?"

"I don't know! How many times do I have to tell you?"

"Okay. Okay. Calm down. We'll figure this out," Gary paused, "Let's go get some breakfast."

They started walking up the dirt path toward the small cabin. A shadow swung across the cloudy sky.

"What was that?" Asked Gary.

"Whatever it was, it was moving too fast to see."

They walked past the tree stump to the front door.

They opened the cabin door. Jim turned on the radio. The soft rock and roll music filled the air. Jim often came up to this cabin to get away from the busy city life.

Jim sat in the chair and relaxed while Gary took out a frying pan and some eggs.

"This may sound crazy but ..." Gary's voice faded, "You think they're related?"

"You mean that thing in the ground and that thing that swung across the sky?"

"Well, yeah."

"I have no idea."

Gary paused, seeking a way to change the subject. "You said your uncle owns this place."

"Yep. He told me I could come up here anytime I want."

"Where'd you live before you moved into the city?"

"Here and there. My mom and I lived in many places, Jim paused, "First time my uncle showed me this place, I loved it."

"I can see why."

Gary jumped as a shadow whisked across the window. Jim jumped from his chair.

"What the hell was that?" Asked Gary.

They both went to the front door and opened it. Gary went outside and looked around.

"It doesn't make sense." Jim sat on the tree stump.

"What do you mean?"

"Shadows are caused by objects blocking a light: In this case, the sun."

"So?"

"So, where is the sun?"

Gary looked up in the sky. It was cloudy. No sun.

"I think we should leave," said Gary.

"I'm calling my mom," said Jim as he searched his pockets for his cell phone, "Where the heck is my phone?"

"Look!" said Jim.

Something huge and dark was in the trees. The boys heard a loud rumble. They raced into the cabin and shut the door.

"That was no shadow!"

Jim was searching the bedroom.

"What are you looking for?"

"My uncle always kept a gun up here."

"What kind of gun?"

"I don't know. I don't know anything about guns."

"What did he do with the gun?"

"Hunting. But that was before developers started buying up the land."

"Have you ever fired a gun?"

"No."

"Great," Gary came in the bedroom. He spotted a lock on a closet door. "Did he have kids up here?"

"Yeah. He had two boys. Why?"

"Boys grown up now?"

"Grown up and moved out."

"Got the key to that lock?" asked Gary.

Jim looked at the lock. "No. Why would the gun be locked up now?"

They heard a noise.

"Sounds like it came from the front door," said Gary.

They hesitated for a moment.

"Let me in!" the voice said, "Hurry!"

Jim rushed to the door and opened it. His younger brother Tom pushed him aside while rushing in.

The dark thing was moving closer.

Jim closed the door and leaned a chair against it.

"Are you okay?" asked Jim.

"Yeah," said Tom, "What is that thing out there?"

"I don't know," said Jim, "What are you doing here?"

"How are we going to get home?"

Gary came out of the bedroom with a rifle and a box of bullets. "Hope your uncle doesn't mind. I broke the lock."

"That's how," Jim answered Tom.

"Anyone know how to use this?" Gary was inspecting the rifle.

Jim and Tom shrugged their shoulders.

"Great."

The room slowly became darker. Jim turned on the ceiling light.

"What's going on?" asked Gary.

"It's getting dark outside," Tom pointed to the window.

"We have to get out of here," said Jim, "Now! Use the back door."

The boys went running through the back hallway and opened the back door. As they distanced themselves from the cabin, they looked back. The sides of the cabin were covered with darkness, but the back was not. In a wild panic, the boys ran into the woods.

After running a half mile, they stopped to catch their breath.

"Where are we?" asked Gary.

"I don't know," answered Jim.

"We left everything there," said Gary, "We have to go back."

"No," said Tom.

"We don't have anything," said Gary, "Not even a compass and we are not on the path we walked to get to the cabin."

"Yeah we do," said Jim searching his pockets, "Oh no! My compass! I must have dropped it while we were running!" Jim paused, "We'll have to find our way back," said Jim.

"More likely, we'll walk in circles." replied Gary.

They looked up at the clouds.

"Looks like we're in for some rain," said Jim, "Maybe Gary is right."

"But that thing!" said Tom.

"May not even be there anymore," said Gary, "Lets go back and find out. Hopefully we'll find our way back before it starts raining." Gary wanted to say, 'if we find our way back at all,' but he didn't.

A shadow crossed the ground. The boys ran for a short while and then slowed down.

"So much for it not being around," said Tom, "Are we headed in the right direction?"

Gary and Jim shrugged their shoulders. They walked for an hour and stopped.

"Where are we?" asked Tom.

Gary felt a wet spot on his forehead. Then another and another. The rain came down. There was no shelter except the trees.

The boys got under a large tree.

"If we see that shadow again," said Gary, "No panicking and no running."

"What!" Tom exclaimed.

"That shadow is our only chance to get out of here." replied Gary.

They heard a loud sound.

Tom looked around anxiously.

"That was not the thing," said Gary.

"How do you know?"

A lightning bolt hit the ground along with a loud sharp thunder.

"That's how." said Gary.

During the next lightning strike, They saw the large dark thing. It had surrounded them.

"I think I'm beginning to understand," said Jim, "Whatever this thing is, the shadows are it's scouts. The shadows tell it where we are."

"Nice theory," said Gary, "Lets see if we could walk through it."

"Are you kidding?" asked Tom.

"Do we have a choice?" asked Jim, "It's closing in on us."

In seconds the boys were buried in the darkness within the thing.

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Jim's mom was in the kitchen, talking on her cell phone.

"Honey, I'm worried," she said, "I sent Tom out to get Jim and they haven't returned yet."

She heard dad's soothing voice, "Don't worry, sweetheart. Call Bart and ask him to check his cabin. That's probably where they are."

"Honey, can you take some time off and check? I tried ringing Jim's cell phone. He's not answering."

"That's strange," replied dad, "Okay. I'll be taking off in five minutes," dad paused, "Phone Bart."

Ten minutes later, Dad and Bart came in the front door.

"Home already?"

"I assume you want to come," said dad, "Was Gary with Tom?"

Mom shook her head.

"Better call his parents," said Bart.

Bart, mom and dad arrived at the cabin ten minutes later. Mom got out of the car first.

"Jim, Tom," she yelled while looking around.

No answer.

They tried to open the front door. It wouldn't open.

"That's strange." said Bart.

"There's Jim's phone," said mom as she walked over to the tree stump and picked up the phone.

They walked around the back to find the door wide open.

"Jim always leaves the door wide open," complained dad. He heard music.

"They broke the lock and took out the rifle. Seems like they left in a hurry. Here's the compass I gave Jim." Bart picked the compass up off the floor. Bart looked around and walked out the back door.

"Looks like they were trying to keep someone out," Mary pointed at the chair leaning against the front door. She turned off the radio.

"We'd better start searching for them," said dad, "Block the front door. Run out the back. Seems like they are in trouble." Dad took out his cell phone to call for help.

Nobody noticed the dark thing sinking into the ground down the dirt path.

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The lights came on. The boys looked at all the bright spots on the walls. Then they saw the shadows come flying in. The shadows dispersed across the room: Each one appeared to be in a different section of the walls and landing on one bright spot after another.

A portion of one wall became translucent and the boys were able to see the path to the cabin. A few minutes later they were able to see the cabin. They saw Jim's mom and dad through the cabin window. Then they saw Bart in the back of the cabin. Soon they were able to see the complete wooded area. They saw hundreds of people arranging several search parties. The people became smaller and smaller until they looked like tiny dots. The boys were mesmerized by the beautiful view of the wooded area and the city. Then their view was obscured by clouds. At length, they found themselves looking at the moon, the earth and the stars.

"Where's Gary?" asked Tom.

"I don't know," responded Jim.

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Bart came back in the cabin. He yelled for Jim's mom and dad, but there was no response. Then he saw Gary standing by the front door.

"Gary, are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Where's Jim, Tom and their parents?"

"They're on the spaceship."

"What spaceship? You're talking crazy."

Gary didn't respond. He knew that no one was able to see the spaceship except those the alien wished to show it to. It was visible to Tom, Jim, and their parents; but not visible to any one else.

"Well?" Bart sounded impatient.

Gary paused. Then as he saw a shadow moving across the wall, he said, "If you don't believe me, explain that." He pointed at the shadow.

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Jim, Tom, mom and dad stared in awe at Pluto. They were on their way to another world in another galaxy. They were the first people to visit that world. Many more shadows would visit Earth. And many more people would visit the world of the shadows.

Hostile Aliens

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

The elderly gray haired lady had lost some dexterity in her fingers and used a cane to walk. But she still managed to get around. She lived in a small one floor house about a tenth of a mile outside a small town filled with retirees. She had an old Chevy parked in the driveway. Every evening she would retire to her favorite rocking chair in the living room with some cold wine.

She was sitting in her rocking chair in the living room when she heard a window shatter in the bedroom.

"What the heck -- " she asked herself softly while putting her feet into her new slippers. She rose from the rocking chair, drank the remaining wine and put down her glass. She grabbed her cane.

It wasn't the cost of replacing a window that annoyed her. Her deceased husband had left her in good financial shape. It was the fact that someone had broken one of her windows. There were no children living in the area. Who would commit vandalism? She had no enemies and had been very kind and generous to the people in town.

She walked out of the living room and by the oak chest in the hallway. She peered through the kitchen at the bedroom door. To her surprise, it was shut. The phone was mounted on the wall within her reach. She picked up the receiver and listened. No dial tone. She put down the receiver.

Most people would have ran outside seeking help. But not Ann. Ann was a proud old lady determined to resolve all her problems by herself. This was her property. She was proud of it and would not yield it to anyone. As one would have guessed, she had a gun. It was actually her husband's gun properly registered. She never gave it up.

The problem was that the gun was in the bedroom. That did not deter Ann. When she heard noises coming from the bedroom, she opened her cabinet draw and pulled out a steak knife. Then she slowly approached the bedroom door.

Should she ask who's there? It would seem kind of foolish. She thought about it for a moment. Then she decided that surprise was her best tactic. She quietly approached the bedroom door. Putting her ear to the door, she heard nothing. "Maybe who ever came in left." She thought.

She grabbed the door knob and slowly turned it. After taking a deep breath, she swung the door open. The bed was undisturbed. Her first task every morning was to make up the bed. She peered into the bedroom. The dresser and mirror were also undisturbed. "So what was the noise all about?"

Then she noticed the broken glass on the floor. Pretty curtains covered the window. She got on her hands and knees and peered under the bed. "Need a flashlight." She put the knife on the dresser, opened the draw and took out a battery powered flashlight. She got down on the floor, laid her cane beside her and shined the light under the bed. Shoes were lined up in one neat row.

She slowly got up, leaving the flashlight on the floor and holding her cane in one hand while balancing herself against the bureau. The window. She moved toward the window and pulled the curtain aside. She always loved the view from this window. She often wondered why the builders didn't put the living room here with large sliding glass doors. The view was beautiful. Lots of grass on land that sloped down toward a small fresh water pond.

Suddenly she heard a noise from the bedroom closet. "Of course'" She thought. "Dumb, dumb, dumb. Where's the gun?" She opened the dresser and pulled out the gun. She viewed the cylinder. Empty. The bullets were in the closet. "This prowler is not so dumb." She slowly opened the closet door. All her clothes were on hangers. Again, nothing was disturbed. She looked under the clothes. "No feet down there."

She closed the closet door, ignoring the insect that came crawling out on the floor. She shrugged her shoulders and approached the window. That's when she noticed the tiny round object in the grass. She peered at it but was unable to make out the details.

Having satisfied herself that there was no one in the bedroom, she decided to go outside and examine the round object in the grass. She put on a light sweater and went out the front door. She went round the side of the house. There it was laying in the grass. Shaped like a disk it was hard to spot because it was the same color as the grass. She had never seen anything like it before. She looked around wondering where it came from. She never looked up. Nor did she ever suspect that her prowler was so small. Even after seeing the saucer, she was totally perplexed. Not recognizing it for what it was, but very curious about the beautiful shiny object, she bent down to touch it.

"Ouch!" she said allowed. She looked at her finger and shook it. "Wow! That’s hot."

Hot it was and so would any object be that just came through the earth's atmosphere. She turned and started for the front door when a strange sound behind her made her look back. Insects, just like the one she saw in her bedroom were coming out of the little saucer. One reached her ankle and bit it. "Ouch!" She pushed it off and ran for the front door. After opening the door and entering, she shut the door and raced to close all the windows. The strange insects were climbing up the sides of the house searching for a way in. She could see then crawling on the windows. A few were coming in beneath the front door.

She opened her kitchen cabinet and sprayed one directly with a bug killer. It didn't affect this bug. She grabbed the insect and tried to crush it. It was hard as a rock. She threw it down kitchen sink and ran the water. A few minutes later the bug came up the drain. Another came up her leg and bit her beneath the knee cap. She pulled it off and threw it against the wall. Then she noticed the swollen areas on her leg.

She opened the cabinet door and took out some vinegar. She picked up an insect and put it in the vinegar. The insect crawled out. More and more insects were entering the house. She searched the cabinets for something else that might kill the insects. She pulled out a jar of olive oil and poured some over an insect. The insect stood perfectly still.

"That's it! Oil!" She gathered all types of oil she could find. That's when she found a spray can of lubricant. She started spraying the bugs. Direct hits. As the insects came in she sprayed them one by one. But how could she ever be sure she got them all? An while later, there was no pressure in the spray can. She shook it and tried again. No spray. More insects were entering the house. She took a bottle of olive oil and poured a ring on the floor around herself while she was near the window. The insects could not get near her. She had time to think. She could use the oil to get to where she wants. But what then? The olive oil would run out faster than the spray can. She had to use it sparingly. She also needed something else. She walked to the cabinet pouring a little oil on each insect that approached her. She took out a package sugar frosted cereal and put some on the floor. The insects ignored it.

"They like blood?" She made her way to the refrigerator. She took out a raw chicken and allowed a few drops to hit the floor. The insects went after it. She got a book of matches from a cabinet mounted on the wall. She walked out the door with the chicken and the oil. She placed the chicken in the grass a short distance from the saucer. The insects came from all directions to devour the chicken. She made a ring of oil around the chicken. Then she lit a match. She tried to ignite the oil. She ran to the car, opened the trunk and took out a can of dry gas. She poured a small ring of dry gas around the chicken outside the ring of oil. Then she ignited it. Now she rushed around breaking twigs off low branches of trees and throwing them in the fire. The ring of fire slowly closed in on the insects killing all the insects that had been attracted to the raw meat.

But where there any more? Where were they? She searched around the house looking at the grass and at the house, but spotted no insects. She went inside and grabbed a jar of coffee. She emptied the jar into the garbage pail. She searched every window. Finally she found a live one. She picked it up, put it in the bottle and twisted the cap on but left it a little loose.

She got in the car and started the engine. As she drove down the road she asked, "Do you lay eggs?"

Of course, the trapped insect did not respond.

She stopped at a gas station and purchased a few cans of motor oil. She turned on the car radio as she drove away. She heard reports of these insects in other areas.

"They have a problem." She said. "I have the solution."