by Don Fern
of the bridge, he slowly proceeded down the slope and under the bridge.
He sat on the large rock and put a night crawler on his hook. Then he cast his line into the calm river, and the bobber landed about thirty feet from the shore. He looked upriver and saw Katy walking along the bank toward him. Since she hadn't seen him, he ducked into the trees along the riverbank. He stood very still inside the dense undergrowth of the trees. As she got nearer to the bridge, he realized his line was in the water and his pole was leaning on the rock. She approached the rock and he thought to himself, "Keep going. Keep going.".
Ken couldn't understand why he was thinking that. He knew she couldn't see him and he also knew it didn't make any different..
Katy stopped and asked, "Ken. What are you doing in there?"
Ken maneuvered through the trees, returned to the bank, and said, "Hi Katy. What you doing here?"
She answered, "Your mother wants you. You need to take the trash out."
Knowing he would be taking the trash out, Ken replied sarcastically, "I got to take the trash out."
Katy said, "Oh. It will only take 2 minutes. Come on I'll take you."
She held out her hand. Ken placed his hand into hers.
They were in Ken's backyard. The trash can was on the patio with the lid on. Ken removed the lid, took out the plastic bag and lugged it to the front yard.
After sitting the trash in the middle of the lawn, he shouted to his mother, "The trash is in the front yard."
His mother opened the front door and said to Ken, "Thank you. Honey."
Then she looked at the bag of trash and it disintegrated. Kate joined Ken on the lawn.
She put Ken's hand in hers and said to Ken's mother, "We're going back to the river. Ken might have a fish by now."
Ken's mother replied, "Be sure and get him back. He has his class at 1 in the morning."
Katy said, "Ok, I will."
Katy and Ken clenched hands and were at the river. A catfish was thrashing in the river pulling on the rod's line. Ken reeled it in, saw its large size, and decided to cook the fish on the grill in his yard.
With his rod and reel, and fish, Ken touched Katy's hand and they were in Ken's backyard. Ken's Earth mother came out the backdoor and said, "Could you pick some peas. We'll need them for dinner."
Ken replied, "Ok, Mom."
Katy and Ken walked to the garden, and saw the filled pea pods on the plants.
Ken remarked, "Now I have to get a pan from the kitchen, pick the peas, and shell them. Why can't they do things simple on Earth?"
Katy answered, "Don't worry we're going to make contact in three days. Here I'll do it for you."
Ken held out his clenched right hand and he was holding pan full of shelled peas.
Ken said, "Thank goodness. It's seems forever since I was born a human. Having two mothers isn't easy. And I can't even pick peas, like a Zegerten."
Katy replied, "A couple more weeks of classes. You'll be normal again."
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Escape to party
The turnip, at the north end of the garden, was in a state of confusion. Turnip thought to himself, "I’m clever enough to figure out how to do this." He knew first they needed to escape and hide from the mean giant, then they would join the short giants and party all night.
He remembered 12 days ago on the still freezing early morning. He awoke to see his friends with their leaves wet and pointing up to the sky. Then morning sun warmed them up. They were a happy little community. Leaves waved at each other. Each day they grew a little taller. Leaves getting longer. Almost growing out of the ground. At first, they were contented to wave at each other.
Then one day, as the sun went down, a group of short giants appeared. They came to the concrete beside the garden. The turned on lights, played music, and danced late into the night. They were friendly and happy. Turnip and his friends wanted this. They wanted to learn the Electric Slide and dance all night, just like the short giants.
One morning horror of horrors happen. The mean giant came and pulled some of them out. Put them in a basket and kidnapped them. Well this could not be permitted to continue.
They discussed it. They decided someday they would grow out of the ground. And on that day they would escape the mean giant, hide under the elm tree all day and then join the party as the sun went down. They counted days until today. The next party was tomorrow. So tonight was the escape night
But they had a problem. They were stuck in the ground. They pondered how to get unstuck. Then the miracle of miracles happened. The cat came into the garden and started to dig up three of them. They growled and scared off the cat. The three using their leaves on the ground pulled themselves up. Each went around the community and pulled up the others. They all crawled to the elm tree, hid under the tall grass, and went to sleep.
At sunrise, like always, the mean giant appeared with the basket. Walked around the garden. Kept looking here and there. It was tense, since by looking north of the garden farther, the giant might see them. They all stayed very still not knowing what to do. The cat entered the garden and creeped toward the mean giant. The cat saw the turnips were not there and stopped. The mean giant threw the basket at the cat. It bounced off and scared the cat out of the garden. The giant picked up the basket and stomped of after the cat.
Boy they were relieved. Now all they needed to do is to lay in the cool shade all day and wait for the party. The sun went down and sure enough the short giants appeared and turned on the music. So turnip and his friends crawled to the edge of the grass and onto the concrete. Made their line and danced to the Electric Slide. Then they got the beat and danced until the lights turned out. They were worn out. So they crawled under the grass and slept happily into the night.
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Playing the Game
Greenly Outpost is 5.3 parsecs from the Central Star System. It's located on the third moon of the 5th planet in the Filler Solar System. The population is 237. The Comptrol Game Sector is beyond the outpost. Travelers routinely stop by on their way to and from the game. Today is a special day, since two of Greenly’s own are returning from the Game Sector. Some 39 persons are at the dock waiting their return.
On this warm summer afternoon, Mayor Tinley is in the town hall sitting behind his desk sorting through papers. Outside the open window three butterflies land on the Lilac bush. The Mayor doesn’t see the ship coming through the blue sky to the space dock in the park. A written message appears in the air above his desk.
It reads "Greenly Outpost: One ship taken during game. Computer course was set for Greenly Outpost. Occupants might be dangerous. Addends later: Comptrol Game Sector."
The Mayor reads the message and says, "Clock". The time appears beside the message. It is 1:32 pm. Mayor Tinley now remembers he should be at the return ceremony at 1:30. He hurries out the open door to the dock two blocks away.
The townspeople at the dock are in a joyous mode as the ship comes to rest on the new cut grass. The doors open and outcome two strange looking creatures, quite different from the people waiting. They have big mouths, long green fingers, and wings. The two raise weapons and fire. Everybody goes into a trancelike state. The two reenter the ship and the ship lifts off the ground.
The Mayor arrives as the ship is leaving. He checks some of the persons in the trance state and near then hovers the statement "Time to release 54 minutes 27 second." With the seconds counting down. Long ago he had been to the game himself so he knew the people would come out of it after the timers reached zero. Mayor Tinley rushes to the town hall just slightly faster than he had rushed to the dock.
In the office he calls, "George" on the viewer. A message comes on over his desk stating, "View off."
The Mayor yells, "George are you there."
A voice answers back, "Huh"
The Mayor replies, "Come down to the town hall. It’s important."
The voice says, "Ok".
Mayor Tinley says, "Tom".
And the image, of Tom sitting on his couch watching his viewer, appears over the desk. Tom answers, "Yea. What is it?"
The Mayor replies, "Come down here right away." The image disappears.
Mayor Tinley goes to the back room and rubbishes through the shelves till he finds the rule book for the game. He walks into the office as the George and Tom are coming in the front door. As they gather around the Mayors desk a message appears.
It reads "Greenly Outpost: The ship has landed at your post. The persons who took the ship are native to the Planet Wasnit, one of the planets included in the game. Somehow the residents of Wasnit were overlooked and are unaware that Wasnit is included in the game. It's believed that the residents might consider the fighting on their planet as real instead of a game. If this is the case it is unknown what the Wasnits might do. Caution is advised. Addends as needed: Comptrol Game Sector."
Tom, George and the Mayor argue back and forth about why the Wasnits were not told their planet was in the game.
Frank Derman yells from outside the door, "The ship is coming down on Main Street."
As the ship comes to rest in front of the town hall, the Mayor with George and Tom behind him wait on the town hall steps. Two Wasnits walk out of the ship; take a couple of steps toward the town hall, look at it and the men out front. Then they look at the other buildings on the street. Across the street they see Sam’s Hamburger and Pizza restaurant. They glimpse at each other, put their weapons on pause, cross the street, and enter