The Saucer Club

by A. J. Gallant

Brody stopped wrestling the bear and stared up at Jayden. “If I got shot it would make me mad too. So are we going to go into the kidnapping business or not?”

  Jayden shrugged. “I don't know. I'll have to think about it. If we can find some rich kid with lots of money we could be on easy street for the rest of our lives.”

  “Shit bird, I could have a butler.”

  “Yeah, what? Why would you want a butler?”

  “I'd make him fetch things for me and the bear; make him mop the floor too.” Brody smiled as he liked the idea more and more.

  The sphere appeared from out of nowhere and hovered near Jayden; it scanned him with purple light, and then scanned the cub and Brody. The shiny globe flew up over the trees and out of sight. They stared at one another as their eyebrows rose.

  “Jayden, what the hell was that!”

  “That was a hallucination brought on by lack of food.”

  Brody scratched his head. “Lack of food? I'm full of fish.”

  Jayden thought that another explanation was necessary to shut Brody up. “Then the fish was probably full of mercury.”

  He continued to scratch his head. “How did the planet closest to the sun get inside the fish?”

  Jayden sighed. “Somebody please kill me.”

  “Give me the gun.”

  Chapter Twenty

  WHEN THE SUN CAME UP PEEKING THROUGH THE TREES, Sam and the others were just getting underway. It was a beautiful morning. A crow flew over the area and cawed several times in celebration of another day. Three chickadees looked as though they were playing follow the leader. It was mild with almost no wind. They all stopped and watched a black-and-white Downy woodpecker as it made its way around and around the tree, hammering its powerful beak in search of insects for breakfast; it stopped momentarily to scold the boys and then continued on.

  Michael and Jake were now carrying Randy, who still wasn't too impressed at being out in the middle of the woods, but he certainly appreciated the morning more than the night. Noises in the night forest were undeniably scary, he was happy not to have seen yet another bear, although he dreamt of a bear sticking its nose into the tent and sniffing him. This trip was turning out to be a little too dangerous. In the dark forest with little light one could imagine just about anything out there. Randy had finally drifted off to the sounds of the crackling fire.

  “Randy,” said Michael. “Today is the day we cross the river.”

  Randy nodded. “Oh good god, I can just see it now. I'll be floating down the river on this chair screaming for help and no one around me except the bears. Maybe I can use my legs for paddles.”

  Sam was hoping that Randy wouldn't take one look at the river and freak out. “As long as the water isn't too high it shouldn't be too hard.”

  Randy knew in his heart that this adventure might turn out to be a nightmare. If only he hadn't run in front of that stupid car this trip would be a lot different. It was hard to be part of the gang when his situation was so different. He couldn't run with them, couldn't bike with them. “And what if the water is too high? Then what guys? If I get drowned my ghost is coming back for all of you.”

  “We'll get you across somehow. We didn't come all this way for nothing.” Jake was getting a vibe from Randy, was he really going to decide that he wanted to go home? What if they couldn't talk him out of it? The beautiful morning was now tarnished by Randy's indecisiveness. Hopefully Randy was just a little tired and cranky.

  “Stop, stop, stop!” Randy gestured for all of them to get close. “Listen guys, of course I want to see this UFO saucer or whatever, but I don't want to die trying to see it. I can picture it now when September comes. Where's Randy? Oh, the last time we saw him he was floating down river.”

  “Randy, you need to change your attitude. You're trying to talk yourself out of it even before we get there. Think positive. Don't worry so much; we'll take good care of you.” Michael tried to instill confidence in him but it wasn't working.

  Randy nodded and nodded. “You guys keep saying that but we were already almost eaten by a freaking bear.”

  “What,” said Jake.

  “I didn't say anything,” they all answered simultaneously.

  After another two hours of hard trekking through the woods they could hear the river in the distance, and that made Randy nervous. When they were closer he would be able to determine the level of danger involved and would cry if necessary to make them change their minds and take him home. The problem with that was he would feel so bad if he made them carry him all the way home without seeing whatever it was they wanted him to see, but that would be better than drowning. It would be a long school year when September rolled around and he knew it would change things between them.

  Within a half hour they were at the fast flowing river. It was at least thirty feet wide and higher than it had been last summer. They all stared at Randy as he repeatedly shook his head as he gazed into the river. They had to be kidding. It looked much too dangerous for them to try and carry him across, a recipe for disaster. He was so disappointed in the situation he didn't know what to do or say; he had hoped that it would be more like a brook. But that monster would punch the hell out of a brook.

  “You guys have got to be kidding! How deep is that? I think you guys are gonna have to take me back. We can't cross that!”

  “Are you kidding me?” Michael shouted. He started to pace like a prisoner in his cell. “He better be kidding! We didn't come all this way just to bring him back home.”

  “Hey relax guys. It's up to Randy,” said Sam. “He's taking the biggest risk. Remember he can't walk, his legs don't work. Imagine how scary it must be for him? How do you think you'd feel if you were him?”

  Michael shook his head and said nothing.

  “It's up to you Randy. We're not gonna force you to cross.” Sam was hoping that he would change his mind; otherwise they would have to take him all the way back home. He had no problem doing it if he had to but he hoped that Randy could be persuaded to let them take him across. And they all wanted to feed off of Randy's excitement when he saw the saucer.

  “You're gonna be sorry if you don't see it,” said Jake.

  Johnny killed a mosquito. “How's he gonna be sorry? If he doesn't see it he won't know what he's missing. If he doesn't see it he won't believe it.”

  Jake nodded. “Oh yeah.”

  Life had lots of decisions, both big and little, and for Randy this was one of the biggest. He stared into the river and to him it may as well have been full of boy-eating alligators. Randy knew that if he went back he would regret it, but if he went forward he might be dead. And not pretend dead but really dead. He thought that being sorry was a lot better than ending up in a pine box. He listened to the rushing river for almost a minute before he answered. “I'm sorry guys but you have to take me home.”

  “Damn it,” said Michael. “This is a freaking nightmare!”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  WHEN JOHN AND STELLA returned home from the AA meeting he was in a state of melancholy. The fact that he would never be able to drink again was depressing. He knew he had a problem but he thought that he would be able to cut down to a social drinker. In fact he already needed another drink; he didn't know how the hell this was supposed to work. He was trying hard to show his wife a new man but the old one was stomping on the new one to get out.

  Stella told him that she was proud of him and went in the house while he sulked in the car. He actually shed a few tears at the thought of never drinking ever again. He took a pint of vodka and dumped in the driveway out the window as Stella watched, and when she moved away from the window he let a single drop of it fall onto his tongue. He supposed that a lot of things in life that were important weren't easy, his own father had drunk himself into a stupor just about every night when he was a child, which was the reason his mother had separated from him. He dropped the bottle out of the window and heard to it smash, and for some reason that sound was liberating.

  �
��After I clean up this mess I should find Randy and tell him what's going on,” he said to himself. “If I don't stay on the wagon he'll be so disappointed in me.”

  Stella exited the house with a broom and dustpan and started to sweep up the broken glass. “Had an accident?”

  “It was no accident,” he said. “Should we go tell Randy what we've decided as a family?”

  “Randy's playing in that tent by the woods. It's good for him to be out with friends I think we should just leave him be for now.” Stella finished sweeping up the glass. “He'll be so happy to know that you're trying to stop and he'll be even happier if you stick to it. John, I know this is not going to be easy.”

  “The important stuff never is.”

  “You're not the same man when you're drinking and you don't act the same towards Randy either. And you're definitely not a happy drunk. Some alcoholics end up in an alley living in a paper box.”

  John stood with a faraway look in his eyes. “I can't believe that I've become a carbon copy of my father. I hated him when I was Randy's age. Do you think he hates me?”

  “No honey, but he is scared of you when you're drunk.”

  He shook his head at the realization. Sometimes it wasn't fun to look in the mirror and see one's true self; sometimes one of those distortion mirrors was preferable to reality. Some men transformed into monsters when they drank and John thought that he just might be one of them.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  THE MOOD WAS SOMBER as the four sat on a fallen tree by the river, all looking dejected. Randy felt like the forest was closing in on him and the comfort of home was a long ways away; he was on the ground resting on the lawn chair deep in thought. The adventure wasn't turning out to be as fun as he hoped it might be. He had been apprehensive from the start but he thought they had been exaggerating the part about the river. The sound of the rushing water was like a monster taunting them.

  Michael pulled some of the green moss off the tree and threw it into the river, watching it float away. They had all been silent for almost five minutes; the only sound was the river flowing past their thoughts. The pleasantness of the day was lost on their foul moods. They had all tried hard to make Randy change his mind, had described the saucer in detail to get him to let them carry him across the river, but his fear was stronger than the will to see what might or might not be a genuine alien saucer.

  They thought that time would help change his mind but now it was looking as if that wasn't to be the case. Fear was one of the most basic of instincts and not easily overcome, and probably one of the main reasons why people had survived through the ages.

  Sam killed a mosquito on his left arm. “We can't stay here all day guys. We either move forward or go home.”

  “I say we put it to a vote,” said Johnny. “All in favor of carrying Randy across the river?”

  Four hands quickly went up but Randy simply shook his head no. “You guys can't vote to drown me. Sorry guys but you have to take me home. I mean look at that freaking water! You really can't be serious about carrying me across that?”

  “I just knew this was a bad idea!” said Jake.

  “Randy, where's your spirit of adventure?” said Sam. “Look how far we've come! We can't turn back now. Are you one hundred percent sure? This is your only chance to see it we won't bring you back again.”

  “I can't do it guys. It's like jumping out of a plane without a parachute. Too scary.” Randy watched as a dead mallard duck floated down the river. “Did you guys see that? That can't be a good sign.”

  “Ducks die too just like everyone else,” said Sam. He realized that he was trying to put a positive spin on everything. “Although that is the first time I've ever seen a dead duck in the water like that.”

  Michael looked at Johnny who then stared at Jake who then glared at Sam, desperately wanting him to fix the situation. It had been Sam's idea to let Randy into the club so he had more responsibility toward getting Randy to let them carry him across the river. Unfortunately he was twice as determined to go home than to risk crossing the fast flowing water; Randy appeared almost hypnotized as he stared into it. That dead duck was the final brick placed into the house that fear built.

  “Let's just grab him and take him,” said Michael. “He can't stop us and he'll thank us when he sees the saucer. He'll probably thank us as soon as we get across.”

  That kind of talk scared Randy because they could do it; he definitely wouldn't be able to fight them off. He could scream and cry but that would be about it. In fact once they started across it would be dangerous to even try to fight them off. Even Randy thought it might actually be a good idea but he wasn't about to tell them that. “Don't do it guys! If something happens to me you'll never forgive yourselves. You'll be seeing a shrink for years. And just imagine the funeral, yeah the funeral.” He considered it smart to have thought of the funeral part. “That's right just imagine the funeral.”

  They all stared at Sam for his guidance and were disappointed when he shrugged. Unfortunately Randy made a good point and maybe the best one. “It has to be up to him. We'll give him another hour to see if he'll change his mind, if not we'll have to take him back. We can't just sit here for a week.”

  “Holy God!” Michael jumped in the river and waded across, determined to show Randy how easy it was, with the water rising to his belly button. He tripped on a rock and went under but he did make it all the way across and shouted back at Randy. “See Randy, it's not that deep! We can do it. Come on!”

  Randy saw how he had made it across and it had looked to him like he had almost drowned. He knew that everyone was staring at him and waiting for his answer. He did feel awful about his decision but also felt that he had to stick to it. After all he was protecting them too; if he drowned they would have to live with that for the rest of their lives. “Sorry guys.”

  “Maybe if you hadn't almost drowned yourself,” Johnny said to Michael.

  Michael took a bit of a fit on the other side of the river, jumping up and down, looking like he was trying to pull his own hair out. He picked up a piece of an old rotted tree and smashed it to pieces on the ground. When he tripped over a rock and fell backwards everyone had to laugh at how silly he was acting, even Randy.

  “He's funny when he's mad,” said Jake.

  When Michael made his way back across the river it was as if all his energy had been sucked out along with any hope that Randy was going to allow them to carry him across. Worst of all was that he would now have to assume some of the responsibility for it because he had tripped on a stupid rock and went under. All hope was lost. He threw himself flat on the ground and curled up as if he was going to go to sleep. The certainty of having to carry Randy back home was setting in for everyone. They couldn't talk him out of it, and so after brooding for another ten minutes everyone slowly gathered their gear and commenced the task of carrying Randy home.

  Michael watched and listened to a woodpecker drilling high up in a pine tree and screamed up at it. “Oh shut up you stupid bird!”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  JAYDEN STARED AT BRODY who was now buddies with the bear cub and it was beginning to irk him, in fact he was a little jealous of their relationship. Jayden thought it unnatural for a human to be so close to a bear. Even though the bear had lost his mother it was unlikely that Brody could take care of it. He was supposed to be Brody's only friend, not a stupid bear. He gave that stupid bear more attention than he did him.

  Jayden threw a twig at the bear. “It is time to face facts Brody. You can't take that bear with you when we leave the forest.”

  “Yes I can.”

  “No you can't.” He watched as Brody hugged the bear. “When we get out of here we don't want to be noticed because we robbed the bank. Don't you think that people are going to notice you walking around with a bear cub?”

  Brody considered that. “I'll tell everyone that it's a dog.”

  “Not everyone is as dumb as you. No one is gonna believe that's
a dog. It's obviously a bear. What is wrong with you?”

  Brody started to wrestle the bear again. “Probably lots of stuff. I'll tell everyone that I'm training him for the circus. Yeah, that could work. I'll teach him how to do some tricks. Roll over bear; come on you can do it.”

  And of course the bear didn't have any idea about what the heck he was saying.

  Jayden shook his head. “Brody, you are not thinking straight. You need to let me kill the bear and then we need to move on. He doesn't have a mother so it has to be done. He can't take care of himself and you can't take care of him.”

  “You are not killing my bear!” Brody jumped up in protest. “You are gonna have to kill me first. That way I won't be around to see it.”

  “Fine, get over here.”

  “Fine.” Brody went over and stood in front of Jayden, who put the gun to Brody's forehead. He closed his eyes waiting for the bullet. “Okay, I'm ready.”

  “You'd really let me shoot you for that bear?”

  “Yup.”

  “Oh, go sit down you doofus,” said Jayden. “I'm not gonna shoot you.”

  “No?”

  “You really love that bear huh?”

  Brody started to cry. “I love him. He makes me happy. I don't think I can live without my bear.”

  Jayden shook his head. “Yes you can live without the bear. You lived without him until now.”

  “Yeah but I wasn't happy.” And he whipped the tears from his eyes.

  “Brody, what are you gonna do if they put us in jail. You gonna be in jail with the bear?”

  “I imagine. I'll tell them that he helped us rob the bank if I have to.”

  “Oh brother. You like that bear more than you like me.” Jayden was interested to hear his answer.

  Brody cocked his head as he thought about it. “No I don't. I ah like you guys the same although he is a lot cuter.”

  Harold, Timothy and Rolland made their way into view and they all looked terrible. They were so hungry and desperate that they didn't care if they had a gun or not because they were going to starve to death anyway.