"I somewhat agree with Finkle," said Richard Leeks. "However, as I'm so close to the news all the time, that when an event occurs, we know about it in a hot second. There's no denying that climate is changing, but I'm not so sure the Devil is behind all of this phenomena."
In walked Pastor Finkle and the conversation changed to the weather and economy. Dr. Walker noticed he had about an hour before he started his appointments at 10 am. He decided to put a slight jab into the Pastor's ribs. "Pastor Finkle, how bad does it have to get before we can view or feel that salvation is on its way from the Good Lord?"
Pastor Finkle looked at Dr. Walker with clear brown eyes. Dr. Walker noticed for a man over seventy he had few wrinkles around the eyes. He said, politely, "Soon I, think Dr. Walker. Soon we shall see evidence of Him setting the stage for combat against the Devil."
"The military call it collateral damage. Are we likely to experience any fallout from this confrontation Pastor Finkle," asked Pete Paulson. The table was quiet and watched as Mable poured more coffee for all of them. It was so quiet you could hear the clock ticking. Few customers were in at the 9:30 am hour. The cook was on smoke break; Mable was pouring coffee and the dirty dishes had to wait until she was ready. A loud hum broke the quiet as a compressor fired off in the back somewhere. Dr. Walker noticed that the place could use a paint job, but if nothing else, the café was clean. Mable's pink uniform was faded but clean. Her nice smile always had teeth that had red lipstick on them.
Banker Clinton said, "Well, guys, I've got to count my money," he joked. The table all stood up and as it was Richard Leek's turn to buy, he was the last one out, except Pastor Finkle who went into the kitchen area. Only Dr. Walker wondered why.
That night Dr. Walker told his wife what the conversation was at the morning café. Barbara said, "I think this is getting a little spooky Ross. June, the old lady who lives next door to the Finkle's, said they seem to never sleep. The lights are on at all hours of the night."
"What say we take a walk and gander at their house at about 11pm tonight?"
"We can always use the exercise Ross, "she said.
"Barb, it would shock you if I revealed to you what I think about the Pastor and his wife. I need to share this with you so you can see what I think I see: something not of this world."
She sucked in a lung full of air and said, "Come on Ross, you can't really think they're……..well, aliens?"
"You were a nurse Barb. Do they walk and talk like senior citizens. There's no record in the clinic of either of them getting sick or hurt. I really shouldn't say they are aliens from another world, but are they, or have they set up this area for a landing. Church followers would think it was Christ coming to save us."
"I can't believe you're serious Ross. I'll admit they don't fit the age bill. I'll see if I can find out where they came from before moving here. He should be registered somewhere. I'll get on the computer first thing tomorrow. Now, it's not that cold out yet so let's take a walk."
The town was dead quiet. What few street lights that were on, cast lonely beams of light. The couple turned left at the light and walked the familiar two blocks to the church. To the side of the church, a rector's house built more than a hundred years ago housed the Finkle's. Both June's house and the Finkle house had their lights on. Ross and wife went up to June's door and knocked softly. June, not afraid of bad guys opened the door and smiled. They followed her into the living room. It was a small room but comfortable.
They both declined coffee or tea. Ross said, "June, you seem to think the Finkle's don't sleep much?"
"Indeed I do Dr. Walker. I'm old and old people, as you know, don't sleep for very long at one time. I'm up three or four times a night. When I pass by my window I can see they have lights on. It's a rare occasion when I don't see a light on."
"There're some people who can't sleep without a light on, June."
"I see them walking around together and sometimes they leave the house," said June.
"Leave the house?" said Ross.
"Yes, they do all kinds of things what normal people do during the day they do at night."
"I'll be right back ladies. I'm going to do a little Peeping Tom action."
"Be careful Ross. What if you get caught? I'll bail you out," said Barb. June laughed.
Ross went out the door and kept to the shadows. He could see the lights on in the Finkle house. Ross stood by a large elm tree and watched. He saw movement and saw both of them walking back and forth pass the window making a shadow. He moved closer and finally could see through a slim gap in the drapes.
What he saw, and what he felt, when Pastor Finkle walked by carrying something in his hands, would never leave Dr. Walker until they laid him to rest.
He literally ran back to June's house almost crashing through the door. Barb and June both raised a hand to the mouth in exclamation seeing the frightened look on his face. Dr. Walker asked for a stiff shot of brandy if June had such a thing. She went to fetch the drink and he sucked some air in to catch his breath.
June came back with a cut glass tumbler and poured him a stiff one. He drank off half and let out a whoosh. He said, while his hands dropped to his lap but still holding onto the glass, "You'll not believe it when I tell you what I saw. Now remember it was only a glimpse, mind you. It was dressed like Pastor Finkle so I presume it was him. I saw a hairless head, slits for eyes, a hole where a nose should be and a thin line for a mouth. After I saw that I ran like hell."
Both Barb and June sat in a trance with each having their own thoughts run through their heads. The biggest problem, all agreed later, was movies and TV shoes with aliens in them. That influenced judgment of what was seen.
Barb said, "Ross, from what you described and from what we have been programmed to know, you in fact saw an alien. And that alien lives next door to June Morse and has lived here for fifty years or more."
June sat there like a prim and proper senior citizen that she was. She said, "I'm too old to worry about who lives next door to me. Obviously if he had wanted to do something to me, it would have occurred many years ago. Why don't we just confront them both?"
"I don't know why not," said Barb.
"I'd like to know what they or he is doing here in the first place," said Ross.
Barb said, "Let's go home and sleep on it until tomorrow."
Dr. Walker and his wife 'slept on it' until the next day. Neither one slept a wink that night. They talked about it and came to no conclusion whatsoever. How can one make a decision about something one has no empirical knowledge or factual experience about?
What to do and who to tell was the talk around the breakfast table at Dr. Walker's house that next morning. Talk was all that came out while eating cereal. When it came time for coffee at the Cove Café Dr. Walker went as usual.
He tried to be talkative as always, but caught himself drifting off into silence contemplation. When Pastor Finkle arrived, Dr. Ross felt his whole body stiffen. The usual crowd sat around the table. They shuffled the chairs to make some room for Pastor Finkle. He sat down next to Dr. Walker.
He said, kind of under his breath to Dr. Walker, "Relax Doctor, we mean no harm."
An Optical Delusion
Henry Misterfield was about to have his fiftieth birthday. He barely remembered he was going to have a half century milestone the following day. Like a lot of men or people these days, divorce was a common occurrence. Henry fell into the single category many years back. Nowadays he was a confirmed bachelor who lived alone in the remote northeast region of Oregon.
Henry did not have any neighbors close by. He'd been forced into retirement by a hip replacement. That was fine by Henry as he had invested wisely and at the same time met his obligation to his wife and daughter. He, on a historical trip to look at the historic Nez Pierce tribe of Indians, who'd led the military on a wild chase through Idaho and north into Montana, wanted to see for himself where they had once lived: a contemporary small town called, ironically, Enterprise, Oreg
on.
Enterprise has less than 2000 in population and sits just under 4000 feet in elevation. Huge flat prairie lands suitable for grazing of any four footed animals, but sheep are the big occupiers of the land. Henry lived on 800 acres of prime grazing land that sat virtually empty except for deer and elk. His three bedroom log house had a giant window in the living room to view out and slightly down the rolling prairie land.
Henry didn't mind being a loner. He had his computer and stocks to play with. He loved to read and being a fan of Amazon, had an easy access to whatever genre was on his mind at that time. Exercise was primarily out of the question as that would only wear out his plastic and steel hip. Consequently he ate sparingly slowly losing his weight each year.
It was the month of June and warm days were slowly turning into the heat of summer. His log house sat under a stand of fir trees protecting the house from the heat of summer and the snows of winter. A long gravel driveway led to the highway. A left turn would take you to Enterprise and a right turn to Idaho.
Henry was from the old school of early to bed; early to rise generation. That next morning, his birthday, he rose at his usual six am. The sun was just breaking over the eastern horizon as Henry went to do his morning ritual. After that he went to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. His one vice: caffeine. He took his mug of coffee to living room and as usual, looked out the giant plate glass window at the rolling, slopping prairie running for hundreds of acres towards the Snake River.
Henry looked but not carefully at the lovely scenery. Something caught his eye shimmering in the distance. At first he ignored it as a flicker in his own eyes. He blinked a few times and sipped his coffee. He looked up again, wishing all would be crystal clear, but no, there it was still a silver shimmering light about a quarter mile off in the distance.
His curiosity piqued wondering what kind of phenomena was appearing in his lower lands. The landscape was mostly open with grass growing and the occasionally patch of evergreen trees. He starred at the sight before him wondering what kind of light refraction was happening. He thought as the sun rose the light would disappear in a short while. He sat his coffee mug down and started up his computer. Henry had to use a satellite connection for the internet living so far out of civilization. He also had a large electric generator in case the power went out. In the winter time it snowed a lot and the power was down frequently in the winter time.
Henry sat down and logged into his e-mail. As of late he stumbled across someone he knew from his California days living in Wallowa not so far away. They stumbled over each other from a high school reunion search. It's true they weren't close, but a weekly touch base usually happened. Now he read from his friend Ed Baines that he wondered if Henry had heard about any UFO sightings.
Henry jumped up and went back to the window and looked out seeing the shimmering light even more distinct than previously. "Jesus, what is it," he said to the glass window. He tried to discern a shape but it was impossible to say what shape it was. Henry strained to look through it but the light was just too bright or misshapen – bending - to see what it really was.
Coffee forgotten he hit reply and asked Ed where he heard the UFO news from. Henry tried to make light of it, but indeed he was curious. The mail sent, he drank the lukewarm coffee not looking out the window on purpose. He went back to his inbox and saw a delivery failure. His mail to Ed went undelivered. Now, he thought that very strange. His daughter had e-mailed him. He quickly read the mundane news and hit reply. He sent her a short note telling her thank you for the best wishes on his birthday and sent off. He waited with his heart rate just a tad faster than normal before he checked his inbox. Yes, sure enough, delivery failure.
Henry, normally a cool customer, began to get a little nervous. He picked up his landline phone and it was dead. How could he have a satellite connection to his computer, but no phone or can't send e-mails. He went back to the window and the same scene greeted his eyes: a shimmering blob on the prairie. He gave a fleeting thought to going to investigate, but realized that it would be a long hike and deep down, he was just a little afraid of what he might find.
He looked at his watch; it had stopped at 2:38 am. He turned and walked back to his computer. He went to his 'favorites' and brought up Amazon. Amazon came up, but when he tried to buy a book, nothing. Up again and over to the window. He pulled up an arm chair and sat down to gaze upon the strange object in his back yard, so to speak.
It was customary for Lisa Goodyard to come on Saturday's for general house cleaning. She never came at a set time, but was always there between nine and ten in the morning. At a little after nine she drove up to the front door in a cloud of dust in her old pickup truck.
Lisa kicked open the door and swung her massive legs onto the driveway. She adjusted her posture and like a duck waddled to the door. Lisa knocked and let herself in the front door saying, "Mr. Misterfield, I'm here." Just after the front door was a place for boots and muddy shoes, in addition to coats. Lisa moved on into the front room and saw Henry's head from the back staring out the window. She never looked out the window, but said, "Did you hear the news about UFO's flying around here last night Mr. Misterfield?"
She walked around to the side and somewhat further to see his face. She waited for an answer, but none was forthcoming. She saw him starring out the window and then she looked out the window to see what he was looking at so intently. She saw the shimmering image of something out there and said, "What is that thing Mr. Misterfield?"
Henry turned slowly and raised his head to look at his housekeeper. He said, "I don't think Lisa we want to know what that is."
Sacred Trespass
Four university students sat at a table in the Student Union Building [SUB] drinking coffee. All were pursuing a major in archeology. All but one, Jack Donaldson had Native American blood streaming through their active bodies. Jack hailed from Tombstone and claims to have a touch of Earp blood in his family line.
Nancy was the oldest at twenty two and, by de facto, assumed the leadership role of their club. The other two members, Laura Player and Tony Ropper were the two quiet ones; but probably responsible for the clubs excellent reputation following the guidelines of an archeology site.
Nancy said, "Summer vacation is just around the corner. I received a text from a tribal friend saying that earthquake we had two weeks ago, made a talus slope slide to the bottom of the arroyo. He went to investigate and found, not so far from Burnet Cave, another cave. I called him and he said that there's a lot of sign of ancient habitation. He touched nothing and when he got back to town he sent me a message. I suggest we leave as soon as we can to seek and discover, hopefully, more Clovis evidence."
Jack said, "I'm with you. I can tap my mother for a few bucks."
Nancy looked at Laura and Tony. Both shrugged their shoulders telling all they would go with the flow. "Should we inform Dr. Bains," said Tony.
Nancy said, "Let's see what we have first and then we can go through the proper channels. Okay guys, do we have a plan and if anyone doesn't want to go, then we all understand." Nobody said a word so it was settled. They would all leave in Jack's van. They all thought two weeks would be plenty of time to determine the cave's worth.
What the friend of Nancy's, Aaron Eagle Beak didn't say what he saw painted on the cave's wall. Access to the painting was not an easy thing to do, but what it represented would make any archaeologist drool.
The Flake Club left on a Saturday morning the day after finals. It would take them a little extra time to get there as Nancy would stop at her home in Las Cruces to say hello and tap her father for some spending money. Laura and Tony lived near Santa Fe and rarely ever went home. After the Las Cruces stop, it would be back up the freeway to Rincon where they would meet Aaron Eagle Beak, to fill the club in on what he viewed.
Jack was driving and Nancy riding shotgun said, "There's his truck. Pull in Jack in front of the café. Jack pulled in, stopped; they got out and filed into the café. It was la
te afternoon so not many customers. Aaron sat at the counter drinking coffee. Nancy yelled his name and they hugged like old friends.
Laura noticed Jack looked a little jealous, but quickly forgot it as they sat down at a round table in the middle of the clean café. Nancy's mother had fed them lunch so coffee sounded good to the entire club. Once the 'weather' talk ceased, Aaron said, "I'll have to lead you to the cave as its kind of hidden. Obviously it's too late today and we'd best wait until tomorrow. I presume you are equipped for camping out? I've my stuff in the back of my pickup. I'll lead you up the county road to a place that is not bad for camping."
"I like the sounds of that Aaron. We are prepared for a two week stay. Our flashlights are solar rechargeable. About how far up the country road to we go," asked Nancy.
"Not so far. I'd say about 25 miles and then a walk of around an hour to the cave from the camp site. Summer is coming and water will be scarce. But, there's a little underground spring bubbling a fair amount of water; but for how long, who knows. Summer dries things up as you well know."
Laura thought Aaron was very good looking. He looked close to full blooded Indian, but contrary to Native Americans being rather short; Aaron was over six feet and kind of lanky. Also it did appear that maybe in their history, Nancy and him were an item, but not now. Laura thought about some delicious things they could do together.
Tony asked, "Aaron from what you describe the general area we are going, are we anywhere near the new 'Spaceport' that is the local talk all over the state?"
"Actually we are almost due east of the new Spaceport as the crow flies. As you all know, we are always inundated with visitors seeking UFO information. Most of the locals," he laughed showing a nice even set of white teeth, "lead the tourists on a little."
Jack led with his right and asked, "How about you Aaron? Are you a believer in ET?"
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