What Remains of Teddy Redburn

by Lorraine Ray

A few people in Los Hombres really weren’t interested in the treasure. Among those who were so inclined, Jan Jansen scoffed at the money and promoted her theory that Teddy’s disappearance had to be a result of an alien abduction. She imagined Teddy Redburn had been taken to Mars or even another galaxy where they would discover his brain difficulties and possibly repair them with interesting instruments. He was a lucky man to have been abducted, Jan explained and Los Hombres was lucky to be the city they chose to abduct people from. To find the site of the abduction, Jan Jansen would need to organize her sons for an expedition.

  First, she typed the story up for one of the alien sites she frequented. For the first time she could provide a story herself, and she was glad that they hadn’t yet found a corpse of Teddy. The mysterious disappearance thrilled her and she especially liked the fact that she had seen the abductee. And she was living very near to an alien landing site! But she wanted to find it!

  She revealed her plans to her sons over plates of fajitas, hoping to persuade them to help her with her excellent cooking.

  “Listen, boys, we’ve got to go out and look for the spot where they landed,” she said as the dinner had nearly ended. She gave Ganymede, one of her collies, a small caress under the table.

  “Mom, we’re kinda busy this weekend,” said her eldest son, wiping his face with a paper napkin and looking at his brothers.

  “It will probably only take an hour or two. You’ve got off-road vehicles. Maybe we can find the site,” Jan pleaded.

  “I just think it’s some place kind far out of town,” said her middle son.

  “No, I think they got him quickly. I say we take this road.” Jan pointed to a dirt road at the edge of town on a map she had left on the side of the table. “Let’s take it down near the border and see what we find.”

  “I have to work,” said her eldest quickly. “Count me out.”

  “Okay, that’s okay. Mel?”

  “All right, Mom. But only for two hours. I want to have some weekend to myself.” Mel was her youngest. He usually went places with her.

  “Okay. Let’s go out and see what’s there. I just know the signs are there!”

  “Remember, we’re looking for a large, burned patch,” Jan explained to Mel that Saturday. Knowing what to watch for at the side of the road improved their odds.

  “Okay, Mom.”

  “The aliens always leave that. Or it might just be a clearing…”

  “A clearing?” Mel asked staring ahead.

  “Yeah.”

  “Isn’t that one over there?” Mel pointed to the right of the truck’s front bumper.

  “Hey, good spotting, Mel! Pull over. We’ll walk out to it.”

  Mel grudgingly slowed down and parked his truck beside a large tree stump.

  “Oh my gosh it’s one of them!” cried Jan when they had walked about thirty yards toward the clearing.

  “What, Mom?”

  “An alien! He died over there. Look! He was burned!”

  “He does look burned. I think it’s a dead immigrant, Mom. They look dark when they rot in the sun.”

  “No, no. It’s a dead alien from a crash!”

  “Mom, mom, really, she has shoes on her feet,” Mel pointed out when they got closer. The tennis shoes were obviously a woman’s type with those fluffy balls on the socks to keep the socks from slipping down.

  “That’s not true,” Jan said, refusing to capitulate.

  “Looks like regular people shoes, too. Not outer space shoes.”

  “I just think this alien is trying to talk to me,” Jan said. “Were you talking to me?” she asked it.

  “Mom, why you speaking to that dead woman?” Mel demanded.

  “He may not be dead! I think he’s only wearing human shoes as a ruse. It’s a dead Martian.”

  “Mom, this alien is a human woman and she’s definitely dead. We need to call the sheriff.”

  “I didn’t know you were listening. I was talking to myself. This is the most marvelous thing that has ever happened to me.”

  “Mom, I’m telling you I think we better call the sheriff.”

  “Not yet. I want to sense if there are any vestige ESP signals.” Jan began walking around with her eyes closed and her palms held out in front of her.

  Mel stood in place, rolling his eyes. About four minutes later, Mel asked again. “Mom, can I please call the sheriff now?”