Do You Believe?

"They’re out there." Patches was clearly worried, as he relayed the info to his schoolmates, who swiftly gathered around him. "Charlie and I saw them!"

"Sorry, but I don’t believe in extraterrestrials, UFOs, or any of that nonsense," Goldie, one of the elders, emphatically stated and went back to preparing their lunch.

"No! Really, he is telling the truth, Goldie. I saw them, too!" reiterated Pinky.

"It happened just last week on a very warm day. I thought I saw something dark fly by. As I looked up, the lettuce parted slowly, revealing the sunshine above, when, all of a sudden…WHOOSH!!!! A giant black saucer shaped thing swooped down from the sky. It darted back and forth as if looking for something," Charlie started.

"Or someone," Patches added nervously.

"Yes…" Charlie patted his puffed belly and continued. "Anyway, we quickly scattered and I hid behind a rock. Slowly looking around the rock, I could see this saucer-like object chasing after Silver."

"It was like they were on a mission," Patches added.

"Poor, poor Silver." Charlie sadly chimed in. "The UFO scooped down and took him aboard their ship."

Goldie had by now dropped everything and had given him her full attention. "You know," she started, "Silver hasn’t been at school for a week now. We were just discussing what had happened to him. That’s just awful." They paused in reflection for a moment.

"These beasts didn’t seem to want Freckles, Cyclops, or even Amber who were all right there, out in the open!" Pinky pointed, affirming their doubts. "The ship just passed them over."

"Do you…do you think they were…." stammered Junior, "they were…Aliens?"

Patches thought it over a bit stoking his mustache. All eyes focused on Patches as they gathered in even tighter so as not to miss a word. "Why, yes! Of course they were aliens." The crowd trembled and let out a horrified, "Ohhhh!!!"

Goldie, skeptical, came forward and asked, "How can you be so sure?"

"Because," a voice from the back gurgled, "they, they…well, I was one of many they took aboard with them," Whiskers sadly relayed as he pushed through the crowd and came forward. The mood of the crowd quickly turned compassionate as his classmates tried to console him.

"So, you’ve seen them? You’ve been aboard their ship?!!!" Junior inquired. Whiskers sadly nodded. He had obviously been tainted by the experience.

Whiskers drew in a big waterlogged breath as he relayed the horrific story – at least what he could remember of it. "It was a bright sunny day, just like Pinky said. I was swimming along, having just left school when SWISH! Like a rocket, I was beamed up by a big black, circular object, almost ten times my size! I thrashed about trying to break free but it had me good. It was so much bigger than me. I couldn’t get away. It slowly carried me further and further from home. I saw my home from the sky, getting smaller and smaller. From there they put me in solitary confinement. For weeks I was examined by the one we call ‘Creature With Pellets’ and her mate." Whiskers paused lost in his thoughts when Junior anxiously cut in, "Ooooh! What did they look like?"

"Well, they are very tall and tan. Towering over me, these individuals stand more than 100 stories. Each life form has a head that is separate from its body connected by a tube of flesh and muscle. Their flesh is rough and dry. The head contains 2 eyes like us but they both face forward. Off of its main body it has limbs, four to be exact: two that allow it to stand and travel and the two that grabbed me and–get this!" The crowd leaned in closer so as to not miss the next few words.

"They aren’t webbed!!!" Another unified gasp came from the crowd. Undaunted, Whiskers continued on. "While in solitary confinement, they probed and poked me daily. Then I was taken to another place and put with several more of us. Maggie was there. So was Blue and Lefty…and…and even Silver!" He paused.

"Days went by. The aliens nourished us with the finest of foods and occasionally prodded me some more. They took pictures of me and touched me. I was so scared! Then, just when I thought the end was near and I would surely die, they started drugging me. They kept records on my progress and reactions to the drugs. They brought in even more individuals by to inspect me. Day after day they would file in, stand over me, and discuss what to do next. It was horrible!" Jaws dropped as the crowd was taken aback. Stunned silence was soon followed by lively discussions. Chatter emerged as the crowd pondered their very existence. So intense were the conversations, that they didn’t see what was about to happen next.

The school was suddenly interrupted as food was thrown out to lure the unsuspecting fish to the side of the pond. Flipper, being older and wiser, but slower moving, attempted to eat cautiously but only the pellets that floated out to the middle of the water. Suddenly, without warning, a swoosh was heard as a big, black net came scooping down from above. The fish all scattered. From behind Patches’ hiding pot, he trembled. He could hear the familiar sounds of thrashing and splashing and dared to look around the end of the pot. Sure enough, he saw Charlie thrashing about, trying to get out of the net, away from the alien human beings.

"You finally caught him!" the lady gleefully said to the man at the rim of the pond.

"Yeah, it’s a good thing too," he said eyeing the swollen Comet goldfish. "He’s got the bloat, just like Whiskers and Silver. It’s a good thing we got him when we did. A few weeks longer and he would have been too far gone to treat him."

"Yeah, well, we’ll get him all fixed up. The meds are in the tank and ready for him up on the deck. Poor fella," she sighed, frowning as she looked down at his ballooned orange belly cushioned by the soft, black, round fish net. "We’ll get rid of those parasites and get you all fixed up. You’ll be feeling better in no time."

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