Eric--Part Thirty-Eight

Splog # 165

Thirty-Eight

 

   Cor looked around at each of his auditors. He seemed unsure of how to continue. Bev and Splog both tried to reassure him by the expression on their faces. Nol was looking down at his empty plate and moving one leg up and down steadily. Eric wondered if Cor was feeling bad about whatever had happened.

   As the pause extended, Eric offered, "If this is something that you'd rather not talk about, I'm sure we can discuss other things and maybe come back to it at another time. Would that help?"

   Cor gave a small smile to Eric. "You're a very thoughtful young man. You'll have to tell me about your parents some time." Splog gave a sniff and Eric and Cor both looked in his direction.

   "I didn't say anything," Splog remarked innocently. "But someone should before the day is half over," he added.

   They all looked back to Cor.

   "I'm fine, Eric. It's the strangeness or maybe the unexpectedness of everything that makes the telling difficult at times. What I saw when I was lying in the observatory was simply a line of white moving across the sky. It was a streak, as though drawn by a piece of chalk. It came into my view from the south and moved rather slowly across the sky. It didn't have great length; as far away in the sky as it was, it was probably as long as my finger. I'd never seen anything like it. A short white line travelling across the night sky."

   When Cor paused to take a drink, Eric said:

   "Was it like a UFO?"

   Cor looked at Eric and then at the other three but none of them showed any comprehension.

   "I don't know what that is."

   "You know, like a flying saucer. Aliens. ET."

   Cor's face expressed complete lack of understanding.

   "Forget it," Eric said. "I'm sorry I interrupted."

   But Cor seemed intrigued. He addressed Splog.

   "Could it be that these things could be Eric's UFO's and ET's?"

   Splog hesitated, looking at Eric.

   "Well," Eric put in, "I actually don't even know if those things are real or just make-believe. Some people believe in them, but I don't think they've ever been proven. It's mostly just sci-fi."

   "Sci-fi?" Cor inquired.

   "Science fiction," Eric explained. "Stories about what the future might be like. Life on other planets and robots and stuff like that."

   Cor again looked to Splog, wonderingly.

   "If these things aren't real to Eric, let's leave them for another time. There's still a lot more for you to relate, Cor."

   Cor took a deep breath. "Well, the line in the sky was strange but not essentially disturbing. But then the line - I don't know exactly what happened, I can only tell you what I saw. The front end of the line touched a star. And then the line collapsed. I mean, the front stopped moving when it reached the star but the back continued and so the line got smaller and smaller until it also touched the star. It was as if the star swallowed the line. But it was also the opposite. Because when the line had shrunk to nothing at the star, the star brightened for a moment and then disappeared. There was a dark spot in the sky where that star had been. With all the stars around, I was sure that I was somehow mistaken. That possibly there hadn't been a star there where the line disappeared. Or if there had been, then it was still there and I was just looking at the wrong spot. Maybe I had blinked when the line collapsed and moved my eyes from where the star was. I couldn't believe that what I thought I had seen was possible. I kept examining the sky. There were so many stars that I soon lost sight of the spot where I thought the star had disappeared. I was fairly confused and decided to go look for Mae. I left the observatory and made a short search. She wasn't at home and, as she spent most nights at the observatory, I was at a loss where else to look. After a while I decided to go back, figuring she was bound to turn up sooner or later. When I got there, it was still deserted and I was reluctant to examine the sky any further. But there was really nothing else to do. Part of me was worried about Mae, but I had almost convinced myself that what I thought I had seen was just my imagination. Maybe I was dozing a little, while lying on the deck. I started trying to think what would keep Mae from a rendezvous. She was always so dependable. I began to think of places she could be. There was Bev's and Nol's and other friends. But it didn't make sense. Why would she be there when she wanted to meet me here? I even thought of Splog. But no matter what I thought of, it raised so many questions."