A short story

In The Beginning.......there was Extraterrestrial Contact

Chapter 3

“What we would like Marcus is that you fulfill the role of harbinger of important news to your planetary kith and kin. Your fellow mankind. We feel that now is the most opportune time for all to be made clear to everybody before it is too late.

Your civilisation is now sufficiently advanced to understand the concepts involved and our intentions, which of course are nothing less than altruistic. We come out in peace Marcus. We have no desire to hurt any of you, nor can you hurt us.”

I was in a daze to say the least. I started to fidget in my pockets from nothing more nor less than a curious sense of nervousness. My fingers found the crystal I had been gifted by the Elder just about a week ago. The Elder seemed to sense the slightest movement of my concealed fingers.

“That crystal Marcus, is the key to all of this. Without it you would only have got past the end of that track through the woods, or copse as you like to call it, to find the scrubland you are accustomed to find on your daily strolls with your lovely wife. Indeed, you wouldn’t have even seen the light to which you were so inexorably attracted. At the moment there is only you and I here, well, you and I and one or two nocturnal animals who go about their nightly business under cover of darkness totally unaware of our presence.”

“Why me?” I asked bluntly.

“Because Marcus you are an intelligent man with a good soul and a wonderful ability to communicate with others. You have a talent, shall we say, a marvellous creative control of your language, and from what I hear one or two other languages as well. Perhaps one day you will learn our language.”

For a brief moment, I thought about my lovely wife at home in bed with another me. The Elder seemed to read my mind.

“Please, do not worry about your lovely wife. She’s fine. In a short while, when you walk away from here, you will find yourself back inside your physical self and your lovely wife, having noted your absence, will be on her way to look for you in the woods.”

“And what exactly is it you want me to write? Is there a message of some sort that you want me to communicate?” I asked.

The Elder began to visually scan around the area outside of the shop.

“You know, some people say that your race is nothing more than a plague of parasites. Others say your people belong to a wider system of organic neurotransmitters that regulate the health of the planet. It’s a kind of duality of perception, you might say, or a quantum perspective. Rather like Schrodinger’s Cat In A Box. Is the cat dead or alive, or indeed is it both at one and the same time?

It matters not, whichever way you slice it, some of your people are slowly but surely destroying the planet with your style of living. You cannot go on like this indefinitely. One day it will be gone long before its time. And then I’m afraid the cat will surely be dead.

The future of this planet depends upon people like you Marcus. You have some allies, of course. A certain Dr John Rose for example comes to mind. And Dr Mehmet Yildiz too. Two gentlemen who are more than alive to the situation, don’t you think? You have to act now before it’s too late.

The message Marcus, is “ Change your ways now whilst there is still time.”

“You can communicate that message any way that you like. Simply set to it and write it right here, and then go back to your wife, your passion as a writer and write whatever you wish to your heart’s desire. But whatever you do, you simply must get that message across. And, what is more, I want you to continue to put that message across Marcus.

You can write whatever it is you choose to write in the back room here. Come, I will show you. You have a desk and recliner for your comfort. I have some other matters to attend to, though I will pop in from time to time to see how you are doing. And when you are done, you can go.

Don’t worry about the time. In here time is suspended. You can be here for hours and little more than a few minutes will have passed beyond the limits of this place. And with that the Elder, Charles Darwin Heggarty, stood back in the doorway.

“It’s time. It’s time to tell them how it is.”

“Yes sir, I’m doing it now,” I said to the elder as I set to work.

“Make sure you tell them everything. They have to know.”

“Yes sir, I agree. I’m on it.”

“Right then, I’ll leave it in your capable hands. Use your imagination Marcus.” I started to type the first thing that came into my head.

After a while, the elder lightly tapped my door and ghosted back into my room.

“How is it going? Are you making any progress?” he sagely enquired.”Yes sir, I have made a good start and now I am about to move on,” I replied.

“Excellent. May I be so bold as to ask you the title of the piece?”

“Yes indeed sir, you may. It’s called ‘Where There is a Light,’ I think it’s a good title, don’t you agree?”

“Indeed, it is. I’ll leave you to it then. Don’t tarry Marcus.”

'Where There is a Light.'

"Sometimes late at night……

………like a couple of giggling kids."

Eventually, the Elder returned.

“Ahhhh, I see it is done. Excellent Marcus. I knew I could depend on you. Now, you may go back to your lovely wife and your fulfilling life. Please be sure to start the ball rolling by having this piece published far and wide. Of course, some will write it off as the mumblings of a deluded science fiction writer. But you and I know different, do we not?”

“You may keep the crystal rock in your pocket, I did say it was a gift. I am a man of my word Marcus. However, it will be de-activated the moment you cross back into the woods. We may re-activate it at some time in the future when we decide to use your eminent abilities again. Please, be careful as you pass through the woods to your lovely wife.”

I stood and slowly passed the Elder. I was going to pull on the front door of the shop when, but a few feet from it, it opened for me automatically. I went out and strode across the scrubland back to the copse, just in time to see my lovely wife dressed in her kimono robe peering into the woods from the other end of the double track.

As I crossed off the scrubland into the woods, I stopped briefly to fish the pinky, purple crystal rock out of my pocket and I was astounded to see that it had changed. Now it was totally devoid of all those beautiful prismatic hues of colour that made it stand out when I first set eyes on it. It had been de-activated, just as the Elder had said it would be. Suddenly my wife was upon me.

“Darling…..what happened to you, where have you been, what are you doing?” she said to me all concerned.

“I’m fine darling, don’t worry. Come on, let’s go home.” I said as I put a comforting arm around her. “I’ll tell you all about it later. Come on, you can make one of your special coffees and we can sit in the kitchen as always and I’ll tell you a story.” I looked briefly back towards the scrubland and saw only darkness and soft moonlight.

“Is it a good story?” she mewed.

“It’s an amazing story darling, one that for sure you will never believe. But I know how you love so much me telling you an exciting tale as you doze in my arms.”

“Darling…….I love you. I’m so happy with you.”

“I know, me too huh. Come on, race you back to the house.”

And with that, we set off running to our little piece of heaven like a couple of giggling kids.

The End