Albert sat in his deck chair and watched the small green dot approach his nephew\u2019s house by the banks of the river. The lights had gone out earlier that evening and now the wind was up, the dry air pregnant with static electricity. His nephew\u2019s kids were scrubbing their feet against the acrylic doormat and zapping each other, screaming their delight.<\/p>\n
The sounds cut off.<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Trembling slightly, Albert reached up to check his tin-foil hat. Still there. He stood and turned to the chairs where his family should be. Gone. They were all gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou,\u201d he said, pointing to the empty seats, \u201cyou didn\u2019t get ready. Ha-haa. I told you… I told you, but you didn\u2019t, did you?\u201d<\/p>\n
The hats he\u2019d made them lay scattered across the table, rocking gently in the candle-scented breeze. Untouched, like always. His gaze moved through the foil shapes, past the half empty wine glasses, over a cling wrapped salad and all the way to the silver top-knob of the pepper-grinder out at the far corner of the table. A white napkin fluttered against it. Waves on the sea against a lonely lighthouse.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaa.\u201d Emptiness hollowed his chest and his arm dropped to his side. \u201cSo what now, what now? I\u2019m all alone again, aren\u2019t I?\u201d<\/p>\n
He clutched himself tight and gnawed at his knuckles. He was used to being lonely, but it was so much worse when he was on his own.<\/p>\n
His eyes darted to a movement under the table–a piece of squirming blue. Sally, in her new blue dress.<\/p>\n
\u201cSally!\u201d<\/p>\n
The plastic tablecloth bunched together as little fingers tried to pull it to the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cSally? What\u2019re you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJason keeps trying to zap me,\u201d she said, voice sinking to a groan.<\/p>\n
Albert eyed the electrifying carpet mat with distrust, but it lay dormant without a child to goad it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, he\u2019s stopped now,\u201d he said. He listened to the evening again. No neighborhood voices, no doors banging, no cars driving by. \u201cIt\u2019s all stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n
He walked over and poked the carpet mat with his toe. No response.<\/p>\n
\u201cUm. It\u2019s okay–you can come out, if you like.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sally\u2019s head appeared between the large wooden chairs, blonde hair rumpled and askew under her tin-foil pirate hat. She dragged herself upright, pulling at her frock to unravel the twists spiraling around her torso. Albert watched her, his mouth twitching in and out of a smile. He liked Sally. She liked his hats.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo where\u2019s Mum and Dad?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cUmm,\u201d he said, voice lifting a little. \u201cBa. Bar-be- No! Next door.\u201d He pointed, keeping his eyes on her. \u201cJim and Lorraine\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh.\u201d She glanced at the tall fence between her and the neighbors\u2019 place and chewed her lip. \u201cOkay, I guess. But when\u2013?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUmmmm.\u201d His voice rose a bit more, along with his pulse. He wasn\u2019t ready for questions–the answers might scare her and then she\u2019d just leave.<\/p>\n
But she sighed and took his fingers, her palm small and warm against his rough old hand. His murmur faded away and his eyebrows inched up, like hopeful, hairy caterpillars.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s okay,\u201d she said, patting his hand, \u201cwe know where they are. We can get them if we need them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The shaggy caterpillars shot skyward and a wordless mutter sputtered through Albert. His body shook and his voice rose higher and higher, like a humming kettle. The edges of his world curled in.<\/p>\n
Sally squeezed his hand tight and dug her little fingernails hard into his palm. She stuck out her tongue, waggled it, and went cross-eyed. <\/p>\n
\u201cHa,\u201d said Albert, and his screwed tight muscles collapsed. \u201cHa-ha! Sally, you\u2019re funny.\u201d<\/p>\n
She clutched his hand in both of her own and grinned.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome on,\u201d she said, pulling him towards the edge of the deck. \u201cI don\u2019t want to go back inside. Jason was being mean. Tell me a story.\u201d
\n
\nAlbert followed, distracted now by a slight buzzing over his left ear–no, his right. No. It was over his whole head. He looked at Sally who\u2019d walked on ahead. Her hat was dancing with sinuous squiggles of blue light.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay, okay, okay,\u201d he said to himself. \u201cThis is it. This is really real.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s real?\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t need a real story, you know.\u201d She stepped up to the edge of the deck and stood tall, to make an announcement. \u201cI think you make up quite good ones.\u201d She waved her hand for emphasis. The queen.<\/p>\n
Albert huffed out a laugh. This was a good sign. A good one. An opportunity, even.<\/p>\n
She plunked herself down at the top of the stairs, which led into the further darkness of the yard. The glow of the candles didn\u2019t reach very far out here.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh I like those made-up stories too,\u201d said Albert as he sat next to her, \u201cbut this is real.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHey!\u201d she said looking at him, face round with a smile. \u201cHey, how\u2019d you do that? Uncle Albert? Your hat\u2019s all full of lightning. It\u2019s all blue and sparkly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYours too,\u201d he said, eyes wide and true, caterpillar eyebrows half-mast and happy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs it?\u201d She reached to take it off.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh no, no, no. You can\u2019t take it off. No, no… Ummm… It breaks the transmission. Or something. Ummm. How about we just sit here and, sort of sparkle-warkle at each other? Hmm?\u201d<\/p>\n
He grinned at her. She nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cLovely,\u201d he said, leaning a bit sideways, the better to see her. \u201cTwo peas in a pod. Two peas. The only two… Umm.\u201d<\/p>\n
A black shape stretched under the silent bug zapper. Nero, the cat.<\/p>\n
\u201cAhhh. Ah-hah! Hold on, hold on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Albert raced over before Nero could leave the apparent safety of the zapper. The cat butted his leg heftily, purring like a hero. Albert tweaked a piece of foil from his pocket and bent down to tuck it around Nero\u2019s collar. Then he leant back, finger on his lips, and studied the effect.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, okay. It\u2019s not on your head, Nero lad, but okay, it\u2019ll do. That\u2019ll keep you safe. Hmmm.\u201d<\/p>\n
He picked up the big floppy cat and carried him back to Sally.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere he is, Sal. Nero–safe and sound.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay,\u201d she said, accepting the placid purring weight into her lap, \u201cso now we\u2019ve got him can I have a story?\u201d A fluffy head bashed into her chin. \u201cOw. Nero!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHmmm. Righto. A story.\u201d<\/p>\n
Albert took two steps down the staircase and sat next to her. He rested his chin on his hand, his elbow on his knee and gazed out over the Brisbane River lapping lazily at the bottom of the garden. The mighty river. Well, mighty it must have been once, before it grew all old and fat and curly. He held his mouth wide and tapped an irregular rhythm on his front teeth with two fingers. The story he told would keep her here or not. He had to give her the truth but not scare her.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlright. So. Once upon a time… Actually, maybe I could work out when. It was before you or I or any of us were here\u2013\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay,\u201d said Sally, \u201cso then, once upon a time…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, okay, I suppose. So. Once upon a time, when the earth was just a land of boiling mud, a little spark of glittering light fell to the ground. Hmmm.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cReally? Where abouts?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUm. Just over here. Where the Graceville Cricket Club is. That used to be a swamp.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYuck!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAh well, swamps are okay. They\u2019re good for losing things in. Like a little ball of light. It fell into the swamp and sank to the bottom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid it go out?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEr, no, it didn\u2019t as it happens. But just listen to the story, hmmm?\u201d<\/p>\n
She sat mute and stared wistfully at him. He waited a moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cRighto. So it plopped on into the swamp with a little splash and slid to the bottom–which wasn\u2019t very far down because it was a swamp–and there it sat and waited. It was a homing device-\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor aliens?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYep, for aliens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sally sighed. \u201cYou know you\u2019re not supposed to tell me the alien stories. They get Mum all riled up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWellll,\u201d said Albert, scrabbling up a thought before going on in a rush, \u201cMum\u2019s not here and this is important tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cO-kaaaay.\u201d She pushed her face against Nero\u2019s flank and her voice came out small. \u201cBut will it give me nightmares?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUm, no. This isn\u2019t a nightmare story.\u201d Albert peeked into her eyes. \u201cReally.\u201d<\/p>\n
She sighed again. \u201cOkay, I guess. But you know I\u2019m telling Mum if I get scared.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAlright,\u201d said Albert, \u201cthat\u2019s alright. That\u2019s alright tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay. So. This homing device. Well, they left it here so they could easily come back and, you know, check on the place. Check on who lives around here every now and then. They started out just seeing microbes and wallabies and stuff. But there\u2019ve been people here for forty thousand years, so now they look at all of us too. Like doing a survey of intelligent life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRight. And every now and then they do come back. The last time was 1984.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s before I was born.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYep, that\u2019s right, but I was here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Albert stared off into the darkness, watching the moon glisten on the river, its shining silver path to them broken in the lapping water. He remembered the last time, how beautiful it was and how lonely. How the colors of the world had grown so sharp, as if they\u2019d been painted on. And it was starting again.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo,\u201d he said, shaking his head to clear it, \u201cthe aliens come back and they… they check how much cleverer we\u2019ve all become. They give everyone a test so they can see what we\u2019ve learned.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sounds boring.\u201d But she stiffened, eyes growing large. \u201cIs that where Mum and Dad are now?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAhhhh. Ah, yep,\u201d said Albert. \u201cThey\u2019ve taken everyone who\u2019s clever to umm, a classroom in the sky to, um, do a test.\u201d His heart ratcheted up. Where had he gone wrong?<\/p>\n
\u201cHold on. So why aren\u2019t we there? I\u2019m clever!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh! Oops! Well yes, we\u2019re both clever. It\u2019s just that we were wearing our hats when they came to get us. They don\u2019t take people in hats. Tin-foil hats. Come to think of it, I\u2019ve no idea why they didn\u2019t take Nero–he wasn\u2019t wearing tin-foil…\u201d Albert\u2019s voice trailed off. He peered at the docile cat, whose purrs rumbled like marbles in a bag. The cat stared back, bug-eyed and vacant.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s okay, he\u2019s got his tin-foil on now. He gets to stay with us.\u201d Albert\u2019s eyes softened as he stroked Nero\u2019s silky black fur.<\/p>\n
But now Sally\u2019s breath was different–shallow and fast. Albert looked up. She stared back at him. Her voice, when it came, picked up speed and altitude.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, um, Uncle Albert? When do we get to go do the test? When do we see Mum and Dad? Uncle Albert? When?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh! It\u2019s okay, we want<\/em> to stay here. Definitely. Absolutely. Mum and Dad will come back, but we want to stay here and see, um, the magic while they\u2019re gone. Sally! It\u2019s like another land when they\u2019re all away. See? Look down there–look at the edge of the water.\u201d<\/p>\n Sally looked. The broken pieces of moonlight had hardened into silvery stepping-stones, bobbing gamely in the river, glinting in large, flat gleams and pinging off each other whenever the curling water tickled them together.<\/p>\n \u201cOh!\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Albert clasped his hands under his chin and gazed at the scene. Then he glanced up behind them.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd look there–look at the candles on the deck.\u201d<\/p>\n The flames had transformed into glowing ribbons of gauze; sparkling organza, rippling light far into the night in a slow arching dance. Sally\u2019s face shone with wonder, her joy visible and bright, about an inch beyond her skin. Albert giggled, his laughter going off like a sparkler, in fizzing stars.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, Sal. You should see your smile–it\u2019s beaming light at me. You\u2019re glowing like the night-light in the hall.\u201d<\/p>\n She giggled back, showering Nero in sparkles of her own. The cat\u2019s eyes grew round and his ears pricked up. He snapped at the sparks, ready to play. They laughed aloud and bright bubbles drifted out over the stairs, hardening one by one until they fell and clattered off into the darkness. Nero stalked after them, fascinated but wary.<\/p>\n \u201cC\u2019mon,\u201d said Sally, pulling herself up by the stair rails, \u201ccan we follow him down? Let\u2019s look in the garden.\u201d<\/p>\n But two steps down she stopped, smile fallen. \u201cMum and Dad–you said they were next door. And everyone else? When do they come home? How long are we going to be all alone for?\u201d<\/p>\n Her hand fluttered towards her hat, which was starting to fall over one eye. Albert\u2019s breath caught. He batted her fingers away and adjusted the headpiece for her.<\/p>\n \u201cOkay, okay. It\u2019s okay. Let\u2019s walk toward the moon-stones on the water. You\u2019ve got to listen to the rest of the story.\u201d His smile became earnest. \u201cIt\u2019s important, Sal. Real important.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAlright. I\u2019ll listen.\u201d<\/p>\n They continued down the stairs which, eager to help, offered each new piece of themselves with a flourish. But the grass was a different matter, detonating itself back from their feet in alarm.<\/p>\n \u201cOkay, Sally. So. Here\u2019s what\u2019s what. The aliens, well, it\u2019s like they just take the ordinary out of the world for a little bit. And once all the ordinary people with their ordinary thoughts have gone for a while, then the real world is ready to reveal herself. And she\u2019s fun, Sal, she\u2019s playful and the people, they do come back, and then everything\u2019s normal again.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut how long does it take them to get here? Don\u2019t they know they\u2019ve been away?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, no. See, when they get back, we\u2019ll all start again. You\u2019ll be under the table hiding from Jason and I\u2019ll be sitting in a chair on the deck. We\u2019ll be back exactly the way we were.\u201d<\/p>\n Sally stopped and turned. She looked at her shocked-grass footprints.<\/p>\n Albert sighed. \u201cHmm, yes. It gets a bit insulted when people walk on it.\u201d He lifted his head and scratched at his stubble, fingers rasping. \u201cIt\u2019s just too polite to say that to the ordinaries.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo you mean this isn\u2019t even real?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, yes, Sal! Yes, yes, yes this is real. This is the realest real of the world you\u2019ll ever see.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut how do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSal, how can you not? Look. Here comes the path of the moon.\u201d<\/p>\n The pontoons of silvery moonlight were spreading from the river\u2019s edge, cobbling up through the grass as solidified puddles of metal.<\/p>\n \u201cCome on, Sal. The moon is perfectly safe. It\u2019s beautiful up close, and not made of cheese after all. It ping-poings its gentle way through the stars, but you can\u2019t hear it from down here…\u201d Albert broke off for a moment, just to look. \u201cThere\u2019s no cow either.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut the aliens… Do they know? Do they know what happens to the world?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUm…\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUncle Albert. What if they take the other people away so they can watch us?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut they can\u2019t. We\u2019ve got our tin-foil, Sal.\u201d<\/p>\n Her eyes widened with quick fear.<\/p>\n \u201cSally. Sal. You can go back, you know. If you want. You can. But you\u2019ll forget all this. You won\u2019t remember, and unless you keep wearing your tin-foil everyday, you might never see it again. Sal. All you have to do is take the tin-foil off. Drop it to the ground. Just let go of it and you\u2019ll forget. You\u2019ll wake up with the rest of them, oblivious. Or babbling of aliens, but only a few do that. The partially awake. But Sal, why don\u2019t you stay here with me? Sal! There\u2019s so much to see, and when we come back we\u2019ll remember it all. Oh Sally, come and share it with me.\u201d<\/p>\n Albert\u2019s caterpillar-shaped eyebrows pulled their plaintive tips together high on his forehead before he dropped his gaze and scuffed his way through the exploding grass to the hardened puddles of moon. He looked back to her again and held out his hand, forlorn. \u201cOh Sal, won\u2019t you come too?\u201d<\/p>\n Her hand rose toward her tin-foil hat, and in that moment Nero streaked by on his way to the river, cat-madness upon him. His motion turned Albert\u2019s head, then his body and then his lurching knees as he gave chase. She stood and watched blank-eyed as they reached the water. Nero dipped his curious paw into the sparkling river, then flicked it to get the wetness off. The droplets left him as tiny plopping fish and swirling dragonflies. The cat was astounded, not knowing what to chase first.<\/p>\n Albert stood on the first pontoon to the moon, hands on his knees, laughing out loud. The moonbeam\u2019s voice pinged darker and deeper under his weight. He turned the searchlight of his joy onto her and lifted up his creased old hand.<\/p>\n \u201cCome on, Sal. There\u2019s nothing else to know.\u201d He shrugged, his arms spread wide. \u201cIn the end it\u2019s just the two of us, wearing our tin-foil hats by the light of the moon.\u201d<\/p>\n Sally looked at him. Then her giggle sparked inside her and her face glowed bright with her slow-spreading smile. And in a flurry of glittering laughter, she jammed her hat on tight and chased after Albert. Without another ordinary thought.<\/p>\n Nero watched them go, his black fur silvered tin-foil by the moon.<\/p>\n Albert sat in his deck chair surrounded by the laughter and chatter of his family. The tablecloth bulged in front of him and Sally crawled out. She gazed at him and patted her tin-foil hat, her mouth in an \u2018O\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, Uncle Albert,\u201d she said, \u201cyour eyes are still all twinkly.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYours too.\u201d<\/p>\n A cat-shaped weight pressed against his legs then jumped up to sit on his lap.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd so are Nero\u2019s,\u201d he said, as the cat purred up at them both.<\/p>\n \u201cNero,\u201d she breathed, reaching forward to scratch his ears.<\/p>\n Nero smooched her hand with his face. Then his pupils widened and his head darted forward to look into the dusk. Their eyes followed his stare to a receding green light.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, that\u2019s that then,\u201d said Albert. \u201cThere they go.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh,\u201d said Sally, fitting her little hand inside one of Albert\u2019s own, \u201cbut they\u2019ll come back, won\u2019t they?\u201d<\/p>\n He glanced at her, smile twitching at how snugly she\u2019d pushed her hat onto her head. \u201cYep, for sure,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019ll be back, and we\u2019ll be ready again.\u201d<\/p>\n He squeezed Sally\u2019s hand and stroked Nero\u2019s fur as together they watched the little green dot step out over the horizon and disappear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Albert sat in his deck chair and watched the small green dot approach his nephew\u2019s house by the banks of the river. The lights had gone out earlier that evening and now the wind was up, the dry air pregnant with static electricity. His nephew\u2019s kids were scrubbing their feet against the acrylic doormat and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105461,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,19643],"tags":[19644],"class_list":["post-131230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","category-tcl-26-winter-2018","tag-the-colored-lens-26-winter-2018","entry entry-center"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/105461"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=131230"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":139452,"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131230\/revisions\/139452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=131230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=131230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=131230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n