Ch. 3
We got up early the next morning, hoping to make it down to breakfast before everyone else. We were unsuccessful. The place was packed and the first thing I heard was talk of software. I told my dad I was going catch a few more Z’s and caught the elevator before it closed. I promised I’d be back before breakfast ended, though I really didn’t care as long as I didn’t have to hear anymore computer talk. I tried to get back to sleep but could not; my mind had latched onto the strange light of the night before and would not let up. It couldn’t be the same thing, could it? If I recall the first thing did not emit any light. The only thing that could connect them was the noise, a low humming that sounded like it could belong to anything electrical, so it really could have been anything. And besides, I was one hundred miles away from where I heard the sound the first time.
Feeling a little unnerved I turned on the television, hoping to find a news story on strange lights. The local channels all were talking about the convention. I didn’t realize it was anything that could get news attention, but I guess in a small town like that one it was a big deal. I saw myself in one of the wide shots of the crowd; I was easy to notice since I was standing next to my dad and his coworkers who were all wearing their bright yellow. Having not seen anything about the light I went back downstairs for breakfast.
That day was worse than the one before. My dad stood around all day expecting a phone call from the boss of his boss, the man who was to tell them what to buy. Once again I was in the hall near the fountain, waiting for something to happen. The ideas I had had at home about something exciting happening returned. I sat there in that spot for several hours just thinking about things that were way more interesting than what I was doing. And for the first time I asked myself why my dad would ever want me to come with him. Sure it was fun to get out for a weekend, but what was the point? I could be just as bored at home, and at least there I could wander around the block and not fear getting lost.
When I ran out of money for snacks, all the ones we brought were back at the hotel, I went into the main room to find my dad and ask for more money. I found him playing the same video game demos I had been playing the day before, evidently even he got bored. He didn’t notice me at first, too busy blowing up a spider army, so I waited until he was finished and then asked.
“Well actually we are done for the day. The boss decided that nothing here was worth our time, he told us to leave.”
“When did he say that? I’ve been in the hall for hours.”
“Is that where you were? I figured you would be around here somewhere so I waited until you returned.”
I was annoyed, but also relieved that we could finally go. “So is this it, can we go now?”
“Yep.” He thanked the guy at the video game booth and we headed for the exit.
Once back at the hotel we loaded up the car with the few bags we brought and headed home. The trip back was better than the trip there, even if I knew I had school the next day. After some time I asked what had been on my mind since the day before.
“Can you finally tell me what was in that bag yesterday; you know the one you gave to your boss.”
There was a pause; at first I wasn’t sure if he had heard the question. He just stared out the window at the cornfields we passed. “Do you remember that night we went stargazing?”
“Yes.”
“Well, after you got in the car I saw something on the ground, and so I picked it up.”
This was not exactly the mysterious answer I had been waiting for. I had imagined that he had built some new kind of microwave in the basement, or even that a divine inspiration gave him blueprints to a new engine. “That’s it? You found something on the ground so you gave it to your boss, what exactly was it?”
“Again, I don’t know, but it seemed important.”
“Can you tell me what it looks like?”
“Yes, I have a picture.” He rummaged through his shirt pocket for the picture, pulling out pens and business cards before finally finding it. “Here it is I made copies so I sent one to Mr. Lewis, he liked the look of it so much he came to get it in person. He is the head of the research and development part of the business, and he found it just as interesting as I did.”
I took the picture. All I saw was a white rectangular object, perhaps a box. What looked like a chord of some kind was poking out of the side, probably where it connected to something. It was dingy looking and had several dents on it. But despite its plainness, I felt eager just looking at it. As if all my wishes for excitement just came true with this piece of whatever it was.
“Wow,” I said, unable to hold back the energy I was now feeling towards the picture, “this is something else, you might be able to figure out what it does.”
“That’s what I was thinking. Wouldn’t it be great if I could?”
“Definitely.”
I gave him back the picture, it took several minutes, but after a while the feelings the picture conjured went away, and I was left with a strange sensation I could not quite place. It was as if I had had something pulled out of me, and was feeling the after effects. That’s the only way I could think to describe it at the time.
We stopped for dinner at around five at a burger joint we found. The food was alright, nothing special, and then we were off again. The next twenty miles or so was desolate; the highway that led to bigger cities cut across the road somewhere behind us, and with it the lights. I liked it dark; when I was little I always imagined creatures could be standing just off the road. It gave me chills, and I would sink down in my seat with just my eyes above the bottom edge of the window, feeling safe that the creatures couldn’t get to me.
Finally lights could be seen ahead. I couldn’t wait to get home, with my bed awaiting. Just as I was imagining how the blankets would feel something caught my attention. My dad was grumbling under his breath. I looked over and saw the speedometer shooting up and down, even though we were going at a pretty constant speed.
“It’s probably broken.” My dad sighed; he hated fixing cars and hated paying to have them fixed even more.
Right after I concluded that everything was all right with the speedometer the whole dashboard started acting up. All the little lights flashed on and off, including the turn signals. Then the headlights started flashing and went off, limiting our view of the road. I sat up straight, telling myself that nothing serious was happening, but it was hard with all the evidence against me.
“This whole thing is busted.” My dad groaned.
I couldn’t agree more. He pulled over as far as he could; a large ditch was directly off the road. After turning off the ignition he got out and opened the hood. I waited behind, opening my door a little for some air. We sat there for some time, my dad only liked cars when they worked and wanted nothing to do with broken ones, so I doubted he had any idea what he was looking for. Apart from his occasional mumbling we sat there in silence, which I suddenly noticed to be odd. We had been on that road many times to stargaze, almost in that exact same spot on the other side of the road where there wasn’t a ditch, and I remembered hearing many bugs. But now, there was nothing, not even the wind dared disturb the stillness. And then it was over, the silence that is, shattered by a now all too familiar noise, a low humming. It came all of the sudden, as if turned on by a great switch somewhere. And worst of all it was growing louder. I jumped out of the car and almost fell into the ditch.
“Do you hear that?”
He looked up from his search of the engine. “Yes, what is that, a plane?”
“I don’t think so; I think we need to get out of here.” I didn’t even bother to hide the desperation in my voice.
“I’m sure it’s nothing.”
“No, the car freaking out, the noise, this isn’t good. It’s getting louder lets go.”
“Look, I need to find out what happened, if we don’t have the lights we can’t get home.”
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At that moment the car revved to life, erasing all doubt that something strange was happening. He closed the hood and ran around to the driver’s side, yanking open the door. I followed suit but the passenger’s door didn’t open. “Unlock the door!”
“I can’t.” he yelled.
The car lurched forward.
“Where are you going?”
“I can’t control it.”
Something hit the gas and the car took off down the road, I could see my dad wrestling with the door from the inside to get out, but it was no good. I ran after it, completely baffled, I don’t even remember starting to run; I only remember sprinting down the road after the car that was going faster every second. And then I remembered the humming. It was louder than ever and coming from somewhere behind me. All around lights swept over me, reflecting strange patterns and sequences on the pavement.
I was falling, having tripped over something or myself, I don’t recall. I hit the ground hard, scraping my arm. It stung, but I didn’t think to care at the moment. The lights grew brighter and the humming strengthened its pitch until it was unbearable. I turned over on the road but could hardly see anything. The bright lights were blinding, the noise deafening. And then, right as I was giving up to the possibilities that would surely follow, everything went black.