-Written By Robert Lewis
(Reading Time: 28 min Approx)
The Adventure Begins…
Have you ever had an adventure that was so incredible, but you couldn’t tell anyone because you knew they would think you lost your mind?
I did one time when I was fifteen. I lived on fifty acres of land with my parents. Ten acres was cleared farm land, but the rest was heavily wooded. I used to love going for walks back through the woods, taking a different path every time, to explore the entire property.
One Sunday morning I went out early right after breakfast and started my hike just as I had done hundreds of times before. I had been walking for close to an hour through dense brush, when I came to a strange clearing. It was about ten feet in diameter, and there was no growth at all. The ground was bare dirt and in no way looked natural.
In the centre of the clearing, something was sticking up out of the soil. It appeared to be metal, it was shiny and square in shape. Curious as I was I had to explore a little closer to see what it was. I bent down and started to clear the dirt away around it and dig it up out of the ground. As I pulled it up from the dirt and wiped it clean, I could see strange looking symbols all over it. It was about eight inches long and tubular in shape. While I was examining it a voice from behind me said, “no, put that down.”
I turned to look, but there was nobody there. Startled, I followed the order and put it down. “Who’s there,” I demanded. “Show yourself.” From out of the thick brush a voice answered back, “promise not to scream and freak out if I come out?” I said, “I don’t know, usually on movies when they say that there is a good reason to scream and freak out.” “I’m coming out, I mean no harm I assure you.”
I saw movement in the brush coming closer to me, and just as chameleon changes colour, a figure appeared in front of me. It looked like a deformed human, but no human I ever saw could camouflage itself like that. The figure said, “I am Trevor, who are you?” I stuttered with nerves, “I’m Jeffrey.” “Who are you Trevor, what are you?” “Jeffrey, I know this is going to be hard for you to understand, but I am not from this planet.” “I come from Mars, and you could say I am on an expedition to learn about human culture.” “Seriously?” “I wouldn’t lie to you Jeffrey, and I hope you will extend the same courtesy.”
“Jeffrey, can you teach me about your species?” “Like, what do you want to know?” “Everything.” “That could take a long time.” “Before I answer any of your questions, you tell me, what is this thing I dug up?” “Well, think of it like what you humans call a smart phone.” “How fast can you teach me something Jeffrey?” “Well, what is of most importance for you to know?” “Why do humans kill other humans?”
“There are many reasons, some good and some bad. Some people are just mean and cruel and have no regard for life, so they kill others for various reasons, some to take out their anger, some for the feel of power, everyone has their own reason.” “Sometimes it’s okay though, like if you are protecting your family or property from bad people.” “So, since you were taking my property, it would be okay to kill you?” “No!”
“I know Jeffrey, just messing with you.” “I don’t have much time to learn today, my ride will be here soon, but will you start meeting me here every Sunday morning and teach me more?” “I guess I can do that, will you teach me about your species too?” “I’ll try Jeffrey, we are a much more complicated people than humans.” I handed him back his smart phone as he called it. He touched a series of the symbols and in less than five minutes there was a strong wind around us. I looked to the sky but saw nothing, and it was only the trees around the clearing that were blowing in the wind.
Trevor said, “that’s my ride Jeffrey, don’t forget next Sunday; don’t be late.” Suddenly he disappeared into thin air and I couldn’t see him anymore. Then, the wind picked up and hear a whoosh, and all was calm again. I started the walk back home breaking branches every so far to mark my trail to the clearing. Part of me was excited while part of me was in shock at what just happened. Do I tell my parents, or call the police maybe? They surely would never believe such a story, and I had nothing to prove it. Even if I showed them the clearing, they would blame it on me.
I decided to keep this secret between Trevor and myself. If he really wanted to hurt me, he could have. He seemed friendly enough and has a sense of humor. It was starting to sink in how huge this was, and I couldn’t wait until Sunday to see if he would really come back. I thought I would gather some magazines to take with me for him to read about how we live. I had a million questions running through my mind and decided I better write them down, so I didn’t forget when face to face with him.
That night I laid awake thinking about Mars and wondered what it must be like to be an alien living there. I hope I get to find out someday.
The Adventure Continues…
I had many restless nights this week, and here we are Saturday evening. Tomorrow is the big day, and I must admit, as excited as I am, I’m also very nervous. I had prepared my backpack with some old magazines we had laying around, and my list of questions for Trevor. I don’t know what time I finally fell asleep, but my eyes popped open as soon as the sun started to peek into my bedroom window.
Mom had fixed her usual big Sunday breakfast. I waited until mom and dad weren’t looking and I swiped a couple biscuits and shoved into my pocket. Mom turned to clear the table while dad was reading the Sunday morning paper, and she said, “my, someone was quite hungry this morning.” I said, “it was so good, I just couldn’t help myself.” “Well, mom, dad I’m off to go exploring.” Dad said, “be careful but have fun Jeffrey.”
As soon as I was out of eye-shot of the house, I took off running the rest of the way. I wanted to get there before Trevor in hopes I would see him arrive. I couldn’t help but wonder what his spaceship looked like. When I made it to the clearing, I called out, “Trevor, are you here yet?” There was no answer, so I sat down with my back against a big Oak tree. A few minutes had passed when the wind suddenly picked up and the trees were starting to sway. It only lasted about thirty seconds and then there was that whoosh sound, and all was calm again.
“Trevor are you there?” There was no answer, just complete silence. I started to feel a little discouraged like he wasn’t coming, when I noticed the zipper on my backpack slowly opening, and I wasn’t touching it. “Trevor are you serious right now?” When he appeared, he was laughing hysterically. “Gotcha,” he boasted. “What is with the invisibility, how do you do that?” “It’s in our DNA, we’re hatched with it.” “Hatched? You mean born?” “No, we are hatched from eggs, our females usually lay three to five eggs, and it takes eight weeks to hatch.”
He asked, “so, what are you going to teach me today?” “I brought some magazines for you to read, I thought you could gain a lot of knowledge that way.” I handed them to him, and he flipped through them so fast, I wondered how he even seen anything. “I have some questions,” he asked. “What is this secret that Victoria is keeping, and can I really get a set of Billet valve covers for a hundred dollars?” I was laughing so hard I couldn’t even answer him, not that I knew how to answer those questions. “I don’t know what Victoria’s secret is, but yes you can get Billet valve covers for a hundred dollars.” “Cool, what are valve covers?”
I said, “let’s move on to something else.” “What do Martians eat?” “We gather nutrients and energy from our soil, sort of like Earth Worms on your planet.” “Well I brought you a couple of biscuits, would you like to try them?” His expression turned happy and he said, “most definitely I would.” He nibbled slowly at first, pausing to smile, and in one big bite shoved the whole biscuit in his mouth.
I told Trevor, “I have to be honest, this is really fun, I don’t have any friends and now it feels like I have one.” He smiled again and said, “I think of you as a friend too, that’s why I agreed to keep coming back.” “My people are very cautious around humans, because they tend to panic, that’s why we use our ability to go invisible.” “What about your spaceship, it’s invisible too?” “Yes, it is powered off our energy, so we can make it invisible too.” He reached out for my hand and said, “give me your hand, don’t be scared.” I did, and he said, “look at your other hand or the rest of your body.”
I couldn’t see it, he had made me invisible too. “This is amazing Trevor, the things we could do and see with this ability.” Trevor said, “I’m sorry, I don’t have much more time today, can we meet again next Sunday, same time same place?” “Sure, wouldn’t miss it for the world.” “Trevor, do you think I could see your spaceship?” “I don’t know Jeffrey, I would have to talk to the others and convince them you are okay.” “Please try, I’m so curious what it looks like.” “I’ll do my best, but no promises.”
He pulled out the shiny metal device and pressed a series of the symbols just as he had before. “Trevor, what does your people call that device?” “Well, translated in your language, I believe it would be called a personal communicator.” While we were saying our goodbyes, the wind picked up above us again. Trevor said, “that’s my ride home, see you next week Jeffrey.” “Next week Trevor.” With a whoosh all was calm again, and I started to make my way back home. Half way home I realized, I had been so excited I forgot to ask all the questions on my list. Some of them were answered, but there was still so much I didn’t know.
Back at home I was trying to think of things to show him next Sunday. It’s hard to teach things that are natural to you, but I must try, I don’t want him to stop coming. I wondered why he could only stay for a little bit at a time. If we had more time we could go and do something and see things. This past week went so slow waiting for today, I hope it’s not as bad waiting for next Sunday. I wonder what Trevor will have to teach me.
The Surprise Ride…
It’s been a week since my last encounter with Trevor, and I’m looking forward to our visit today after breakfast. This morning was just like every other Sunday morning. Mom made her famous Sunday breakfast, and dad had his nose buried in the Sunday paper. I swiped a couple biscuits for Trevor. Mom said, “you have been eating a lot lately, and you don’t gain a pound.” “Must be all my walking through the woods mom.” She agreed and didn’t say anymore.
As I arrived to the clearing this morning, I remembered Trevor saying he would try to get them to let me see the ship, I could only hope. My curiosity was very high, but they seem to be so secretive. I guess I really can’t blame them. I was only there for a few seconds, when the wind picked up and the trees started to sway. I looked up eager to get a glimpse of the ship, but again I could see nothing. After what seemed like a minute but only a few seconds, Trevor appeared.
I said, “I guess they wouldn’t go for letting me see the ship huh?” He smiled and said, “I got one even better for you, want to take a ride?” “Seriously?” Trevor said, “this is the first time in history that any human has ever boarded one of our ships, take my hand.” I reached for his tiny hand, and almost in an instant we were swept upward. I felt as if we were floating on a cloud and could see the ground below us getting farther away. The strong wind made me close my eyes for a second, but when I reopened them I was inside the ship.
The walls and structure of the ship was made of grey walls and there were port style windows all the way around it. The oval shaped room was very bare, I didn’t see any controls or anything that indicated this is how you operated this machine. There were about fifteen other aliens besides Trevor and they all looked almost the same. Their skin is grey in colour and almost leathery. Trevor’s hand felt like dry leather. Most were very short, no taller than about four foot tall. Trevor was one of the taller ones almost five feet tall.
Their facial features varied and was the easiest way to tell them apart. They all stared at me as if I were some magnificent discovery. I guess it was the same way I was staring at them. Trevor showed me around and introduced me to each one of the other aliens. They were all friendly and eager to know more about earth and its people, but I was too engulfed in exploring this amazing ship. Trevor took me to a window to look out. I felt like we had been hovering the whole time, there was no vibration, no movement at all.
When I looked out the window I could see we were somewhere in the Stratosphere and looking down on earth was the most beautiful sight I had ever laid my eyes on. The blues of the ocean and horizon made it hard to tell where the earth ends, and heavens began. I asked Trevor, “how is the ship controlled?” He said, “think of it like voice command for your smart phone, only instead of voice, we use our minds.” “We have strong telekinetic abilities.” “So, there is no way a human could ever fly one of your ships?” “Not necessarily, humans have the ability to use telekinesis as well, but most don’t know they can or how to harness it.”
I was in total amazement, never in my wildest imagination, could I have ever dreamed I would be riding in an alien ship with 16 aliens. I couldn’t get over their appearance though. I noticed they don’t wear clothes and don’t seem to have genitals like humans do. This made me very curious, but I felt this was a question for Trevor when we are alone. “I almost forgot Trevor, I have some more biscuits for you.” I reached into my backpack and pulled out two biscuits wrapped in a paper towel.
He broke them into pieces and shared with all his buddies. They seemed to enjoy them very much. As they were finishing up Trevor said, “well, I guess our ride is over now time to go back to the ground.” I looked out the port window again and we were back hovering over the clearing in the woods. Trevor said, “Jeffrey you might want to close your eyes, so the wind doesn’t blow dirt in them, and when we get to the ground I have another surprise for you.”
I did as he said and as I felt my feet hit the ground I opened my eyes again. Trevor said, “when I go back up to the ship, watch as we take off.” “See you next Sunday Jeffrey.” Up he went into the sky again, disappearing before my very eyes. I did as he said and looked to the sky. From nowhere the ship came into view. There were swirling lights all around it that were clearly visible even in the daylight. The ship raised up slowly gaining a little altitude, and just like that, there was the swooshing sound as it darted off into the sky. I stared in amazement and after a minute realized my mouth was hanging open.
I had such an amazing story to tell and couldn’t tell anyone. Nobody would believe me anyway. When I got back to the house I went in my room and got out my journal and wrote about what I had saw. It was too amazing not to make a record of it. I wasn’t sure what to do, but next Sunday I need to do something extraordinary to repay him for the gift he gave me.
