Alien Encounter Read online

  Lewis, Red, and I spent the whole rest of the day moving the mattresses around and coming up with new challenges. It was a lot more fun than watching Betty knit.

  Late in the afternoon, we went up to Lewis’s room. It was the first time I was seeing his room, and he wanted to show me the scarf he had made.

  Lewis’s room was fine, except for one thing, and it was Lewis’s favorite new thing, and it was hanging right above his bed. And Lewis wasn’t one bit embarrassed.

  Alien Hunters

  The next morning before Mom could stop me, I had Dad drive me over to Lewis’s house. I didn’t say anything about the alien hunters. Dad would have been excited about them, but he would have also told Mom. And if Mom knew I was talking to strangers, she’d have me back home, stuck in the house, in no time. Instead I told Dad about the mattresses.

  “I was wondering why you wanted to get over there so fast,” he said. “I wouldn’t tell your mom about the flipping though. You know how she worries.” I nodded. I could already imagine what Mom would make me wear if she knew I was jumping off a shed.

  As soon as we got to Lewis’s house, I jumped out of the car and ran to the front door.

  “Have fun!” shouted Dad. I waved back. Maybe he wasn’t so uncool after all. At least he didn’t say be careful.

  I knocked and waited for someone to let me in. When Lewis opened the door, I asked about the hunters.

  “Are they here yet?”

  Lewis shook his head. “Not yet, but when they get here, I’m definitely going to tell them about the tortilla chips.” He nodded to himself. “That’s going to help catch it.”

  “Do you think they’ll want to go to the tree?” I asked.

  Lewis nodded. “Definitely! To find clues and stuff. It’s a good thing you put those sticks around it. It’s almost like we were ready for it to happen.”

  I sighed. It was good Betty wasn’t around because I knew exactly what she would have said.

  I was disappointed when Dad showed up at five-thirty. He was a whole half hour early, and Lewis and I were still waiting for the alien hunters. Now I was going to miss them.

  “Bummer,” said Lewis. He understood! The unloading of all the cool supplies was the best part. Plus I wanted to be there to help Lewis tell the story.

  I begged Dad to let me stay longer, but he said no, Mom had dinner on the table, and she’d made it special for me.

  “You’ll get over it,” Dad said. “You can come back and jump on those mattresses tomorrow.” For a second I was tempted to tell him about the alien hunters, but I didn’t. If I did, there’d be no tomorrow.

  I waved to Lewis and followed Dad to the car. It helped only a little that we were having lasagna.

  New Things

  When I got home, the smell of dinner changed my mood. Two minutes ago, I wasn’t hungry, but now I was starving. Mom and Betty were already sitting at the table waiting for us.

  “There’s a letter for you on the counter,” said Mom. “It came a few days ago, but in all the excitement I forgot about it. You can look at it after dinner.”

  Normally I’d want to rip the letter open right away, but my brain was thinking about other things. It’s pretty hard to think about regular stuff when you’re thinking about aliens.

  Betty was happy about something too. She was in a great mood.

  “Guess what,” she said.

  “I give up,” said Dad. He hates guessing games.

  “I almost finished my sweater. All I have to do is put it together.”

  “That’s great,” said Dad, but I could tell he didn’t really care. Why would he? The sweater was ugly, and on top of that, it was for someone who didn’t even exist. I wondered if he was worried that Betty might give it to him for his birthday in two weeks. If she did, then he’d have to wear it to prove how much he liked it and loved Betty. Poor Dad. I looked up. He was scratching his neck, probably thinking about it being itchy. It looked itchy. Really itchy! Like maybe the itchiest sweater ever made.

  The Letter

  After dinner, I went to my room. Mom was helping Betty put her sweater together on the kitchen table, and I didn’t want to be near it. It looked like a dead thing.

  I pulled out some of Dad’s alien books and started going through them. When I talked to the alien hunters, I wanted to impress them. I needed some big words. I was just memorizing interstellar when Betty burst into the room.

  “You forgot your letter,” she said. She threw it onto the bed. “Maybe it’s a love letter?” she teased. “Or maybe it’s from the alien—an alien love letter!”

  Part of me wanted to be mad at her for teasing me, but the picture in my brain made me laugh instead.

  “A letter from an alien would be cool,” I said.

  “Yeah, you’re right,” said Betty. “But don’t get your hopes up. It’s probably just a birthday invitation.”

  I picked up the letter and shook it. There was something heavy inside.

  “BETTY!” It was Mom calling from downstairs.

  “I’m coming!” yelled Betty, and she ran out of the room.

  I shook the letter a couple more times, and then gave up guessing and ripped it open. A key dropped out onto the floor. I pulled a folded piece of paper out of the envelope and read it. After reading it three more times, I was still confused. There were only two possibilities; either Lewis and I were in big trouble or we were in the middle of some kind of mystery.

  Dear Morgan and Lewis,

  Please use the enclosed key to open my side garage door. Please come at 2 p.m. on Friday. Do not let anyone follow you. I have answers about the alien.

  Your friend,

  Mr. Lee

  Falling asleep is not easy when you have a mystery in your brain and a key in your hand.

  The Next Morning

  The first thing I did when I woke up was to make a note for Mom and Dad. I’d seen people do stuff like that on TV. If there was trouble, I wanted Mom and Dad to know where I was. Mr. Lee wasn’t dangerous—our whole family knew him—but still it was better to be careful. Plus the whole key thing was kind of mysterious.

  It was like when you hear spooky music in a movie—it made me feel uneasy.

  Dear Mom and Dad,

  If I am missing, go to Mr. Lee’s garage to find me. I’ll be there at 2 p.m. on Friday. It has something to do with the alien. Don’t worry. But if it’s past 5 p.m., then maybe you should worry. And if you call the police, don’t call Officer Gary.

  Love,

  Morgan

  I put my note under my pillow and shoved Mr. Lee’s note and the key into my pocket. Dad was downstairs waiting for me.

  “I thought you’d be up earlier,” he said. He handed me a granola bar, and I followed him out to the car. “Lewis called at eight-thirty this morning. What’s going on? You boys have big plans for the day?”

  “Not so much,” I said. “Mostly jumping on the mattresses and stuff.”

  For the whole trip to Lewis’s, Dad kept clearing his throat like he was going to say something. We were almost there before he finally spoke.

  “I don’t want you to feel bad about this whole alien business,” he said. “If anyone teases you, I want you to come talk to me. I know it’s not easy. Sometimes these kinds of things take time to resolve.” He sighed. “And other times, they just stay a mystery.” He seemed sad. He thought it was over, but it wasn’t. It was hard not to say anything about the alien hunters or Mr. Lee, but I couldn’t.

  Instead I said, “Don’t worry, Dad. It’s OK. I bet someone will find out something soon.”

  For the rest of the ride, I forced myself to be quiet, but it wasn’t easy. I had to grind my teeth so I wouldn’t talk about it.

  When we finally got to the motel, I jumped out of the car and ran straight to the clubhouse.

  Nobody was outside, so I climbed up the boxes and peeked in the window. Lewis and Red were sitting at the far side of the room with their backs to the window. I smiled. They were in a perfect po
sition for a surprise attack. I got myself ready and then jumped.

  “YYAAHHHH!!” I yelled as loud as I could. I’m sure they were scared, but I couldn’t tell because I was rolling around in the pillows in pain. A cannonball is a great idea for water, but not such a great idea when you are landing in pillows.

  Lewis jumped up and ran over to me. “What did you do that for?” he shouted.

  “Don’t yell at him! He’s hurt,” said Red.

  “I’m fine,” I whimpered. I rolled around some more until the pain dulled and finally went away.

  “I wish I’d seen that,” said Red.

  “Me too,” said Lewis, but he still looked kind of mad.

  Lewis put his hands on his waist and looked serious. “We’ve got some things to talk about.”

  “The alien hunters are bozos,” interrupted Red.

  Lewis glared at him. “Why do you always do that? Just when I’m about to say something, you jump in and say it first!” Red looked at the ground.

  Lewis scowled. “That’s not good enough. Get us some snacks, and then maybe I’ll forgive you.”

  Red nodded, dropped to all fours, and disappeared out the dog door.

  Lewis watched him go, and then looked back at me. “The alien hunters are bozos,” he said.

  For the next five minutes, Lewis told me all about the alien hunters. It was easy to see why he was grumpy. I would have been too, but I had a key and a note in my pocket, and that changed everything.

  The Mystery

  It didn’t take long to tell Lewis about Mr. Lee, the note, and the key. It was a relief to finally tell someone. There were a lot of strange things about it, and even though we tried, Lewis and I couldn’t figure them out.

  The Strange Things

  How did Mr. Lee know about the alien before it was even in the paper? His letter had come two days ago. He’d sent it the day it happened.

  • Why did we have to sneak into his garage with a key?

  • Why was he worried about us being followed?

  • What was he going to tell us?

  “I’m back!” shouted Red. He jumped down and landed in front of us. “Here,” he said. He held out a bag of strange-looking blobs. “They’re muffins. Sage made them.”

  “Try one,” said Lewis. He made a face. “See, I told you—seeds.” He pointed to the lumps.

  “No thanks,” I said. I took a step back.

  “They look weird, but they taste OK,” said Red. He picked one up and bit into it.

  I waved my hand in front of me. “No thanks. I would, but I ate right before I came over. Seriously, I’m not hungry.”

  “I don’t blame you,” said Lewis. “If I were you, I wouldn’t eat one either.” He grabbed a muffin and took a bite.

  I was confused. “How come you’re eating it then?”

  Lewis mumbled something, but his mouth was full, so it was hard to understand. It sounded like “I’m not you.”

  We spent the whole rest of the morning in the clubhouse. Lewis didn’t want to go outside in case the alien hunters were there. That was OK with me. Mostly I was glad that I hadn’t studied a bunch of big, impressive words for nothing.

  “Do you think Mr. Lee is an alien hunter? But a secret one, so no one knows about it?” Lewis asked. I could tell he was thinking about getting on TV again.

  “Maybe,” I said, but it was hard to imagine. Mr. Lee had a cane and walked pretty slow. I wondered what kind of alien he’d be able to catch.

  Finally it was time to go to meet Mr. Lee. Lewis called Red over and told him that he had to help us by keeping a big secret.

  “If Sage asks where we are, tell her we went to do alien research, but don’t say it was at the library.”

  Red nodded.

  “Do you promise?” asked Lewis. He made Red hold his hand over his heart.

  “OK,” said Red. “I promise.” He seemed happy to have a secret to keep.

  Lewis and I left him in the clubhouse and snuck around the front of the motel.

  “Why did you tell him not to say the library?” I asked.

  “Because he can’t keep a secret,” said Lewis. “So if anyone asks him, he’ll say the library. It’s perfect. Who gets in trouble for going to the library?”

  “Genius!” I said, and it was, but at the same time I could think of one person who’d get in trouble. It wasn’t a good thought.

  There were only two ways back to my street and Mr. Lee’s house—the main road or the path through the woods. Lewis and I both picked the road. There was a greater chance of us being seen, but if we got caught, we wanted it to be by our parents, not the alien.

  We tried to be fast, but we got to Mr. Lee’s house five minutes late.

  “We should have left earlier,” I said.

  Lewis looked at his watch and changed the time to two o’clock. “Now we’re perfect,” he said.

  I pulled the key out of my pocket and held it up.

  Lewis seemed a little nervous. “Why can’t we just knock on the door?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe he’s busy.”

  “Or maybe he’s tied up and can’t come to the door,” said Lewis. “I think we should take some weapons just in case.”

  I nodded. That was a good idea. We looked around the yard, but there wasn’t much to choose from.

  “Here,” said Lewis. He handed me a tiny shovel. “If someone attacks us, hit their nose, and then I’ll trip them with this rake.” It was nice that Lewis had the attack all planned out, but I would have felt better with the rake.

  Mr. Lee’s Garage

  I didn’t feel ready, but there was nothing else to do except go forward. I put the key into the lock and turned it. It clicked open.

  “This feels like a movie,” I said.

  “Except it’s not,” whispered Lewis. “It’s real, and who knows what’s on the other side of that door.”

  We held our weapons out in front of us and slowly pushed the door open. It was dark inside, and it took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust. There was a light on, but it was near the back of the garage. Slowly, I took a step forward. Lewis bumped into me from behind.

  “Stop pushing!” I hissed.

  “Well, I can’t see anything. You’re in the way,” he complained.

  I took a step to the right so Lewis could stand next to me. Now I could see better. I looked around.

  “It’s messy!” I whispered. There were chairs and tables and junk piled everywhere.

  “What is all this stuff for?” asked Lewis.

  “Mr. Lee fixes furniture,” I whispered.

  “Well, he’s got a lot of fixing to do,” said Lewis. “This place is a disaster.”

  Just then, something moved behind us. A second later, the door slammed shut, and the garage was flooded with light.

  “AAAHHH!!” I covered my eyes. It was a blinding brightness.

  “What the…!” shouted Lewis, but a voice interrupted him.

  “What are you doing with my wife’s tools? I didn’t ask you here to garden.” It was Mr. Lee’s voice.

  I moved my hands from my face, and dropped the shovel. Mr. Lee moved his head back and forth, studying us.

  “Hi, Mr. Lee.” I waved. It was a dumb thing to do, but I was nervous.

  “So, you must be Lewis,” said Mr. Lee. He stared at Lewis. Lewis nodded and handed him the rake. “Well, you look smart. Are you smart?”

  I didn’t know if this was a test or not, so when Lewis nodded, I nodded too.

  Mr. Lee flashed me a smile, took a step forward, and said, “Follow me and don’t touch anything.” He leaned the rake next to a chair and headed toward the back of the garage. There was a tiny cleared pathway. We followed.

  “I’m not scared,” whispered Lewis. “Are you?”

  “No,” I answered, but it was a lie, because even though I knew Mr. Lee, I was still feeling nervous. It was the kind of nervous that made me wish I still had the shovel.

  When Mr. Lee got to the back of the
garage, he pushed some of the shelves to the side and disappeared behind them. There was something different about him. It took me a few seconds of thinking to figure it out, but then I got it. It was his walk. His limp was gone, and he wasn’t using his cane. I wanted to ask him about it, but he stayed behind the shelves and didn’t come back out. Was he looking for something? Lewis and I waited, not saying anything. It seemed like forever.

  “Boys! Come!” It was Mr. Lee’s voice, but he sounded far away, not like he was just behind the shelves.

  “Where’d he go?” asked Lewis.

  I shrugged and made a guess. “Outside? Maybe he’s got a dog door like you do?”

  Lewis and I walked around the shelves to see, but instead of a dog door, there was a skinny set of stairs leading straight underground. Lewis pushed past me.

  “Cool! Come on,” he said.

  I saw Lewis disappear into the dark, and then slowly I followed him down.

  The Surprise at the Bottom of the Stairs

  I was expecting the space under the garage to be dark and dirty, kind of like a cellar, and I was right—it was. Now I was definitely scared. This was the kind of place where farmers kept their root vegetables or killers murdered people. Could someone who gave you popcorn every year be a killer? I hoped not.

  Lewis was in front of me, so it was hard to see. I squeezed in beside him. Now that I could see everything, it didn’t look so bad. We were standing in some kind of small workroom. There were stacks of chairs in one corner and wood piled high in another. Straight in front of us was a large workbench.

  “This is where I fix my furniture,” said Mr. Lee.

  “Oh,” said Lewis. There wasn’t much else to say, so I nodded.

  This wasn’t turning out to be as dangerous as I thought it would. What did any of this have to do with the alien? Maybe nothing. Maybe Mr. Lee was crazy. I studied him, but I couldn’t tell. He looked the same as he always did, but then I remembered the cane.