The Home Court Advantage
Page 51
“What is that?” Cam asked, squinting.
“It looks like it’s just hovering over the trees,” I said.
“Wait, it’s moving!” Braden joined in.
“It looks kind of like a cigar-shaped object,” Lily said, sounding awed.
“How in the hell can you tell at this distance, Agent Mulder?” Adam asked derisively.
“Because I can!” she retorted and splashed him. As Braden mentioned, the object had begun to move and then suddenly it seemed to dart off and soon it was out of sight.
“Whoa. That was wild!” Cam said excitedly.
“You don’t think it was …” Jess said, not finishing that thought.
“Well what was it then? A weather balloon?” Lily asked. Lily had been taking notes during the afternoon lecture about Roswell. She wanted to believe.
“It could have been a lot of things. Willow Grove army air force base is somewhere around here. Maybe it was something they’re testing,” Adam said.
“Or chasing,” Cam muttered. “You know, after those lectures …”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “It was probably some kind of plane or helicopter though.”
“Yeah!” Adam seconded. “That’s all it was.” Cam started whistling the X-Files theme and we all laughed nervously.
“Did it look like it was trying to land?” Jess asked, sounding rather apprehensive.
“We’re in the middle of the woods,” Braden reminded her.
“It supposedly landed here before,” Lily pointed out. “They must be pretty good drivers if they made it here from another planet.”
“Yeah, but landing in the woods would be harder than parallel parking in Center City on Saturday night,” I threw in.
“Maybe they have autopilot,” Cam suggested. “They must have kick-ass GPS.”
“Maybe we can ask the little green men if they saw your stalker,” Adam said.
“Gray, they’re gray,” Lily corrected. “Weren’t you listening this afternoon?”
“You seem to know an awful lot about this. I’m starting to think that you’ve been anally probed,” Adam said with a suggestive smile.
“It’s interesting!” she replied, giving him a fierce look. Adam’s sarcastic expression melted and for one second I saw a much softer humor underneath it. I started to suspect that he liked pushing her buttons sometimes because he thought she was cute when she got mad. He actually shifted a little closer to her under the pretense of getting a better view of where the object had been.
Just then I heard voices somewhere in the distance and they sounded like they were getting closer. They seemed to be coming from the woods. Eventually, I could make them out better and Raoul’s accent and Mathew’s high-pitched voice came through clearly.
“Uh oh, I think the hunt is coming this way,” Braden noted. And indeed it was. Earl and Stew came crashing out of the woods followed by the rest of the Not Ready for Sanity Players.
“Hello there!” Earl called out. “You guys had better run in and get ready or you’ll miss all the fun!” They came tramping over to where the six of us sat in our hot tub sipping our cocktails and listening to Michael Jackson sing Thriller. Appropriately.
“Come on! Did you see the light?” Mathew enthused and he came running over excitedly. “Maybe we’ll make contact!” Personally, I thought that Mathew should make contact with a psychiatrist. We looked at each other, realizing that the decision had been made for us. We were going on a UFO hunt.
After determining where we were supposed to meet up and setting our GPS we changed into warm dry clothes and sturdy shoes, grabbed some flashlights and set out to meet up with the rest of the Truth Seeker gang. We had been tramping through the woods for several minutes when Cam stopped.
“Okay, it should not be taking us this long to find them. Check the GPS,” he said.
“Uh oh,” I said, taking it out of my bag. “It’s not working. It mustn’t be able to get a signal out here.”
“Oh great!” Adam laughed. “We’re in the middle of the woods in the dark and we have no way to figure out where we’re going?”
“It’s not like we’re in the middle of the Pine Barons or anything,” Braden said. “Most of this area is developed. If we keep walking in any direction we should run into civilization before too long.”
“We haven’t gone very far. Maybe we should just turn around,” Lily suggested. That sounded like a plan so we all turned around and started back but it wasn’t really clear that we were, in fact, headed back toward the lodge. After another fifteen minutes or so I thought I heard something in the distance.
“Listen! It’s like a humming sound, coming from that direction.” I pointed. We altered our course and started walking toward the hum. In a few minutes we saw lights, but they looked strange. They seemed to be up in the air. There were several in a row and one above that was blinking on and off. They were stationary, above the treetops.
“Do you see that?” Lily asked excitedly.
“Obviously we see it. We’re standing right next to you,” Adam answered.
“What is it? It looks like it’s floating,” Jess said.
“Maybe we should go closer,” I suggested. Nobody moved.
“I’m sure it’s not a UFO,” Braden said finally. Five voices agreed with him enthusiastically. “So what is it?” Silence.
“It just seems to be hovering. What kind of aircraft can hover?” Lily asked.
“Helicopters,” Cam answered.
“It wouldn’t be that still though,” I said. “Okay I think we need to do it. We need to go and see what that is. On three. One. Two. Two and a half…”
“Three!” Braden said and started walking forward. The rest of us followed our leader. The lights looked brighter as we got closer and we could make out what looked like a triangle shape attached to them. Like a pyramid maybe! I could feel my heart pounding as we got closer.
“There’s a clearing up ahead,” Adam said, sounding tense.
“Let’s hold hands, everyone!” Jess said, sounding panicked. We all reached out and formed a human chain. We kept walking like that together, closer and closer until finally we broke through the bush to the clearing and looked up silently at the sight before us.
“Well folks, looks like we’ve had a close encounter with a radio tower,” Cam said.
“It looks like it’s just hovering over the trees,” I said.
“Wait, it’s moving!” Braden joined in.
“It looks kind of like a cigar-shaped object,” Lily said, sounding awed.
“How in the hell can you tell at this distance, Agent Mulder?” Adam asked derisively.
“Because I can!” she retorted and splashed him. As Braden mentioned, the object had begun to move and then suddenly it seemed to dart off and soon it was out of sight.
“Whoa. That was wild!” Cam said excitedly.
“You don’t think it was …” Jess said, not finishing that thought.
“Well what was it then? A weather balloon?” Lily asked. Lily had been taking notes during the afternoon lecture about Roswell. She wanted to believe.
“It could have been a lot of things. Willow Grove army air force base is somewhere around here. Maybe it was something they’re testing,” Adam said.
“Or chasing,” Cam muttered. “You know, after those lectures …”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “It was probably some kind of plane or helicopter though.”
“Yeah!” Adam seconded. “That’s all it was.” Cam started whistling the X-Files theme and we all laughed nervously.
“Did it look like it was trying to land?” Jess asked, sounding rather apprehensive.
“We’re in the middle of the woods,” Braden reminded her.
“It supposedly landed here before,” Lily pointed out. “They must be pretty good drivers if they made it here from another planet.”
“Yeah, but landing in the woods would be harder than parallel parking in Center City on Saturday night,” I threw in.
“Maybe they have autopilot,” Cam suggested. “They must have kick-ass GPS.”
“Maybe we can ask the little green men if they saw your stalker,” Adam said.
“Gray, they’re gray,” Lily corrected. “Weren’t you listening this afternoon?”
“You seem to know an awful lot about this. I’m starting to think that you’ve been anally probed,” Adam said with a suggestive smile.
“It’s interesting!” she replied, giving him a fierce look. Adam’s sarcastic expression melted and for one second I saw a much softer humor underneath it. I started to suspect that he liked pushing her buttons sometimes because he thought she was cute when she got mad. He actually shifted a little closer to her under the pretense of getting a better view of where the object had been.
Just then I heard voices somewhere in the distance and they sounded like they were getting closer. They seemed to be coming from the woods. Eventually, I could make them out better and Raoul’s accent and Mathew’s high-pitched voice came through clearly.
“Uh oh, I think the hunt is coming this way,” Braden noted. And indeed it was. Earl and Stew came crashing out of the woods followed by the rest of the Not Ready for Sanity Players.
“Hello there!” Earl called out. “You guys had better run in and get ready or you’ll miss all the fun!” They came tramping over to where the six of us sat in our hot tub sipping our cocktails and listening to Michael Jackson sing Thriller. Appropriately.
“Come on! Did you see the light?” Mathew enthused and he came running over excitedly. “Maybe we’ll make contact!” Personally, I thought that Mathew should make contact with a psychiatrist. We looked at each other, realizing that the decision had been made for us. We were going on a UFO hunt.
After determining where we were supposed to meet up and setting our GPS we changed into warm dry clothes and sturdy shoes, grabbed some flashlights and set out to meet up with the rest of the Truth Seeker gang. We had been tramping through the woods for several minutes when Cam stopped.
“Okay, it should not be taking us this long to find them. Check the GPS,” he said.
“Uh oh,” I said, taking it out of my bag. “It’s not working. It mustn’t be able to get a signal out here.”
“Oh great!” Adam laughed. “We’re in the middle of the woods in the dark and we have no way to figure out where we’re going?”
“It’s not like we’re in the middle of the Pine Barons or anything,” Braden said. “Most of this area is developed. If we keep walking in any direction we should run into civilization before too long.”
“We haven’t gone very far. Maybe we should just turn around,” Lily suggested. That sounded like a plan so we all turned around and started back but it wasn’t really clear that we were, in fact, headed back toward the lodge. After another fifteen minutes or so I thought I heard something in the distance.
“Listen! It’s like a humming sound, coming from that direction.” I pointed. We altered our course and started walking toward the hum. In a few minutes we saw lights, but they looked strange. They seemed to be up in the air. There were several in a row and one above that was blinking on and off. They were stationary, above the treetops.
“Do you see that?” Lily asked excitedly.
“Obviously we see it. We’re standing right next to you,” Adam answered.
“What is it? It looks like it’s floating,” Jess said.
“Maybe we should go closer,” I suggested. Nobody moved.
“I’m sure it’s not a UFO,” Braden said finally. Five voices agreed with him enthusiastically. “So what is it?” Silence.
“It just seems to be hovering. What kind of aircraft can hover?” Lily asked.
“Helicopters,” Cam answered.
“It wouldn’t be that still though,” I said. “Okay I think we need to do it. We need to go and see what that is. On three. One. Two. Two and a half…”
“Three!” Braden said and started walking forward. The rest of us followed our leader. The lights looked brighter as we got closer and we could make out what looked like a triangle shape attached to them. Like a pyramid maybe! I could feel my heart pounding as we got closer.
“There’s a clearing up ahead,” Adam said, sounding tense.
“Let’s hold hands, everyone!” Jess said, sounding panicked. We all reached out and formed a human chain. We kept walking like that together, closer and closer until finally we broke through the bush to the clearing and looked up silently at the sight before us.
“Well folks, looks like we’ve had a close encounter with a radio tower,” Cam said.
