Marcy Daniels and Mark Barkley had been next-door neighbors
in a small town in
Mark lived with his grandparents in the original Bar-K ranch
house, a 90-year-old rambling, single-story structure beautifully constructed
entirely of native stone. Thirty years ago, the ranch had been sold to the
developers who subdivided the ranch property into what is now the town of
Mark and Marcy started school together in the first grade and competed in friendly competition for scholastic achievement awards all the way through high school.
Just before their graduation in June, Mark and Marcy were in the old bunkhouse, lying in each other’s arms, when she asked, “What’s bothering you Mark, you’ve been restless all week.”
“I recently learned something about myself that I have not been able to tell you.”
“Why not; we have always been able to tell each other anything.”
“I know we have, and I have always told you…” he paused, “that’s not exactly true. There is one thing that I have not told you – and I don’t know how – because it will affect our future.”
She sat up on the side of the bunk and looked down at the young man she loved. For the first time in their lives together she saw fear in his eyes and said, “Mark, you’re scaring me!”
“I don’t mean to, it is just that I am scared too. Scared to tell you and scared to death of what will happen if I don’t tell you before….”
“Before what?” she demanded.
“Before my parents arrive.”
“Your parents! You told me your mother and father had been lost at sea; that’s why you live with your grandparents.”
“That’s what I was told as a child, but three weeks ago, Grandpa Barkley told me something else.”
“You mean they’re alive! What else did he tell you?”
“Yes, they are alive and….” He paused.
“And what,” she excitedly asked, “Where are they? Are they coming to see you?”
“That’s what I am so afraid of telling you.”
“Why, did they just get out of prison or something?”
He sat up and put his arms around her, “I wish it could be that simple,” he paused, “that, you could understand.”
“Mark, I love you. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love you; and I don’t believe there is anything that could change that.”
“I wish I could believe that.”
“Believe it,” she said, “Now tell me what you are so afraid of.”
“Do you really love me – no matter what?”
“I just said so – damn it – now tell me!”
“OK,” he said. “You know, my birthday is June 21. The twenty-first is also the summer solstice. I will be eighteen this year and it’s no coincidence that there will be a full moon on that solstice.”
“What has that got to do with anything?” she interrupted.
“It has everything to do with what is going to happen.”
“What’s going to happen?”
“Marcy – we’ve known each other since before the first grade. I love you more than anything in this world and you say that you love me too.” He paused, “I want us to be together for the rest of our lives – do you?”
“Oh yes, Mark. You know I do!”
He finally blurted out, “I have to go to
“
“I’ll hike up the east side. I’ve been there before and know the trail. I have to be there on the solstice and…” he paused, “Will you go with me?”
“Of course I will – if you promise to disclose your terrible secret,” she playfully chided.
“I promise I’ll explain everything I know after we get there.”
* * *
On the morning of June 21, Mark had his pickup truck already loaded with the camping supplies when Marcy drove in and parked behind the barn. She ran up to him and after a loving kiss and long embrace she asked, “Are you ready to go?”
“What did your parents say about us camping overnight?”
“Not much,” she replied.
“Tell me what they said. We don’t need a posse coming after us.”
“There’ll be no posse on our trail.”
“Then tell me what they said.”
She grinned and said, “After we get there.”
“OK then – let’s get started.”
Mark drove the two and a half hours to a place well into the
foothills and parked at the base of the trail that would take them to
“From here to the top,” he explained, “the path narrows and will be a series switchbacks. Stay close behind me and watch your footing.”
Neither of them spoke during the final assent except when they occasionally stopped to catch their breath. When they finally reached the summit of the mountain top plateau at three-fifteen, Marcy said, “That was one hell of a climb.”
“It sure was, but I think you’ll find the view worth the effort.”
Marcy dropped her backpack and stretched, took in a deep breath of the clear, but rarefied air, walked over to climb the last hillock and slowly turned in a 360-degree circle taking in the panoramic view. “I knew it would be beautiful up here,” she said, “but I had no idea it could be like this,” as she turned in another circle.
Mark said, “Come on; we need to set up camp before the temperature begins to fall.”
“How cold will it get?” she asked.
“Somewhere between 40 and 50 degrees by early morning.”
“That won’t be too bad as long as there’s no wind.”
As Mark dropped his backpack by an outcropping of rocks, he said, “According to this morning’s forecast, it should be calm all day, but we should be prepared just in case.”
“What have we brought?” Marcy asked as she carried her pack over to help.
“There’s an Artic tent, a thermal sleeping bag if we need it, a butane stove complete with coffee pot, and enough food and water to sustain us.”
“What about lights and of course some music?”
“With the full moon, we shouldn’t need any lights, but there is a halogen lantern. As for music, I brought a CD player.”
They spent the next several hours setting up a very
comfortable camp and about
Marcy was the first to break the silence when she said, “OK, Mark, I haven’t mentioned anything since the other day, but now is the time to tell me what’s been bothering you and why we had to come up here before you could tell me.”
“All in good time, but first tell me what your parents said.”
“When I told them where we were going,” she confessed, “Daddy said, ‘be careful climbing that hill.’”
“That’s it?” Mark said.
“Mark, everyone knows how we feel about each other, so what more could he say? She continued, “Now it’s your turn.”
“Very well,” he conceded. “Grandpa told me that my parents had not been lost at sea, they had been lost in space.”
“What!” she exclaimed.
“My paternal grandparents came to live on this planet 100 years ago. They settled the land and established the Bar-K ranch. After my father was born, his grandparents came and took him back to their home planet. My father grew up there and married my mother. Shortly after I was born, they brought me here to visit his parents. They all agreed to leave me with my grandparents for three years. But something happened on their return trip home and everyone thought they perished in space; therefore, there was no reason for Grandpa to tell me anything other than they had been lost at sea in a boating accident.”
Marcy sat in mesmerized silence until she said, “That still doesn’t explain why we’re here.”
“Grandpa told me, not only were they still alive, that they would be back to see me on my eighteenth birthday.”
“That’s today,” she said, “but how?”
“I don’t know, all Grandpa would
tell me was to be here on
“Then I guess we will just have to wait and see.”
As the moon approached its zenith and illuminated the flat
expanse of
She pointed over his shoulder and said, “Behind you. Look behind you.”
As he turned to look, he fell the rest of the way to the ground and sat beside Marcy as they saw what appeared to be a disk, shimmering in the moonlight as it silently glided to the far edge of the plateau, hovered, and settled to the ground.
They sat in awestruck amazement as they witnessed two humanoid figures silhouetted in the doorway of the spacecraft. Then they heard a soft, lilting voice ask, “Mark, are you here?”
“Yes mother,” Mark responded, “I am here.”
The two beings moved gracefully and appeared to glide to where Mark and Marcy sat on the ground. The figures were tall and glistened in the moonlight as she spoke again, “I see that you are not alone.”
Mark stood and helped Marcy to stand on her quivering legs and said, “No, mother. I brought my girlfriend, Marcy with me to meet you.”
“Very well, son,” came a deep masculine yet gentle voice, “come with us, we must not tarry here.” He then instructed, “Take hold of each others hands.”
Marcy, now a bit steadier on her legs took hold of Mark’s outstretched hand. The alien pair encircled them with their lithe arms and the four of them lifted slightly off the ground and glided toward the shimmering craft.
Marcy was on the verge of panic when she heard the lilting voice reassuring her, “Marcy, friend of our son, there is nothing to fear and all will be made clear shortly.”
They glided directly into the vessel and as their feet
touched the floor, the door closed behind them. Marcy felt the slight downward
gravitational pull as the space ship lifted from
The man spoke calmly, “I am Andrew, your father.”
“And I am Silvia, your mother,” the gracious lady said.
“Please follow me,” Andrew said, as he glided down a passageway to a small, room with three rows of bucket seats mounted to the deck.
The alien pair moved to the front of the room and stood before them. “Please be seated,” the man said, “Since your planet’s species is so hostile, we have lifted off for our protection, but you will be returned before your sunrise.”
Silvia said, “Son, we know that the knowledge of our existence and your origin has come as a shock, but we have come to visit and explain everything.”
Mark’s parents spent hours explaining about their home planet on the other side of the Milky Way. They also spent some time touring the spacecraft and talking with the other crewmembers.
It was not until Andrew said, “It is time for your return to
the planet,” that Mark or Marcy knew they were back on
As they began to exit the spacecraft, his father said, “Mark, your mother and I understand that you have made a life for yourself here on Earth and we are happy that you have this beautiful young lady with whom to share your love. We would, however, like you to come and visit us in the future. For this reason, we will return here one year from today. That will give you time to decide, and if one or both of you elect to return with us, you will see things that only a minute number of Earthlings have ever witnessed.”
Mark and Marcy agreed to consider the proposal and promised
to be on
Too excited to be hungry, Mark fixed a pot of coffee and they talked for several hours before breaking camp. Then, with packs on their backs, they began their descent only to find six, winded and nearly exhausted climbers trudging up the trail. When the lead climber saw them coming down he exclaimed, “Did you see the flying saucer!”
“What flying saucer?” Mark asked.
Gasping for breath in the thin atmosphere, the climber barked, “The one we saw from over there.” he pointed to a distant peak. “We were camped over there and saw a flying saucer. It looked like it landed up here.”
Mark and Marcy looked at each other with a knowing smile and Mark said, “You guys must be delusional, everyone knows there’s no such thing.”