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The Truth
By Sonya
Two teenagers, a boy and a girl, walk through the tall grass. The boy, Joseph Clarkin, is carrying a rolled-up wool blanket and a pair of binoculars. Rachel Olson, the young woman, is carrying a dark green duffel bag on her shoulder and a small picnic basket in her hand.
"Don't you just love clear nights like this?" Joseph asks as they walk. Rachel smiles.
"Yeah. It's warm, it's not cloudy, and it's close to midnight. There's no better time for studying the sky," she says. Rachel loves astronomy. It is her one dream to become an astronomer, and have fun for a living. The wind picks up, and Joseph brushes a few long strands of shaggy blond hair back from his face. Rachel pulls her denim jacket a little tighter around her shoulders. It may be a warm night, but the breeze is still chilly. As they walk, the ground starts to incline a bit. Ahead of them is a low, flat hill where they have spent many nights watching the stars together. At the top, they stop walking and begin to set up. Joseph unrolls the big blanket and spreads it out on the hilltop, then begins helping Rachel set up her telescope. He erects the tripod while she sets up the actual telescope, changing the magnification and putting the viewpiece on. They set the telescope on the tripod and secure it there. Then, Joseph sits down on the blanket, leans back, and peers through his binoculars. Rachel sifts through the items in her duffel bag, using a flashlight tinted with red cellophane to protect her night vision.
"Ah-ha!" she says and pulls out a thick book of star maps. She holds the book up in front of Joseph's binoculars. He lowers them and asks, "What is that?"
"A guide to everything in the night sky. Now I can prove to you that what you think are UFOs are really just natural occurrences." She smiles smugly. Joseph shakes his head and goes back to his binoculars.
"There's something out there, Rachel. If you saw it, you would believe me."
"Last time you pointed out a 'UFO' to me, all I saw was a shooting star. But if you can prove it to me, then I'll believe."
Joseph smiles. "That's all I'm asking." Rachel grins, too, glancing through her telescope.
"And that's all you're getting," she mutters. Then she reaches into the picnic basket and pulls out some sandwiches, chips, and pop.
"Let's eat. I'm starving," she says, unwrapping a sandwich.
"Me, too," Joseph says and grabs a can of soda. They eat the meal, then go back to watching the stars.
It's about 3:00 a.m. Joseph is now lying on his back with his hands behind his head, just staring up into the sky. His binoculars are sitting next to him. Rachel is kneeling near him, alternately looking through her telescope and consulting her star book. She glances at her watch, then into her telescope.
"What in the. . .," Rachel whispers. Joseph turns his head.
"What?"
"Look," she says, motioning to the telescope. Joseph makes his way over and peers through the eyepiece.
"What is that?" he whispers. Rachel shrugs.
"I have no clue," she says. Joseph looks up into the sky. Now he can see it with his naked eye. There is a bright white light flying back and forth. And it's getting closer.
Joseph's eyes grow wide. "They're here," he whispers, amazed.
Rachel looks confused. "Huh? What's here? Who's here?"
Joseph has no time to answer. A bright light comes out of the sky and blinds them, and then there is nothing but silence and darkness.
Joseph opens his eyes and finds himself staring at the dark sky and all the stars. So many, many stars. They all seem to be spinning around his head, making him sick. God, why is he so dizzy? And thirsty. His mouth feels dry as paper and tastes like dirty laundry. He closes his eyes to make the stars stop swimming and hears a faint moan next to him. Rachel. They're both lying on their backs on the ground. He moves his hand over until he can reach her. She gives a slight surprised sound when he touches her hand. She clears her throat, then tries to speak.
"That you, Joseph?" Her voice is scratchy and hoarse.
"Mm-hm," he mutters and tries to sit up. He manages it, but needs to close his eyes for a moment as a new wave of dizziness hits him. When it passes, he opens his eyes and looks around. They are on the hilltop, but all of their things are gone. Rachel's telescope is missing, as well as his binoculars and the blanket. Then he sees that Rachel is trying to move. He helps her sit up and she, too, looks around, then gasps.
"Where's all our stuff?" she whispers, slightly panicked. Joseph shakes his head.
"I don't know."
"It better not have been stolen," Rachel mutters. "That telescope cost a small fortune."
Joseph glances at his watch, then turns to Rachel.
"My watch must be set wrong. What time is it?"
"Just a second," she says, and presses the button that makes her display glow. "Hmm. . . how odd. Mine says 3:07. But that's the time I found that weird thing in the sky."
"What? Yours is off, too?" he says, leaning over to look at her watch. She shows it to him and he nods.
"I wonder what time it really is," Rachel says, and looks into the sky. Soon, her eyes grow wide in disbelief.
"Oh, my god," she whispers and points to the moon, "Look. . ."
Joseph whips his head around to where Rachel is pointing, and he gasps.
"Wasn't that a crescent moon when we came out here?" he asks quietly. Rachel nods slowly. "Yeah, it was. But now it's a first quarter moon."
"That's impossible, unless. . ."
"Unless what?"
"Unless. . . didn't you say you saw something weird in the sky?"
Rachel nods, then looks at Joseph. "No."
"What do you mean, no? It's a perfect explanation."
"We were not abducted by little green men."
"No, we weren't. They were most likely little grey men."
Rachel shakes her head, laughing bitterly. "You are nuts."
"Probably," Joseph says, "but do you have a better explanation?"
Rachel thinks for a moment, then reluctantly shakes her head. Joseph smiles triumphantly and nods, then gets up and offers his hand to Rachel. She allows him to help her up.
"Let's go home. If as much time has passed as we think it has, people probably think we've been kidnapped," Joseph says and starts down the hill. Rachel follows him and they start walking towards home.
Rachel finds her house keys in her pocket and walks in. Joseph follows behind her. She flips on the light and finds her mom sitting at the kitchen table, sleeping, with a pile of "Missing" posters sitting in front of her. She taps her mother on the shoulder.
"Ma, I'm home," she whispers gently. Joseph picks up one of the posters and scrutinizes it carefully. Rachel's mom stirs and looks up at Rachel. Then a look of complete joy crosses her face and she hugs Rachel, a big bear hug. She is sobbing and whispering, "Oh, my God, oh my God," over and over. Rachel wraps her arms around her mother and turns to Joseph, saying, "Yep, we must have been gone for a while."
Mrs. Olson pulls away from her daughter, holding her at arm's length.
"Honey, where were you? You've been gone for almost four days. . ."
Rachel's eyes open wide. "What!? Four days?" she screeches. Then, she puts a hand to her head. "I need to sit down," she says as she collapses into a chair. Joseph is stunned and sits down as well.
"Four days? My God, I was right. . ." he says quietly. Mrs. Olson glares at him.
"What have you done to my daughter?" she growls.
"He didn't do anything, Mom. He wouldn't."
"No, I didn't," says Joseph. "Um, I have to make a phone call. May I use your phone?"
Mrs. Olson nods, and hands it to him. He dials his home phone number and Mrs. Clarkin answers.
"Hi, Mom. It's Joseph."
"Joseph, is it really you?" his mom whispers into the phone. "Where are you?"
"I'm at the Olsons'. I'm coming home in just a minute. I'll explain what happened when I get there. I need to talk to Joan as soon as possible. Okay?" he says, speaking quickly.
"Oh, Joseph. . . are you sure you don't want me to come over there?"
"I'll be fine. I'll be there in a minute."
"I'll be waiting. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I'm coming. Bye," he says, then hangs up the phone.
"Who's Joan?" Rachel asks.
"My cousin, You can meet her tomorrow. I'll call you in the morning. Right now, I've gotta go. See ya," he says and runs out the door.
It's 10:00 in the morning. The phone next to Rachel's bed is ringing. She gropes for it, then picks it up and offers a groggy "Hello?"
"Hey, it's me," Joseph says. He sounds energetic, excited.
"Joseph, it's way too early in the morning. What do you want?"
"I want to take you to meet my cousin, Joan Clarno. She may be able to help us remember what happened. I'll drive us there. When can I pick you up?"
Rachel glances at her clock and sighs, "I'll be ready by noon. But this better be worth it."
"Oh, I promise it will be. See you at noon!" Joseph says, then hangs up. Rachel sets the phone down, then reluctantly starts to get ready.
At 11:59, Joseph knocks on the door to Rachel's house. She opens it and comes out. There are slight dark circles under her green eyes, and her long black hair is pulled back into a messy ponytail. By contrast, Joseph looks bright and alert. His hair combed and neatly tied back, and his chocolate-brown eyes sparkling. He grins.
"Ready to go?"
"Close enough, I guess," Rachel says and gets into Joseph's junky blue Taurus. Joseph gets into the driver's side, starts the car, and heads into downtown Grand Forks.
"A hypnotist?! You dragged me down here to see a hypnotist?" Rachel nearly yells at Joseph.
"She's my cousin," he says as he walks up to the apartment building and opens the door. "And she's a professional."
Rachel walks in, then follows Joseph down the hallway.
"Joseph, there is no reason to do this. We were not abducted."
"Well, if we were, she'll help us remember it. And if we weren't, maybe she'll help us remember what really happened," he says calmly. Rachel shakes her head, then sighs and gives in.
"Fine. If it will make you happy, then I'll do it. Maybe it will prove to you that we weren't abducted," she says. Joseph knocks on one door, and it opens. Standing in the doorway is Joan. She is dressed in a long, flowing purple dress with silver designs around the collar and down the sleeves. Her long blond hair hangs down to her waist. Her feet are bare.
"Hello," she says in a beautifully musical voice. "Come in."
Joseph smiles. "Hey, Joan."
"Hey yourself. And this must be Rachel, your friend."
Rachel nods, then looks around the apartment. Hanging from the window are crystals with the sun shining through them, casting rainbows on the walls. He room is decorated in purple and silver. There is a purple velvet fainting couch against one wall, and Joan motions to it.
"Have a seat, and I'll explain to you what I'm going to do," she says. Joseph sits down and, tentatively, Rachel accompanies him.
"Are you nervous, Rachel?" Joan asks in a soothing tone. Rachel nods, not looking directly at her. Joan smiles gently.
"There is no reason to be," she says. "Allow me to explain what will happen. I will assist your mind in relaxing to a state of a trance. You will be able to wake up at any time. While you are in the trance, I will guide your mind back to the evening you. . . disappeared. Then, you will be able to see the scene unfold as an observer. You will be able to tell me what you are seeing. I will record both sessions and give you the tapes when we are finished."
Rachel nods. "That sounds okay. . ."
"Don't worry," Joseph interrupts. "She's done it to me before. It's actually pretty relaxing."
"Thank you for the glowing recommendation, Joseph. Are we ready?" asks Joan. Rachel nods.
"Good," Joan says. "Then let's begin. Both of you, relax on the couch. Allow all the tension to go out of your body. Close your eyes and focus on my voice. Breathe in deeply. . . very good. Now breathe out, and imagine breathing your tension out, and allow your subconscious mind to come into control. . ." Joan says, speaking smoothly, slowly, calmly. Rachel and Joseph slowly sink into a trance.
". . . I am in a room. I am lying on a table, a metal table. An examining table. There are three short grey creatures standing around me. . .," a voice on the tape recorder says. The voice is Rachel's. Rachel sits on the couch in her living room. Joseph is sitting on the other side. Both of them are staring at the tape recorder between them, listening to it play a tape of their hypnosis. After a while, the tape runs out and the cassette player clicks off. The two are silent for a long time. Finally, Rachel speaks.
"You were right," she whispers and looks up at Joseph. "You were right. . ."
Joseph nods. "We were abducted. The light we saw was an alien spacecraft."
Rachel looks away. When she speaks, her voice is weak, frightened. "What do we do now?"
Joseph gently reaches across and takes her hand. She turns back, and he looks her in the eye.
"We tell the world."
The date is three months later, mid-October. Rachel slowly opens her eyes. The scene is the same one she's seen periodically over the past weeks and months. She sees the ceiling, water-stained and cracked. There are twenty-seven cracks in the ceiling. She's counted them more times than she can remember. What else it there to do when you're tied to a bed? Though her throat is dry, she manages to call out "Nurse!" The nurse walks in and undoes the straps restraining Rachel's arms and legs, then walks out. Rachel could have asked why she was tied to the bed, but she already knows the answer. She was screaming in the middle of the night that aliens were trying to get her and she was trying to run away. She pours herself a glass of water from a pitcher next to her bed. Aliens were trying to abduct her again, though. Joseph, too. She had seen him, talked to him. He was as gaunt and sick-looking as she, and had been tied to the bed as often. Everyone else "knew" that she and Joseph were crazy. But he and Rachel, and only those two, knew the real truth.