Flathead Plains

Chapter One

It was on the twenty-first of June when he saw it.

The saucer flew across the sky, sticking out like "the main character in an anime," as Jonas would later put it when talking to the police.

Jonas loved stargazing, anime, cartoons, books, football, and kayaking. Because of his knowledge of stargazing, he would often travel to an area with less light pollution to look at the distant suns with his telescope. And because he was in a large, rural area with no buildings, only being the flat plain it was (hence the name of the field; Flathead Plain), no one could miss the saucer.

Just like the saucer couldn't miss anyone.

But it was small. Jonas's eyes, once widened with surprise, narrowed in confusion. That wasn't any U.F.O.

That was a Frisbee.

Jonas's face dropped with disappointment.

This happened to me again, thought Jonas as the Frisbee arched over Flathead Plains and finally made contact with the ground.

"I got it!" screeched a young voice.

A young girl bounded across the field to the point of the Frisbee's landing, wearing a rather strange hair band with antennas sticking out of it.

Jonas watched all of this in somber silence, still mourning the loss of the "saucer."

Suddenly, a hand punched out of the air and stood, waiting for a handshake.

"Hi!" Said the young girl. "I'm Lily!"

"Jonas," said the boy who was indeed Jonas."Didn't your parents tell you not to talk to strangers?"

"I don't have parents," answered Lily. She beamed as she put her outstretched hand do her side. "And we're not strangers now, are we? I mean, I know your name, right? And you know mine! Did you know Lily is a flower?! I gave myself that name! My previous name was Deeeeeee, with seven e's! And your name has one O! And one J! And one..."

Jonas rolled his eyes as she continued droning. How did this girl, dressed in --he gazed at her outfit-- a princess dress and antennas find him? Jonas specifically chose this location for less light pollution, but he also found the fencing around the perimeter very helpful to keep him isolated, which let him concentrate. And he needed his concentration. And the "no parents" thing? She's probably orphaned.

"A boy going into high school needs to be around kids, not in the middle of a barren field," his mother would say. Nevertheless, Jonas didn't care what his mother said, like a lot of boys going into ninth grade do.

An abrupt silence brought Jonas out of his thoughts. Lily stared at him, a slight scowl on her face.

"You're not really listening, are you?" She pouted, her bottom lip sticking out.

"You know, pouting doesn't make you look cute," said Jonas, with a slight frown on his face but humor in his eyes.

Lily stared.

"We gotta get you home, kid," said Jonas. He made a shooing motion with his hands as he said "go on now. I'm busy, and I'm sure you are too, with whatever little kid stuff you do."

Suddenly, the wailing of a police siren accompanied Jonas's voice. Both Lily and Jonas's head turned to see a police  car turn into the plain.

A young police officer leaped out of the car and ran to grab Lily's hand. She had the same jet black hair as Lily.

"Gertrude!" said the police officer. "You know I'm on duty! You can't go bounding off whenever you feel like it! And who is this?"

The police woman stared at Jonas aggressively.

"Hi mom," said Lily. "This is Jonas."

Jonas gave a polite wave and a lopsided smile as he whispered to Lily "your name is Getrude? And I thought you said you were an orphan."

"That's why I changed it," answered Lily apologetically. "And I never said I was an orphan, just that I had no parents." "But you do!" said Jonas.

The police woman cleared her throat. "Sorry mom" said Lily glumly.

"I am Gertrude's mother, and for your information, she does have parents. And Gertrude, I told you not to talk to strangers!"

Lily gave a glance to Jonas. She then proceeded to break away from her mother and ran away, bolting at full speed.

Her mother glared at her as she ran, and Jonas said "shouldn't you be going after her?"

"She'll be back,"  sighed Lily's mother. "Anyway, why are you here? This area is restricted. I would think people would be smart enough not to go into an area with a fence around it and a sign saying 'RESTRICTED.'"

"I didn't see the sign," said Jonas. His frequent glances to the direction that Lily ran to were not missed by the officer. "Yeah, right. And look at me when I'm speaking," she snapped.

Jonas stared steadily at her as he said "I come here to look at the sky," he answered.

"You can look at the sky almost everywhere, kid. Why here?"

"Because there's less light pollution."

The officer snorted. "Light can't pollute, boy. Kids these days..."

Jonas felt his fury grow as he said "it can too! You're able to see the stars in the sky better where there's no light. That's how I keep seeing the U.F.O's."

He realized too late that he shouldn't have let that spill.

"In an open sky, things stick out like the main character in an anime. You know, the main characters are almost always wearing something colorful or have purple hair or something. The U.F.O's remind me of that too, except maybe they're not bright blue."

The officer paid attention with rapt interest. "U.F.O's," she asked, a thin black eyebrow rising in curiosity. "What kinds of U.F.O's do you see?" She rummaged around in her wide pockets, and finally emerged with a small notepad and yellow pencil.

"Well...Frisbees."

"Frisbees?"

"Yeah. I mean, I thought I saw one today, but it was your daughter's Frisbee. A little while ago I mistook a Frisbee for a U.F.O as well. Might it be your daughter Lily's?" Jonas held out a small green-colored Frisbee, much like the one Lily was playing with earlier.

After returning her notepad and pencil to her pockets, Lily's mother snatched the Frisbee from Jonas's outstretched hand. "Her name is Gertrude," spat the officer as she started walking back to her police car. "And you best not make up fairy tales and go to places you shouldn't be in, understand? If you see a real U.F.O, ask for me, Officer Bunting."

"Yes ma'am," said Jonas as he heard the car door shut.

The police car backed out of the empty, grass-filled plain and drove down a shallow pathway to the locked fence gates.

Jonas looked at the stars, silently scouting out for the brightest contenders for extraterrestrial life. He knew them all.

Jonas followed the worn path the police car had driven on only seconds ago and ambled to the gates.

He climbed over the fencing and landed with a thud on the other side as he began his long, pensive walk home. He passed by a sign saying "DANGER: RESTRICTED AREA," overgrown with weeds and covered with brush.

The stars glistened up again as he thought Lily Bunting sounds a lot better then Gertrude Bunting.