Darkness in the Brightest Day - Part 1

Visit from Ming

Tuesday was, as expected, another similar day at the office.  As the work day pressed on into the afternoon, Mingtian Chu wandered over to his desk.  Everyone just called him Ming.  He was a Chinese man, about 60 years old and had worked there for the past 13 years.  He enjoyed idle conversation and he had told Jake that he had come to work there since he was getting old and hadn't worked in places that gave him good retirement plans.

Ming had a penchant for tall tales, and he told them with intensity and conviction.  He had told Jake many stories, some that amused with their absurdity, and some that were so cynical that he couldn't believe them.  Once Ming had told him about the moon people that came to steal toothpaste and another time about how they had put implants in his knee and made it hurt periodically.  While his anecdotes were imaginative, Jake was mostly just irritated that Ming was taking time away that needed to be spent working on projects with deadlines.  Somehow Ming didn't have to worry about his own projects.  Jake wondered how he pulled that off.

Ming often started out: "Jake, you don't belong here.  This place will suck the life out of you.  A young man like you should be working for a prestigious company like Google or Facebook.  That's where the real money is.  You could do so much better."  Jake smiled.  He appreciated Ming's pep talk, it sounded like flattery but Ming certainly had nothing to gain.  Anyhow, Ming had said this many times before and Jake appreciated the compliment every time.  This time Ming continued, "The aliens left something in my bedroom last night.  I know you didn't believe me when I said I saw a flying saucer 20 years ago but this time I have proof.  Come out to my car after work and I'll show it to you."  Jake, amused but distracted with work, agreed to.  Ming was a nice guy if a little crazy.

Finally, a couple hours later, Jake went home, the conversation with Ming and his promise to see the supposedly alien object completely forgotten.  He remembered hours after he got home and felt a guilty twinge of regret.  He determined that he would apologize to Ming for his mistake first thing in the morning.