Danny Flash and the Alien Crash

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

After the last spaceship disappeared into the sky, I squinted up looking for a few moments to see if I could make out any faint traces of my little alien friend, but there were none to be found. It was like searching for a balloon that had disappeared into the vast blue sky. I turned and looked up at my father, a tear in my eye. Penny squeezed my hand.

"Got a lot of questions for you," my dad said. "Why don't you start by telling me what happened to my 1930's wooden figurines?"

"Really, Dad?" I asked. "We just watched aliens fly off into outer space and you want to ask me about your figurines?"

"Honestly honey," my Mother chimed in, "Now's probably not the best time."

Just then the door behind us swung open wildly and Mr. Not-So-Nice stepped out. "You let them go?" Mr. Not-So-Nice said, anger making his voice tremble.

"You can't hurt them now," I said.

"But I can hurt you," Mr. Not-So-Nice responded back, his eyes narrowing. His lips pressed together like two flat, short order pancakes; sweat forming on his upper lip like maple syrup.

Mr. Not-So-Nice came charging towards me. I squeezed Penny's hand with my right hand, squeezed my dad's hand with my left hand, and closed my eyes. But rather than brace for the impact of Mr. Not-So-Nice, I pictured my backyard, where, not long before, we'd broken the piggy bank. I pictured us standing in the green grass outside the forest that I had originally found the spaceship in.

I pictured being home, and as I always say now to anyone who questions me about magic... if you really, really believe you can do magic, you can do magic. When I opened my eyes, Mr. Not-So-Nice was no longer charging towards us. Penny's hand was still in my right hand. My father's hand was still in my left hand and he still held my mother's hand and Penny still held Andrew's hand. All of us were standing in the thick green grass outside the dark and mysterious forest, just a few feet from my home, in a semi-circle around where we had broken the piggy bank. Small shards of pink could still be seen mixed in with the pebbles and rocks. One by one we let go of each other's hands. My father, without turning towards us, declared that he was going to go inside and make some iced tea.

My mother followed. I watched from the back door as my father passed his nineteen thirties wooden figurine collection, noticing the one that had been broken, turning halfway towards me, but then deciding to move towards the kitchen for his ice tea. I think my father had had enough for one day.

"Danny," Penny said, "Do you think you can take me home?"

"I can try," I said, closing my eyes again, and trying to picture Penny's house.

"No," Penny said. "Walk me home, not zap me home. I think the three of us need to talk about what we will and will not share with the world."

As Penny and Andrew turned and started walking away, I looked up at the same blue sky that my alien friend had disappeared into moments before.

"Okay," I said, "But one day I want to share it all."