Alone Together

     I usually sit on the porch for a few minutes, just before going to bed. I need a few puffs on that last cigarette to hold me over until morning. Not smoking in the house was one of the few rules I stuck to as far as trying to cut down on my habit. Unfortunately, I managed to find more and more excuses to spend time outside than I used to.

     The evening thunder storm blossomed into full bloom as I threw my smoke into the sand filled bucket next to the door and started back inside. I was reaching for the porch light switch to shut it off when the power went out. It happens all the time out here, a result of ancient power lines and over grown trees trespassing defiantly against civilization. A sudden gust of wind or a well placed lightening strike would drop a tree branch on the wires and thrust us back into the dark ages of candle light and hurricane lamps.

     Not that the power outages lasted very long or anything, but I would have to stay up and reset my alarm clock so I wouldn't be late for work the next morning. I'm not one of those dysfunctional males with an internal clock that wakes me up at the crack of dawn. I sleep like the dead, often waking up in the same position I was laying in when I went to sleep. As if I needed an excuse, I said to myself, "Guess I'll have to have another smoke while I'm waiting."

     I keep two kerosene lamps on the porch, usually not even using the porch light. It kind of ruins the mood of sitting out and enjoying the evening when a bright electric light is blasting your eyes. Besides, I had special fuel in the lamps that supposedly keeps the bugs away. It was foul smelling enough to keep me away from them, that much I was sure of.

     I lit the two lamps and sat back down to wait out the storm. The rain poured off the roof and straight through my rusted gutters like they weren't even there, making it seem like I was looking out from underneath a waterfall. Thunder rumbled in echoing, repetitive waves and stark white flashes of lightning raced across the sky. It was a normal summer storm, but that could hardly be used to describe the rest of the evening.

     A car was coming down the road, I could see the headlights illuminating the raindrops beyond the hill like a giant, fuzzy ball of advancing light, steadily increasing in intensity. As the car crested the hill, the headlights flickered and then went out. I watched as the car quickly slowed and came to a stop almost directly in front of my house, evidently suffering a breakdown of some sort.

     Someone got out of the car holding a newspaper over their head to ward off the rain and popped the hood. I could just make them out in the brief flashes of lightning conveniently provided by the storm. They leaned over the front of the car, reaching into the engine compartment, checking connections or something, then quickly gave up and slammed the hood shut. They must have spotted the flickering oil lamps on my porch because the person then trotted up my driveway. She stopped abruptly at the foot of the porch steps.

     "Oh!" she exclaimed.

     She must not have realized I was sitting out there. By now the newspaper she held over her head was soaked and hanging limply over her hair, offering little protection.

     "My car broke down, I was wondering if I could use your phone," she said. "I saw the lights..."

     "Come on out of the rain," I said as I stood up. "I saw your lights flicker when you came over the hill. Did it just go dead?"

     "Yeah, I don't know what happened."

     She hurried up the steps and stood at the edge of the porch. She seemed to be a little out of sorts and I couldn't really blame her. It was late in the evening and she was stranded by herself out in the country and asking a stranger for help. She was just being careful.

     "Well," I said, "my power went out about five minutes ago. Happens a lot out here during storms. I'll get the phone and bring it out. It'll probably be easier than stumbling around in the dark inside."

     I went to retrieve the phone. When I came back out, she had put the wet newspaper on the railing and was running her fingers through her long, dripping wet hair.

     "Here you go," I said, handing her the cordless phone.

     She pushed the on button and held it to her ear.

     "There's no dial tone."

     "What? Let me see."

     "My cell phone was dead too," she said as she handed the phone back.

     I checked it and it was dead. I told her I had a regular corded phone inside and that I would check that one. It was dead as well. I pulled my cell phone from it's charger on the kitchen counter to check it, but it wouldn't even turn on. On my way back, I grabbed a towel from the bathroom and brought it with me out on the porch.

     "Here, I got you a towel." I handed it to her and she said thanks. "The other phone is dead too. I can't ever remember a storm knocking the phones out. That still wouldn't explain the cell phones though."

     She was vigorously toweling her hair dry and then paused to say, "Your cell phone is out too?"

     "It won't even turn on." I told her.

     "Neither will mine," she said.

     "That's odd as hell."

     A strained moment of silence passed as we faced each other. I was always nervous around pretty woman, feeling a little uncomfortable myself. And she was pretty. She was dressed in jeans and a button up shirt, just like one of the guys. It never ceased to amaze me how attractive a woman could look in cloths similar to what a man would wear. Certainly nothing like how a man would appear in a dress! I just stood there like an idiot not knowing what to say.

     She finished drying her hair and draped the towel around her shoulders. Then she stuck her hand out.

     "My name's Anna Morgan."

     I shook her hand and said, "Nice to meet you Anna, I'm Daniel Williams."

     "I live a couple of miles from here over on West Ridge. I was hoping to get home before the storm broke. I've got a horse in the barn that gets pretty skittish when it storms like this."

     "I used to have a dog like that, a ninety pound Lab that whined like a puppy every time it thundered. I can give you a ride if you want. I'm sure your car will be ok, it's off the road and we don't get much traffic out here anyway."

     "Would you really? I hate to impose on you like that. It's just that Abilene is such a baby, that's my horse," she explained.

     "I don't mind at all. You wait here and I'll bring it around front so you can jump right in without getting soaking wet again."

     "I really appreciate this Daniel."

     I smiled at her and went inside to get my keys. I ran out the back door to the car port where my truck was parked. I opened the truck door and was surprised that the interior lights didn't come on. I fumbled around in the dark and finally got the key in the ignition. Giving it a turn, I was even more surprised when nothing happened. No click, no nothing. What the hell...

*     *     *

     Anna and I sat on the porch talking, waiting for the storm to let up.

     "I suppose the lightning could have hit the cell phone tower..." suggested Anna.

     "Yeah, but they're well protected against something like that causing damage, and the phones should at least turn on, but they don't."

     "This is what happens when a space ship comes around you know."

     "What? You're kidding aren't you? You don't honestly believe..."

     "All I'm saying," interrupted Anna, "is that I've heard that all sorts of electronic things are affected by UFO's."

     "I know that," I said.

     "You do? Then why aren't you considering that it might be a UFO?"

     "Have you ever seen one?" I asked.

     "Well, no."

     "Well there you have it!"

     "What's that supposed to mean Daniel?"

     "It's not that I don't believe in UFO's, because I do," I said. "I just don't rush to blame every little unexplained thing on them is all."

     A bolt of lightning flashed nearby lighting up the yard as bright as the noonday sun.

     "Did you see that!" Anna yelled, jumping to her feet, pointing at the edge of the yard near the woods.

     "I saw something... it was gray..."

     "It was blue," said Anna.

     "Gray," I said, staring into the darkness.

     "It was too short to be a Gray. Gray's are tall, Blues are short. It was a blue."

     Anna had stepped closer to me. Another crash of thunder and lightning lit up the sky.

     "Ah!" I said, pointing. "That explains it! Did you see? There are two of them!"

     "Yes! A Blue and a Gray!" said Anna. "They're coming this way Daniel!"

     We were both frightened and started backing away from the porch railing. The Gray waved an instrument at us and suddenly, we were unable to move. Frozen in place, we watched as five or six more aliens appeared, following behind the two that were leading the way.

     They reached the porch but didn't walk up the steps. They stood out in the rain and yet, they didn't appear to be getting wet. The one that appeared to be the leader waved his instrument again and Anna started walking away from me and off the porch. She seemed to be in a trance. The aliens split into two groups, and one group accompanied Anna as she walked towards the woods and then disappeared from sight. The leader then gestured at me and I started walking. I couldn't resist no matter how hard I tried. Calming thoughts invaded my mind. I wasn't supposed to be frightened. They weren't going to hurt us.

     What ever was keeping the aliens dry was also projected out to encompass me. It was like walking between the rain drops. I was guided a little ways into the woods where we came upon their ship in a clearing. There was no sign of Anna.

     It's not like I had ever seen a UFO before, but the ship we entered was similar to countless photos I had seen in books and TV specials. It was so familiar looking that it hardly seemed alien at all, like two plates, one inverted and stacked on top of the other.

     The inside was brightly lit with a walkway around the perimeter. We walked around the center section and stopped at one of the many openings set into the interior wall. They motioned for me to enter the room and my body obeyed. It was sparsely furnished, containing only a cylinder shaped stool of sorts, and what looked like a bed though it was close to the floor. The light seemed to be coming from everywhere, and yet no where in particular. It was like all the wall surfaces glowed. I heard a noise behind me and turned...

     "Anna! Are you ok?" I asked, rushing to her. Even though we had only just met, I gave her a friendly embrace, wondering how her cloths and hair could have dried so quickly. I felt like she was a guest at my house and I was responsible for her well being, though I could hardly be blamed for what was happening to us now. She hugged me warmly in response.

     "Daniel," she said in a soft voice.

     She pressed her face against mine and rubbed my back with her hands. I tried to push her away so I could look her in the face and talk to her but she held me tight. Those calming thoughts were invading my mind again, telling me to relax. Anna was pressing her entire body against mine.

     "Anna, we need to talk about..."

     Anna didn't want to talk. She suddenly smothered my words away with a kiss. I tried to resist, but the passion she released was infectious. I kissed her in return and we gradually made our way to the bed. All thoughts of the aliens and the ship were lost. We ravaged each other in a sexual frenzy like animals in a cage, two humans leaving their fears and inhibitions behind like a forgotten memory.

     When I awoke, Anna was gone and I was laying naked on the bed. I quickly dressed and started towards the door when an alien appeared. Once again, I was under their control and walked obediently where they directed me. They took me back outside the ship. It had stopped raining. We marched through the woods again and back to my front porch. Anna was already there but I was unable to break free of their control to greet her. I was made to walk back up the steps and stand next to her. Then the aliens withdrew back into the woods.

     Gradually, the aliens control over us faded. Anna sagged against me and I felt the cool wetness of her drenched clothing against my skin. Together, we watched the lights of the ship disappear into the sky.

     "I can't believe it!" whispered Anna.

     "I was worried about you," I said. "I've never been so relieved than when you walked into the room they took me to."

     "I... what did you say?" she asked.

     "When you came into my room, I mean I was happy that you weren't hurt or anything, I was happy to see you. But your cloths were dry, and your hair..."

     "I didn't come into your room, you came to mine."

     "What are you talking about Anna? You came in and you... and then we..." I was stuttering, unable to continue.

     "No Daniel, listen to me! They took me first! The put me in a room and as soon as they got there with you, they brought you to me. We were afraid and one thing led to another and we..."

     Her words faded away. We were both beginning to realize what actually happened, or at least we thought we did.

     "You didn't come to me did you?" I asked her.

     "No," she answered. "And you didn't come to me either did you?

     "No."

     Across the road, Anna's car started up by itself and the headlights came on. We stood on the porch in an uncomfortable silence, slowly moving away from each other like strangers standing too close in an otherwise empty elevator.

     Anna said she had to go. I was at a loss for words and said nothing as she walked down the driveway and across the road. She got in her car and drove away.

     I went inside and for the first time, locked all the doors behind me. I had just finished resetting all the clocks in the house when the phone rang. I picked it up. It was Anna.

     "Daniel?"

     "Are you ok Anna?"

     "Yes. I'll be fine. I'm sorry I ran off like that."

     "I understand. It's not like we even know each other or anything Anna."

     "I was worried about Abilene."

     "Abilene?"

     "My horse, remember?"

     "Oh yeah, sure, I remember now."

     "I'd like to see you again Daniel."

     "I'd like that too Anna. When would you like..."

     "Tonight. I don't much feel like being alone."

     "Neither do I..."

     I went back outside and smoked a cigarette under the bright glare of the porch light, waiting for Anna...