Close Encounters

I got abducted by aliens once.

I was going to visit my Grandparents in New Mexico, and I was driving South just past Roswell on my way to Artesia. It was a clear, moonless night, so I pulled over to take some star-trail pictures with the desert.

They were turning out quite wonderfully, and I found myself in awe of human ingenuity: I had a device that could lock into place the boundless stars or record the spinning of the earth in star-trails; and I was taking a journey through the desert in a matter of hours; humans had effectively subdued the earth.

As I reviewed my pictures, I noticed in one shot a bright streak breaking the frame, so I looked up from the camera and found the small light moving across the sky.

An Airplane, I thought, another remarkable invention!

I felt, in that moment, an immense pride. Here I was, a little human, member of a species that could capture the stars in photos; and subdue the vast desert sands with roads; and tame the wild winds with airplanes. We were, all in all, a fantastic creature.

It was getting late, so I packed up my camera. Just as I sat down in the driver’s seat to finish my drive, I noticed the light of the airplane had stopped in its course.

About the moment I noticed it, the little light suddenly advanced and engulfed me. I covered my eyes by instinct and felt the car shift around me. When I dared uncover my eyes, I was parked in a brightly lit area that looked like a loading bay.

I was still in the car, but it somehow felt cleaner than it had before. I exited the car, and as I shut the door, I saw a motion to my right. A piece of the room’s wall opened with a sound like paper pulled from an envelope, and in walked a pair of figures whose forms seemed indecisive: One moment they appeared to be short, grey aliens; then tall and beautiful like elves; the next like deep dark masses of terror.

I couldn’t help but stare; my senses confounded by abject terror and unfathomable peace.

One of the figures raised what could be a hand, and I felt rather than heard a communication:

“Greetings little conqueror- do not be afraid,” and I felt a warmth of hypnotic calm flow down my spine.

“Where am I?” I asked,

“You are past, and present, and yet to come; within time, without time; above, below; everywhere, nowhere…”

“Oh… what about this area? Is this your ship?” I gestured around us.

The figure cocked its “head”, “Yes. That is a way to think of it.”

“What do you want with me?” I asked,

“Come and see.” The figures turned and gestured to me to follow.

They led me through winding corridors. The walls were all round, and smooth like polished stones with small panels near the doors. After a few minutes of walking, we entered a place I assumed was the cockpit.

The leading figure gestured to a chair,

“Sit, please,” it said, and turned its attention to a large screen which showed an expanse of stars. I sat down and watched them in silence.

“Who are you, exactly?” I asked after a moment.

“We are those who learn, and those who teach.”

The Being pushed a bitten, then gestured to the screen. When I turned my attention to it I felt as though it pulled me into it. I was hurtling through dimension after dimension touching the far ends of time and space. I felt myself born, then live, then die a dozen times; torn apart and reassembled; it was as though a vast amount of information was being implanted directly into my brain, and if I could only hold on to one passing thought I could… something.

There were moments I started to panic, where I felt I would burn up in the over load of information or lose my sense of sense. In those moments, I wanted to run away from the information like a frightened child, but in the back of my mind the quiet voice of the Being resonated:

“Peace, be still.”

It was over in an instant. I was shaking and sweating, my mind reeling as it tried to hold onto the experience and despairing as it knew it would not be able to.

The figure touched me on the forehead, and I felt calm returning to me as I started to fall into darkness.

As I fell, the being spoke:

“Now understand this Truth, human: the sands will cover your roads, and the winds will wear away your planes, and all your pretty pictures will fade while the stars remain. Walk humbly in that knowledge, and instead of pride seek justice, love mercy, and then yo…

I woke before the being could finish speaking. I was parked on the side of the road. I must have fallen asleep in the driver’s seat after I’d finished my star trail pictures. It was a strange dream that left me feeling small like a grain of sand.

I rolled down the window for some fresh air. I closed my eyes as a light wind blew across my face, and I let my mind wander with the breeze across the sands. Engulfed in the desert’s parched silence, I was nothing but another grain of sand in the wind.