Impostors

Henry had just finished feeding the family dog. It was his very last chore each day, and it was always a sign his work was done. Finally, after a long day working in the hot sun, he could have a seat on the front porch and relax. His father would usually join him, and they would both have a well-deserved break before his mother called them inside for dinner.

The sun was just starting to sink below the horizon, and Henry welcomed the cool air that always came with dusk. As he made his way up the rocky path to the house, he could hear his father, Jack, still working away in the old barn. The barn was falling apart, with weathered wood that looked rotten and grey. It was at the end of it’s life, but Henry’s father spent hours each day trying to fix it just enough that it could make it through another year. Henry wandered over and stuck his head in the partially opened door.

“Hey, dad, I’m heading up to the house,” Henry called out.

Jack peeked his head out from behind a wall near the back of the barn.

“Alright, I’m almost done. I’ll be there in a couple minutes,” answered Jack.

He had barely finished his sentence when the sound of lumber snapping, and more lumber falling, filled the barn.

“Uh… better make that ten minutes,” said Jack.

“Do you need some help back there?” Henry asked as he stepped into the barn.

“No, no, I’m fine,” Jack replied. “Sounded worse than it was. You head up to the house and I’ll met you there.”

“You sure?” asked Henry.

“Yeah, I’m good. You go,” said Jack.

Henry turned around and left the barn. He felt a little bad about leaving his father, but at least he’d made the offer to help. He was actually relieved his father had turned down the offer, since now he could go have a cold drink and sit down. It had been a long day.

Henry had just set foot on the steps of the porch, with one hand on the wooden handrail, when he heard a loud rumbling sound. He looked around in all directions but couldn’t seem to find the source of the noise. It was growing louder, and the whole area was starting to shake. Henry had never been in an earthquake, but that was the first explanation that came to him. What else could it be? Henry started to panic. What was a person supposed to do in an earthquake? Should he run in the house and check on his mother? Back to the barn to check on his father? Stay where he was and do nothing? Those thoughts all came and went in a fraction of a second before they were interrupted by a blinding light in the sky above Henry. A giant ball of fire came blazing into view as it passed over the house. Henry’s eyes widened in shock, but quickly closed as he turned away and raised an arm to shield his face from the light and intense heat. Immediately after the light dimmed and the heat faded, Henry heard an explosion as the fiery ball crashed through the roof of the barn and impacted somewhere inside.

“Dad!” Henry yelled as he went running towards the barn.

He made it to the barn in an instant but had to pause at the entrance when he ran into a wall of black smoke pouring out the open doorway. He pulled his shirt up over his mouth and nose to help filter the air as he stuck his head inside the barn.

“Dad!” yelled Henry. “Dad, where are you?”

The smoke began to rapidly dissipate, almost as if it was being sucked into a vacuum. The smoke retreated into the rear corner of the barn, revealing Jack standing there, unharmed, staring at Henry. There was a large cylinder-shaped object embedded in the ground behind him, partially obscured by one of the walls in the barn. It was still glowing orange from heat, but the smoke in the barn had now completely disappeared.

“Dad?” Henry questioned. “Are you okay? What- what happened? What was that thing?”

“I’m fine,” Jack replied. He had an awkward smile on his face. “Everything’s fine.”

“But… how? That giant fireball crashed right through the roof!” Henry said as he pointed up at the large, smoking hole.

“It must have looked frightening to someone so young, but as you can see, everything is fine,” said Jack.

“Um, are you sure you’re okay?” Henry asked suspiciously.

“I’m fine. We should go to the house now,” said Jack.

“What?” asked Henry, confused. “What about that thing!?”

“It’s most likely a meteor. We should go to the house now,” Jack replied.

“But it looks-,” Henry started before he was cut-off mid-sentence.

“It’s fine. There’s nothing to worry about,” interrupted Jack.

“I’m not worried. I just want to know what it is,” Henry said as he took a few steps forward.

“Stop!” shouted Jack. “Stay back!”

Henry stopped, surprised by his dad’s yelling. His dad never yelled.

“What’s wrong?” Henry asked cautiously.

“It’s… dangerous,” Jack said. “We need to stay away. We should go to the house.”

“Okay, sure,” replied Henry, very slowly and uncertainly.

That was when Henry noticed a pair of boots that had been hidden around the corner of a small wall. Then he saw the boots were worn by a body lying on the dirt floor of the barn.

“Dad! Look, someone’s hurt!” yelled Henry.

Henry didn’t wait for a reply. He rushed right past Jack and straight towards the body, kneeling down beside it. He rolled the unmoving body onto its back, and instantly froze. He stared down into his father’s lifeless eyes.

“Dad?” Henry questioned, very confused. “But…”

Henry looked back over his shoulder, just in time to see a shovel swinging towards his head. Everything went black as Henry dropped to the ground, falling on top of his father’s dead body. The impostor with Jack’s face stood, looking down over them, when he heard a voice behind him.

“Jack? What’s going on? Is everything okay?” asked Jack’s wife, Jennifer.

“Everything’s fine,” impostor Jack replied.

“What’s was that noise?” Jennifer asked.

“It was nothing. Everything’s fine. We should go to the house now,” said Jack.

“You’re acting kind of weird. You sure everything’s okay?” asked Jennifer as she looked around the barn. “And where’s Henry?”

“I’m right here. Everything’s fine,” said impostor Henry as he stepped out from behind a nearby wall. “We should go to the house now.”

Jennifer looked at Henry, then at Jack, then back at Henry.

“Okay, I don’t know what you two are up to, but I’m really not in a mood for games,” Jennifer said, exasperated.

“Everything is fine,” said Jack.

“We should go to the house now,” said Henry.

“Yeah. Got it. Let’s go to the house,” said an irritated Jennifer. Just as she turned to leave the barn, she noticed the giant hole in the roof. “Oh my god! Jack, what happened to the roof?”

Jennifer didn’t even get the chance to turn around before her life was ended, just like Henry’s, by a blow to the head. Henry followed Jack as they both left the barn. They had barely made it through the doorway when they both stopped to look at an old truck speeding up the dirt road towards them. It was moving fast, leaving a tall trail of dust behind it. The truck came to a skidding stop as it reached the barn, and a man jumped out.

"Did you guys see that thing? Where did it land? I was out in the field when I saw it, and it looked like it might have hit your house!" the man said as he frantically searched everywhere for any signs of impact.

"It's fine. We were just going to the house," said Jack.

"You okay, Jack?" asked the man. "You're talking kind of funny."

"Everything's fine. We should go to the house now," said Henry.

"Right. Okay," the man said suspiciously. You guys are sure everything's alright? Where's Jenny?"

"I'm right here," the impostor Jennifer said as she stepped out of the barn holding a shovel. "We should go to the house now. Would you like to join us?"

"Uh... I gotta go, uh, get back to work," the man said as he slowly began backing up towards his truck.

Jack moved faster than any normal person could ever hope to, as he stepped forward, reached out, and grabbed the man's arm.

"I think you should join us," Jack said.

"Jack let go of me!" the man shouted. "I don't know what's going on, but I'm leaving!"

"Don't worry. Everything's fine," said Jennifer as she swung the shovel.

"We should go to the house now," said Henry as the man's body dropped to the dirt.

"Yes. Everything's fine," said Jack.