The Test

Chapter 1…George Returns Back to Top

Helen Eldridge had just finished the breakfast dishes when the door bell rang. My goodness, who could be at my door this early in the morning? she thought as she quickly dried her hands and headed for the front door. I hope it's not Emily. She does so love to gossip and I always have a hard time getting rid of her so I can get on with my house work.

When she reached the front door she looked up at the peep hole and grit her teeth. Her late husband George, had installed it years ago as a safety measure. You can't be too careful, he said, There are a lot of criminals out there who prey on seniors like us.

But she could never use it. Why did you install it so high up? she had asked him.

The instructions said to install it at eye level, he responded, and that's what I did.

But you installed it at your eye level and you're over six feet tall. I'm barely five feet, two inches and I can't reach it.

Well it's too late now. The hole's already in the door. Use a step stool, he answered and headed into the basement to put away his tools.

Sometimes that man could be maddening, she thought as she carefully cracked open the door to see who was on the other side.

Smiling at her through the screen door, stood her late husband George, dressed in the same pajamas he was wearing two years ago, the night he disappeared. Helen began to hyper-ventilate. It can't be. You're dead. she feebly managed before she fainted.

When she awoke, George was sitting beside her on the floor dabbing her forehead with a wet paper towel. Being astonished and still a bit foggy, she lay for a brief moment unable to speak but soon her astonishment turned to anger and she lashed out at him. Where have you been for the last two years? You couldn't call to let me know you were okay? I thought you were dead!

I wanted to call you but I couldn't, he replied, They wouldn't let me.

Who wouldn't let you? she asked.

The aliens. The ones who abducted me.

Aliens? she said, Come on, you can do better than that.

I'm telling you the truth. Don't you remember what happened that night?

Helen remembered quite well what had happened that night. It was very warm and humid and the bedroom windows were wide open in the hope of alleviating the suffocating atmosphere in the house. She and George were just getting into bed when they heard a strange noise coming from the back yard. Probably one of those damn deer. Ever since they leveled the woods to build that new subdivision they've been showing up all over the neighborhood. I'll go down and take a look, he said.

George got up to go out but Helen stopped him. You can't go outside in your pajamas. Put some clothes on.

I'll be okay, he said, It's dark out. No one will see me and I won't be out there that long. Then, he started down the stairs.

Be careful, she said to his receding figure.

Yeah, yeah, came the tired reply.

Helen sat up in bed and waited. She heard the back door open and heard him step out onto the porch. Then, all was quiet. She waited. As time passed, she became concerned. Where is he? she thought. Finally, she got up and went to the window. George? she called out, George, are you okay? but there was no answer.

In a panic, she threw on her bathrobe and ran down the stairs to the back door. She pushed open the door and burst out onto the porch. The humid night air hit her like a wet rag and her breathing became labored. George! she called out again and went down the steps to the yard. The grass felt damp on her bare feet and she stopped, afraid that she might step on something sharp or prickly. She turned back toward the porch and that's when she noticed his flashlight partially buried in the mulch near the tulips, the light still on but barely visible. Oh my lord, she said, something bad has happened here, and she ran for the safety of the house.

Once inside, she grabbed the telephone and dialed the 911 emergency number. Emergency operator speaking. What is your emergency?

I don't know, she replied, still panicking.

This is an emergency line. If you don't have an emergency, you shouldn't be calling here, said the operator.

This is an emergency. I just don't know what kind. My husband went out to the yard to check on a noise and now I can't find him. Please send the police and maybe an ambulance.

Okay, said the operator, Try to stay calm. The police are on the way and I'm dispatching an ambulance as we speak. Now, can you tell me in your own words exactly what happened?

Helen began to relate her story but before she could finish, the police were at her front door. Once again she told her story and as lieutenant Grimes took notes, two other policemen scoured the yard looking for George or any clues that would explain his sudden disappearance. After three hours of questions and searching, they came up empty. Aside from his flashlight in the mulch, they found nothing out of the ordinary, no body, no blood and no signs of a struggle.

I'm sorry, Mrs. Eldridge but at this point, we have no evidence a crime has been committed here tonight, said lieutenant Grimes, It almost appears as if he just walked off for some reason.

Walked off? she shouted, Where would he go dressed in his pajamas?

The policeman shrugged. I know it sounds strange but we see some strange things in this line of work. Let me ask you another question. Was he on any special kind of medication?

Helen began to bristle. My husband was not on any medication and he's not going senile. He's as sane as you or I.

I apologize for the question, he said, but it's one I had to ask and as I was saying, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, it does not appear a crime has been committed here tonight. We will of course file our report and if your husband doesn't return in the next forty eight hours, you can come down to the police station and file a missing person's report.

Of course he didn't return and Helen filled out the report hoping the police would be able to find him. After one year had passed, she called her insurance company and inquired about collecting on George's life insurance policy but found herself caught in a bureaucratic nightmare. On the one hand, they refused to pay out the death benefit because there was no tangible evidence of his death and because they were also the company that provided the administrative services for George's pension plan, they wanted to halt his pension checks because he was missing and presumed dead. Helen had continued to fight with them, eventually even hiring an attorney because she felt the insurance company was trying to have it both ways to her detriment and she hoped to force them to decide one way or the other. But, now here he was, dabbing her forehead with a wet paper towel and talking about aliens.

George interrupted her thoughts, The last thing I remember is stepping out onto the porch that night and then I woke up in what turned out to be an alien space ship. There were other people in the same room and all of us were asking the same question, 'Where am I and how did I get here?' None of us realized at the time what was going on. We didn't know we were in a space ship. All we knew was that we were in some kind of windowless room with soft walls and floors and there was a low humming sound that seemed to radiate throughout the room.

Helen sat up and silently stared at George, so he continued, After wandering aimlessly around the room for sometime talking to other people, I noticed the humming sound began to change in pitch and frequency and I felt myself being drawn to one section of the room while others were being drawn to other sections. A door opened in the wall and all those in my section went through and we found ourselves in a different but similar holding area. We didn't know it but we had just been transferred from a smaller space ship to an alien mother ship and that's where I've been for the last two years.

On a space ship? asked Helen.

George nodded his head, Yes.

But what did you do for two years?

George looked down. I'd rather not talk about it, he said quietly.

Helen looked alarmed. What did they do? Did they hurt you?

No, not really, just some experiments. I.. he hesitated, I really don't want to talk about it, he said softly.

She could see he was serious so she quickly changed the subject. So how did you get back?

They brought me back, he said. They must have been done with me. The whole time I was there, I noticed that people were disappearing and I was afraid they were killing them but apparently, once they're done experimenting on a person, they return them back to where they were originally abducted.

Why would they do that? she asked, Aren't they afraid the people will tell everyone what happened?

George gave a half smile. That's the least of their worries, he said, Think about it. Whenever anyone claims to have been abducted by aliens, everyone thinks they're nuts. Even you are having a hard time believing my story. Why would anyone else?

You know, I never thought about it before but that makes perfect sense, she replied, You hear it all the time. 'So and so's crazy as a bed bug. He claims he was abducted by aliens.(snicker, snicker)'

Well, I'm not crazy, he said, and I've got something to prove my story. I stole it on the way back, just before we landed. He held out his left hand and opened it, palm up. Sitting squarely in the middle of his palm was a dark green crystal, about three inches long. The one end of the crystal was about one inch thick and it tapered down to one sixteenth of and inch at the other end.

Helen stared blankly at the crystal. They thought all of us were stupid, George continued, the intelligence level of monkeys. So they took no precautions to hide what they were doing as they went about their normal work routines. They figured we wouldn't understand the things they were doing but they were wrong and now I have this and I'm going to use it to get even with them. Believe me, I've got plans.

Get even with them? What do you mean? she asked.

Just what I said. I'm going to build a space ship and go back. Maybe I'll take out a few of the smaller alien ships or maybe damage the life support systems of the mother ship so badly they'll have to go back home for repairs. They'll never know what hit them, he replied.

Helen began to get worried. Maybe he is a bit nuts, she thought, I'd better humor him. She forced a big smile and said, Those sound like good plans but you're not doing anything until you take a shower and get out of those filthy pajamas and into some clean clothes. I think I still have some of your clothes in a box in the basement. I hope you understand that I gave most of them away to the Salvation Army because I thought you were.... she hesitated, not wanting to say the 'D' word again, you know.

Yeah, I know, he said.

An hour later, George was showered, dressed and sitting at the kitchen table. The aroma of frying bacon filled the air as Helen worked at preparing him a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich.

I'm not sure we should tell everyone that you were abducted by aliens, she said while removing the bacon from the frying pan.

Well why not? he asked.

She carefully placed the bacon on a paper towel to soak up the excess grease. You said it yourself, she replied, They'll think you're crazy.

But it's the truth and besides, I can always show them the crystal as proof.

Helen looked at the crystal that now lay on the kitchen table next to George's plate. Except for the deep green color it looked, for all the world, as if it could have once hung from someone's dining room chandelier. Don't get me wrong, she said as she placed the completed sandwich on his plate, but I'm not sure everyone will accept that as proof.

Well, to hell with them then, he replied and tore into his sandwich with the enthusiasm of a man who hadn't eaten a good meal in over two years. Pausing between bites he asked, You didn't get rid of my computer, did you?

Helen looked up and shook her head. I can't believe it, she thought, He returns after being gone for over two years and the first thing he wants is his computer.

No dear, she said sarcastically, It's in the basement, right where you left it when you disappeared.

Good, he replied totally missing her sarcasm, I'm going to need it to help design and build my space ship.

George, you're beginning to scare me, she said, You're talking crazy now. What do you know about building space ships?

So now you think I'm crazy? he said, Well we'll just see about that, and he left the kitchen, muttering to himself as he descended the basement stairs.

Helen hadn't lied. He found the computer still sitting on his desk where it was the night he disappeared. Though she had dusted it every week since his disappearance, she hadn't used it and dust and dirt had settled into the keyboard between the keys and George knew he