Page 164 - my-people-abbie-harris-beck

About the time I reached the bushed that I was going to hide behind, I heard a
terrible, loud noise. I first felt a big breeze. It blew my coonskin cap clear off my head!
Then I heard the crash. Tree limbs cracked! Large trees swayed and nearly came
uprooted. I felt a thud. It was heavy, like a large object had hit the ground. It happened
so fast that I did not really have time to get scared. Then it got real quiet. That's when I
got scared. I wanted to run back to grandma's house, but I remembered that no one was
home. Also* I was getting a little curious about what had made that terrible noise . It
couldn't have been over two or three hundred yards away. It had certainly ended the
squirrel hunting. The squirrels had all been scared into the next county!

I headed toward the spot where I had heard the noise. It was a little farther that I
first thought. Brandon, do you know the clay pit where you shot your first clay dove?
Just past where the pond is now? Well, there is a swamp just beyond that. Do you
remember ? As I got closer, I could see some smoke rising. I eased on down to the
bottom on the hill. It was real thick with briars and vines and undergrowth. The tall pines
and spreading oaks blocked out the sun and made it shady and dark. Everything got very
quiet, and I was getting a little scared. Then I saw it— !

It was as big as a house! Long and sleek, it was silver colored with multiple lights
blinking blue and red from one end to the other. It had short wings, that were swept
backward. The tail was blunt put pointed. I guess it looked like one of those jet planes I
had seen pictures of in Life Magazine. It was different though, kind of rocket-like. My
first thought was the Messer boys, they lived across the branch, had been experimenting
with some kind of airplane and trying to make it fly. I guess they had crashed it. Come to
think of it I had not seen them taking off. I hadn't seen anyone around at all. Maybe it
was launched from behind the hill and had simply run out of gas.

Then I saw someone. He had his back to me at first. I thought he was dressed
kind of funny. He had on tight pants that went just below his knees. His shirt looked like
a wet suit that a scuba diver would wear. The initials J.K. were emblazoned on his chest
in silver and trimmed in black. He wore some kind of miniature helmet like a bicycle rider
wears. Several gadgets hung from a wide, black belt that encircled his waist. The gadgets
were not like anything I had ever seen before. One tool was kind of like a flashlight, ten
or twelve inches long, cylindrical and silver looking. But it didn't have a bulb and both
ends looked the same size. It kind of hung loosely and swayed as he walked..

I hadn't made a sound, but he knew I was behind him. He just started talking to
me. His English was perfect, but it had some kind of strange accent, like he was trying
out some new language. He asked how I was doing, and whether I was alone. While I
was thinking an answer, he seemed to read my thoughts and said: "don't be afraid. It's OK
if you are alone. I won't hurt you." I froze in my tracks!

Then he showed me his problem. He pointed to a large hole in the side of his
machine. I guess it was a rocket ship. Anyway it had a hole about 30 inches around right