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“It Could Be Aliens.”
The humidity of the day finally broke when the rain began. The cows had been laying down for a while, calling for a storm, so Wilbur had time to get everything that might have flown off pinned down or put away. Now the clear twilight sky glistened off the wet grass.
A singular drop of water fell from the gable, landing square on his head. Cursing from the surprise, he brushed the water out of his hair. How could he keep his hair decent if the humidity and rain are determined to ruin it with every chance they get? Grunting and heaving, he lifted and walked his chair to the other side of the porch away from the dripping gable.
Footsteps crunched against the gravel lawn path and Wilbur set his book back down on his lap. The young man climbing the porch steps looked exhausted. His boots were muddy and his long braided hair was un-weaving itself one strand at a time. Wilbur gave him a look of concern, but the man’s gaze was wearily focused on the pasture behind him.
“We lost one.” He announced after a moment. He did not sound too distraught, more exasperated than anything, but Wilbur threw up his hands in anguish.
“ Again ?” He exclaimed, “Is it the same cow?” When the other nodded, more hair fell out of place. “Techno, this is the third time! We have to find how this damn cow keeps getting out.” Techno, attempting to untie and re-braid his hair, halted to defend himself.
“Dad and I have checked that fence several times. I just ran two laps trying to find the hole; there’s nothing.” With a grunt he dropped and sat down on the porch steps, head in hands.
As they sat in silence trying to think, Wilbur grew suspicious of the almost invisible smile creeping onto his brother’s normally deadpan face.
“What?” He demanded.
“ Well… ” Techno hesitated, trying to school his entertained expression, “could be aliens.”
Wilbur began a humourless laugh, wishing he could get a serious answer for once, but a crash from the old barn nearly caused him to jump out of his own skin. Techno started down the lawn path immediately, but Wilbur was still trying to control his own heartbeat.
“If that cow has been stuck in the barn the whole time we are having steak tonight.” Techno ignored his brother’s whining and heaved open the already slightly ajar wooden door.
The inside was dry and dusty. They had not used this building in a few years since the back part of the roof caved in, and to be perfectly honest, Techno hadn’t even thought about it in several months. He looked around as Wilbur finally stumbled through the door. Against the wall facing the house was a toppled over pile of boxes, hay bales, and crates under the window. Not exactly the work of a bovine. Techno loved his cows, sure, but shifty ladder work wasn’t quite their forte.
The dust in his vision was the same, the stale air in his lungs was the same, the hay beneath his boots was the same…but that tarp in the back looked new. In the far corner, underneath a poorly draped tarp, was something Techno had never seen before. Wilbur was saying something probably important, but he was not listening. He walked over to the captivator of his focus and the fabric felt new. It was much more expensive than their dad would ever pay for one throw away tarp. This wasn’t theirs.
Before he really thought about it, the tarp was off. He pulled with one swift, strong motion and whipped it away. Wilbur yelled, obviously upset that he was being ignored, but his voice died as both brothers stared in awe. Under the tarp, in their old run down barn, was a real alien spaceship. It looked straight out of a cartoon; flying saucer, colourful lights, tinted glass, everything you would expect from an alien ufo. Techno’s smile widened until he turned back to his brother, snapping to his ever so frequent “I told you so” expression.
“So…I’m not sure,” he drawled, “but I think it might be aliens.” Wilbur gave him a whack on the head for his sarcasm as the colour slowly returned to his face.
“Oh shut up…” He scolded softly. Very gently, as if it would dissolve from his touch, Wilbur brushed his hand over the cold metal. It was smooth, and lightly knocking on the plates revieled the shell was hollow. It really was a real life spaceship.
“Might as well take it for a test drive.” Techno suggested, climbing onto the silver board of the craft. Wilbur could not even begin to count the reason that was a bad idea; but lucky for him, he did not have to. The second Techno got his boot on the side, a high pitched screech erupted from the barn hayloft. Wilbur’s blood ran cold and Techno was decently certain that that also was not a cow.
Standing atop two different hay bales was the assumed owner of the ship, spewing gibberish in a language neither brother understood. In its hand was something Wilbur could only guess was a weapon pointed directly at Techno as he backed off the spacecraft with his hands in the air.
“Hey, hey hey hey,” Techno coaxed. Wilbur snapped at him in a whisper to shut it, but he continued. “Listen man, we just want our cow back.”
Now, Wilbur was no extraterrestrial translator, but somehow akin to guilt seemed to pass over the newcomer. All in all, its anatomy looked roughly human; two legs, head on top, maybe some unusual colours or an extra limb or two, but if you squint you would hardly be able to tell. So when his shoulders hunched and purple began to bloom across his cheeks, Wilbur could only assume it was embarrassment. He looked like an odd little boy getting caught sneaking a snack before dinner.
“Do you… have our cow?” Techno asked hesitantly. The alien scrunched up his face and grumbled more gibberish before finally lowering his sci-fi space gun and shamefully climbing down from the hayloft. Somehow he didn’t seem so intimidating, shoving right by Techno and stomping up to his ship. He dialled in an invisible keypad and a panel of the ship’s exterior unpeeled to let down the steps. Wilbur and Techno peered inside to the flashy buttons and holographic dashboards. It was brilliant!
Giving one last disappointed glance to the brothers, the alien sighed and picked up a flat sheet of…something from the seat of the pilot’s chair. He carried it carefully and held it out to Techno.
“Henry.” The alien announced timidly, but in English.
Wilbur’s heart dropped before he even registered that he understood what the alien had said. Techno froze with the sheet in his hands. It felt soft, almost like leather, and the way the alien handed it over could only mean one thing.
Seeing the horror on their faces, the guiltily fidgeting alien paused and snapped his eyes several eyes from the brothers, to the leather, and back to the brothers. After a moment of contemplation, he slapped one hand to his forehead and snatched the sheet. Grumbling still and rolling his eyes in irritation, he marched out the barn door; brothers anxiously on his tail. He stopped at the beginning of the path and held it at arms length over the wet grass.
The drop felt like slow motion. Logically, Wilbur was not sure why he was so tense, but the bland, unimpressed stare the alien was giving them gave him the feeling something was going to happen. He held his breath tight and watched as it fell onto the damp lawn. It landed plainly with a flop and the brothers looked to the alien expectantly.
“Wait.” He ordered. He gave one last forlorn look to the sheet, and after a breath to steal his nerves he shoved back past Techno and walked back into the barn.
“Wait?” Wilbur repeated, furrowed brow and indignation in his voice. He followed the visitor back into the doors, going on about “what does that mean?” And “what about our cow?”, but Techno stayed carefully inspecting the alien’s gift.
“He called it Henry.” He noted to no one in particular. They didn’t often name the slaughter cows, but with the way the alien treated seemingly all that was left of it, Techno decided to follow his instructions. If the alien was that attached to give it a name, maybe there was more to it than it looked.
As the bickering in the barn continued — Wilbur’s yapping matched by the alien’s high pitched gibberish — the flat piece of Henry began to transform. It soaked up the dew from the grass and began to grow. It grew larger and larger still until in front of him, Techno stared wide-eyed at the very cow they had lost that afternoon; no harm or damage done save for a slight trim to its coat and a de-mucking to its hooves. It looked groomed .
Techno was definitely perplexed, but a pleased and entertained grin few on his expression as he pet down the freshly hydrated bovine. He turned to call back the good news, but a gust of air and heat choked the words in his throat.
One last shriek from Wilbur inside the barn and the spaceship zipped upwards through the fallen roof. It shot towards the dimly appearing stars, and with a twinkle, it was gone.
Wilbur’s face when he reappeared messy and frazzled from the barn sent Techno roaring with laughter. They walked Henry back to the pasture in silence, but jeered and shouted while racing to the house for who had to explain the evening. After dirty tricks and a short cut that was totally cheating, they arrived at the door at the exact same time.
Out of breath and huffing at the stairs, they turned to each other solemnly.
“Don’t tell dad?”
”Dont tell dad.”