It was dark out when it happened, the night sky as brilliant as I had ever seen. The estranged and eclectic group of onlookers fled the moment their ridiculous hopes were realized. Me? I was too busy looking the wrong direction to see it coming.

  I’m probably getting ahead of myself. I should start from the beginning, though the details don’t matter as much as I once thought they did. My name is Kevin, I am thirty-seven years old, and I was on vacation. My girlfriend, Beth, and I had been touring around the country in our recently renovated trailer. It was our celebration tour, she had finished her education and successfully passed the NAVLE, officially becoming a practicing veterinarian. While she was at classes, I managed to work up the corporate ladder. With my most recent promotion to station manager, our household income was finally about to make a massive change.

  We were in high spirits as we roamed through the dusty backroads of Nevada. We had thought up this tour sometime ago, and decided we wanted to do it before the onset of old age had begun to clutch its icy fingers around our mobility. We’re both fans of all things supernatural, so when we decided to do our Spooky Tour 2028, we set up specific spots to hit on our tour of the country.

  Of those spots, the Extraterrestrial Highway was one that we both had been looking forward to. Officially, it was State Route 375, and our destination was Rachel, Nevada. It was, apparently, a large hub for UFO sightings and enthusiasts. I sincerely wish we had made it there.

  On our drive, we were quite spirited, excited really. We weren’t the biggest on UFO’s and aliens, we preferred things like specters and ghosts, but as a secondary, aliens were fun. Besides, we had every intention of making fun of the overly fanatic UFO hunters when we had finally left the arid desert.

  On the path there, we had one stop I was curious about. A place called Warm Springs, a junction between State Route 375 and 6, was also an abandoned town that apparently had an eerie atmosphere. This was my idea, an idea that I would regret down to the marrow of my bones.

  We inspected the abandoned town, and it was indeed eerie, but there was one thing there that peaked both our curiosities. A poster exclaiming, “Guaranteed to see a UFO!” On the poster was the image of an iconic Grey, large black almond eyes with a slender small body, doing the disco point to a spot on a map. Beneath the map, instructions to the outskirts of a town called Sunnyside. Since we were sleeping in the trailer, and it was already encroaching on five o’clock, we decided to check it out.

  Beth was much more excited than I was about the possibility of witnessing a UFO. I, on the other hand, was expecting some lights off in the distance, so much so that if we were to say we saw a UFO, we would be using the literal term. In other words, we would witness an object that was flying and too far away to identify, not little green dudes.

  We arrived at the spot just as the sun was setting, several people were already there. There were two small groups set up that were wearing some kind of reflective material. They both, for whatever reason, had set up booths and were actively arguing with each other. We paid them little attention as we were more intent on finding a spot to set up for the night.

  Spotting an RV, we drove up, where I proceeded to get out.

  “What are you doing?” Beth whispered, as though they could hear us.

  “I’m going to ask if its all right for anyone to set up here, and I’d rather talk to someone that can afford an RV than asking the mob of geeks back there.”

  A look of brief concern passed her face before she said, “okay, but I don’t think this is a good idea.”

  “It’s fine,” I said as I closed the door. I could hear her skeptically saying “okay” behind me, but my focus was on the gray-haired man cooking something on his grill under one of the RV’s arms. They had classic rock playing on the radio, and the older man was singing “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” while flipping a spatula.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  I put up a hand, letting out a “hello?” I was louder than the music, enough that he could hear me. Upon looking at him I was happy I hadn’t startled the man. He was retired, extremely retired, though he still seemed lively. He smiled quickly before turning the radio down.

  “Hello, something I can do for you, partner?” The old man said.

  “Hi, yeah, can we set up anywhere or…?” I left the statement open.

  “Newcomers?” The man smiled and I realized that he wasn’t necessarily advanced in years, but his skin reflected a life of working in the sun. Still smiling he said, “oh yes, anywhere you like. We all simply ask you keep the lights to a minimum at ten, we all meet up on the rise just over yonder if you’d like to join us locals.” He smiled then, busying himself over at the grill.

  “Okay, thank you!” I called warmly before taking my leave.

  I heard the man call out, “We’ll have popcorn up on the hill later, so make sure you bring a bowl!” His voice was rather soft in the distance, to the point that I barely heard him.

  “Most definitely,” I said to myself knowing full well the old guy couldn’t hear me. I was getting excited, the groups of people here might end up being more entertaining than the UFOs. Moreso than that, I had always loved gazing up at the stars. That was enough for me, but the prospect of overhearing the two groups of weirdos arguing alien nonsense was sure to get Beth excited. She loved that kind of thing.

  After setting up, we cooked up a quick dinner and went about changing into something warmer. The dry air was finally cooling, but I knew it would be frigid before long. We gathered our lawn chairs along with a backpack cooler and started our trek. Last moment, I remembered to grab a plastic bowl from our road dishes. We got our phones out, hit our flashlights, and began our short walk.

  We arrived and were greeted by the older man I spoke with earlier. “Welcome,” the man called as I looked up and smiled. I approached, Beth leading the way saying something about the smell of popcorn. She was right, I could smell the butter a fair way off.

  “Why hello,” the older man said, lighting up at the new arrivals.

  “Hi, I’m Beth, Kevin told me he met you earlier, but he forgot to tell me your name.”

  “It’s Danial, and that’s my wife Barbra over there.” Danial gestured to an older woman waving her hand to the two of us. Just beyond her were the two groups bickering amongst themselves, their reflective clothes making them all look like floating heads. They had a small fire nearby, though I couldn’t see the light of it directly, I could smell the burning wood and hear the cracking of it. It barely illuminated the two groups well enough to make them out.

  Realizing that Beth and Danial were still talking, I turned my attention back to them. Danial was pointing to a spot near his wife, it sounded like they were inviting us to sit near them. Beth was already agreeing and gesturing me to give her something.

  “Oh, right,” I said as I passed her the bowl. Danial laughed.

  “Boy, she’s gonna run you right out, idn’t she?” He laughed again, approaching me as Beth walked over to set up her chair.

  “She already does,” I said as I reached out to shake Danial’s hand. His grip was surprisingly strong, and even if I could see his wrinkles by starlight, I could tell he had some good years left to him.

  “Keeping up is a fool’s game, but sometimes it’s worth it to be the fool.” I looked at him, a little stunned. I grinned and said, “idn’t it?”

  We chatted with the retired couple for some time as we waited for our eyes to finish adjusting. The cascade of stars and nebulae were breathtaking, the moon was barely visible, and it made the stars really pop. Even if it was cold, I could care less. I wasn’t sure if we had camped this far out yet, but the sky was unbelievable. Never in my life had I seen so much of the universe, and it made me feel small. Not in a “I’m powerless” kind of way, but in a way that was downright sublime. I listened to the quiet conversation the old couple were having, but couldn’t keep my eyes off the night sky long enough to chime in. Beth didn’t seem to have an issue, as Barbra and her seemed to hit it off like they were related.

  It was then, while my focus was drawn to the vastness of space, that I realized that the bickering groups stopped talking. There had been a steady stream of discourse between the two groups for the last hour, and the sudden stop was jarring. Not jarring enough to pull my eyes away, but enough for me to notice. One person called “Oh shit!” which finally got me to turn my head. It was then when the bright light enveloped everything around me. An unearthly chime resounded in my mind, it made my eardrums tingle, and my body went rigid.

  Not just rigid, it was like I had pulled every muscle in my body at once. I convulsed, or tried to, but every part of me was straining. I looked about frantically, I shouted myself horse, but nobody came. I felt my feet come off the ground and everything went blank.