Blinding circular lights sliced through the darkened cloudless sky like a knife. Humming from a distant engine drowned out the usual chirps from backyard crickets. Seth shielded his eyes with his forearm and stared at the descending spacecraft.
Branches of varying lengths and sizes quavered along the trunks of both giant cherry trees, threatening to snap from their elevated perches. Their remnant leaves fluttered, each one buffeted by a strong breeze stirred by the approaching ship. Light flooded the backyard lawn and illuminated each unkempt blade of grass.
He let out a disappointed sigh.
Spaceships in the movies dwarfed this one. The descending vessel fit inside his backyard with room to spare. It even cleared the picket fence separating Seth’s yard from the vacant duplex.
“Is this UFO piloted by tiny aliens?”
Seth cracked a grin and chuckled at his own question. Maybe the gray aliens were much smaller in stature than those alleged government whistleblowers let on.
His eyes trailed from left to right, searching for any neighbors who also noticed a spaceship landing in his backyard. Porch lights and illuminated windows told him he wasn’t the lone person on the block at home. But Seth quickly noted he was the only one standing outside. A crease formed in his brow, and he scratched his head.
Was the Thursday night NFL game this week really that captivating?
A distinct hiss greeted his ears. The spaceship extended landing gear and kicked up a swirl of fallen leaves that peppered the grass. Seconds later, a circular opening formed on the belly of the ship and a platform surrounded by a transparent column descended like an elevator from that same spot. An alien wearing a silver spacesuit and matching helmet rode the platform.
“That alien is the same size as Tiger.”
Seth shook his head in disbelief. The alien stood on all fours just like an ordinary animal and stepped off the platform when it touched grass. He stared unblinking as a tail covered in spacesuit fabric sprang up behind the alien creature. It twitched back and forth as the alien trotted over to him.
No question this was an animal.
From another planet.
