The Window

Ernie Martin was a bachelor ; he had a routine that had been the same for decades : he watched the BBC on the educational tv channel while he drank beer and cooked supper.

He set his clock,feed the dogs and the cats,drank more beer , then he fell asleep.

The radio station was tuned to a local broadcast which was about paranormal topics : Bigfoot ; UFOS ; ESP and Psychic abilities ; Time Travel ; Wierd Science and Conspiracy Theories.

Tonight the show was on Missing Time.

" Okay, caller , you actually don't remember driving from Ohio to Michigan " ?

" No, I got on the interstate , was headed home after work, which should have been about a twenty-five minutes drive. Then I kinda black out, and I am in Michigan."

Ernie fell into the deep stage of sleep as the radio continued to play.

His German Shepherd puppy was busy playing with a cat, who wasn't in the mood to be chewed and pawed.The old cat was tempted to scratch the dog on his face but decided not to.

His other dog,a female Miniture Pinscher named Lucy was busy watching the food bowl in the kitchen.

Suddenly her tiny,pointed ears stood erect ; she stared intensely towards the kitchen. She heard the sound of the dog food as it was being crunched - a cat was stealing her food !

She slowly stood, then ran quickly towards the intruder . The black and white cat saw her coming and tried to run . As he ran for safety , she managed to get a good bite on his back.

The cat let out a cry of pain, while Lucy trotted to her food bowl. She had been the victory in this battle between dog and cat.

Meanwhile the radio station continued to play : " So, you drove how many miles in this state of unconsciousness " ?

" Oh, about fifty miles or so . I came to at a truck stop".

" Do you remember being taken aboard the spaceship " ?

" It came to me later. At first I thought it was just my imagination, but I think it really happened ".

" And you say the aliens looked like giant insects " .

" That's right. Like a Praying Mantis " .

Ernie let out a moan as he slept ; the German Shepherd puppy was turning his head from side to side, trying to understand why his master was making odd noises. Then Ernie began to toss around in his bed.

The German Shepherd was now looking concerned. Lucy had by now returned from her battle with the cat, and she also looked at Ernie with a look of bewildered wonder in her eyes.

Ernie began to see a brilliant light in the room. He began to feel like he was flying out of his body. He felt very dizzy and the bed seemed to be falling.

He then saw a small creature looking at him ; it was an alien that looked like E.T. from the movie he had seen when he was a kid.

He felt like he was in a trance but then realized that he was on a spaceship. Another E.T. entered the area where Ernie and the other E.T. were. The interior was mostly white , and there was a deck with computers . A door opened and two more aliens entered the room.

Ernie could sense that he was to follow them through the door that had just opened. He entered the door and it closed , leaving him in a type of elevator compartment. The aliens stood silently beside him. They only reached to his waist , so they appeared to be about three feet tall.

When the door opened Ernie saw a brightly colored hallway, with lights like orbs that moved in every direction.

They walked for a short distance and came to another white room that looked like a medical emergency room. Ernie saw an examination table and chairs. The aliens seemed to be communicating to Ernie with their thoughts : he was being told to undress. Before he even realized it, he was in his underwear and was lying on the table to be examinaned . He felt very scared but he was also very relaxed at the same time.

At this time an alien stood over him with some kind of scanner, which he moved slowly over Ernie's body. Occasionally the alien would pause, then move to another part of his body.

Another alien approached him , and it was holding a syringe with a very long needle ! Ernie wanted to get up and run , but he was unable to move. He felt a sharp sting when the needle entered his arm.

The next morning , when he woke from his sleep, Ernie felt very weak. He looked at his watch ; it was noon. He had slept all night and through the morning.. when he stood up he felt very dizzy, and he sat back down on the bed. His dogs were looking at him. He got back up slowly, for he knew he had to take the dogs outside .

" Come on, let's go out", he said to the two animals , who were now running to the kitchen door.

As Ernie put on a pair of cut off blue jeans, the dogs sat in front of the door, their tongues hanging out, their tails wagging. As he opened the door,he grabbed his cap from the nail on the wall, put it on, then went onto his porch.

The dogs ran to the backyard, and relieved themselves. Then they began to run and play with one another. A female cat, who was the mother of all of the young cats, jumped on the porch and began to run against Ernie's legs. This always annoyed him, but he was use to it. He just had to be careful not to trip over the cat or step on it.

As he walked around the yard he felt dizzy again and he felt as though he might faint. He sat down on the grass.

He looked at his garden , which he had just began to work up a few days ago with his hoe and shovel to prepare for his tomatoe plants. He had also purchased a variety of peppers , which he would also plant. Then he would sow some okra , green beans , and corn seeds. The lettuce and onions , which he had prepared a bout three weeks ago , was already growing.

Ernie looked up at the noon sun; it beamed down, and although it was a cool day, he began to sweat.

He watched the dogs as they chased one another , them decided to go back to the kitchen for a drink of water.

When he stood up he almost passed out.

He stopped for a few seconds, then proceeded to the house.

The water tasted good. The radio was still on from the night before and the news was on. After the news program ended the radio station always have a weather forecast .

" And Friday night we should have have a chance of rain " .

According to the weather announcement it was Thursday.But Ernie had went to bed on Tuesday night, and could not understand how he had slept over twenty four hours.

He went into the living room and turned on the TV. The Jerry Springer Show was on, which was one of his favorite shows.

Two girls were on the stage , fighting and screaming at one another.

" Now let's bring out the boyfriend", Jerry said.

As the group argued on the show, Ernie began to worry. He tried to recall what had happened ; and all he could remember was going to bed on Tuesday night and waking up at noon on Thursday.

Maybe he had really lost his mind, he began to think. He wondered if he had been drinking to much ; but beer had never done anything like this before.

No, he must be coming down with something; or maybe he really was crazy !

It was then that he began to recall the dream about the aliens. It had been a very strange dream, and it seemed almost real - but it couldn't have been.

He heard the two dogs, that were at the door, barking to get back in. He got up, went to the backdoor, and the dogs came inside.

He decided to go back to bed. He still didn't feel very well .

As he fell back asleep, he began to dream again. This time he dreamed he was caught in a giant net. He was struggling to get free.

Suddenly a beautiful Black woman was standing in front of him; as he struggled with the net, she smiled and kissed him.

Outside his bedroom window a Black Widow spider was spinning her web.