The experience

"Okay the window is off the track Antonia, do you know how to fix that?" asked his mother; Hattie. "Yes mam, I thought you had grocery shopping to do?" said Antonia. "Oh yes, but I have to mop this floor, dust the living room, and mend your Father's church suit first." That seemed like a wonderful opportunity for Antonia to pitch in and help his mother. "That's ok Mom, you take the kids with you to the grocery store, and I got all this." Hattie accepted, she knew her son very well. Responsibility, sufficiency, and accomplishments were his niche. She took the kids to their grandmother's house. Adel was so happy to see them and she said, "Why babies, we got us a whole mess a beans to snap, them there pigs need to be slopped brother Belmont. Paula you can help me finish baken them pies for the church pot luck tomorrow." "Momma Adel, what about me?" Oh Janis was the littlest and youngest one of all the kids, and she appeared teary eyed because she felt left out. Adel said, "Now Janis I saved the best for you, I was planning on an apple pie, but I hadn't got no apples, will you run out in the yard and get me some apples, then we'll warsh em real good, I'll core em, peel em and get that pie ready to bake." Adel said to the kids. Hattie said, "Oh Momma I gotta run to the 'Piggly Wiggly' and do a little grocery shoppen." Just as quick as she said it to her mother, Hattie whipped out the driveway. Adel had an announcement to make, and a little instructing to do before everyone got busy. "Alright kids, lets go to the kitchen and have a prayer before we start out with our business." That was Mamma Adel's way. All the kids knew the routine, and what was expected of them. They met in the kitchen at the supper table, everyone drank a glass of water, and used the restroom before the chores began. The kids thought it was fun, Adel thought it was a blessing from the Lord, her arthritis was given her fits lately. Everyone sat down and Adel passed out cookies and water. She went on to say "You each will get three more cookies and a glass of milk once your chore is done. Now lets pray, "Dear Father in heaven please help my family as we work together on this beautiful farm you have blessed us with. Let the Holy Ghost lead us along & endow us with ample energy, and favor as we labor together as a family." Everyone then said, Amen. Belmont said Amen really loud. Adel said, "Now Belmont, just cuz yo brother ain't hear don't mean you can get rowdy, and loud talk." "Yes mam,' he said respectfully with a tinge of indignance in his tone of voice. As soon as Adel walked away he said to his younger; but taller sister, "Paula, you go get the slop buckets out of the barn for me and meet me at the hog pin." Paula stood towering over him a good 2 inches, "Now don't you start it, I will tell Antonia that you was bossen me, get out there I'm goen to the kitchen to help Momma Adel." Belmont knew better she was bigger, and last time he pinched Paula's cheeks to hard their brother Antonia clobbered him. Antonia told him there would be worse if he ever got wind of him bothering Paula again. That memory settled it, to the barn Belmont went.

Meanwhile back at home, Antonia was finished with everything, except the window. He was waiting for the floor to dry. So he we ahead and got a few tools he thought he would need from the shed. All the sudden he heard a crash in the woods behind the shed, and he saw smoke. It might be a space ship. Oh this interested Antonia greatly. He knew that life existed outside the world, this could be the beginning of his claim to fame. So he went and got his new Kodak camera to capture some pictures. He was moving so quietly, and smoothly; he pretended he was a ninja. This was the chance he'd been waiting for all his life. He had grabbed his fathers rifle, just in case. But in all truth Antonia was more interested in the prospect of friendly aliens.

Creeping into the chicken coop, where the hens fussed at his unwelcomed appearance. He couldn't really see through the cloud of smoke, but he sure did here something or things. He heard some kind of high pitched noise met by a zipping, "s...shoom-s...shoom" sound. All of the sudden a great sonic boom hit the ground and it felt like an after shock. He'd never been in an actual earth-quake, but that's what he imagined an after-shock might feel like. Around 15 minutes of silence occurred, the birds stopped chirping, the hens stopped clucking, and Antonia could only hear his heart beat. He had a gun and he wasn't afraid, he was more waiting for the right moment and highly intrigued. He wasn't going to let on that he was out there. So he'd just stood still, and kinda froze in his tracks waiting to hear the trumpet call, or a director say, "Cut, take 5." Actually the boy was dying out of curiosity to walk outside the chicken coop, but his legs wouldn't move. Finally his legs became a willing participant with the rest of his body. It felt like his eyes were protruding around a quarter inch from his eye-ball sockets, and his eye-brows were so high they almost met his hair line. Okay, this boy had his gun loaded, and he was ready for whatever. He came out the doorway, and feasted his eyes on the biggest slimiest creature he'd ever seen. It had tentacles for hands, and it looked like over ten eyeballs. The feet on this creature seemed to be leather like and razor sharp claws on it's toes. The 10 or so eyeballs met with Antonia's two bulging eyes and immediately with no movement this thing was face to face with him. Antonia aimed his shot-gun and in each eyeball an image appeared. His mother in one, his sister in the other, Momma Adel, his Father, his baby sister, his brother, his teacher, his best friend, his cousin, and his very own image was in the last eye-ball. This was all happening to fast, boom! He pulled the trigger.

The next thing Antonia remembered was his family honking the horn, he was transported back to the kitchen, his clothes were not blood stained, and the window was fixed. What happened, where was the creature he'd just killed. Why was the gun hanging over the mantle as if it had never been touched? Everyone brought in a bag of groceries. What kind of experience was this, how did I manage to get back to the house so quick, how did that window get repaired?