The Camp Out

“Mom! Where are you?” Allie cried out when her room was plunged into darkness. “Mom!” At the sound of her panic her Mom rushed into the room.

“Honey, it’s alright, it’s just a power outage. Your Father is getting a flashlight now.”

“Why would the power go out? It’s not storming outside.”

“When you live in a rural area, like we do, power outages happen. Maybe a tractor hit a pole, or they had a power surge that has knocked down the system.” Allie’s dad came into the room with a couple of flashlights and handed one to her.

“I just got off the phone with the power company. There was an accident at the power station, so we are going to be without power for several hours.” 

“What are we going to do Dad? I hate the dark! I can’t sleep without my nightlight!” Allie cried getting worked up. Her dad wrapped her in his arms.

“Why don’t we make this an adventure? We’ll set up the tent and sleep out under the stars. I’ll even make a campfire and we’ll roast some wienies and marshmallows.”

“That sounds like a lot of fun; I already made some potato salad for dinner. Why don’t you help your dad set up the tent and I’ll get everything ready for dinner?”

Allie nodded okay and went with her dad to get things ready.

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An hour later they were all sitting around the campfire, roasting marshmallows for dessert.

“How many stars are in the sky Dad?”

“I don't know exactly, but God compares their numbers to grains of sand on the seashore.”

“Wow! You could never count that many.”

“I can’t and you can’t, no person could. The bible however says that God calls each star by name.”

“That’s amazing.” Allie sighed, as she stared into the heavens. “Dad do stars move?

“Well they travel on their own orbit, but we wouldn’t be able to see it, Why?”

“Look at those two stars, they are coming this way.” Allie pointed to the stars she was referring to.

“Those aren’t stars; they look more like orbs of light. I think they might be UFO’s” Her dad said as he winked at his wife.

“Whoa!” Allie exclaimed watching the lights. They seemed to be floating slowly in her direction. “They’re coming this way Dad!”

“They certainly look like they are.”

“Are you two going to continue to stargazing, or start helping me put away the leftovers?” Her mom complained.

“Sorry Mom.” Allie said as she went over to help her. With all three chipping in they soon had everything put away and were back sitting around the fire.

 Allie noticed the orbs were now directly overhead. “Look!”

The orbs were light blue and luminescent. They floated above the family for several minutes before moving away.

“I wonder where they are going now” Allie exclaimed excitedly.

“Let’s follow them and find out.” Her dad smiled.

“Really!” Allie jumped up and raced to the car. “Come on, slow pokes! We don’t want to lose them.

Her mom gave her husband a nervous look, “Do you really think this is a good idea?”

“Don’t be afraid, those balls of light are just flares from the air force base. I just want to give Allie a little adventure.”

“Flares just float on the wind and they are only supposed to last a couple of minutes.”

“Don’t be silly, do you really think they’re aliens?”

“Well no, but…”

“Mom, Dad, are we going or not!”

“Come on honey, let’s have an adventure.” Her dad picked up her moms hand and kissed it, as he drew her to the car.

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The orbs seemed to stay just ahead of the car floating in the night sky. They followed them for about an hour.

"I hope you know how to get us home, honey." her mom said to her dad.

"Sure, I can get us home, just enjoy the countryside."

"It is getting pretty late, HONEY."

“Speed up Dad, I want to catch them.”

“I’m going the speed limit, they are just moving faster, sweetheart.”

“They’re getting away, though.”

“Flare’s don’t have engines to speed away.” His wife muttered anxiously.

“What are flare’s?” Allie asked.

“Nothing hun, your mom’s just being silly. It is getting late, though, so we need to go home.” Her dad told her as he pulled off the road, so he could turn around.

“But Dad, I don’t want to go home. I want to follow the UFO’s.”

“We were losing them Allie, they are to fast.”

“But Dad look, they are coming back!”

“What!” Her dad followed her finger to the orbs that were now back over head.

“I don’t feel comfortable with this, Joe. We need to go back home.” Allie’s mom calmly said. She was getting frightened, but she didn’t want to alarm her daughter.

Allie’s dad was getting nervous too.  Following the flares started as a lark to entertain his daughter. Now he realized though that the lights were not flares. They were something he’d never seen before. He whipped the car in a wide turn and gunned it back toward home. 

Allie cried out as she was thrown against the door, she didn’t quite understand what was happening, but she could sense her parents fear. She looked out the window; the orbs were staying above the car, matching speed for speed. They raced down the curving rural road for about 3 miles, then one of the orbs, flew past them and stopped directly in front of them. Allie and her mom screamed as her dad hit the brakes. The car started sliding sideways toward the large object. Seeing a dirt road coming up, her father turned the wheel and floored the gas, He was praying for a residence where they could hide, anything to get away from the orbs. 

Dust and rocks were being thrown up by the tires and the car was bouncing and shuddering like a bucking bronco. Allie had slid to the floorboard behind her mom’s seat to keep from being thrown all over. Her mom had her feet pushed up against the dash for stability and her dad had a death grip on the steering wheel. Allie could see the orbs easily from her position; they were on each side of the car.  Allie’s dad came to the realization, that the orbs were herding them toward something. Every time he’d see a road branching off the orbs would fly to it blocking him, then they flew in front of the car again making him take a narrow trail that branched off the main one they had been on.

Suddenly her dad hit the breaks, stopping the car.

“Joe? What are you doing? We need to get away from them!” His wife cried out. Allie was cringing and bawling behind the seat, but terror kept her silent.

“They’re herding us, Gail!” Her dad told his wife as he watched the orbs. They were large, about double the size of the car. He couldn’t distinguish any shape because of the light coming from them, however he knew they weren’t from earth. 

The orbs flew up to the car, they came close and then would retreat, then they’d do it again.  Over and over they did it.

“I think they want us to move, Joe.”

“Well I’m not a sheep to be led to the slaughter.”

The orbs started flashing different colors; they had been soft blues and greens. Now they were turning yellows and oranges. When the colors turned red the orbs attacked, the first one crashed into the car, knocking it off the road. Allie’s sobs filled the car. When the car didn’t move, the other orb crashed into it. The car spun around crazily then tilted onto its side threatening to flip over, only to slam back to the ground.

“Is everyone alright?” Her dad yelled. His wife nodded, “Allie! Are you okay?”

“Yes.” She whimpered.

“Get us out of here Joe!”

“I’m trying! I’m trying!” The engine died during the last attack and wouldn’t turn over.

“What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know?” her dad nervously said. Allie crawled up front with her parents. Her mom pulled her close and wrapped her arms around her. All three occupants in the car watched the lights. They waited for the next attack. The orbs floated above, their colors returned to the blues and greens. 

“Let’s see if we can leave the car, maybe that is what they are fixated on.”

“Joe, do you honestly think we’re dealing with a lower intelligence.”

“Honey I don’t know anything right now, I just want to get us away from this nightmare.”

“Leaving the car, will make us vulnerable!”

“We’re already Vulnerable!” her husband yelled.

While her parents argued, Allie saw a huge spaceship coming over the mountains in the distances. Speechless in terror, she closed her eyes and began praying. She blocked everything out and focused only on Jesus.

“Please save us Lord, Please save us.” Over and over she silently uttered the prayer. She soon felt peace flood her body. She calmly opened her eyes. 

The giant spaceship was directly over them. A tingling started in their extremities, follow by a high pitched frequency pounding in their head. They grabbed their ears trying to stop the pain, then they were rendered unconscious.

Demonic creatures appeared around the car, leaping and cackling in excitement, but before they could retrieve the family a brilliant light appeared over the top of the car.

“You may not touch these children of God! They are the Lords!” a roar came from the brilliant light.

The creatures cringed away, but were still defiant.

“They came to us, so now they are ours!” Screamed one of the demonic horde. We are many, you are one! We will take them and kill you. Satan will be pleased.

Within the light, the archangel Michael pulled his sword and cut down over half of the horde in a single thrust. The rest fled in terror. The ship and the orbs vanished in an instant and the desert became quiet and peaceful.

******************************************

The chatter of birds woke Allie the next morning, she glanced at her parents. They were still asleep on the blankets. She went to the tent opening and peaked outside; there was her house and their car. The dog was playfully running around the yard. It was a beautiful morning. She felt wonderful. She climbed out of the tent and spun around in circles with her arms open wide. She had no idea why she was so happy, but she knew that she wanted to make camping out under the stars a new family tradition.