Red

Red
by
Raman Jalota

    “I saw ... I saw this thing.” The bearded old man came screaming into the bar. The occupants stared at him wondering what to make of this lunatic.
    His eyes were wide, his red hair standing on edge and he was panting,”Behind the silver mine ... this greyish blue ... creechur.”
    He leaned on the bar and breathed loudly. It took him a long time to get some semblance of control. “I had gone to take a pee on the other side of the silver mine ...”
    “Which one?” The dark mustached man with two six-shooters at his sides asked.
    “The Leroy silver mine. I had gone just behind it and I saw this short silver creechur, about four foot tall, with a huge flat head and big eyes.”
    The mustached man bit on his cigarette spitting the end out on the floor and inhaled deeply, “You seen a ghost old man.”
    “No, not a ghost. This thing was real and was trying to talk to me without moving his lips. I got real scary and came running to find someone. Could you come with me and check it out ...”
    He looked up at the man, hoping.
    “O.K. After I finish my drink.”
    He went back to his table and took a sip of the warm whiskey. The old man went to the bathroom to wash his face. He splashed the water from the sink on his face and looked in the mirror. He saw a scared, lost old man. What the hell is happening, he wondered.

.....

    “You want a drink old man?” the mustached man asked.
    “Sure, thanks. Very kind of you sir.” His eyes lit up for a moment anticipating the hit of the whiskey.
    “Heeyar you go old man. Don’t drink it too fast now.”
    The bartender put a shot of whiskey and a glass of water on the bar. The old man picked up the whiskey and sipped it slowly.
    “By the way, I am Max; Max Swanson. So, what did this creature say to you?”
    “He lifted his hand ... his ... er right hand and put it out flat with the palm up as if asking me to put something in there. And I could hear him saying something, but his lips ... they never moved ... I reckon I got real scared and ran.” He finished his whiskey and looked at Max.
    “O.K. let’s see what you got. If there’s something real out there, I’ll buy you another drink. Alright, Old man?”
    “Thanks Max.”
    The two left the bar and started walking to the Leroy mine. The sun was getting low and the little mining town was being bathed in orange, shortly to be followed by its black night dress. The Leroy mine had a small lantern at the mouth of the mine. A dog came running out of the shadows of the mine barking and wagging his tale.
    The old man patted the dog,”Calm down Sparky, old boy. Everything’s gonna be just fine.”
    “Was the dog with you, when you saw this thing?”
“No Max, Sparky wasn’t around when I seen this creechur. He must have been in the mine. I didn’t see him.”
    Max looked around. A group of bushes and three tall trees were the only thing he could see. The whole area was barren and deserted.
    “Where abouts were you, old man?”
    The old man walked to the second tree,”Right about here Max.”
    He pointed towards the empty space beyond the third tree, “That’s where that creechur came walking up to me.”
    “I don’t see nothing, Old man.”
    “But I swear it was right here.” He stared at the ground trying to find footprints or some other evidence, nothing.
    Max walked around looking for clues. He lit a cigarette and stood there thinking. He spat on the ground.
    “Well, this is it then. I can’t see anything here. I told you before, you seen a ghost old man. Now, don’t go running around talking about some creature no more.”

.....

    The old man looked at the receding back of Max and then turned back towards the dark trees and bushes. He opened his eyes wide trying to fathom the darkness. Nothing. Sparky stood besides him, wagging his tail.
    “Well, let’s go home, Sparky.”
    The dog followed the old man to his shack a few blocks away. He got in and lit the lantern. The low wicker gave enough light to fill the whole place with yellowish light, hiding the dust with its shadows as it flickered.
    The dog waited for him to finish his dinner. He threw the dog the remains, which he ate heartily, barked happily and went outside gratefully to find more food.
    The old man sat on his old army cot and lit the remains of a cigarette, he had found on the floor. He tried to recall, what had happened, tracing the last two hours in his mind. He felt tired and confused, sometimes later he dozed off. The lantern flickered wildly as the last of the kerosene was used up and the room that he called home filled with darkness.
    “Wake up, I need your help.”
    Am I dreaming, the old man wondered. He slowly opened his eyes and sat up in terror. The whole house was brightly lit. A small greenish-blue boy with large eyes was standing next to his bed. His body was radiant.
    “I need your help.”
    “I didn’t see your lips move, how you do that?”
    “I don’t need to use my lips to speak but I will. My name is Scarrot, I am from a galaxy that is far away from yours, I am stuck here. I need your help.”
    The alien looked at the old man with wondering eyes. The old man sat on his cot dumbfounded. The alien spoke.
    “What’s your name? Will you help me?”
    “They call me Red. I don’t understand this. Who are you? What are you doing here? What can I do for you?”
    Scarrot extended his long thin right arm and gently grasped his left hand, “Come with me and I will show you.”
    Red followed him not sure if he was awake or dreaming.

.....

    The two headed north away from the town. The alien could take large strides effortlessly but walked at the slower pace of Red.
    “I am from the Xylon galaxy, from the planet Zetta. I have been away from home for about seven earth years. Our mother ship is up there.”
    He pointed northeast, to a dim but constant yellowish green light hovering like a star, unmoving. He led Red out of town and towards the eagle canyon, a deserted spot that no one ever ventured out to.
    “How far do we have to go?”
    “Just a few more miles. My space craft crashed just beyond that canyon. There is damage to the craft that must be repaired before I can go through the atmosphere, back to the mother ship.”
    Red slowly began to understand. “I have gone mad. Not only am I seeing things, it’s making perfect sense to me. An alien, a space craft, .... his mother’s ship, I reckon, I have gone looney.”
    The alien was helping Red over the rocky terrain when he let go of his hand and pointed, “Look there it is.”
    A circular silver space craft about ten feet in diameter and eight feet high sat tilted at an edge. They scrambled down the last part of the hill and approached the craft. There was a hole in the side that was tilted. Green and blue wires were exposed through the hole with strange black and yellow plastic moldings that were some kind of solid state mechanisms. Metallic fragments were scattered nearby.
    Red stood in the front of the space craft, unblinking, unbelieving and unsure. The alien pressed a control located under the circular rim of the craft and a door opened, at the same time steps lowered from the craft; he stepped up and waved for Red to follow him.
    Red cautiously stepped up. The craft felt solid under his feet. He climbed in following the alien to the center of the craft. To the back was the control panel with a pivoting chair facing the controls. There were multiple rows of gadgets along all the walls and to the right was what appeared to be the sleeping quarters.
    “This is my craft. As I flew down to take a closer look, I hit the rocks by the canyon and cut open that hole in the craft. I had no choice but to land. This craft can not fly through space like this.”
    “Why don’t you just call for help, up there?” Red pointed towards the sky.
    “We are observing radio silence, and I would not jeopardize our mission unless it was an extreme circumstance. This I should be able to fix with help from you.”
    “What do you need?”
    I would need some metallic plates to cover the hole, I would either need to bend them at a precise angle or cut them and join them precisely. I would also need to polish the exterior to prevent burn when exiting the atmosphere. I also need some electrical cables to patch the circuitry that’s been destroyed.”
    “And you came to me, why?”
    “You seemed to be someone who could be trusted. You don’t seem to have the hostility in you that I can sense in most of the humans.”
    “Well everyone is out to make a buck, or get you or put you down. I reckon, I don’t like that kinda behavior.”
    “That’s exactly what I sensed. And that’s why if I had to take a chance I felt I could trust you. Plus you have that dog that trusts you.”
    “Oh Sparky, yeah he has been around me for a long time. I love the guy though I can’t do much for him. He just lives on my scraps.”

.....

    Red sat at the bar beaming. One of the gold coins that Scarrot had given him had bought him clothes, food and the fourth shot of whiskey he was sipping. He had paid the barber for a shave and had taken a bath for the first time in years. He felt like a new man. The banker had examined the gold coin curiously but had accepted it as from an unknown mine in San Francisco. He had buried all but five coins and was on the brink of a new life.
    “Give me one of those seegars.” He pointed at the boxes behind the bartender.
    He lit one and inhaled the delicious smoke, letting it out slowly as it engulfed him with its scent.
    “Where did you get all that money, old man?” The bartender asked him, as he placed another shot of whiskey in front of him.
    “It was my brother Larry from San Francisco. He stopped by the other night on his way to Missouri and gave me a few gold coins. He is a rich man back there in San Francisco.”
    Max walked over to his side,”You sure the ‘ghost’ you saw the other night didn’t give you the money old man.” He patted him on his shoulder.
    “ I saw a creechur that night. An alien. I aint lying. Someday you will know I told you the truth. You may make fun of me, but I did see him.”
    “Sure, old man.” The laughter didn’t support Max’s words.
    Red muttered under his breath and left for his home.

.....

    Red unfolded the piece of paper he had scribbled on,”Jack I need two steel sheets of 3/16" thickness, the size must be at least 2 feet by 2. Think you got something that will work?”
    The blacksmith squinted at Red,”What do you need these sheets for?”
    “I am gonna fix something in my house?”
    “What something?”
    Red tried to come up with something but couldn’t,”Well do you have any sheets?”
    “Sure, I got plenty, you got the money?”
    “I have money Jack, I also need welding rods and nuts and bolts and ...”
    “Let’s see what all I have.”
    Loaded with everything he could find, Red headed home. He waited for darkness to fall. He fed Sparky and headed for eagle canyon. Sparky followed him. He kept shooing him back. Sparky would stop and head back and then suddenly reappear like a ghost. Red finally stood and glared at him till he disappeared in the darkness.
    He approached the space craft cautiously. There didn’t seem to be any sign of Scarrot. He dumped the load on the ground and massaged his aching arms.
“Are you in there?” He shouted.
    The door opened up and Scarrot appeared at the opening smiling. He jumped down and picked up the supplies. He felt the thickness of the two sheets and nodded approvingly,”Yes, this will work fine. Did you get any copper wires?”
    Satisfied with all the supplies, he started repairing the craft. Red stood around watching, not sure if he could do anything to help. Scarrot moved quickly and decisively, making connections, drilling holes in the sheets and the space craft. He thought of something and stopped, his face had a concerned look.
    “I can’t thank you enough for all the help you have provided me. I wish I could do something for you. Is there anything?”
    “You already done a lot for me. Believe me that gold is gonna come in plenty handy for the rest of my life. I just wish I could help you with the repairs that you are doing. But I don’t understand the strange ways that you are putting these things together. It’s so different.”
    “Don’t worry about that. I’ll have the craft finished by tomorrow. And then tomorrow night I’ll head back to the mother-ship. You have been very wonderful. You have probably saved my life. I would ask you for your own safety to get back home now. You have done more than enough already.”
    Red smiled awkwardly,”Sure. It was good to have met you.”
    He extended his hand and shook Scarrot’s hand. Scarrot smiled and waved as Red turned back towards the town.

.....

    Red didn’t see Sparky at lunchtime. This worried him. Sparky had always shown up to share his lunch. Today was the first time in months that Sparky wasn’t around the Leroy mine. Red walked over to the bar. No one had seen his dog. He felt apprehensive and went back home. Oh lord, how I love that dog. I hope he didn’t get sick or something. I don’t know what I’ll do without Sparky. His eyes searched everywhere. Sparky was gone. No sign of him anywhere. He rushed back to the mine. Maybe he will show up a little late. He waited and waited, but there was no Sparky.
    Now that I have money, I have lost my only friend. He hoped he would show up, but felt down. With the onset of darkness he headed for the bar.
    Several people were already in there. He recognized Max, with his mustache. He sat at the bar and drank the whiskey slowly. Max came over and joined him.
    “What’s wrong old man?”
    “Oh, I can’t find my dog. I think something might have happened to him. You didn’t see him, did you?”
    “No, I aint seen him today. You know, he may just come back. They often do.”
    Three whiskeys later, Red was feeling better and free-er,”Max, you remember you were making fun of me when I saw that creechur? Well he was from another galaxy and he had crashed his spacecraft.”
    “You getting drunk again old man. What’s this talk you always come up with ... spaceship and creatures?”
    “I tell you, he came back and showed me his spacecraft. I got him wires and steel sheets and nuts and stuff to fix it up.”
    “Where is he ... where is this spaceship?”
    “Well it was by eagle canyon. But he’s gone by now. He told me that he would finish his repairs by today and would fly back tonight.”
    “You are drunk old man.”
    Max called someone over,”Get a load of this drunk, not only he says he saw this creature, but he fixed his spaceship and now the creature has flown away ... zoom.”
    The two laughed heartily. Red got up from the bar and moved to a table with his whiskey. He sat there sulking. Angry at losing his dog, angry at still being laughed at. “Someday”, he told himself.
    It was barely ten O’clock when the sky suddenly lit up, every one ran out of the bar. A bright light was hovering over the bar. In a flash it zoomed down and stopped in front of the bar. The spacecraft was glowing with a brilliant blue color. Scared, the crowd stepped back.
    “That’s what I was talking about.”
    Red moved towards the spacecraft. The door opened and Scarrot lifted Sparky out of the craft, walked out of the craft and set him on the ground. The dog barked happily and ran to Red, his tail wagging excitedly.
    “He showed up just before I was about to leave. I couldn’t leave him back there. I had to bring him back to you. He didn’t want to get in the craft, but once I got him in he seemed pretty comfortable.” Scarrot patted Red on the shoulder, stepped back into the spacecraft and disappeared towards the northeast sky.

The End   2901 words

Copyright © 2004 Raman Jalota. All rights reserved. No part of this electronic publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the author.

Raman Jalota's Stories