Imminent Arrival

I pulled away from her and headed towards the door.

"You’ll catch your death out there Dennis" Charles called after me.

But I persisted to the door, I didn’t stop until I opened it and stepped outside. I moved to the porch railing and my hands clutched around it for support, I needed it for what I saw as my eyes trailed up to the familiar spot. I gasped aloud and almost cried out, my whole body trembled as years of anticipation came crashing into the inevitable consequence.

They appeared as three spots of light, they could have been easily mistaken for stars, except they were not a part of any constellation. Any armature astronomer could have made the estimation that they did not belong on any of our star maps.

There they were, glimmering in the night, it had begun. My whole body seemed to go limp and I felt as if I would vomit. I took three steps back, my eyes still fixed on the invaders. The ships had to have been enormous to be displayed as they were, I knew those were only the main vessels, there would be thousands of smaller ships alongside, battleships, armed and bent on destruction. The premonition had come true, I was right. I became enveloped with mixed emotions, an unmistakable sense of relief to have conformation of my sanity, but then the stark horror as I realized I wanted to be wrong all along.

"What is it Dennis?" came my wife’s voice from behind me.

I could only stare up at the distant starships, my mouth agape and my body trembling.

"Dennis, please, what’s wrong?"

"L…Look" I said. "Their coming, it’s true… I tried so hard to warn all of you, now it’s too late."

"Oh, Dennis…" her eyes trailed down as what was to her an old nightmare resurfaced.

Charles came to the doorway followed by Sophia, I could faintly hear Sophia whisper something into Charles ear. Surely, they thought I was crazy again, but I didn’t care. It was only a matter of hours now, it didn’t matter if I wasn’t believed, the truth would be revealed soon enough. Turning to Charles I grabbed his arm and pointed in the direction of the ships.

"Look man… don’t you see them, those three spots of light" I told him.

He looked up in the area I pointed out, he strained slightly to see, but I felt it was just to humor me.

"I… I see only stars Dennis, the same stars that light the sky every night." he said.

"No! Not the same stars that light the sky every night. Because every night I come out here to look at those stars, every night I focus on the same direction, those three... right there in triangle formation, they aren’t a part of any star map or constellation you’ll ever find. Because there not stars! There alien vessels!"

It was then that Emily made a hurried entrance back into the house, I think she was in tears. Charles and Sophia just looked at me like I belonged in a carnival freak show, yet with a subtle hint of compassion. I knew there sympathy was not for me however, but for Emily. Why would an attractive, intelligent woman choose to stay with a lunatic such as Dennis Arlot?

"Daniel" I said, with a gleam of hope as I remembered something.

"Excuse me?" said Charles.

"Leave him out of this, Dennis, please." said Sophia with stern eyes.

"No, no… the boy will know, I taught him all the constellations, he knows these skies almost as well as me."