I woke up before sunrise. The weather app on my phone said it was clear, and I looked out the living room window towards the beach. The lake was as still as glass. It was going to be a glorious sunrise. I grabbed my phone, cigarettes, a beach towel, slid my feet into my flip-flops, and headed out.
A few minutes lingered until the sun rose. I lit a cigarette, spread out the towel, and sat down to wait. It was a morning to enjoy. Everything was peaceful and calm. There were a few seagulls diving in and out of the water for fish, and the birds were flying about, catching whatever unfortunate bug that crossed their flight path.
The no-boating buoys stood still like sentries about thirty yards from the shore. I planned to swim out to them later if the lake stayed calm. Something near one buoy caught my eye. It was a silver ball, floating towards me. It looked like it was giving off a soft, pulsating light. The tide from the lake slowly floated the ball towards the shore. The sun was coming up over the horizon.
I went into the water, grabbed the ball, and brought it to the beach. It was the same size as a large beach ball and maybe just a wee bit heavier. Upon looking closer, it was seamless. There were no signs of how it was made, except that it was foreign material that I had never seen before.
I sat down on the towel, the ball next to me, and waited. I had seen many interesting objects wash up on shore, but never anything like this.
After a few minutes, the ball moved, and a small opening appeared. A girl peeked out, surveyed the area, and then focused on me. Her hair was a dark black color, and her eyes matched her hair color. They were soulless and cold. “Thank you very much. I didn’t expect to make it.”
So many questions, the least of which: how could a person fit inside a ball of that size that weighed next to nothing? Was there a zipper or something on the inside that made it so easy to open?
Not knowing what else to say, I asked, “Can I help you?”
The girl smiled. “I’ll have to inform the others. Then we can take over.” The girl started climbing out of the ball. It almost looked like she was using a ladder.
“Take over…” I felt the sharp pain hit me hard in my chest.
The last thing I was aware of was the girl standing over me, holding what looked like a dart blower. She was blocking out the sun that had now risen.
“Stupid humans. Gets them every time.”