Lightning on the Horizon or Alien Invasion

I speed down the highway doing a smooth eighty miles per hour. It's not necessary. I'm not late for work by a long shot; I just like to drive fast. Celldweller’s blaring "06-06-06" from my speakers and the cool night air from open window blows through my long hair. Driving can be so relaxing.

The road is wet. It rained earlier today. Tiny specks of water speckle my windshield, reflecting the red light of the taillights in front of me. It's irksome, and I swipe them away with my windshield wipers, though they start to reappear instantly.  

There's a light on the horizon.

‘The storm must still be nearby,’ at least, that's what the logical part of my brain tells me. But then the illogical part of my brain comes in with the same thought it always does. ‘What if it's not lightning? What if it's an alien ship here to invade our world?’ Of course I instantly laugh this thought off. As much as I'd like to believe there's more to our universe than what we know, I'm not so gullible as to blindly believe in it. I'll wait for some hard proof to appear before my eyes.

There's a light on the horizon.

It's distracting. I brush my hair out of my face and surreptitiously merge over to the far left lane, passing a slower driver in front of me. I scan all of the vehicles in front of me and in my rearview, checking for those dreaded red and blue lights. Most of the time I get lucky; but not always.

There's a light on the horizon.

It's getting brighter now. ‘Is the storm moving back this way?’ I don't mind, it's been hot lately. As long as a downpour doesn’t start while I'm driving that is. Once I get to work it can rain all it wants.

I round a curve and the speed limit increases. Other drivers start to pick up the pace but I'm comfortable with the cruise control where it's at, even if they leave me behind. My phone that's plugged into the stereo shuffles to Disturbed's "The Night". The hard rock keeps my buzz from the last song going so I let it play.

There's a light on the horizon.

‘Okay that's seriously bright now.’ I want to look over at the sky but a semi is starting to merge in front of me. I click my tongue on irritation and tap the brake. CRUISE DISENGAGED appears on my dash as I start to slow down, letting the giant rig in front of me. Immediately my windshield is splattered in a shower of mist, filling my vision with reflected red light. I hit the wipers but I'm sprayed again as quickly as it's cleared away. I click my tongue again and set them on full speed. It's annoying but I'm almost to work, so I don't let harsh my mellow.

There's a light on the horizon.

Only it's not on the horizon anymore. For a brief instant the whole sky is illuminated. I pull my arm back in the window and roll it up in anticipation of rain. Will this frickin' truck hurry up?

There's a light in the sky.

The truck isn't in front of me anymore, but not because it's merged back over. The sky above me is so bright now, and in that radiant void I can see the silhouette of the truck and other cars as they fly away.

There's a light in the sky.

My eyes go incredibly wide and my mouth gapes at what I'm seeing. Here it is; the proof of it all! An alien abduction right in front of me! Myriad thoughts run through my head, each one flashing by too quick for comprehension and leaving me dumbfounded. Only one sticks out among the scattered images. My wife. The one I love. My wife. I can't leave her behind.

Disturbed is still playing. ‘Give in to the night my ass!’ I slam on the accelerator and jerk the wheel hard to the left. My silver Cobalt follows obediently, swerving off the road and into the brush between the north- and southbound lanes. I hit the brakes and the car comes to a halt; thankfully the airbag doesn't deploy. Immediately I kill the engine, switch my lights off, cover my head on the steering wheel, and wait.

There's a light in the sky.

It hovers over me, a great incandescent maw. A low hum is coming from it. It's not just one light now but dozens, flickering on and off in seemingly random patterns. Or maybe they're intentionally random. It's hard to tell. I can hear the groan of trees as they're ripped from the ground around me. The frame of my car wines in protest as it's pulled between the hungry light and the force of gravity.

There's a light in the sky.

I am not a religious man but, like all people who say that when faced with a great crisis, I began to pray. I prayed to God above to please let me be left behind. To please not let whatever force controlled this malevolent light take me away from the wife I love. Nothing else mattered to me, so long as I wouldn't be taken from her. I prayed with all my might, wondering if maybe this light was divine in origin to begin with? Maybe this wasn't what I thought it was. Maybe this was divine retribution for something I'd done. If so then praying wouldn't help much, would it?

There is no light in the sky.

I look up from my huddled position and the world is dark and quiet around me. I reach around the steering wheel and turn my headlights back on. My car is lying in the ditch between the north- and southbound lanes of the highway with me inside.

There is no light in the sky.

Everything is dark except for the lights from my own car. I open the door and climb out to look around, but there's nothing there. The piss has literally been scared out of me. It's growing cold and is very uncomfortable.

I look up at the sky but all I can see are the stars. The clouds have left with the strange flashing in the sky, leaving a clear night and a bright moon behind. No lightning. No lights. Certainly no alien UFOs. A perfectly normal night.

There is no light in the sky.

I look down at my phone, which has kept playing through the silent speakers. A new song has started. It's Shana Train, "You're Still the One".

"Our song..." I say, wondering deep in my heart if someone or something heard my prayers and decided to answer them. Would I ever know?

There is no light in the sky.

I look to the distance. I can see work not too far off, the lights on the side of the building illuminating the night. I look back at my car, stuck in the remaining brush, and I sigh.

"Damn it. I'm gonna be late."