Missed

Missed

Laura Wilson almost dropped the roast dinner as the door to the kitchen crashed open. Her six year old son, Timmy, rushed in.

“Mommy!” Timmy squeaked. “Daddy said a bad word! A really bad word!”

“Timmy! Please don’t bang the door like that,” Laura scolded. “How often do I have to tell you?”

Laura didn’t doubt her son’s proclamation. Henry was completely preoccupied with getting the car loaded before supper and wasn’t always careful when little ears were in range.

“Sorry, Mommy.” Timmy took another look at the garage door. “It was a really bad word, Mommy,” he whispered.

“I’ll have to speak to your father about that later,” Laura said. “Run and wash up, supper is almost ready.”

Shaking her head, Laura called through the open door. “Henry? Are you about finished, dear?”

“Just about!” Came a muffled call from the garage.

“Supper’s almost ready. Maybe you can finish what you’re doing afterwards?”

Henry Wilson slid the last box into the rear of the family station wagon and limped to the open doorway. “I’m finished. The car’s all loaded.”

Henry limped into the kitchen, stopping at the sink to rinse his hands.

“What’s wrong, dear?” Laura asked, “Why are you limping?”

“Timmy startled me.” Henry groaned, turning to the kitchen table. “I dropped the magnetometer on my foot. Good thing that my foot was in the way, I guess. Otherwise, I’m sure the device would have been damaged.”

“Timmy said you cursed.” Laura shook her head. “You really have to be more careful, dear. Timmy repeats a lot of what you say.”

“Yes, dear.” Henry sighed. “My foot really hurts, I hope it isn’t broken. That would really hinder things this week.”

Henry gently rotated his foot. “I can still move it okay, I guess it isn’t broken.”

Even though it still throbbed, Henry was relieved. He had been planning the trip to Roswell all year and hated to think that something silly as a dropped magnetometer should interfere.

All his life, Henry had been enthralled with UFOs and UFO mythology. Finally convincing his wife to make the trip to the sight of the biggest UFO mystery in history, he couldn’t bear the thought of missing it. It hadn’t been easy getting someone to take over his job at the dairy and saving the money all year was difficult, but tomorrow morning the family would drive out to Nevada.

“Nothing ever happens in this dinky little town,” Henry grumbled. “Stephenville has got to be the boring-est place in the world!”

“Yes, dear.” Laura smiled. “After supper you should have a nice hot bath and soak your foot.”

After supper, Henry took Laura’s advice and did just that. The soak in the bathtub did wonders for his foot. An Advil and sleeping pill allowed him to sleep soundly through the night.

When Henry read the next morning's paper,...

UFO's Light Up the Sky over Stephenville

...Laura needed to remind him yet again, to be careful of sensitive young ears.


**Author's note** On January 8, 2008 just after 6PM, many residents of Stephenville, Texas report seeing UFOs in the sky.