Raking for a Future

They spent the day raking leaves.

It seemed like an odd way to spend what might be one's last day alive. But David Bartlet and his family knew what they were doing. And they didn't want to die.

Alien ships were rapidly approaching Earth. And everyone on Earth with access to mass communications had a pretty good idea what that meant. A lone ship had attacked southern Europe a few days earlier, and some kind of beam had obliterated half a town, one poor soul at a time.

That was one alien ship. This time there were thirty-four. And they were spreading out to cover a vast area. So anyone who might be spotted when a ship arrived was in grave danger of no longer existing. Apparently the beings in the first ship had assumed that humans occupied the various structures on Earth, and had wiped many of those structures off the map.

Why the aliens selected one town in Europe was anyone's guess. But thirty-four ships could cover a pretty large area. And who knew how many more ships might be on the way. So David Bartlet and his family raked leaves. Many leaves. Into a huge pile, so when they finished raking, they would have a pile large enough to conceal the entire family.

They took several short breaks to eat, drink, and perform the usual bodily functions. But the rest of the time, they did one thing. They spent the day raking leaves.