Encounters Read Online Free

off to one side. There was a giant rose bush growing across an arch with a low wrought iron gate opening onto a rock path underneath. By the light of the falling sun he saw a bench in the back that he could see himself spending nights on gazing at the stars. You could say what you want about small towns, but the sky never seems as wide and clear in the big city.
    He walked to Helen’s car where she was still gathering her bags and politely opened her door for her. He offered to carry several of her things, which she gladly handed over, and gallantly held the front door for her. He followed her into a small, but neat foyer that had cut glass windows on either side of the door. Helen led the way down the hall and into the kitchen. Setting her belongings on the table she immediately turned to the cabinets and began pulling down cooking supplies.
    “ How does pork chops, biscuits, and veggies sound to you”, she called to him.
    “ More than ok”, he responded from his seat at the table.
    They continued to make small talk and he found himself relaxing again around her. It struck him how easily they had developed a relationship. An instant friendship tinged with an undercurrent of flirtation that reminded him of when he first met Marion. The time flew by as they talked and before he knew it there was a steaming plate of food in front of him. They both wasted no time before digging in and it was awhile before they both pushed back their plates and let out sighs of contentment.
    “So”, he began without preamble, “I had an odd experience last night and I won’t pretend that it didn’t frighten me.”
    “ What happened” asked Helen?
    “ I had the strangest dream that I was flying over the Earth but it was an Earth that looked like it had been ravaged. Almost like those apocalyptic movies where everything is desert.”
    Helen leaned forward at his words with her brow furrowing in concentration and worry, but she didn ’t say a word. She could tell that even though he was trying not to show it, he was clearly rattled by his dream.
    “ I crossed what had once been the Mississippi” he began again, “but it was just a dry river bed with a bridge over it. Everything was dead or dying, but in the shadows I could see things moving. They were some kind of creature that just didn’t seem to belong here. I made it almost to the coast before I woke up to the sound of Stephen calling my name.”
    At that Helen sat bolt upright! “Stephen? You heard from Stephen?”
    “ Well, yes and no”, he replied. “I know that this will sound crazy, but I heard him calling from my radio. He sounded terrified, but before I got to the handset he was gone. I wrote down as much of my dream and what I heard as I could remember.” He had brought his notebook from home planning to discuss it with her and he pulled it out then.
    “ Here is where I wrote everything down” he said while passing it across the table to her. He was silent while she read through his account and when she finished she had a nervous look on her face.
    “ I suppose that you think I’m nuts now” he said.
    “ No, not at all” she responded. “I believe in more things than you could imagine and you certainly seem lucid enough.”
    After that they both were quiet for several more minutes until Tommy broke the silence asking, “What is our next plan of attack? Where do we go from here?”
    “ Aren’t you the former FBI agent? Shouldn’t you be telling me what to do next” she asked jokingly.
    He chuckled and said “if you’d like me to intercept messages or transcribe recorded conversations then I’m your man, anything else is a little out of my league.”
    Helen pursed her lips and looked down at the table as if thinking to herself. Finally in response she said “Monday, we’ll go see Chief Hughes and ask about the books. I’ll tell him that the library needs them back. We can go at noon if you like. The library closes from noon to 1:00 for