Alien Abduction of the Second Kind
science fiction short by Anise Algin
You’ve heard of alien abductions, of UFO and tractor beam and probe fame.
You’ve heard of close encounters of the third kind, as made popular by the movie.
Today we introduce you to a new concept, one worthy of the underside. See you all after the story!
ALIEN ABDUCTION OF THE SECOND KIND
by Anise Algin
At first, the abductions were localized in counties around Roswell, NM. Residents who lived far away from those locales reacted with disbelief. Those in the adjacent counties engaged in discussions. Inside the counties, the general sentiment was fear of becoming the next abductee, but then something changed.
The change was gradual. It began when the abductees returned in good health and resumed their daily lives. The change deepened when those daily lives turned out to be not exactly the same as before.
As a group, the returned abductees seemed to share something between them, an insider knowledge which was never shared with normal people. When asked about it, they evaded the answer with vague metaphors. One abductee once told a news channel interviewer that the experience was not like picturing a purple elephant. You may not have seen one, but know what purple is and you know what elephant is, so you can put them together. This was nothing like that. After a while, normal people stopped asking.
As time went on, and the number of abductees increased from a handful of individuals to a sizable community, their secret knowledge became a desired privilege. That was when the true change hit. The dread transformed from the fear of being abducted to something altogether different. It became a stigma for those who had not been abducted by the aliens, as if there was something wrong with them. A term was coined: The Unabductees; it was not a compliment. Most unabductees led a quiet life in the shadows, but not all.
Samantha—the intrepid Samantha—decided to brave the unabductee life, weathering the sideways looks and hushed-up whispers. So what if she was not abducted and returned? Who needed aliens to live life? She sought, found, and joined the newly formed International Association of Unabductees, the IAU for short.
The IAU members vowed to never get abducted, but in reality, every now and then, one or two of them would find themselves near Roswell, NM, for purely touristic purposes, and a few did get abducted in those trips—accidentally. When returned, these members usually dropped the IAU membership and joined the privileged majority.
Samantha, however, remained a faithful member for so many weeks that she was granted a Distinguished Fellow title, and soon after became the president of the IAU. The accomplishment felt unsatisfactory.
The dissatisfaction may have had something to do with the increase of the aliens on Earth, or the news headline they made when they mingled with the abductees in cheerful parties, sharing indecipherable jokes in the form of sharp hoots while munching on pizza, which was their favorite Earth treat. Watching these parties in full swing left Samantha’s IAU presidency seem a bit somber.
Therefore, after long discussions with the spokesperson of the IAU (an electrical engineer from Nebraska) and the treasurer (a supportive Italian guy whom she had only met on Zoom), Samantha came up with a plan.
“Go for it, girl!” cheered the spokesperson and the treasurer, and so she did.
Samantha’s plan was multigenerational and intercontinental. It involved a stake out near Roswell, NM, with a large slab of pizza that she had baked according to the Italian treasurer’s recipe inherited from his great grandmother, a cheerful woman who had lived a happy life in Naples, Italy. .
The pizza turned out extremely aromatic, its unique blend of cheese, tomato, and basil a rare delicacy even inside Italy. Samantha could hardly resist taking a bite herself, which meant the enticement would be too much to bear for any alien, if the YouTube videos were any indication.
The alien who finally stumbled upon the artful pizza became enchanted and completely missed the trap net that Samantha had crocheted—a skill she had learned from her own great granny who still lived in an apartment in Upstate New York.
Hence, the Alien Abduction of the Second Kind was coined, and it went on to change the history of humans and aliens alike.
Meet the author:
Anise is a university teacher who lives near a large city and writes stories during long commutes. Anise's most recent encounter with the underside was after finishing a crochet project and turning it over--shocking, revealing, not as pretty as the front side but just as real.
If you like aliens:
