He woke to a strange noise vibrating through his bedroom.
He was fast asleep when it started and he really didn’t like it when anything interrupted his night’s sleep. It was something he felt more than most. He scowled when he saw the clock said three. It sounded like a low flying airplane, very low. Not something normally heard where he lived. It was getting gradually louder. Was he safe in the house? He got up and put on a dressing gown. It was forecast to be a cold night. On his way down stairs, the sound seemed to lessen. It was now more like a lawnmower. Surely, nobody would be cutting grass in the early hours of the morning! By the time he opened the back door the noise had quietened down even more. Now it was something like an electric razor humming away.
He strolled out into the middle of the back lawn where he stood still and listened. It was still going, but softer somehow. He had the impression that it was the trees he could hear. They were all making a whistling noise, despite the fact that there was barely any wind. Yet, there it was, it was like somebody was talking in whispers. He thought he could make out some of the words. There was something about ‘landing’. He looked up into a clear night sky with a great spread of stars. He thought one of them moved… He was getting cold and he was sick of the whole thing. On his way back inside he thought about the new pills he started yesterday. When he got in he went straight to the bathroom. He picked up the bottle and checked the label.
He knew that taking certain medications can cause problems for some people. He looked at the ingredients. He read through them carefully. He knew that some of these could have side effects. These rotten pills had made him delusional. Sometimes, a change in some medications can do that. He would ring for an appointment first thing in the morning. Looking at the clock he saw that wasn’t far away.
He had just settled back into bed, when coloured flashes began to light up his bedroom. Reluctantly, he got up and went to the window. What he saw was a small flying saucer sitting in the centre of the back lawn. It was no bigger than a family car, with lights alternating around its rim. Next to it stood a tiny figure. It was waving!
He chuckled, waved back, closed the curtains really tight and went back to bed.