The Lights

“I think they’re trying to talk to us, mom.”

Kelly looked in the rearview mirror at her eleven-year-old boy. “I wonder if this has to do with spies?” she thought to herself. Lately, he had been diving deep into the world of undercover agents. She hadn’t been able to keep a bottle of lemon juice in the fridge with all the secret messages he’d been writing. At least it was better than his arachnid phase. Kelly still shuddered at the thought of the gargantuan spider she’d found in her favorite Christmas candy dish.

“Oh ya? Who’s trying to talk to us?”

“I’m not sure,” Kyle responded, staring out the window. “Maybe aliens?”

“Ah. Had spies been replaced by extraterrestrials already?” Kelly wondered.

Out loud she asked. “What are they trying to say?”

“They say we are going to have a tornado this weekend, but it will only hit Northside Park. So we don’t have to worry.”

“Woah, that is so thoughtful of the aliens to let us know that we'll be safe from the storm,” Kelly said, throwing a placating smile into the rear-view mirror.

“Yes. It is,” Kyle said earnestly, then returned to looking out the window.

“My serious little alien enthusiast,” Kelly said to herself. Kyle had a wonderful imagination, but sometimes he wasn’t able to separate fiction from reality.

Turning left, the car exited the downtown square where they had just picked up their order of Mexican food for supper. La Hacienda was still as busy as ever, despite the stars peaking through the dusky sky. Shorter days had arrived and Kelly was not ready for darkness to fall at 6 pm. Kyle often had a hard time adjusting to his bedtime schedule when the days grew shorter. He would want to go to bed early because his eyes told him it was bedtime; but then he would wake up long before the first blush of dawn.

When the car pulled into the garage, Kyle jumped out before it even came to a complete stop.

“Hold up there, buddy,” Kelly interjected. “Grab this bag and set it on the dining room table. I have to get the blue Hawaiian Punch from the back, then we’ll sit down to eat.”

“We can’t eat now,” Kyle responded. “It’s bedtime!”

“That's what I was afraid of,” Kelly groaned inwardly. Muscling the two heavy containers of unnaturally blue punch out of the back, Kelly somehow closed the hatch. Wrangling the groceries by herself was not new. She jokingly called it her mom work-out.

The big blue plastic bottles stood out starkly against the white counter. Kelly wondered how long the beverage would remain Kyle's drink of choice. At the moment, it was a struggle to get him to try anything else. Hopefully, she would be able to talk him into eating before he went to bed. A hollow, growling stomach was sure to wake him up through the night.

- -

“They’re talking to us again,” Kyle said in a singsong voice.

Kelly and Kyle were walking back to their car Saturday evening after going to the local movie theater down by the town square. Another Superman movie, but it had been a pretty funny one. All the slapstick humor had Kyle giggling throughout the show.

“Oh? The aliens? What are they saying this time?” Kelly said, unconsciously putting a hand out to keep Kyle from stepping in front of an oncoming car.

Kyle stopped, staring up into space distractedly for a moment, then said, “Something bad is going to happen at my school, but I know how to keep everyone safe.”

“Wow, these aliens are helping you be a superhero, huh?” Kelly said, wondering if the movie had inspired this round of imaginings.

Squinting her eyes against the glare of the street lamps, they crossed the intersection towards their car. One of the lights was on the blink, flashing annoyingly and making the headache that had started in the theater intensify.

“Buckle up for safety!” Kyle chimed from the back.

“Thanks, bud!” Kelly clicked her belt into place and pulled out into traffic. She reached to turn down the radio. The weather forecast was calling for rain through the night. That explained her headache. They were often triggered by weather changes. Hopefully there wouldn’t be any thunder. Kyle had a hard time sleeping through a thunderstorm.

“We can camp in the den tonight,” Kyle announced as they pulled into the garage.

“Oh, we can, can we?” Kelly responded skeptically. “What brought on that idea?”

“It’s fun to sleep in sleeping bags. And it makes the most sense.”

Kelly snorted out loud. It had been years since Kyle had suggested camping in the basement. When was his camping phase? When he was six or seven? She sincerely hoped he wasn’t going to get fixated on that again. It had been asking a lot for a city raised gal to try to find the joy in attempting to set up a tent in the backyard, build a campfire in an impromptu firepit, and sleep in a sleeping bag. On the ground. Among the bugs. For TWO WEEKS STRAIGHT. Thankfully, it had gotten too chilly outside, and Kyle insisted on moving the campsite to the basement, sans the firepit.

“Please, Lord. Don’t let it be another camping phase,” Kelly silently prayed as she headed to the storage room to grab the sleeping bags. It would be fun to end their evening with a basement campout, so long as it was only for ONE night.

- -

Kelly bolted upright, panicked by the sudden blare of a nearby siren. Was that a tornado siren?

“Kyle?!” she cried.

It was pitch black and the wind was blowing, battering fiercely against the house. Distant thunder rumbled. How had she slept through all this?

“KYLE?!”

“I’m right here, mom.” Kyle flipped on a flashlight from across the room.

Kelly sighed in relief. “You brought a flashlight for the campout? Thank goodness.”

“Yes, I'm prepared for the storm,” Kyle stated.

Violent thudding from above interrupted their conversation. It sounded like someone was standing on their roof, pummeling it with a baseball bat. “Oh, no. Hail. It must be massive,” Kelly inwardly cringed.

A shattering crash reached their ears causing both of them to jump in alarm.

“Are you alright, sweetie? It’s just hail. We’re safe in the basement.” Kelly tried to keep her voice steady as she moved beside Kyle, ready to offer him comfort.

“I know. We are safe. We are going to be okay, mom” Kyle responded calmly.

Kelly glanced at him in surprise. Her boy was usually so agitated during bad weather. Maybe he was outgrowing his fear of storms.

The hail battered the roof for several more endless minutes before the storm started to die. Then the wailing of the siren cut off, leaving a heavy silence. Kelly dreaded heading upstairs but found that it wasn’t as bad as she’d feared.

A branch had fallen from her backyard tree, shattering a windowpane in the dining room. Other than that, her yard and house seemed to have escaped the storm. Her roof was a different matter. She would have to call the insurance company on Monday. Thank goodness she’d put her car in the garage.

“Let’s head back to bed, Kyle,” Kelly said, moving towards the basement stairs.

“We can sleep in our beds now,” Kyle answered, turning and walking towards his room.

Kelly shrugged, inwardly relieved. Her back and hips were starting to feel the effects of sleeping on a hard floor. Deciding to leave cleanup for the morning, Kelly said goodnight to Kyle and headed for her room, her fingers gently trailing across an old family photo on the way.

- -

The storm was all anyone could talk about in church on Sunday morning. A tornado had actually touched down in a park that everyone just called, “The Walking Park,” since it mostly had walking trails weaving through gardens, trees, and a beautiful waterfall fountain.

After church, many of the congregation headed up to the park to help with debris removal. Kelly borrowed her dad’s truck so she and Kyle could contribute to the effort. She stopped the truck in front of the park sign.

NORTHSIDE PARK stared back at her in big bold letters.

Kelly’s pulse ticked up. Wasn’t this the park Kyle had said the tornado would hit? How could he have known that? She turned towards Kyle, trying not to let the alarm show on her face.

“Kyle, how did the aliens tell you that the tornado would hit the park?”

“Through the lights,” Kyle responded, then ran off to inspect one of the trees that looked like a giant hand had grabbed its top and twisted it off the trunk.

Kelly wondered at the mystery but didn’t ponder it for long. She joined the rest of the volunteers who were busy clearing out the park debris. It would take a lot of effort and time to return it to the beautiful retreat it had been only a few short hours ago.

- -

In the late evening, Kelly’s sister-in-law, Amy, and her brother-in-law Carter came over to her house to cover her broken windowpane with a plywood scrap he’d had in his garage. Amy and Kelly chatted as they worked together cleaning up the scattered glass.

Carter was part of the local volunteer fire department. He’d been busy all day helping with the aftereffects of the tornado, so they hadn’t been able to come over until dark. Kyle was asleep by the time they arrived.

As he was finishing up with the window Carter warned, “Better get that fixed as soon as possible, Kelly. That window won't be waterproof.”

“I’ll call Second Sight Glass tomorrow,” Kelly responded, referring to the local window repair shop. “They’re usually pretty quick at getting back to their customers, although I’m sure they’ll be swamped this week.”

Carter chuckled, nodding in agreement. The rest of the cleanup went pretty fast. At the door, Amy wrapped her arms around Kelly's shoulders and squeezed tight. “You’re doing great,” she said warmly. Jackson would be proud.

“Thanks for stopping by,” Kelly smiled back.

When they’d left, the exhaustion of the day had firmly caught up to her and Kelly fell into her mattress without even bothering to change into her nightclothes. She was asleep before she could convince herself to get back up and brush her teeth.

- -

The next morning was a flurry of action. The house had been turned upside down while Kyle frantically searched for his bright blue pencil that he always had to take to school with him. Thankfully, Kelly could replace the lost pencil with one of the three left in the box. What she was going to do when those three were gone, she didn’t know. She hadn’t been able to find the brand in stock for months.

After safely depositing Kyle at school, she headed to work, calling her local insurance company on the way. She left her details on the machine. On her lunch break she would contact Second Sight Glass.

Pulling into the library parking lot Kelly headed into her office, thankful that the building appeared to have avoided damage from the storm. She was just starting on an inventory list, when the phone rang.

Kelly looked at the screen.

It was Amy.

Instantly, a knot of dread formed in Kelly's stomach. Her mind flashed back to the last time Amy had called her at work, six years ago. It had been about Jackson, the morning he’d left for heaven.

She answered the phone, fearing the worst. “Hello?”

“Oh, Kelly!” Amy’s voice was frantic. “Karter’s pager just went off while we were eating breakfast. He’s rushing to get a truck from the firehall. The page said there’s a fire at the school. There was an explosion!”

Kelly grabbed her keys and ran without bothering to hang up the phone. Her mind tumbled with what Kyle had said when they’d come out of the theater the other night. He’d said aliens told him something bad would happen at his school. Kelly had been so preoccupied after the tornado she hadn’t recalled it. Why hadn’t she thought of this earlier? She should have taken him more seriously.

“Oh, Kyle!” Kelly muttered, willing her car to drive faster and keeping up a steady stream of prayers. She didn’t know what she would do if he was hurt.

In the distance an ominous cloud of black smoke smeared the horizon. She drove up as close as she could to the school, but it was still three blocks away. The streets were packed with emergency personnel and frantic parents trying to reach their children.

Abandoning her car, in the middle of the street, Kelly ran across manicured lawns towards the school. As she rushed closer to the burning building, she noticed flurried activity in the parking lot of her own church. It was packed full of children. Her pastor was holding the door as kids piled inside, followed by their teachers.

Spotting Kyle, Kelly burst into tears, running towards him and sweeping him into a tight hug.

“You’re okay, baby,” Kelly sobbed. “I was so worried!”

“Yes, I’m fine, mom. But tell Uncle Carter that I’m a hero and not a criminal,” he added in an agitated voice. “I had to pull the fire alarm, since the aliens told me about the fire. Principal Harris looked at the cameras and saw I pulled it. He was really mad. He said it was a criminal offense. I was trying to tell him about the aliens, but then the explosion happened and everyone ran here.”

Kelly looked at Kyle in disbelief, “The aliens told you about the fire?”

“Yes, and they said I should pull the alarm so everyone would be okay. So I did.”

“But Kyle, how did they tell you this?”

“The Blinking Light. The Morse Code light!”

“The one that is flashing by the courthouse? It's doing Morse Code?”

“Yes! I told you mom!” Kyle said with exasperation.

Kelly stood with her mouth slightly ajar. How was this possible?! When the principal stalked toward them she tried to smooth the disbelief from her features. His face was blotchy with anger and he was glaring at Kyle. Kelly took an involuntary step, shielding her boy. He shifted his gaze to her.

“How did your son know to pull that fire alarm before the explosion even happened?” He barked. “I do not believe in coincidences. I'm recommending that the police arrest him so he can be questioned.”

Kelly's heart sank. She was sure Kyle would be happy to share all about the flashing light and the aliens, but who would believe him? It might look like he was somehow responsible for the explosion.

- -

Principal Harris was true to his word. Thankfully, the police chief was kind enough to question Kyle in their own living room. He’d smiled at Kyle and insisted the whole thing was just a formality.

“Following procedure,” he’d said. The fire marshal had already determined the high winds from the tornado had damaged a gas line heading into the school kitchen to be the cause of the explosion. His expression turned sombre as he informed Kyle how serious pulling the fire alarm was, and warned him to never do it again unless it was a true emergency. Kyle insisted he wouldn’t, then Kelly sent him to the backyard to play.

Once he was out of earshot the police chief said, “Your kiddo must have a guardian angel ma'am. He saved the lives of all the kids who would have been sitting in the cafeteria for breakfast that morning. Both the cafeteria and kitchen were destroyed from that blast. This was a very lucky day.”

Kelly couldn't agree more.

- -

“Which light was blinking?” Kelly asked Kyle while they were exiting their car. Dusk was falling and the street lamps would be brightening the night soon.

“That one.” Kyle pointed at a light in front of a park bench.

The two went and sat on the bench waiting for the lamps to turn on. Kelly was determined to get to the bottom of this alien business. There was a steady stream of people leaving the courthouse heading home for the weekend. Kelly looked up as the lights flickered to life. The one they were sitting in front of was shining just as steadily as all the others on the block. Not a flicker in sight.

One of the ladies exiting the courthouse was from her book club and Kelly called to her. “Hey, Barb. This light was flashing the last time I was down here. Do you know when it got fixed?”

“Yes! That light had been driving everyone crazy for over a month! The city finally sent someone to fix it. They tried to put in a new bulb last week, but apparently it was something in the wiring. They ended up replacing the whole part. It just got done today!”

Kelly’s smile didn’t quite reach her eyes as she waved Barb to her vehicle. She could never explain out loud the feeling of loss she was experiencing. Whatever this blinking light had been, whether it was aliens, divine intervention, or something else entirely, it had a special connection with her son. And now it was gone. She couldn't help but be in awe of the life altering communication her sweet boy had received. She said a little prayer of gratitude and got up to leave.

“I'm sorry Kyle. I guess they can't talk to you now that the light is fixed.” Kelly said with a comforting pat on his back.

“No, they'll probably just use a different light like they did last time,” Kyle said flippantly and ran after a squirrel, chasing it up a tree.