An Old Spinster
Spots A UFO
by Sobia Ali
And that
in an old village of a very, very old country.
Her house was the last in the row, and
beyond it stretched out fields after fields
of wheat and linseed. In the golden sunlight
of the summer afternoon the squared and
quartered fields shimmered.
The sky
was ablaze with a light that the
spinster, taking the clothes off the line on
the roof, was compelled to look up. It was
then that she spotted it, the UFO. It was
low overhead, a little to her right, a
small ping-pong ball bouncing towards the
southeast. She did not think twice.
She ran
down the stairs and out on the road,
following it with her eyes. The UFO was
not fast, and jumping and hurdling, she just
made it to keep it in her sight. After miles
after miles of fields she was exhausted
when she saw it coming down. She viewed
breathlessly as it landed a little distance off.
It was
built like a small, round car with
glass windows on either side. The spinster ran
up to it and peered inside. There was an alien,
tangled in a lot of tubes and wires. 'Hi,'
she tapped on the door to get its attention.
The alien looked up, waved back, and bent
down to inspect something in front of him.
The spinster was
sweating out profusely and tapped
again. She gestured to him to open the door
so that she could get in. The alien looked
annoyed, but unlocked the door all the same. The
spinster entered the UFO, and found that it
was air-conditioned. The cold air made her
feel better instantly.
Now she
turned all her attention to him. His
skin was Technicolor, and she suddenly wanted
to touch it. But she restrained herself and
observed that he was deep in thought.
‘Something
went off in the machinery,’ he
spoke in a metallic voice. The spinster was
not in the least surprised that he spoke in
her language—a very old language.
‘It will
fix itself’, she said and laughed. It was
now that the alien looked intently at her
spidery, lined face.
They looked into
each other’s eyes. His glance
softened.
‘Did
you have to wait much?’ he asked.
‘Not
much. I could have waited an eternity for
you.’, She smiled and looked out at the
golden fields.
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