To Watch and Wait

“Turn off the light,” I demanded as I covered my face.

We had been asleep, or at least I had been, but now my brother Adam had turned on the overhead light. I demanded he turn the light off again.

When he didn’t, I removed the pillow from my face. I was frightened by what I saw — it wasn’t Adam playing with the lights — it was a tall man dressed in a skin-tight, shiny body suit.

I quickly looked over the edge my bed to Adam in the bunk below — he was still sound asleep.

“Don’t be afraid,” the man spoke.

I was too frightened to say anything so I jus’ laid there with my covers bunched up under my chin for protection.

“I’ve come to tell you that you are being misled by science and popular culture,” the man said, “And in years to come, the information you hear will be even more misleading than now.”

Slowly, I lowered the covers and raised up on my elbow to look at the man more directly. Somehow I had the feeling I need not be afraid of him because as I reasoned, had he wanted to hurt me or my brother, it would have already happened.

“What?” I asked as I tried to shake the sleep from my brain.

“You are being misled,” he repeated.

I wrinkled my forehead as I asked, “About what?”

“There is a battle occurring in the heavens and you among thousands have been witness to this battle,” he continued.

“I’ve seen this battle?” I asked.

He smiled kindly and answered, “Yes, as you’ve laid in the field and looked into the night sky.”

“Huh,” I questioned, “Are you talking about us watching the UFO’s the other night?

“Yes, Tommy,” he said, “I am.”

I was startled by the fact that he knew my name and I sat up fully in bed.

“How do you know my name?” I asked in a panicked voice.

“I know much about you and your brother,” he responded.

Fully awake now and feeling the rush of adrenaline, I asked in a demanding tone, “How’d you get the house?”

“I appeared,” he answered, then added, “I am an Angel of the Lord.”

“That’s it,” I said, “I’m getting Dad!”

As I made my threat, there was sudden burst of light. I jumped back from it and covered my eyes.

When I finally looked at the man, he had grown taller than I remembered and behind him were wings, finer than an eagles, that spread from one side of the room to the other. I laid still against the wall, next to my mattress, transfixed by the sight of this human-looking creature and his shimmering wing span.

“What’s your name?” I asked in a half-whisper.

“It is a name you cannot pronounce,” he answered.

I felt my head nod up and down, accepting on face value what he told me.

“I’m here to tell you that the lights you’ve been watching are not UFO’s or alien spacecraft,” he started, “They are Heavenly host and fallen ones doing battle as we have been doing since the start of what you know as time.”

“Are you saying angels and devils?” I asked.

“Yes, to put it simply,” he answered, “I have been instructed to tell you that in times to come, you’ll see the coming of UFOs and aliens. They’ll bring with them what they call technology and science. It will offer amazing opportunities for the human race.”

“Technology and science,” I repeated.

“Yes,” he said, “For instance Tommy, in the bible’s book of Revelations it reads: “Man will seek death and not find it.”

“I don’t get it,” I responded.

“One day, aliens will offer longevity among other things,” he explained, “That longevity will come with a terrible price, costing the man who accepts it his soul.”

“How?” I asked.

“You have heard of the mark of the Beast, no doubt,” he responded.

“666,” I said.

“Yes,” he nodded, “One day aliens will offer a piece of technology that will give the man who accepts it a life span as long as Noah’s life.”

“This’ll come from the Beast?” I asked

“It will,” he said, “Think about the story of Adam and Eve and how Eve was tempted by a serpent. That serpent is still here and I am part of an army sent to do battle with him.”

Puzzled by this I asked, “You mean to tell me, humans are going to become advanced after being visited by snakes?”

“No,” the visitor answered calmly, “You will be tricked into believing they are here to help, to bring peace, but in the end they’ll bring misery and destruction.”

“How will I know this is happening, when it does?” I continued to ask.

“Soon, you’ll be able to watch television shows and hear radio programs telling how man came from an ancient race of aliens, who travelled the heavens creating beings much like themselves,” he added.

“We already have stuff like that,” I said.

“Yes, I know,” he countered, “However what I speak of is far more than the science-fiction shows you’ve seen. The information you’ll be given will be presented as the truth and many will believe, which will lead to the loss of their soul.”

“What do you want me to do?” I finally asked, adding, “I mean I’m jus’ a 12-year-old kid.”

“Use you’re God-given talents — write about our meeting one another and share it,” he instructed.

“Yeah, you’re kidding me, right?” I shot back, “Everyone thinks I’m a weirdo already and if anyone were to learn I had this conversation with you, they’d confine me to a nut-house.”

“Tommy,” he started, “What is worse? The loss of your and other people’s soul, or confinement and hardship?”

I knew the answer, but said nothing.

“Please, heed my words, they come directly from God!” he said.

As he spoke, the light surrounding his body and wings grew into a brightness, until I could no longer bear to look at him and had to hold my pillow tight over my face. Suddenly the brightness was gone and I dropped my pillow down to find myself engulf in the darkness of my room.

Rolling over, I looked at where Adam lay, still sound asleep, and concluded I had been dreaming. However as I rolled back, I thought how real it all seemed and wondered why I was wide awake.

Unable to return to sleep, I slid out of bed and found my Red Chief tablet, a pencil and a flashlight, and returned to bed. I decided to write down what had happened and the conversation with the winged-man as he had instructed.

Once finished, I tucked the tablet, pen and light under my pillow and slipped off into a dreamless sleep. I’m glad I did write it down, because by the time the sun rose, I had forgotten most of what I had dreamed.

Adam and I were sitting at the breakfast table, eating, when he asked, “Why did you have the bedroom light on, last night?”

I nearly choked on my Cheerios.

“I didn’t have the lights on –in fact,” I replied, “I thought it was you.

“Nope,” he comment, shaking his head sideways, “Wasn’t me.”

That’s when I recalled the tablet under my pillow. I quickly retrieved it after breakfast and retreated to the bathroom, where I could lock the door and read what I had written.

My body shuttered and my skin developed goose-bumps as I poured over the words. I immediately took the pages and hid them inside the foot-locker Dad had given a year before.

From that point on, every time I look into the nighttime heavens I remember what I have concluded was a very detailed dream. In the meantime, I continue to watch and to wait.