Where Were You?

“Where were you last night, when the aliens fell from the sky? Where were you when this world was changed forever? Were you at Stephen’s house again, or playing on the field? What was so important that you missed the last few hours of the human race as it has been”?

“Nothing. I was just scared, that’s all”, ten year old Bryan mumbled to his shoes.

“Scared! Now listen here Bryan, look at me” his mother demanded, forcing him to tilt his chin up to stare at her excitement filled featured, “there are worse things in life than a couple of crash landed aliens and even if you are terrified, it doesn’t mean you have to run away. Fear makes us do things we never would have thought possible. Sometimes that’s not a good thing, but sometimes it is. Sometimes being frightened out of your wits gives you the courage to be that bit braver than you ever could have been”.

“But what if they attacked us?” Bryan whined. His mother tutted.

“Too many movies” she smiled, getting down to her son’s level. “And, if we were attacked, well, we’d deal with it, we’d find some way to survive. We’re humans Bryan, you look at our history and see what we’ve gone through and it’s amazing that we’ve got this far. But our history shows that we can survive anything if we work together. So we’d be fine, eventually” she added, pulling a face. “Besides, they didn’t attack us, and there’s no point running away from somebody unless you know what they’re gonna do. Although, having said that, strange men, if you think there’s a strange man following you, always run away, preferably in the direction of a police station, alright”.

“Alright”.

“Good boy. Now off to school with you, I’m sure your teachers and classmates will have lots to tell you about the crash landed aliens. And remember, anyone who tells you that aliens are monsters, they’re wrong. You got that”?

“Yes Mum. I love you, bye” Bryan called, his thoughts already on this week’s football match as he headed out of the door.

Published 15th December 2018