WEEK 369
As the sun came up, Becky started her car, put it in reverse, and said good-bye to...


...her ex-sister-in-law Alix. After a failed marriage, Becky was finally able to follow her heart and accept a position at Miami Herald where she was to have her own column reporting about the unexplained phenomenon and UFO sightings in the area. She decided to stop just past the Tennessee line at a small motel. After checking in, grabbing a bite to eat, heading back to her room, that is when she saw the glowing red eyes from the outline of the trees near the motel. Immediately she knew that this creature was not of this earth and stood frozen starring at the figure. A bright flash of light and the anonymous being rose from the earth and vanished into thin air. Becky couldn't move fast enough to her room, where she immediately flipped open her lap top and began writing her first column.

by Ranae Cherry, Shrewsbury, PA

...the sunlight forever. She drove to the far corner of the universe with the top down and the solar wind in her hair. An occasional comet would threaten her course, but quick maneuvering and a skilled eye kept her safe.

Becky visualized her final destination as she exited the Milky Way Galaxy. The elaborately colored nirvana could be best described simply as purple. She was astonished that the small sparkling stars never grew in size the closer she traveled to them.

Becky's car began to shake as she approached a dark spot on the horizon. In an instant she was sucked into the black hole and transported to another world.

Orange and indigo rays exploded through the windshield as Becky emerged into paradise. Tears filled her eyes at the overwhelming beauty of the world before her. She released the steering wheel and began to rise into heaven.

by Donald Stidham, Cleveland, TN

...the three survivors of the now infamous, Cape Cerrine Massacre. Backing down the narrow gravel road that accessed the beach, Becky was the last of the animal rescue team which had, for the past sixty days, rehabilitated the three juvenile sea otters, nursing them back to a level of independance that would allow them to return to their natural habitat. As she turned her attention, one last time, to the ever brightening coastline, she thought she could see their heads, gently bobbing in the waves, as if to bid her a final thank you and farewell. It made her heart soar to know that she had contributed to their survival, and that she was part of the environmental group that had exposed the gang of poachers responsible for the killing of all the other otters.

"Long life, my babies, long life", she quietly whispered, "and peace and happiness".

by Stewart Lindsay, Buffalo, NY