On The Beach

Author: Kim Hayes

Kim lives and works in Chicago, IL. She is married and owned by two cats.

I got up at the usual time, shortly before sunrise. The weather app on my phone said it was clear, and I looked out the living room window towards the beach. The lake was as still as glass. It was going to be a glorious sunrise. I grabbed my phone, cigarettes, a beach towel, slid my feet into my flip-flops, and headed out.

There were still a few minutes before the sun would peek over the horizon. I lit a cigarette, spread out the towel, and sat down to wait. It was a morning to be enjoyed. Everything was peaceful. There were a few seagulls diving in and out of the water for fish and the birds were flying about, catching whatever unfortunate bug that crossed their flight path.
The no boating buoys stood still like sentries about thirty yards from the shore. I made a mental note to swim out to them later in the day if the lake remained calm. Something near one buoy caught my eye. It was a silver ball, floating towards me. It looked like it was giving off a soft, pulsating light. I watched with curiosity as it floated towards the shore. The sun was just coming up over the horizon.
I waded out into the water, picked up the ball, and carried it back to the beach. It was roughly the same size as a large beach ball and maybe just a wee bit heavier. Upon looking closer, it was seamless. There was no sign of who made it or how it was constructed.
I sat down on the towel, the ball next to me, and waited to see what would happen. I had seen many interesting objects wash up on shore, but never anything like this.

After a few minutes, the ball moved and a small slit near the top opened up. A girl peeked out, looked around, and then looked at me. “Thank you, very much. I didn’t think I was going to make it.”
So many questions, the least of which, how could a person fit inside a ball of that size that weighed next to nothing? Was there a zipper or something on the inside that made it so easy to open?
Not really knowing what else to say, I asked, “Can I help you?”
The girl smiled. “I’ll have to inform the others. Then we can take over.” The girl started climbing out of the ball. It almost looked like she was using a ladder.
“Take ov…” I felt the sharp pain hit me hard in my chest.
The last thing I was aware of was of the girl standing over me, blocking out the sun that had now fully risen.
“Stupid humans. Gets them every time."