The Adjusters
During the previous, star-filled night:
A phone rang... at 03:00 AM, there in the nearest field office of MUFON (Mutual UFO Network)
The caller then left an excited and terse voicemail message (in Spanish):
"Ovalo de Luz... Ovalo de Luz!" before he hung up.
#
The very next day:
"Boy, oh, boy... Traffic was extra heavy today... Lousy careless drivers. Wave after wave of them!"
said the deputy of the small and usually peaceful town of Emerald, at the end of his shift.
Sheriff Hanson: "Oh... That's what we get, allowing that Interstate Highway, 60 years ago.
I forget the Jackaninny Mayor that voted for it, back then? Oh well, he's been dead for years."
#
For obvious reasons, the deputy and the town Sheriff both missed the slower and
easier days of their long past adolescence. When Life was more carefree. Nowadays, they
got so stressed, they sometimes wished they could punch the rudest of angry, male drivers.
#
"Hey, Frank... Who's the guy passed out back in the 'drunk tank' cell? Not a local, for sure."
The Sheriff replied to his deputy: "Well, Tony... The guy must have really tied one on last
night. I found him wandering the far edge of town... Muttering: 'El Ovalo... El Ovalo!' It means
'The Oval' in English. As he's Hispanic, he must have had a bit too much of the tequila or beer.
But, like you guessed, he isn't from town. He's got no I.D. of any kind. Likely an illegal, or an
escapee guerilla freedom fighter from way south of Mexico, wanting to liberate his troubles?
I've heard of stranger stuff, in the last decade or so. We'll find out who he is in the morning..."
#
It was just after sunset. And not much was going on in the township of Emerald, on a Tuesday.
But for the Time being... Whoever the Latin 'Hombre' was... He was in the Hoosegow tonight!
But, a short way down the busy Interstate Highway... Maybe a few hundred yards off in the
undeveloped and still wild land... Something did indeed appear, and coming 'In' and 'Out'.
#
Not any phenomenon the local environment had ever seen before... A huge oval... Of Light!
Two figures in long white robes exited the oval shaped doorway... They looked left and right.
"He is not here... He has gone to the small town... We will catch him there" the Female said.
#
After midnight... The Hispanic man woke up, from his lethargic state. Now wide awake.
The Sheriff snored in a stuffed easy chair, nearby the holding cell. Then, a low hum started.
And the Oval of Light opened again... Between the Sheriff and Jose Munoz-Padilla. Jose winced.
"No... No! Leave me alone... This cannot be happening!" (spoken by Jose in Spanish)
#
The Sheriff stopped snoring... Then opened his peepers just a bit. He saw the two robed figures.
Then he saw the blindingly white oval doorway suspended just a foot off the floor of the jail.
"Are you... Angels? Or Aliens?" asked Sheriff Frank Hanson.
The Female spoke, as the Male nodded slowly: "We are neither. We are Adjusters. Humans from your Future."
It was a bit much to all take in, and the Sheriff then passed out... and back into a very deep sleep just then.
#
The Female, again:
"Come Jose... You cannot harm your ex-wife, here in America. Her next offspring is very important... To us!"
The words were not spoken... But sent to Jose's mind... Telepathy. But the words 'sounded' soft & sweet & kind.
The Male then waved a blue crystal-like scepter wand... And Jose floated and passed through the cell bars, and
then on into the Oval of Light. Then the Female and Male figures followed him. Then the Oval doorway closed.
THE END