The two men spent a fine evening reminiscing about the old days, the highs and lows of saving the world. Bill used his pension to receive shipments of goods he could not produce, hunt or grow, so the scotch was top shelf. The smoked game was surprisingly good and the rosemary seasoned potatoes were a revelation, delighting the palette like no farm-grown vegetable could.
Ralph told Bill all the news about Pam and the kids. Ralph and Pam's first son together had been named for Bill, an item that still touched Bill right in the old ticker. Young Bill was fronting a garage band and having some success in the local club scene. Ralph painted a picture of great contentment and Bill was at once happy for and envious of his friend.
The repast settled comfortably in their stomachs. Bill hadn't eaten that well in a good long while. The fine liquor soothed and warmed them and the fire crackled and sputtered its hypnotic rhythms. Silence came between the pair but there was still a hippo dancing in a tutu right on the mantle.
"I'm not going with you." Bill finally stated, his voice cutting into the night.
"Do you have a choice? I mean, I know they want me. I just know it, don't you?"
Bill squeezed his eyes shut. "I gotta have a choice! I jus…I just gotta." he insisted, trying to convince himself.
He placed some more timber into the fire and poked around in it. The orange red light of the flames daubed his face. He looked like an ancient alchemist with his ragged white beard and a blanket like a cape surrounding his shoulders.
"Bill I don't want to see you live like this anymore. You don't have to live in fear!"
"I'm fine." Bill insisted.
"You could come and live with us."
Bill laughed. "Heh, wouldn't your old ball and chain love that! Heh, heh.
"Look, Ralph, I know you mean well, as always, but I don't wanna be anywhere near where "they" can get me, I mean, Ralph, I gotta try to…"
"Do you remember the first thing the aliens ever said to us when we met them? The very first message said, 'You will not be harmed.' And, then they played FDR saying "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
"It doesn't matter." Bill didn't want to argue. He was ready to pass out again, the fatigue flowing into his aching limbs.
"Yes, it matters! It makes all the difference. They helped us help our world and save people's lives. What part of that don't you get?"
"Ralph…"
"You don't have to fear them, Bill. What ever happens, whatever they do, it won't be to hurt us, it'll be to help us. I know that's true! I believe it or I wouldn't be…. Bill?
Bill was sawing zzz's like he hadn't done in years. A much needed deep sleep had overcome him, taking him to a quiet place he had not been in for a long, lonely time.
"Awh, ya never did listen to me. Why should I think you'd start now?"
Ralph pulled a few blankets over his friend and then got himself squared away on the cot near the fire. The fatigue of the long walk to the cabin and the emotion of the last few days carried him instantly to the arms of Morpheus.