When the photo arrived back two days later, the kids rode their bikes over to the TV station like they were Olympic bicycle racers. Panting and out of breath, they left their bikes in a pile outside the building and dashed inside.

In the front room, a receptionist sat at a desk. "Who are you kids?" she asked.

"We need to see Chuck Charles," Louise said. "It's urgent!"

The receptionist called Chuck on the intercom and told him he had visitors. Then she led them down the hall to his office.

The Belcher family had caused Chuck Charles a lot of trouble in the past. Because of them, his news show, Get on Up, had been canceled. Now he had it back again, but he was not happy to see the Belcher children. He was afraid they would do something to get him fired again. "What are you brats doing here?" he said.

"We saw a UFO!" Gene blurted.

"Yeah, right," Chuck said. "I remember you. You're the family that got my show canceled before. You Belchers have brought me nothing but bad luck. Get out of here right now!"

"No, wait!" Louise said. "We have a photo!" She held out the envelope with the picture inside.

"Oh yeah?" Chuck said, a little interest creeping into his voice in spite of himself. "Lemme see." He took the envelope and pulled out the picture. He looked it over carefully. Then he took it back to his chair and sat down. He pulled a magnifying glass out of his desk drawer and examined the photo even more closely. He kept stealing glances at the kids, and they kept stealing glances at one another.

"You shot this yourselves?" Chuck finally asked. "It's not bad. Not bad at all. Now tell me the truth. Is it real?"

Louise was worried Tina might crack. It looked like Tina was about to say something, but Louise stepped on her foot and Tina kept her mouth shut.

"Sure, it's real!" Louise piped up. "I oughtta know, cuz I was the one who snapped it!"

"We were thinking maybe you might want to interview us on your show tonight," Gene said.

"Hm, it might make a good human interest story," Chuck said.

"How much will you pay us?" Louise asked him bluntly.

"Well, how much were you expecting?" he replied.

"We were thinking of a million dollars!" Gene said.

"I'm thinking of a million dollars too," Chuck said, smiling, "but I'll pay you fifteen."

"Fifteen million?" Tina gasped.

"No."

"Fifteen thousand?" Gene asked.

"Fifteen," Chuck repeated. "One… five. That's a ten-dollar bill and five singles. I think you kids are old enough to do the math."

"Fifteen for each of us?" Louise said.

"Fifteen for all three of you," said Chuck.

"Surely you're willing to negotiate," said Louise. "How about half a million dollars?"

"If I had that kind of money, do you think I'd be working here? Fifteen bucks. Take it or leave it."

Louise sighed. "We'll take it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At home, Bob and Linda were sitting down to dinner.

"Lin, have you seen the kids?" Bob asked.

"No, I haven't seen them all afternoon," said Linda.

Bob was beginning to get worried. "Neither have I. What if they never came home after school? Where could they be?"

Suddenly Linda pointed at the television, which was on. "They're right there!"

"What?" said Bob.

"They're on TV! Look!"

Bob turned to see, and sure enough, there they were, all three of them, sitting on a stage with Chuck Charles.

"Hi, I'm Chuck Charles," Chuck said, "and this is Get on Up! Today we have three special guests. These local children, Tina, Gene, and Louise Belcher spotted a UFO last week right in this town!"

On the TV, Chuck was asking, "Now, where did you see this UFO?"

"It was… in the park." Tina looked visibly uncomfortable as she answered.

A blown-up version of the picture appeared on the screen. "Tell us more about it," Chuck said.

"It was humongous!" said Louise. "And it had big glowing green lights!"

"Yeah!" agreed Gene. "And it made a weird humming sound!"

"A weird hummin' sound?" the reporter asked. "Can you describe it for us?"

Gene and Louise pinched their nostrils together and started humming. The noise they produced sounded like a Hawaiian hula song.

Chuck nodded his head. "Interesting."

"And then," Tina blurted out, "the spaceship landed and the aliens came out!" She hadn't intended to say that, but she was starting to get carried away.

"You actually saw the aliens?" Chuck asked incredulously. "You didn't tell me that before."

The camera zoomed in on Tina's face. She gulped. What had she gotten herself into? She couldn't admit she had lied now. She would have to go on the way she began.

"Sure, we saw the aliens," she said. "They were twelve feet tall, hairy all over, and had noses on the backs of their heads. They even talked to us." Oh man, what was she thinking? An even worse lie. They just kept piling up.

Gene and Louise exchanged uneasy looks. Would Chuck buy this?

But he was eating it right up. "What did the aliens say to you?" he asked breathlessly.

Tina responded with the first thing that came into her mind. "Inky… Dinky… Pinky."

"Inky dinky pinky?" repeated the reporter. "The aliens said, 'Inky dinky pinky'?"

"Yeah!" Louise jumped in. "Just like that they said it. Inky dinky pinky!"

"This is fascinating!" Chuck exclaimed. "What do you think inky dinky pinky means? Could it be some secret code?"

"It must be some sort of high-level communication system that humans don't have the intelligence to understand," Gene guessed. "Or maybe it's an intergalactic nursery rhyme."

"Was that all the aliens said?"

"Yup," Louise replied. "Inky dinky pinky. Then they got back inside the UFO and it flew away."

Back home in the Belchers' kitchen, Linda asked Bob, "Bobby, did the kids tell you they saw a UFO?"

Bob shook his head. "No, they never said a word."