Moondust - Chapter 4

 

Chapter 4

It was already noon and Iris was getting hungry. Her mother was waiting in the kitchen.

“Iris. Sit down. Let’s talk.” With everything that happened, Iris forgot about the fight she had with her mother this morning.

“It’s okay, mama. I’m sorry I ran away.”

“No, sit down.” Iris forced herself to sit. Her mother had traveled from Chile with her family when she was eight years old. Iris had never known anything but life in the United States and despite her lack of patience, she respected her parents. Besides, her mother was scary when she got angry. It was a trait that she inherited from her own mother, Iris’s grandmother. “Your father and I want what’s best for you, that’s why we push you.” She began. Iris had heard it all before. She did her best to sit and listen. “We want you to have a good life without relying on someone else.”

“Mama.” Iris protested. She didn’t know how to put into words what she felt. She only knew that her idea of a good life was different than her mothers. How could she tell her that? Her mother and father worked so hard for her and her sister to have a good education and many opportunities. She knew at some level that she owed them a return on their hard work. At the same time, Iris knew that her mother had a strict idea on what a “good job” was. Being a UFO hunter did not fall into that category. 

“I’ll look at the magazines.” Iris promised. 

“Thank you, mija.” Her mother patted her back. 

 

Iris closed the door to her room. She needed to tell Matt. Jam’s words came back to her. She promised that she wouldn’t tell anyone. Matt was her best friend, and they didn’t have secrets. Iris sighed. Now what am I supposed to do? It didn’t take her long to decide. She could still investigate. She called Matt and a few minutes later they were on their bikes together.

“You said she was abducted?” Matt asked as they rode.

“Yeah, well, the news reporter tried to make it sound like a kidnapping, but the witness said she looked like she was lifted off her feet and that the car went so fast it looked like it was flying. I checked online and there were sightings of white lights at the same time.”

“Maybe the lights were headlights?” Matt reasoned.

“Or maybe they thought it was a car because they thought the lights were headlights.” Iris countered. 

“Either one I guess.”

They slowed down at a spot off the side of the road. 

“This is it. This is the spot she was taken.” 

“I swear if we get kidnapped by gangsters…” Matt trailed off.

“There are no gangsters in Sparks.”

“Right, just aliens That’s so much better.” Matt teased. It didn’t bother Iris because she knew that despite his doubt, he always listened to her. 

Iris looked for obvious signs. There were no tire tracks and nothing on the ground. The police had already been there, so anything they found was already taken. 

Matt noticed some weeds along the road. They looked like the normal tall grass that grew next to the trees except that some of them had been bent or snapped. Matt’s father was a police officer. He showed Matt how to look at a situation and find things that were out of place. As he got closer, he noticed more weeds that were broken, creating a path into the woods. He followed. 

Iris shuffled the dirt around the edge of the pavement. It was possible that if people were running, something might have been covered by the dirt. She made her way along the side of the road up to the corner. She didn’t see the person standing nearby.

“Hey, any luck?” A voice called. Iris looked up to see a teenage boy about her age standing just a few feet away. He had pale skin and hair that was so dark brown it looked almost black. 

“Oh, no. Nothing actually.”

“You’re here investigating the abduction?” He asked. Iris’s ears perked up. This boy also believed it was an abduction. She studied him again. She had never seen him before.

“Yes.” She replied, now suspicious. “Who are you?”

“I’m not from around here. I’m interested in alien abductions. Just like you.” He replied confidently. It was like he knew exactly what he was doing, and what she was doing too. 

“You’re standing on some evidence by the way.” He pointed at the ground. Iris looked at her feet. There was something glinting beneath the dirt.  

She reached down and picked it up. It was thin and metallic. 

“This? It just looks like a candy wrapper.”

“I’ve seen this stuff before. Go ahead, try and rip it.”

Iris tried. It was so thin that it looked like aluminum foil. It should be easy to tear in half. She gave it a tug, but it didn’t separate between her fingers. She tried again. Then again. It just didn’t make sense. 

“See, it’s evidence.”

“This is strange.” Iris finally concluded. 

“My name’s Chris.” The boy said, walking over to her. His eyes were large and brown, and Iris felt herself looking away quickly with embarrassment. 

“I’m Iris.” It was the third person in the past twenty-four hours that she’d introduced herself to. Although unlike Jam and Phina, Chris was human.

“Here, let me see it.” He took the scrap of shiny metal from Iris and pulled out another small piece from his pocket. He held them together and the two pieces melded into one as if they were melting and reforming. “There’s no doubt about it, it’s a Folum ship.” 

“Folum?”

“A species of alien with technology like this.” He held the metal scrap up, now twice the size. Iris looked confused at the “evidence”. She was just as confused about Chris. He tagged a race of beings to the piece of scrap. Just who was he? How did he know so much about aliens and their technology? Maybe he was making it all up.

            “Are you alright?” Chris laughed. 

            “Yeah, I’m fine.” Once again Iris felt an embarrassed heat rising to her cheeks. She knew she always looked spaced-out when she was thinking. Her sister teased her about it. 

            “Why don’t you take this?” Chris handed her the thin metal sheet. “Good luck with your search.” He added and left just as suddenly as he had showed up. Iris walked back to her bike. Matt was coming out of the woods. 

            “There are tracks leading back a few yards, but it looks like everything’s been cleaned up pretty good.” He reported. 

            “Oh, I found this.” Iris didn’t mention Chris. 

            “Gum wrapper?” 

            “No, I don’t think so.” She showed him how to pull on it. 

            “That’s weird.” Matt was just as transfixed by the tiny piece of metal as Iris. Yet, Chris didn’t seem to be fascinated by it at all.

            “Yeah, it is. Now what?” Iris asked. 

            “I think we’re done here, and Mom’s been making beef noodles all day.” Matt said finally conceding the search. 

            “Yum!”

            “She loves it when you eat her food.” Matt said jokingly. He was correct. Matt’s mother was Taiwanese. She loved to cook and loved it even more when people enjoyed her food. That was something Iris had no trouble doing.  

            “I’m going to eat mine and yours.” Iris joked.

            “Not a chance.” Matt shot back. They mounted their bikes and headed back into town. 

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