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The Child - Ten paper recently. “Hey, did you see that news story about a UFO? What do you think about that stuff?” Since Maya frequently discussed outer space, others stars and planets, he thought she would be interested in the article. Maya stopped and sat down by the side of the trail, look- ing out into the sky. “Don’t you think it’s very probable that other life exists elsewhere in the universe, not just right here?” she asked in return. “T don’t know,” Ted replied. “Nobody in Alabama ever talked about seeing them. Guess I never really thought about UFOs before.” “Oh? Well, I’ve seen a UFO,” Maya said. “My friend and I just saw one recently, in fact.” “You and Lyra?” he asked, and she nodded. “Where?” he demanded, as he jumped up and pulled Maya to her feet. “Come on, I want to see one, too. Show me where y’all saw it!” Maya resisted with a laugh. She pointed up the nature trail. “It’s easy to find,” she said. “Go up that way and around the next bend. Just a little farther on, you'll see a ridge where two mountains come together. It makes a V-shaped notch on the horizon.” “And that’s where you and Lyra saw it?” “Yes, we were walking up there last week, and we saw a UFO hovering right in that gap, just before dark.” Ted glanced at his watch. “Maybe we ought to go have a look now,” he suggested. “It’s getting almost late enough.” “No,” Maya said, “it’s getting so late that I have to go back to work.” She started down the trail with Ted following after her reluctantly. “Boy,” he said, “I'd sure like to see one. Just so I would know for myself.” “Try it, then,” Maya replied. “We’ve seen them a few times. If you’ll come back out here late in the afternoon, before dark, you might see it. Lyra and I saw it a couple of times at dusk.” “Will you go with me?” Ted asked. Masquerade of Angels 92 The Child - Ten “Well, if I can,” Maya hesitated. “But my schedule is so busy, and I have to see my friends a lot. Don’t wait for me, go have a look whenever you can.” She ran on down the hill and soon disappeared into the maze of paths and buildings in the valley. With or without his mysterious friend, Ted determined to go back up the trail the following afternoon and look for the UFO. He kept to the trail until it reached a small bend, and then he walked on farther, scanning the area. At last on the hori- zon Ted could see a deep gap between two mountains, and through that V-shaped opening he could gaze into the desert. Satisfied that he’d found the right place, Ted sat back on a comfortable perch and lit a cigarette. His eyes moved steadily across the vista as he waited, but he had no idea what exactly to expect. A shiny, whistling flying saucer? Little green men from Mars, peering out from portholes and waving their antennae at the earthlings below? He didn’t have to wait long. Something did appear, but it wasn’t at all what he expected. Right above the gap he saw a dark spot in the air. It was an object, a body of some sort, but it was disappointingly too far away for Ted to recognize any particular shape. He watched silently as the dark object hov- ered, listening for any identifying sound, but there was none. Then the object left its stationary position and for several minutes made slow, odd maneuvers, always keeping within the space of the mountain gap. After a while, it turned and leisurely flew away toward the desert. Ted watched until it was no more than a speck against the sky. And then that, too, disappeared. He sat back against his perch, puzzled. Was that a UFO? he asked himself. No, it was just a dot in the sky, he replied. But it didn’t make any noise, it didn’t fly the way airplanes do, the argument continued. As a UFO sighting, however, the whole thing was a big disappointment. No lights, no little green men, just a dot in the sky that didn’t behave as it should. It was intriguing, sure, but not identifiable. Sort of like Maya, he joked to himself. Then his mood suddenly changed, and Ted was overcome by fear. He didn’t know why, but he was terrified that the Masquerade of Angels 93