By: Sandra Skalski.

When the aliens arrived in the back yard, I told them to take the dog.

Green light seeped through my cat door. A saucer the size of a kiddy pool hovered over the begonias.

A beam searching the yard landed on me. “Are you the leader,” said a voice from the ship.

I stuck my paw toward the doghouse. “Not me. Him.”

The mutt’s tongue hung out as he floated into the ship.

A few days later, they brought him back. I’m not sure what he told them, but the State Department sends us boxes of milk bones every Friday.

© 2024. Sandra Skalski

Sandra Skalski is a wife, mom, and engineer. Her stories have appeared in Factor Four and Wyldblood magazines, and one is upcoming in Volume 41 of Writers of the Future. She spends her spare time scribbling stories or in her garden.