The Missing Evening Essays - Ghost Whisperer,

The Missing Evening He was always punctual, at least for his own agenda. Each evening Jim would run through the forest just for fun. This summer night was no exception. The night had grown dark but he was not worried, for he knew the woods well. He sped across an old beaten path and glided over rotten old fallen trees. The damp air was wonderful, he thought, because he could run and never get too hot, and if he kept running hed never get too cold. This forest was made mostly of pine trees, and the needles put a bounce in the young boys step and kept him cheerful. At the clearing he stopped, as he always did, and rested upon a large rock and observed the inky-black sky. This was his favorite spot, his secret spot. Stars shined far brighter here then they did in town, and Jim always felt like he could stay forever. He sighed, and pulled his arms behind his head and stretched out his legs. For some reason this night he was especially relaxed. Either school letting out last week or just one of those giddy days, he didnt know. It is a wonderful day to be alive. After looking into the sky for a few minutes he saw a falling star. It shimmered for merely a moment and went out. Then another came, and another, and after a dozen or so he sat up and beamed, awed by the glowing sky. It seemed that just above him there was a whole meteor shower, purely for his delight. They fell straight down and glowed longer then Jim had ever seen before. Soon the whole clearing was shining a bright white, like on Forth of July. The dozens became hundreds until finally a large radiant circle seemed to be coming straight down above Jim. He let out a sharp little scream of excitement and sprang from the rock, twirling around and around singing to himself as he always did when he was really cheerful. It was another minute before he realized that they werent meteors anymore, but actually the colorful bottom of a spaceship. He stepped back slowly, alert but unafraid. Slowly the craft hovered toward the widest part of the clearing and fell to the earth. Jim stood erect now, excited or scared he didnt know, but he was going to know which it was before he did anything. He decided it must be excitement. And anyway, I couldnt just leave. He told himself. The intense light faded away, and by moonlight Jim walked around the small spaceship. The wings of the craft were torn up. Wires leaped forth from the tears and melted plastic had oozed out and hardened, creating an elliptical half baked purple pancake covering the crafts exterior. The black tinted windows had small cracks throughout. The only orifice was a small door underneath the ship. Jim bent his knees, ducked his head and tugged at the door. He yanked hard and ended up falling onto the moist earth. The door had opened, and a plume of powder emerged blanketing the boy with grey dust. After rubbing his eyes and brushing his pants off as was his habit, he stood once again, poked his head into the ship and peered about the hull. The air was still filled with more gray dust, and Jim couldnt make out a thing. He pushed himself up into the ship despite the discomfort of the dust and explored. Everything was smooth: the walls, the floor, the door, everything. Jim felt the wall until he came to another small door. Pushing it aside, he stepped into this dark room. It was damp and terribly musty. A faint tussling sound moved toward Jim. Still undaunted, the young boy flung his arms in front of himself and crawled blindly toward the queer sound. Ah! Jim clung into his hand and screamed. Something had bitten his arm. He rubbed his hand but it was no use. Jim whimpered, hes whole left arm now throbbing. He pitched on the hard cold floor until he faintly made out the opening from where he had entered this pitch-dark appalling room. As he put forth his