Human Behavior

The metallic disk
with blinking blue lights
landed softly, silently
in the still midnight
of Wyatt’s backyard.

The metal parted
at the front of the disk;
a sure-enough alien stepped out.
It stood about 3 feet tall
and had grayish-white skin,
stretched over a skeletal frame.
Black, almond-shaped eyes
stared out of an elongated skull
sitting atop a thin neck.
Its mouth was a mere slit.
Long, bony arms
with four-fingered hands
extended well below the alien’s waist.
“Hellfire,” Wyatt said to himself,
peeking out the kitchen window.
“That Spielberg guy
wasn’t dicking around.”

A high, whistling song
seeped into Wyatt’s head,
compelling his legs to move,
pulling him outside.
The alien approached Wyatt
and made greeting gestures.
It actually smiled at him.

Wyatt smiled back.
He seized the alien
by its neck with both hands
and, with a quick twist,
snapped its spine—
killing it instantly.
“Hoo boy!” Wyatt exclaimed.

The next day,
Wyatt sold the metallic disk
to Victory Auto Wreckers
for an easy hundred bucks.
He stuffed the dead alien
into one of his mama’s
largest canning jars and
filled it with grain alcohol.
Wyatt charges his neighbors
$10 apiece to see it
each year on Halloween.