The Hand – Chapter 5

Alice looks at him. Her face is pale and her eyes are wet. She hates him because he destroyed the poor alien’s hand. But she feels fear, too, because it is the first time that she has seen him so angry.

“What are you going to do?”

He goes over to the cupboard. He takes out bullets. “What do you think? I am going to take that alien off my property.”

“You can’t do that!”

“You wait and see.”

“But he didn’t do anything to hurt you! He is kind!”

“But he is on my property, right? Now, be a good girl and go upstairs. GO!”

Alice goes upstairs. She is overwhelmed by sadness. She feels sorry for the aliens. One of them will never get his hand back. She is angry at her husband.

From her bedroom window, she can see the alien standing in the yard. She wonders. What will the alien think when he learns that Mac destroyed the hand in a fire.

She stands in her bedroom, looking out the window. Finally, the alien moves. She hears the front door opening and closing. She can’t see, but she knows that Mac is outside. The two are walking towards each other. They meet, but Alice can’t see them from the window.

She can only listen. But, she can’t hear enough to understand. She only hears the alien’s whistle and her husband’s low grumble. What are they saying?

She tries to listen, but she can’t understand any words. Suddenly she hears a gun blast. She jumps, like she was shot. She presses her nose to the window, trying to see. But of course, she can’t see anything.

She is flooded by sadness. The alien came from another world, in friendliness. But he received hate in return. Mac is a terrible, horrible person.

She wants to go downstairs, but she is so afraid of her husband.

She sits in her chair, next to the window. She looks at the barn, and the farm. She watches and waits, but eventually, she falls asleep.

She wakes up when the sun comes up. With a rush, she remembers yesterday’s events. The hand, the alien, the gun blast. She stands up. She realizes that she fell asleep without changing into pajamas. She looks out into the yard, but she doesn’t see anything.

She goes to Mac’s bedroom. He is not there. He is not in his bed. Maybe he is sleeping at the kitchen table? She goes downstairs and looks. He is not at the kitchen table and his gun is not on the wall. She steps outside. She sees the gun on the ground. But where is Mac?

Dobie comes and puts his wet nose on her hand.

“Where is Mac, Dobie?” she asks. “Where’s Mac?”

Dobie turns around and walks toward the barn. He looks back, like he is saying, ’This way. Follow me.’

She finds Mac behind the barn.

He is alive, but he is in shock. He is moaning in pain and fear.

His right hand is missing. It was cut from the wrist.

The End