about the article. I couldn’t imagine how many people were contacting Ishmael. He was probably having a grand time. He was probably scheduling appearances.
Cass came into Super Scoop around lunchtime. Owen was taking his thirty-minute break, and I was alone at the counter.
“So, you’re running with this alien thing?” Cass asked eagerly, while contemplating the different ice cream flavors.
“I’m not running with anything. I’m waiting for the situation to die down.” I took a bite of an unappetizing myTality™ Energizer bar Mother had forced on me.
“But, I mean, wowsers. Think of how amazing this could be,” Cass said. “How theatrical.”
Speaking of theatrics, Cass was wearing cowboy boots and an embroidered western shirt.
“Theatrics are best left for drama club,” I said.
“That reminds me,” Cass replied, “would you rehearse with me tonight?”
I hesitated. “Do I have to?”
“Well, no, you don’t have to. But it’s would be nice,” she said.
“It’s just that every time I help you rehearse, you yell at me for not doing it well enough.”
“Only because you use that weird robot voice.”
“That’s just my voice, Cass.”
Cass nodded, allowing that I was probably right.
“Besides,” I went on, “I thought you hated the play.” (The play in question was Hamelin!, a musical adaptation of the Pied Piper story.)
“I hate that Owen got the role of Pied Piper while I’m relegated to love interest.”
Said as if love interest was the worst thing anyone could be. It was a nice reminder of why Cass was my best friend.
“Well, I’ll help if you really need me to. But I’m just going to read, not act.”
“Forget it,” Cass said. “I’ll ask Arden. And I want a double scoop of salted caramel.”
I hesitated before moving toward the ice cream case. “I didn’t realize you and Arden talked outside of school.”
“Jeez Louise. We’ve been hanging out for a year. Obviously, we talk outside of school.”
“Huh.” I handed Cass her cone and rang up the purchase.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing.”
“Do you not want me to be friends with Arden or something?”
“You can be friends with anyone you want.”
Cass took a bite of ice cream and gave me a long look. “You totally need to find coping mechanisms for your jealousy issues.”
“This isn’t a jealousy—”
“Fine, your trust issues. Whatever you wanna call it.”
Owen returned from his break then, and Cass dropped the subject, thankfully—the last thing I needed was them ganging up on me about my perceived character flaws. They made small talk about the play, and Cass was polite, despite Owen having “stolen her role.”
I took the opportunity to slip my phone from my pocket and check Frykowski’s website.
There were sixty-two comments on the alien post.
Blog Comments
The following compilation is a selection of user comments from lightbringernews.com. Comments were originally posted on the article “They’re Here: Extraterrestrial Contact Made in Lansburg.”
skywatcher51: I’m twenty miles south of Lansburg, but I’ve seen lights in the sky almost every night for the past month. Why isn’t anyone else talking about this?
ThirdEyeFluoride: @skywatcher51 you think the government is going to let us talk about what’s been happening? you’re seriously delusional. i’m surprised this post hasn’t been removed yet.
annab311a: I’ve lived in Lansburg my entire life, and I’ve never seen a UFO.
jojoyourboat: DAE think the hofstats are weird anyway? lol. Im not even surprised this happened at that farm
CIAyylmao2001: WHY IS EVERYONE TALKING ABOUT UFOS AND IGNORING WHAT REALLY MATTERS THAT 911 WAS A GOVERNMENT SET UP AND WERE ALL AT DANGER OF ANOTHER ATTACK AT ANY MOMENT
THERE PLAYING WITH OUR LIVES, PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
devlmdemedoit: I just want to know, if aliens really are visiting, what do they want? Maybe we shouldn’t assume they’re going to attack us, guys.
concerned_earthling: Anyone from the detroit area thinking of heading to Lansburg to see what’s going on for yourself? If so, I’m interested in carpooling.
ZedzDedBaby: is everyone hear a fucking moron? their r no aliens you assholes get out of your moms basements and go actualy do some thing and maybe you wont be so worried about stupid shit like ufos
cassiopeia-the-diva: @ZedzDedBaby What did punctuation and proper grammar ever do to you?
MissusFry1962: This is a very well-written article. I will check for updates to see what happens next. Love, Mom.
Interviews
Subject #2, Magdalene (Maggie) Hofstadt: I was packing up after softball practice and Makayla came over and said she got a text from her cousin, who got a call from her friend, who wanted to know about the UFO at my house, and did I know anything about it? I didn’t know anything about it. But let’s just say, I was