Ascension Discovery

by Amy Proebstel

  Diane leafed through the papers until she found the step-by-step directions to their hotel, the Fairfield Inn, chosen solely for its proximity to the International UFO Museum Center. With Diane’s instructions, Chris easily drove them to their hotel where they checked in and took their luggage to their two separate rooms.

  Amanda sighed as she set her luggage down on the king-sized bed and sat down next to it with a sigh of relief at resting her aching body. While she was excited to see what this adventure would bring she was physically exhausted from her near-death experience. It had only been four days since she had been found unconscious on the beach in Mexico. This trip might have been a little premature since she was still bruised and broken from the mudslide but there was no way she would ever tell her parents how badly she physically felt, too much was at stake.

  She really did not know what to expect here in Roswell. So far a spaceship was the only thing keeping her hope alive of finding a way back to Tuala. She shook her head as she realized the enormity of the task ahead of her. I don’t know what we were thinking to come all the way to Roswell to get clues about going to Tuala to bring back my children. It’s not like the space ship replica is going to have a map on it, she chided herself.

  Amanda looked up when she heard a knock on her door. She swallowed a groan of discomfort as she pulled herself up from the bed, walked the short distance across the room and opened the door. Her mother smiled at her and said, “Your father and I were thinking we should go out to get something to eat. Do you want to come too?”

  “Sure,” she said easily. She was hungry, and she needed to keep her body fueled so her mind could remain focused on the task at hand and not on her appetite. After adjusting the sling for her casted arm, she grabbed her purse from the bed and joined her mother in the hallway. “Where’s Dad?” she asked as she looked up and down the hall for him.

  “He went to bring the SUV around front for us.” Diane tucked her hand around Amanda’s elbow and smiled as she walked with her daughter. She looked at Amanda and was so thankful that she was alive. She hoped this trip would bring her grandchildren to her as well. Unfortunately, Diane was also worried that if Amanda had to go back to Tuala, she might not be able to find her way back to Earth.

  They walked out of the hotel just as Chris pulled up to the entrance with the SUV. He rolled down the passenger side window and with a broad grin on his face he said, “Hey, pretty ladies, do you want a ride?”

  Playing along, Diane replied, “Gladly, I always accept rides from handsome men.”

  Amanda shook her head at her parents’ strange sense of humor and climbed into the back seat of the SUV as her mother took the passenger’s seat up front. They drove through the main roads to see what was available. Diane spotted what she thought was a Denny’s from a distance and said, “Let’s go there.”

  They drove closer and discovered that the original sign had been covered with a cloth which read ‘Roswell Cover-Up Café.’ They laughed at the double meaning of the sign and then laughed some more when they noticed the light post with the black painted eyes on an alien shaped head at the entrance.

  Inside, Amanda commented to her parents, “This doesn’t look like any Denny’s I’ve ever seen.” She noted that the kitchen, in the middle of the building, was shaped like a control center of a spaceship. The seating areas radiated out from the center of the restaurant, and even the hanging silver metal light fixtures reminded her of little, floating spaceships.

  The hostess seated them at a table near the kitchen entrance and brought them their menus as well as glasses of water. “Your server will be with you in a few minutes,” she said as she turned away to seat another couple who just entered the restaurant. The three of them then opened their menus to each select what they wanted to eat.

  While eating their meal, Amanda and Diane discussed the rows of antique shops and alien-themed tourist traps they had seen along the way to the diner. “We’re definitely going to have to walk a few of those streets to be able to see the different types of antiques and souvenirs available,” Diane said enthusiastically.

  Chris, remembering the many streets lined with old-fashioned storefronts with recessed doorways all advertising unique alien memorabilia groaned and said, “You guys’ll drop me off at the hotel first, right?”

  Diane rolled her eyes and smiled at Amanda. “If you insist, dear.”

  Amanda stifled a laugh and finished her fries. “I can’t eat another bite!”

  “You know, Amanda, I think we should stop somewhere to buy some comfortable walking shoes. I didn’t even think about that while I was packing. Let’s drop Chris off at the hotel and see if we can find a Wal-Mart.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Amanda replied.

  Chris paid the lunch bill, and the three of them returned to the 4-Runner. Chris parked outside the entrance of the hotel and met Diane at the front of the SUV. He handed her the keys and gave her a quick hug and kiss and said, “Please don’t buy too much stuff. We’ll just have to carry it all back home on the airplane.”

  Seeing her parents talking outside of the vehicle, Amanda got out of the back seat and went into the hotel lobby to ask for directions to Wal-Mart. As it turned out, Roswell did not yet have a Wal-Mart, so she received instructions to another store instead. She thanked the hotel employee and returned to the vehicle just as her parents finished talking.

  “I’ll behave,” Diane said with a smile as she walked away from her husband toward the driver’s door. Diane slid into the left seat just as Amanda slid into the passenger’s seat. Amanda gave directions to her mom and within a few minutes they pulled into the parking lot and burst out laughing.

  The store had a spaceship painted on the side of the building, and six-foot tall green aliens were painted on the windows of the cart return area. Shaking their heads at the absurdity of it all, they went into the store and began shopping. After dark, they returned to the hotel. To their credit, they each only had two small bags of souvenirs from the dozen or so shops they had browsed throughout the day.

  Diane walked Amanda to her room and gave her a hug. She held Amanda’s packages in the hallway while Amanda dug her room key out of her purse. When Amanda had her door open, Diane handed her the purchases, touched her daughter’s shoulder and said, “Get some rest tonight. Tomorrow could be a crucial day at the museum, but there’s no point in borrowing trouble and worrying about everything until we know what we’re up against. Okay?”

  Amanda smiled a small, crooked smile and replied, “That’s just it, Mom, I know what I’m up against. That’s what has me worried. Every moment I spend here, my daughters are spending all alone in a strange world! I have to get them back!”

  Diane pulled her daughter into an awkward but fierce hug around her cast and answered sharply, “That’s why we’re here, honey. We’ll get some answers at the museum, I’m sure of it.” She pulled back and grabbed her daughter’s shoulders, looking her straight in the eyes and said with conviction, “We’ll do everything we can to see them back here safely! Put your faith in God and things will work out as they should! I’ll keep saying my prayers. I love you. Now go in and get some sleep.”

  At nine o’clock the next morning, they were finally able to go the museum. They drove their SUV down North Main Street until they saw the huge blue UFO Museum and Research Center sign on the front of the building. They parked in the parking lot just past the location and got out of their vehicle.

  Diane commented on the mural painted on the side of the building with a human hand reaching out to touch an alien hand with the words ‘Be in Touch’ written below it. They left the parking lot and walked along the sidewalk until they reached the concave covered entrance of the building which could easily keep one hundred people out of the sun.

  After paying their admission, they walked through the glass front doors and were greeted by a child-sized alien statue. The lobby of the exhibition hall was enormous. The floor was set in a checkerboard pattern of blue and cream v
inyl tiles last used in schools in the 1950’s and never used again.

  They walked down the corridor on the right and looked at the many displays of research and history. They examined the pictures of various crop circles and other items believed to have been created by aliens. Amanda found the most disturbing item on display was of a hospital room setting with two doctors surrounding a gurney containing a naked, child-sized alien. Amanda’s heart went out to the little alien and hoped it did not have any element of truth to it. “This display is ridiculous, Dad, the people on Tuala don’t look like this! They look just like us,” Amanda whispered loudly to her father.

  “I know, honey. They had to do it to keep people interested.”

  Neither Amanda nor Chris heard the older woman behind them gasp when she overheard the word “Tuala” nor that she watched as they moved on to view the next display. Shemalla had been working at the museum for the past fifteen years, and she had never heard anyone mention Tuala. She had to find some way to talk to these people to find out who they really were. Without losing sight of them, she trailed them throughout the entire museum. She had another thrilling moment as she overheard Amanda talking to her father.

  “Look, Dad,” Amanda said excitedly, “the telepod is over there.”

  “Let’s get a closer look, shall we?” He responded with a hint of excitement in his voice. Chris, disappointed at the diminutive size of the actual replica when they reached the display, hoped there would be enough detail to help Amanda remember something which might help her go back. If not, he hoped she would be able to tell him more about the performance of the telepod.

  Receiving yet another shock from hearing the word “telepod” Shemalla had to move quite close to hear them discussing the replica. She just had to listen to what they would say about it. Pretending to tidy up a nearby display, she leaned toward the pair and listened.

  “Well?” Chris prompted Amanda while, at the same time, Diane leaned closer to inspect the ship.

  “It’s obviously too small, but it looks pretty good.” She paused to consider what was wrong with the rendition and finally realized the difference and said, “The windows all the way around are a bit ridiculous considering the crystal drive would be at the back. It needs to be out of the sunlight to prevent overheating.” Amanda looked it over more intently and said, “I wish you could see inside it. You’d be interested in the way the pieces come together seamlessly to create a real work of art.”

  “Well, like you said, it’s just a replica. I doubt they’d think anyone from Tuala would come and dispute its accuracy,” Diane quietly pointed out as she led them away from the display.

  Just as they were finishing their tour, Shemalla decided she had no choice but to talk to them. Bursting with curiosity, she rushed up and touched Amanda’s elbow and said, “I hope you enjoyed your visit to the museum.”

  Surprised, Amanda just nodded.

  “My name’s Shemalla,” the woman in her early thirties said as she turned to include Chris and Diane in her introduction. “I work for the museum,” she clarified as she registered their confused expressions.

  “Oh,” Chris said. “Yes, it was very well put together.”

  “Um, I don’t know how to ask you this without sounding a little crazy,” she started and then hesitated.

  “What is it?” Amanda asked with excitement.

  “Well, I thought I overheard you say the word Tuala. I was just wondering what that word meant to you,” she finished lamely.

  Amanda looked around them to see how many people were nearby. She was thankful to see they were relatively secluded at the moment and leaned forward to reply, “At the risk of sounding crazy myself, Tuala is an alternate plane of reality here on Earth.”

  Shemalla gasped and covered her mouth with her hands as she rocked back on her heels in dismay. They know, she thought frantically to herself. “Who are you?” she whispered through her fingers still covering her mouth.

  “Are you saying you believe me?” Amanda asked, now suspicious herself.

  “Yes, yes, of course I believe you,” she replied promptly. “Who sent you?”

  “Nobody sent me,” she answered defensively as she saw the look of disbelief on Shemalla’s face. Then an inspired thought struck her, and she blurted out, “Are you saying there’s a portal between the planes?”

  “I think we should make arrangements to talk after I get off of work,” Shemalla said suddenly. She fished in her pockets for a pen. Coming up empty handed, she said urgently, “Let me give you my address and phone number. I have to get something to write with from the desk over there.” She really did not want to leave their side, but she had to be able to give them her contact information.

  She was buzzing with excitement as she made several attempts to write down what they would need to know. “Sorry about my sloppy handwriting,” she said as she shakily handed Amanda the slip of paper. “My shift ends at five o’clock tonight. Would you be available to meet with me after that?”

  Amanda took the paper with trembling fingers. She could hardly believe that this woman might hold the answer to her quest. She looked at her parents who nodded at her to answer in the affirmative. She shifted her gaze back to the woman and said, “Sure. Do you want us to meet you out front at five?”

  “That’d be all right,” she replied equally excited. “I have to get back to work now, but please come back this evening, okay?”

  “Absolutely,” Amanda replied almost breathlessly. She watched the slender woman go back the way they had come and turned to her parents to exclaim, “Can you believe this?”

  Diane hugged Amanda and replied with equal excitement, “This is it, baby, just like I said last night! We’re going to find a way back to Tuala so you can bring your girls back to us!”

  The three of them left the UFO Center but were too excited to go back to the hotel. They decided to walk along Main Street and look at the tourist shops again. Amanda was too excited to really take notice of much. She was ticking off the minutes until they could go back to the UFO Center.

  “What time is it?” Amanda asked for the sixth time.

  Patiently answering his daughter, Chris glanced at his wrist watch and replied, “It’s 11:30.”

  “Good grief, this is going to take forever.”

  They walked across a parking lot and found a little white booth with turquoise trim, the size of a small shed. It caught their attention because it had snow falling around a space ship painted on the side and an alien painted on the front.

  Chris pointed it out to the two women and said, “It’s kind of hot walking out here. Do either of you want to get a snow cone?”

  Amanda could not remember the last time she had eaten a snow cone and eagerly replied, “That sounds wonderful. Let’s see if they have my favorite blue raspberry flavor.”

  They stepped up to the small window and each ordered a shaved ice. After taking their money, the employee handed out their flavored ice cones and said, “Enjoy your Alien Sno.”

  Walking down the road with snow cones in hand, Amanda pointed out another oddity, “That’s not your typical McDonalds,” she said enthusiastically. She noticed that the children’s dining room area was shaped like a huge, silver flying saucer. Even the typical children’s playground contained alien-themed toys. “I bet the children get a kick out of the lamp post, too,” she said as she looked at the alien eyes painted on the glass globe on top.

  Chris, as always, was hungry. “Let’s stop somewhere and get something real to eat.”

  With a new mission, they walked a little faster as they searched for a restaurant where they could sit down out of the sun to enjoy a meal. They found a small diner which did not contain any alien themes and ducked into the cool dimness of the interior.

  They seated themselves in one of the booths just as a young woman in an old-fashioned poodle skirt brought them three glasses of water. “Welcome to The Diner,” she said as she gestured toward the menus under the glass of the table. “
I’ll take your order whenever you’re ready,” she said with a smile. “Can I start you off with something to drink?”

  “I’ll take a Mountain Dew,” answered Chris.

  “I’ll just have water,” Diane and Amanda said in unison and then started laughing.

  “I’ll be right back with your soda,” she nodded to Chris and walked over to the soda fountain to pull his drink.

  She returned a moment later with Chris’ drink and a straw. She set them on the table and said, “Do you need a few more minutes to decide?”

  “I’m ready,” said Amanda.

  “I’m ready, too,” added Diane.

  “I’ll have it figured out by the time the ladies place their orders,” Chris replied with a smile.

  “All right, you first, Miss,” the waitress stated as she nodded her head toward Amanda.

  “I’d like a Cobb salad minus the bacon.”

  “What kind of dressing would you like with that?”

  “Bleu cheese, please.”

  The waitress nodded and wrote down the salad order on her small tablet. “And you, Miss,” she said and looked down at Diane.

  “I was going to order something else, but the Cobb salad sounds good. I’d like mine exactly the same as Amanda’s please.”

  “No problem,” the waitress replied as she scribbled the number two next to the salad order. “Did they give you enough time, Sir?”

  “Definitely! I’d like to order the ultimate double cheeseburger with fries and coleslaw, please.”

  “You got it. That’ll just be a few minutes,” she said as she finished the order ticket and walked back toward the kitchen.

  Amanda was anxious to discuss their meeting with the museum employee. She leaned her chest into the side of the table with her arms crossed as well as they could with her hard cast on and asked, “So what did you guys think about Shemalla? It’s kind of an odd name, don’t you think?”