Monday, June 19, 2023

WEP Close Encounters

Greetings all WEP’ers and visitors. If you don’t know what WEP is, Write, Edit, Publish. It’s a bloghop that takes different writing challenges so you and I can flex our writing muscles. But, if you don’t want to write a story, that’s okay too. Post pictures or tell us about something related to the prompt going on in your life. Are you a poet? Hit us up with something wonderful. To read what others have written go here.

For June 2023, our prompt is the movie, Close Encounters. The good news is, you don’t have to be an abductee or an alien to participate. Our lovely host are Nila, and Jemi.

 


Here’s my story.

These characters are from my on going sweet romance, 5 Friends & Lovers, available on Amazon, Kindle Vella. This particular episode will be interwoven into some future spot.

Characters:

Scott: A comedian

David: A suspense author

Doug: A high school gym teacher/coach

To keep down the characters, their ladies are elsewhere.

 

Tagline: Alien Discussion

Close Encounter or Not

David, Scott, and Doug sat around the living room while their ladies were in the kitchen making lunch.

“Did you hear the *Elvis Theater is running classic Sci/Fi movies?” Doug asked.

“Which ones?” Scott asked, leaning forward to lift his cup of coffee.

“The remake of, The Day The Earth Stood Still, War of the Worlds, and classics, ET, and Close Encounters.  They’re showing them mid-week on Wednesday, one at a time,” Doug said.

“I love Close Encounters,” David said.

“Me too,” Scott said. “Richard Dreyfus went insane and made a mess of his home. My mother found that disturbing, but I laughed. Then there’s ET, staring a turtle without his shell flying away in a Christmas ornament.”

Doug and David both laughed.  

“I thought we could take our babes. Wanna do that together?” Doug asked.

“Wednesday night?” Scott repeated.

“Yeah,” Doug said.

“They aren’t playing all of them the same Wednesday?” David asked.

“Nope,” Doug said. “One at a time.”

“I’m in now to convince our ladies,” David said.

“Do either of you believe in aliens and UFOs,” Scott asked.

“I think it’s a possibility,” Doug said.

“UFOs are now UAPs,” David said.

“What does that mean?” Doug asked.

“Unidentified aerial phenomenon,” David said.

“I find it difficult to believe a bunch of gray aliens are running around abducting people. If they came after me, I’d ask, why don’t you wear sandals to go along with your nudity,” Scott said.

David and Doug laughed again.

“Actually,” David said. “Some believe they are wearing a body suit.”

“That makes sense,” Doug said.

“Where’s the zipper,” Scott quipped, and the other two smirked.

“So, what planet do they come from?” Doug asked.

“The powers that be are debating that, naming several locations. I can’t remember exactly what they said,” David answered.

“You seem to know a lot about it,” Doug said.

“I know a little. I watch the various shows, mostly to get story ideas.”

“You write suspense, don’t you? How do aliens and detectives merge?” Scott sipped his coffee.

“Yeah, how does that work?” Doug sat back and crossed one leg over the other at the ankle.

“I really just get ideas about locations and people, too,” David said.

“Like what?” Doug asked.

“Well,” David said. “One show I watched featured a man who has been abducted since childhood. As a young man, he took his girlfriend on a camping trip. The aliens showed up, froze her, and then they inspected her and told him she wasn’t good enough. Afterward, his girlfriend, a Christian, left him. Later, he became Born-Again, and the aliens haven’t been back.

“An entire group of people who believe the aliens are really demons and quote Bible verses to support that idea.”

“Demons?!” Scott and Doug said together.

David held up both hands. “I’m just reporting what I saw on a show. I have no opinion, one way or the other.

“Another show I watched,” David continued. “Claims that Bigfoot is brought here by aliens because there are UAPs whenever there are Bigfoot sightings.”

“You watch some pretty weird shows,” Doug said.

“That I do.”

“So, which movie is showing first?” Scott asked.

“This Wednesday, it’s Close Encounters,” Doug said.

To that, Scott started whistling the Close Encounter alien tune.

Word Count 552

*The Elvis theater is a discount theater in Colorado. All the shows David has watched, I have watched and is true. And, I watch that stuff for the same reason.

I hope you enjoyed the story. All critique is okay by me. Comments are encouraged.

Announcement: My books are on sale for 99cents. See links on the side. And, the last book in the series, book 4, The Curse of Renwyk is now available. Below is the Amazon link. It’s not on my website yet.


                                                Amazon.com

                                                            Amazon/uk

                                                            Amazon/au $1.09

Thank you,

Nancy

21 comments:

Jemi Fraser said...

Fun! I always find it interesting to know how people react to the thought of sentient beings elsewhere in the universe. Space is so vast, it seems highly unlikely we're the only planet with sentient life. I'm not convinced aliens have arrived here on Earth yet, but I'm also not convinced they haven't :)

N. R. Williams said...

Hi Jemi
I'm with you on the question of aliens. Thanks for coming by.
Nancy

Olga Godim said...

That is a very realistic conversation. I could believe it happened in one's kitchen. The wacky comments. The unrelated barbs. Well done.

Nilanjana Bose said...

That was a fun interpretation of the prompt and a fun conversation! Did they convince the ladies? :)
I'm sure life forms can't be ruled out somewhere else in this vast universe, but why they should come looking for us is another matter completely. If you were an alien in a galaxy far, far away and aware of Earth right now, would it be worth the trouble to visit/contact/colonise humans?

Thanks for sharing your entry at WEP for this challenge!

Denise Covey said...

Hi Nancy! (Nila fixed your link).

This was an interesting conversation between the men. Wonder if the ladies will be as keen to go see Close Encounters. Very realistic use of the prompt. There seems to be a renewed interest in aliens. Maybe one day we'll have the answer to the question.

N. R. Williams said...

Thank Olga, glad you liked it.

Thanks Nila, I'm not sure how this will play out with the ladies yet.

The middle of a work week may play into the choices of going anywhere. Thanks for coming by, Denise.

Nancy

Pat Garcia said...

Hi,
A very ice on-going conversation between men who are discussing the Sci-Fi genre. I wonder if they will talk their wives into going. Excellent writing.
Shalom shalom

A Hundred Quills said...

Hi Nancy! This was an engrossing conversation among a group of friends. I am wondering what if the men had taken to the kitchen and their ladies engaged in this discussion. It might have taken a different route then, right?
- Sonia

N. R. Williams said...

Hi Pat, thanks for reading.

I never even considered having the ladies talk about this. Good idea, Sonia.

Nancy

Ornery Owl of Naughty Netherworld Press and Readers Roost said...

A flying turtle without its shell.
Now I can never unsee that. ;-)
There was an Elvis theatre on 64th and Sheridan in Arvada. It's been renamed, but I don't remember what. I remember it had uncomfortable seats.

N. R. Williams said...

We used to go there. To the Elvis theater. Sorry it's been re-named, but I guess that is the life of such places. Thanks for reading.
Nancy

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Nancy - well you've set us thinking ... and yes I wonder which direction the ladies' would have gone in. I like the thought about UAPs ... Unidentified aerial phenomenon - I might add that to my vocabulary. I've never seen the film ... but I do know Mulder and Scully and used to enjoy some of the episodes. Cheers Hilary

Yolanda Renée said...

I too wonder what the ladies would have added to the conversation, but demons. Wow. I had no idea there was a religious connection. The demons disappeared after he became born again. Very interesting. Big Foot and Aliens too, so funny.

Elephant's Child said...

I wonder. I really wonder. And if there is intelligent life (and I see no reason why not) why would they contact a species that is busily trashing their home.
I would also love to see the 'babes' take on the conversation.

N. R. Williams said...

Ho Hilary
I highly recommend you watch the movie. It's well done, though, it is not true at all.

Hi Yolanda,
Your reaction to demons is much like my own. Interesting discussion though.

Hi Elephant,
I suspect if they are watching us, they are all shaking their heads in disbelief.

So many people want to hear what the ladies think. When I write the episode, I'll keep that in mind.
Nancy

Beth Camp said...

I felt I had been taken back in time. Yes, I know that men and women have buddies and like to schmooze. You captured that perfectly for those guys. I found myself wondering what the 'ladies' would have said and/or what the conversation would have been if the group had been a mix of men and women. If I were an alien, I don't think I would want to visit earth just now. Too much violence, hurt, anger that we seem unable to cope with/change. Maybe an alien visit would help!

Jamie said...

Very enjoyable.
I've "encountered" the ""Christians"" who believe any abd all life created on all worlds that aren't Earth are created, ruled by, and serve Lucifer.
Which seems like giving the devil some serious powers. I mean, that sounds like a bit of a putdown to God, who they claim to worship. But who they don't think is capable of creating life anywhere else. 🤔
I didn't see it in a show like your character. I'm, sadly, related to some of these people. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Very realistic writing. Great job.

Rajani Rehana said...

Please read my post

J Lenni Dorner said...

I suppose any object flying that the viewer doesn't know what it is would be an "unidentified flying object." So I guess it makes sense they changed it.

Good story. Realistic back and forth with the characters. Fun incorporation of the prompt.

cleemckenzie said...

Great use of dialog to reveal the story. Well done.

N. R. Williams said...

Thank you, Beth. A lot of people said they wondered what the ladies would say.

Thank you, Jamie. I never heard of Christians believing Lucifer created life elsewhere. That isn't Biblical and does give the old fallen angel too many
god like powers.

Ranjani
Did you read my post?

Thank you J. Lenni. Yes, I agree.

Thank you, Clea.

Nancy