Deducted by a UFO’s

He shifted the truck, pulled onto the road and the boys heard him say, “Me, William Lee Hastings, attacked by little green men!”

After the truck rounded a curve, Bubba said, “Let’s get back to work. It’ll be slower now, because your mower ain’t nothing but junk now. We’ll take turns.”

Near the end of the day, about a fourth of the yard was finished and both boys were exhausted. Bubba, who’d been mowing, cut the engine and said, “Looks like somebody’s comin’ to visit Missus Sidwell.”

Glancing at the road, Billy Bob saw six cars turn and drive up to the house. Once the cars parked, the two were surround in a matter of a few short seconds—by reporters.

“Are you two the ones who saw the UFO attack Mister Hastings?” A portly fellow asked.

“What’d it look like boys?” Someone asked from the crowd.

“Did you see them green men wearing the shiny bib overalls Mister Hastings saw?”

When the boys didn’t reply after a few seconds, it grew deathly quiet.

Minutes passed before Bubba said, “Mister Hastings is a good man, but maybe he saw something no one else could see.”

“Was he drunk?” A thin reporter asked from the back of the crowd.

“I ain’t got no idea,” Bubba answered and then added, “but I didn’t smell no alcohol on ‘em.”

The portly man suddenly turned to a thin one beside him and asked, “Didn’t he see judge Johnson ‘bout a year back on a moonshine charge?”

“It was either him or his brother. I know it was a Hastings.”

The big man grinned and said, “Well, I see a story in this, iffen we do ‘er right. Let’s get back to town, because I want to call the state mental health hospital, the county judge, and FBI.”

“F . . . FBI?” Bubba stammered.

“Sure, because iffen he did see a spaceship I need to report it and iffen he didn’t he’s a danger to society like he is.”

“Good golly!” Billy Bob exclaimed and then moved toward the mower.

As the men made their ways to the cars, the thin reporter said, “Sorry we bothered you boys. We’ll let you get back to cuttin’ your grass.”

A few minutes later, just as the last car turned from the driveway toward town, Billy Bob said, “The FBI! Billy Bob, they’ll lock us up and throw away the key!”

“I don’t think anything will happen. While Mister Hastings is strange, he ain’t no nut case, so they won’t take him to a mental hospital. And, I’m fairly sure they’ll not believe a UFO attacked his truck.”

“So what will happen?”

“We’ll collect our four dollars, go home and finish this job tomorrow.”

“Okay, but it’s a rough job and I still have to tell my pa the mower is gone.”

They walked to the door and knocked. A few minutes later Missus Sidwell opened the door and said, “Oh, Bubba and Billy Bob, what brings you two boys way out here?”

“We were cutting your grass.”

Her eyes grew dim for a few seconds, as she were lost in thought, but then she said, “So, that’s were that noise came from all day. Now, how may I help you?”

“We’ve come for our pay,” Bubba replied, proud of a half day of work.

Pulling a coin purse from her housecoat, the old woman asked, “How much do I owe you?”

“Well, we did four hours of mowing and you promised me a dollar an hour.”

The woman dropped a dollar and fifty cents in Bubba’s hand and said, “That’s all I got right now, but I’ll pay the rest tomorrow. Is that okay?”

Nodding, Bubba smiled and said, “That’s fine. We’ll be by around eight in the mornin’.”

As soon as Missus Sidwell closed the door, Billy Bob said, “We just lost two dollars and fifty cents!”

Bubba met his eyes and replied, “I just didn’t have the heart to press her Billy Bob because she’s an old woman who lives alone. I been thinkin’ too, the only money she’s got comin’ in is from her social security check and me and you are takin’ part of it.”

Billy Bob lowered his head and said, “Well, two dollars and fifty cents ain’t that much money anyway.”

“I think we should …”

Crossing his arms, Billy Bob interrupted as he said, “I ain’t doin’ this ten acre job for free and there ain’t no way!”

“She lives alone!”

“No she don’t, she’s got about twenty cats, three cows, two horses, a good half-dozen dogs and only God knows how many chickens and ducks. I ain’t workin’ for nothin’, old woman or not!”

Turning serious, bubba stated, “It’d be the Christian thing to do and while we won’t get rewarded on earth, God will not forget it.”

Lowering his head, Billy Bob said, “Dog-gone-it, Bubba, put the money on her porch and let’s get home. We have to get up early in the mornin’ to finish this yard.”

Missus Sidwell never saw the change on the porch, but her grandkids did and they divided it among them. Bubba and Billy Bob came back the next morning, cut the grass and then refuse payment for the job. The best part, according to Bubba years later, was they never told a soul what they’d done for a lonely old woman, who lived alone, with only her pets as her friends.

author website: visit | author bio