Ichel s sketchbook All 0 0 A Taloof ASKETTH is F 7 Our cloue O D My of R driamy
Chapter One The Weather Detective The hairs on Henry Alabaster’s arms bristled when he heard the sound outside his bedroom door that night It was one long quiet creak like an old stair complaining under too much weight Henry looked up from the photo in his hands The small lamp on his desk didn’t illuminate much more than him and the crumpled white sheets over his raised knees leaving the door on the near wall in partial darkness Somewhere outside the long creak petered out Was it his uncle No the occasional purr of snoring continued down the hall Henry set the picture frame back on his desk returning his missing parents to their usual spot Beside their two smiling faces the dim numbers of Henry’s spaceship alarm clock radiated the time two fourteen a m Henry clicked off the lamp and slid his legs out of bed touching down gingerly on his toes 1
KELVIN MCCLOUD AND THE SEASIDE STORM His foot brushed a stack of comics toppling them over Another sound came from the next room a soft quick scrape Henry paused Then easing his bedroom door open an inch he put his eye to the gap City lights shimmered on the living room ceiling A broken ribbon of light shone at the base of the apartment’s front door outlining the shapes of furniture and old bookshelves Henry blinked Nobody was in the living room Not a cat burglar or a spy or even one of those lanky (cid:74)(cid:85)(cid:68)(cid:92)(cid:3) (cid:68)(cid:79)(cid:76)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:86)(cid:3) (cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:92)(cid:3) (cid:86)(cid:82)(cid:80)(cid:72)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:80)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:3) (cid:86)(cid:75)(cid:82)(cid:90)(cid:72)(cid:71)(cid:3) (cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:3) (cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:3) (cid:86)(cid:70)(cid:76)(cid:16)(cid:192)(cid:3) channel He opened his door wider One of those alien shows was on TV last night he remembered Aliens Throughout History it was called and it (cid:73)(cid:72)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:88)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:71)(cid:3) (cid:74)(cid:85)(cid:68)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:92)(cid:3) (cid:73)(cid:82)(cid:82)(cid:87)(cid:68)(cid:74)(cid:72)(cid:3) (cid:82)(cid:73)(cid:3) (cid:68)(cid:3) (cid:79)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:74)(cid:16)(cid:79)(cid:76)(cid:80)(cid:69)(cid:72)(cid:71)(cid:3) (cid:192)(cid:74)(cid:88)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:3) standing with President Truman way back at the end of World War II The show’s eerie music had made everything in the apartment seem sinister and the scariness remained there now in the quiet (cid:85)(cid:82)(cid:82)(cid:80)(cid:17)(cid:3)(cid:40)(cid:89)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:75)(cid:76)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:88)(cid:81)(cid:70)(cid:79)(cid:72)(cid:183)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:86)(cid:81)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:68)(cid:81)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:80)(cid:88)(cid:73)(cid:193)(cid:72)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:70)(cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:92)(cid:3) sounds coming in at the window didn’t help This late at night everything seemed sinister Henry scanned the room again His night vision had started to kick in and this time he did spot (cid:86)(cid:82)(cid:80)(cid:72)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:74)(cid:17)(cid:3)(cid:36)(cid:3)(cid:86)(cid:80)(cid:68)(cid:79)(cid:79)(cid:15)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:76)(cid:70)(cid:78)(cid:3)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:89)(cid:72)(cid:79)(cid:82)(cid:83)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:79)(cid:68)(cid:92)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:193)(cid:82)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:15)(cid:3) half illuminated by the yellow light sneaking under the door Its stark white surface contrasted sharply (cid:90)(cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:71)(cid:68)(cid:85)(cid:78)(cid:3)(cid:193)(cid:82)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:69)(cid:82)(cid:68)(cid:85)(cid:71)(cid:86)(cid:17)(cid:3)(cid:58)(cid:75)(cid:82)(cid:183)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:83)(cid:88)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:34)(cid:3) 2
The Weather Detective No deliveryman came at this time of night Well maybe a ninja deliveryman but not a regular one Henry took two steps into the living room The long slow shuddering creak came again from just outside the front door Henry froze Two shadows cut the light at the bottom of the door Henry heard himself breathing For once this creaky old place had been useful That spot in the hallway always creaked when someone stepped on it the wrong way The shadows darted to the right and vanished Henry ran for the door The envelope still lay (cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:193)(cid:82)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:15)(cid:3)(cid:90)(cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:3)(cid:68)(cid:3)(cid:69)(cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:73)(cid:3)(cid:72)(cid:79)(cid:72)(cid:74)(cid:68)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:15)(cid:3)(cid:79)(cid:82)(cid:82)(cid:83)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:74)(cid:3)(cid:70)(cid:88)(cid:85)(cid:86)(cid:76)(cid:89)(cid:72)(cid:3) scrawled on the front but Henry had no time for that now Flinging himself into the suddenly bright hallway he glimpsed something yellow at the end of the corridor No not just yellow but a woman a tall woman with long blond hair and a yellow summer dress vanishing into the stairwell Who was that No alien Henry ever saw He sprinted after her pushed into the stairwell at the end of the hall and stared downward through all of the dizzying circling sections of concrete steps He couldn’t see the woman but her faint quick footsteps echoed back to him from somewhere far below He circled downward after her The footsteps didn’t get closer Somewhere ahead a door shut (cid:54)(cid:72)(cid:89)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:68)(cid:79)(cid:3) (cid:193)(cid:82)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:86)(cid:3) (cid:79)(cid:82)(cid:90)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:15)(cid:3) (cid:43)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:85)(cid:92)(cid:3) (cid:83)(cid:88)(cid:86)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:71)(cid:3) (cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:85)(cid:82)(cid:88)(cid:74)(cid:75)(cid:3) (cid:68)(cid:3) heavy steel door and felt a wave of muggy summer 3
