***********

“Eddie!”

That was my father. At the time, I was innocently plowing through my homework at the dining room table while battling with Beth for even a smidgeon of space.

“Yes.”

“Mrs. Harker called this afternoon to tell me that you disrupted her class this afternoon by claiming to have spotted a space alien on the school playground.”

“I did not!” I cried.

That was the truth, too. Bruce was the one who brought up the space aliens and then Dominic ran with it.

“Eddie!” my father yelled back. “I am sure that Mrs. Harker would not tell me anything that was not true. Now why are you making up things like this?”

“I don’t know,” I mumbled.

Prime gloating time for my brothers and sister. They made the most of it. I tried to ignore them.

“You don’t want people to think you’re crazy, do you?” asked my mother.

“No.”

“I thought you were a down-to-earth sort of person,” said father.

“I am,” I insisted, although I wasn’t so sure of that anymore. “I haven’t even tried to be a Harry Potter wizard and I sure haven’t tried to spot any space aliens anywhere in this town.”

“I hope you realize that there are better ways to get attention than to make up stories about seeing strange creatures on the school playground,” said mother.

“Yea, I know.”

“So, I trust that this is the last we’ll hear of space aliens lurking in our neighborhood, right?” said father.

“Right,” I said, wishing I was telling the truth and afraid I wasn’t.

****

By the next day, I’d made a promise to myself that I would not see Merendael ever again after the way he’d gotten me into trouble with my parents, my teacher, and my friends. That wasn’t as easy as you might think. I saw flickering sparks a couple of times on the way to school that morning, and it was only because I was well in the middle of my gang of friends at those times, that I was able to hold my own against them.

I need to give you my Gift, said Merendael. The need is strong.

That is to say, it was harder to ignore Merendael when he tried to speak to me. Fortunately, Brian was in good form with wisecracks about the way Hubert, Dominic, Mel, Molly, and Linda were knotted together in their own little group. With that many helpers, you’d think Merendael would leave me alone. I followed the same strategy at recess by sticking close to Brian as we ran toward the baseball diamond to organize a game. He winked at me with approval and handed me the ball. He wanted me to pitch! I was well on my way back up the social scale. But then Merendael spoiled it for me. A flickering as big as a bonfire flared up just behind second base.

Please help me before it is too late.,Merendael cried out to me.

“I thought you’d reformed your life,” Brian reproved me.

I suddenly realized I had just fallen several steps behind Brian and the other guys.

“Sorry,” I said.

I ran hard to catch up with them, but now sparks were bouncing all over the playground, and I slowed down again in spite of himself. I caught myself, shook himself out of my stupor, and broke out into a run to catch up with my friends, only to get grabbed around my chest by Dominic.

“Gotcha!” Dominic cried.

“Bug off, will you?” I said as I struggled to get away. For a wiry boy, Dominic’s grip on me was surprisingly strong.

“Not until we have our little inquisition,” said Dominic.

I wasn’t about to ask Dominic what he meant by that. Obviously it was going to be something as awful as could make it. Molly and Linda and Mel completed the little circle around me and only then did Dominic let go of me. I thought of making a run for it, but decided that would be too cowardly a way to regain respect from my friends.

“What is an inquisition?” I asked.

“An inquisition is an interrogation where we grill you until you confess everything you’ve done wrong or thought of doing wrong or we think you have done wrong, whether you did it or not,” Dominic explained.

Just like Dominic to explain one big word with another one.

“I thought we were going to ask Eddie to join the Merendael Fan Club,” said Molly.

“Sounds great,” said I sarcastically. “Are you going to cheer when he hits his first major league home run?”

“The club’s actually called the Society for the Affirmation and Protection of Merendael the Mysterious,” said Dominic. “Also known as the SAPMM. We pronounce that ‘sap’em.’”

It was pretty obvious who had dreamed up that name for the club.

“That’s some name,” I commented.

“Since you were the first person to see Merendael, we thought you might want to join,” said Linda.

“Thanks for the honor,” I said, with a double dose of sarcasm.

“Do I take that as a positive answer or a sarcastic response?” asked Dominic.

“Take your pick,” I said as I briskly walked away from the Society for the Affirmation and Protection of Merendael the Mysterious in the direction of the baseball field.

“You’re just turning your back on Merendael because you’re a slave to the opinions of your friends and you have no personal integrity!” Molly cried after me.

I shrugged my shoulders and walked on, convinced that if all girls are like Molly, I wasn’t ever going to get married. But Merendael’s fireworks were everywhere on the playground, and they were making lots of kids act crazy.

“Why can’t you admit that you saw Merendael yesterday?” Mel asked me.

I whirled around to face Mel.

“Because you called me crazy when you couldn’t see merendael!” I yelled.

With that, I quickened my steps but Mel ran faster than I thought he could, and he grabbed me by the arm.

“Eddie,” Mel huffed. “I’m sorry I said you were crazy just because you saw Merendael before the rest of us did.”

I whirled around once again, hardly believing my ears. There are Ten Commandments in church. They are posted over the altar in the church my family goes to every Sunday. On the school playground there is only One Commandment: Thou shalt never apologize to anybody for anything. Everybody knows that only losers apologize. Mel had just made himself a hopeless loser for all time. Before I even had time to turn my back on Mel a second time, high-pitched screams started to ring out everywhere.

“Aliens!”

“Call the army! Call the marines!”

Peter and Charlie and Terry and Sally bounced all over the playground, waving a baseball bat at—I couldn’t believe it—at Merendael!

“Get away from me!” Peter yelled as he swung his bat at Merendael again.

“OW!” terry yelled. “He fired at me! help!”

Why are they yelling at me so hatefully? Merendael asked me.

“I don’t know,” I answered.

“We’ve got to stop this!” said Mel.

Funny that Mel was counting me in when I hadn’t counted myself in. But then I’d answered Merendael’s question without thinking, so maybe I was stuck with him after all. Now, it just so happened that Mrs. Harker was on playground duty. By the time Mel and I and the other members of the Society for the Affirmation and Protection of Merendael the Mysterious could get out to the baseball diamond where the action was, Mrs. Harker was asking what the problem was in a voice loud enough to carry over to the next county. By this time, Merendael and all of his sparks had disappeared. A good move on Merendael’s part. I wouldn’t want to tangle with Mrs. Harker if I was him.

“Space aliens are attacking us!” Peter yelled.

“They almost killed me!” Terry yelled even louder.

“Look!’ said Mrs. Harker. “We have already been there and done that. This prank is starting to get very old. There are no such things as space aliens.”

“You wanna bet??!!” cried Sally.

“Merendael wouldn’t hurt a flea,” Molly insisted.

“He tried to kill me!” Peter insisted. “He just missed.”

“Just look at this,” said Mel. He held out one of Merendael’s sparks that were bouncing on his hand. “See? This isn’t hurting me?”

As soon as Mel said that, the spark jumped off Mel’s hand and landed on Terry’s cheek.

“Ow!” Terry yelled as he ducked away from it. “It does too hurt! What are you trying to do, get us all killed?”

Mrs. Harker blew her whistle and everybody froze.

“Now, everybody look around,” Mrs. Harker ordered us. We did what she told us to. Like I said, Merendael had disappeared and even his sparks seemed to know better than to jump into Mrs. Harker’s face. “Now, does anybody here see a space alien right this minute?” After a brief pause, several children shook their heads. “All right, then. Neither do I. I think these rumors about space aliens invading our town have gone on long enough. I don’t want to hear anything more about it.” Then Mrs. Harker turned toward me with her sharpest gaze. I don’t think a football player cold stand up to her, let alone a normal size kid like me. “Eddie, now do you see what your little space alien game has led to?”

“It’s not a game,” said Mel with a lot more nerve than I thought he had for anything, “and it isn’t Eddie’s fault Merendael is on the playground.”

“What are you trying to do? Hand all of us over to this space alien and his army?? Charley yelled.

“Can’t you see he doesn’t want to hurt us?” Molly yelled back.

“See what Eddie started?” yelled Brian.

“Why didn’t you tell us the alien was trying to kill us?” Terry yelled louder and more hysterically.

Mrs. Harker blew her whistle to put an end to the shouting match.

“I want to hear nothing more about this,” said Mrs. Harker. “Is that clear?”

 When Mrs. Harker starts sounding like the Empress of the World, everything is crystal clear.

Kids started to move off in different directions, but a lot of them looked like they were walking on eggshells. The members of the SAPMM lingered for a moment, long enough that I had to make a point of not looking at them until they faded away while I drifted over to Brian and the other guys. I was hoping he would admit that I was right about Merendael being real, but it only took me a few seconds to realize that neither Brian nor the other guys were going to violate the First and Only Commandment of the Playground. Brian tightened his grip on the baseball bat he was carrying tightly and looked at each of us with eyes on fire with an iron purpose.

“Now I see the peril that faces us,” Brian announced. “We are the ones who see the peril. We are the ones who must respond to the danger that threatens us all. We must organize an army to protect the school and the town from this space alien. I propose we call ourselves the Space Alien Emergency Army. The S.A.E.A. Everybody in favor say ‘Aye!’”

“Aye!”

I said “Aye,” too. I knew that if I didn’t join Brian’s army, I would be past the point of no return.

“I propose that I be the four-star general of this army,” Brian announced. “All in favor say ‘Aye!’”

“Aye!”

Again, I voted in favor. There is no arguing with Brian when he gets this way.

“I propose that Peter and Terry and Charlie be ranked as three-star generals,” Brian continued. “All in favor say ‘Aye!’”

“Aye!”

I even went along with this motion, although I was not named as a three-star general. Brian was looking at me with a look that said he had plans for me, and I knew I’d best find out what they were.

“Eddie,” said Brian, “we have to put you on probation before I can make you a three-star general. Out of the goodness of my heart, I propose that we make you a two-star general. If you serve the army well in the call of duty, I will raise you to a higher rank. All in favor say ‘Aye!’”

“Aye!”

I had opened my mouth to accept vote “aye,” but somehow, the word didn’t come out. Brian gave me a pointed look.

“Opposed?”

I wasn’t opposed, so I still said nothing.

“Is being a second-star general not good enough for you?” he asked me.

“Uh—I didn’t think I should vote for myself,” I said.

Brian nodded.

“Eddie, since you were the first person to see this space alien, are you prepared to tell us how evil and dangerous this space alien is?”

“Uh—well—actually, I don’t think that Merendael is all that dangerous,” I said, my voice getting weaker with each word before the faces of the other guys.

“He almost killed me ten minutes ago!” Peter insisted.

“General Eddie, you have just been demoted to corporal, Eddie” said Brian. “Do you mean to tell me that you can’t see all the tentacles and claws and teeth and eyes of fire this space alien has? Do you mean to say that this space alien isn’t out to choke all of us with its tentacles and tear us apart with its claws and burn us with its eyes of fire? Eddie, are you going to take your duty to defend this school and this town seriously?”

“I’ve seen the tentacles and the arms, but . . .”

“Can’t you see that fire-throwing space alien is going to destroy us all?” Terry yelled.

“Corporal Eddie,” said Brian, “you have just been demoted to private. Do you really think anybody can trust a space alien with all those eyes on fire and all those tentacles and all those claws?”

 I opened my mouth to say that Merendael had felt friendly when he appeared to me, but I had to admit that I didn’t know that Merendael was really friendly. It was certainly possible that Merendael was plotting to destroy the whole planet earth for all I knew.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I’m sure we have to be cautious . . .”

“Private Eddie Peterson, you are assigned to K.P. for twenty years.”

The disgrace I was falling into made my eyes drift across the playground where the members of SAPMM were talking together. All I could think of was what losers they all were. Even Mel Ryan looked like he’d never belonged with the rest of us.

“Private Eddie Peterson,” said Brian, “I did not give you permission to look at the traitors in our class. You are now under court martial. What is the verdict of my fellow officers?”

“GUILTY!”

Brian nodded coldly.

“Private Eddie Peterson, you are sentenced to the brig for the rest of your life.”

Silence.

“What do I have to do to get out of the brig?” I asked in a small voice.

“There he is!” Charlie yelled.

“It was Merendael again in all his fiery glory, closing in on the members of SAPMM. Never had he looked so dangerous as he did then. Never before had I seen the claws and sharp teeth mixed in with the tentacles and the eyes of fire.

“Private Eddie Peterson,” said Brian, “Lead the charge and I will promote you to three-star general with no K.P.”

Who could pass up a chance like that?

“Ready!” I cried. “Charge!”

Then, yelling like wild Indians in the old westerns, we charged Merendael. All of the members of SAPMM bunched together in front of Merendael, putting us in a collision course with them.

“Stop! Don’t hurt him!” Merendael’s protectors yelled.

Are you coming to receive my Gift? Merendael asked me.

The knot of kids and Merendael’s question slowed me down. Terry plowed into me and just about knocked me over.

“Private Eddie Peterson . . .” Brian growled.

The playground whistle blew my ears out. Next thing I knew, Mrs. Harker was in my face.

“Eddie, you will report to the principal’s office. Now.”

But . . .”

“None of your ‘buts’ with me, young man. I saw you leading that charge.”

That’s the trouble with Mrs. Harker. When she’s the judge and the jury and has made her verdict, there is no court of appeal. Except for the principal, who was more of an executioner than an appeals judge.

*************

Mr. Landon is the principal. He’s usually not as scary as Mrs. Harker unless you’ve committed some serious crimes. The trouble was, I didn’t know how serious he would think my crimes were. Most of the time he tries to be “reasonable,” but I knew from past experience that when Mr. Landon is being his most reasonable, he is most likely to spring a horrible trap on you. It wasn’t easy waiting outside his office while he was getting an earful from Mrs. Harker and then, maybe, finishing up some other piece of work just to give me more time to squirm. Such is the talent of torturing schoolboys. When he finally called me into his office, he looked like the kindest, most understanding man in the world. So, he was going to take his “reasonable” approach. Time to put up my guard.

“Now, Eddie, you’ve never caused any kind of trouble like what you’ve done these past couple of days. Has something happened recently? Something in the home, maybe?”

Yes, of course I could say that something had happened recently. I started seeing Merendael and hearing messages from him inside my head. But it so far, no grownups had seen Merendael as far as I knew and I thought it not a good idea to tell him I was seeing some creature he could not see and maybe never would.

“Everything’s cool at home,” I said.

“Glad to hear it. Anything else upset you?”

“Not really.”

“Mrs. Harker tells me that she warned you yesterday to stop this game of spotting space aliens, but you started it up again today at recess. She warned you again, but as soon as her back was turned, you started yet another ruckus. Why do you keep this up?”

Hard question, but I can think fast if I have to. Time to use all the child psychology I knew.

“Sometimes when you get something started, it’s hard to stop,” I said..“Like, I got started on this thing about seeing a space alien called Merendael, and then I couldn’t stop. It’s like when I get into a fight with my sister because she takes up all the space on the dining room table when I’m doing my homework, it gets so I just can’t stop fighting.”

“I know what you mean,” said Mr. Landon. “That is why Mrs. Harker called you into my office: to give you a chance to stop and think. Now that you have had this chance, don’t you think that this little game of spotting space aliens on the playground has gone far enough?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Now to make sure you put a stop to this once and for all, I am going to ask you to apologize to the class when you get back, and tell them that there never has been and there never will be a space alien on the school grounds. Will you do that?”

“Yes.”

What else could I say? This is what I mean about Mr. Landon being so nice and reasonable when he’s about to spring a horrible trap on you.

It was a long walk to my class room, and I wished it could have been a lot longer. Maybe I’m good at thinking quickly when I have to like I just said, but this time I was just spinning the wheels faster and faster and not getting anywhere. I still didn’t know what I was going to say when I got to the class room. To make matters worse, Mrs. Harker interrupted herself in mid-sentence to fix her eyes on me as I came through the door.

“Eddie, Mr. Landon says that you have something to say to the class. Do you?”

“Yes.”

“Will you please say it?”

So there I was, standing in front of the class with everybody’s full attention. I couldn’t bear to look at Mel or Linda, and especially not Dominic whose smirk I could imagine already. I couldn’t bear to look at Bruce or the other guys in the SAEA either. I still didn’t know what to say. All I could do was open my mouth and see how the words fell.

“I apologize for causing all this trouble by seeing this space alien who said his name is Merendael,” I said. “I promise not to argue about Merendael or cause any more trouble.”

Period. I waited for Mrs. Harker to thank me and let me go to my desk. But she didn’t.

“Eddie, aren’t you going to apologize for making all of this up?”

Trapped again. I had no choice but to deny Merendael’s existence. But I couldn’t. But I had to. What did it matter? Merendael could give his gift to Mel or Linda or Molly. I didn’t have to be involved.

“I thought I saw Merendael,” I said in a low voice. “I’ll try not to see him again.”

What else could I say? What else could I do? I took my seat and listened real hard to everything Mrs. Harker said to try and get my mind off of Merendael. It didn’t work.

********

I couldn’t have looked at anybody on the way out of the classroom when the bell rang if I tried. And I didn’t want to try. None of my pals gathered by my locker when I collected my books. What I mean is, I didn’t have any pals to gather my locker anymore. I had played my social cards all wrong. My social standing in the school was wrecked for the rest of my life. I felt so empty that I felt like I was dissolving in water. I wasn’t Eddie Peterson anymore; I was nobody.

The SAEA was assembled just outside the school door with Brian and the other guys giving their army a hard sell. Sally was already on board and pressing a couple of girls to join. It looked like most of the kids were buying into it. Brian was coaching a couple of new recruits in how to guard against the sparks that appeared every now and then and stamp them out when they landed on the ground. Peter noticed me going by as he finished talking a boy to do join the SAEA, but he purposely turned away to look for another prospect. I no longer had the option of joining the SAEA if I wanted to. And I didn’t.

I crossed the street to the library. I wasn’t going there, of course. It’s just that I had to walk by it on my way home to drown myself in a computer game or two. The SAPMM was gathered on the steps, making the sidewalk feel like a gauntlet. I hurried my steps.

“Hey Judas!” Molly yelled out at me.

That really showed how much things had changed in a couple of days. Before then, she would never have dared insult me like that. I knew enough Bible stuff from Sunday school and church to know I was being accused of being a traitor. Well, that’s what I was.

“Actually, I think Eddie is a Peter,” said Linda.

She was being her kind and understanding self again. Time to run.

“What do you mean Eddie is a Peter?” asked Dominic.

I didn’t run after all. I slowed down instead. For some reason, I wanted to know the answer to that question, too. I sure didn’t feel like I was like any of Jesus’ disciples just then, so how could I be more like Peter than Judas? I didn’t dare look at the SAPMM, but I couldn’t help but notice out of the corner of my eye that a couple more girls had joined them: Laura Daniels and Rosemary Sanders. I no longer thought of them as a group of losers. Not when I was the biggest loser there ever was.

“Peter denied that he knew Jesus when he was in the high priest’s courtyard,” Linda explained, “but then he wept over it, and God forgave him.”

Funny that I’d never thought much about Peter denying Jesus. It seems that it’s always Judas our pastor talks about when it comes to preaching about Jesus getting betrayed. The last thing I wanted to do was cry in front of any of my classmates. Even when I twisted my ankle while playing soccer with the gang, I made sure I didn’t cry. I walked away from the SAPMM just in time to keep any of them from seeing the tears that came out before I could stop them. I heard footsteps behind me. I should have run faster, but I didn’t. I wiped my eyes real quick with my shirt sleeve real quick, just before I got grabbed from behind. Grabbed gently, but grabbed nonetheless. It was Mel.

“You are like Peter,” said Mel. “Please come join us. We need you.”

I couldn’t believe Mel was being so nice. I’d never seen him like that when he was hanging out with me and Brian and the rest of his gang. But then Brian didn’t think being nice was cool.

“I’ve been so awful,” I cried.

“I know,” said Mel.

The way he said those two words made me feel a lot better than you might think. He wasn’t pretending I hadn’t messed up; I had. But he was still standing there, waiting for me to come back to the rest of the SAPMM. I was past being embarrassed by my tears. Mel was kind enough not to pat me on the back or anything; he just stood by me. Somehow, I just knew that he would never in his life make fun of me for crying about what I’d done. I wiped out the few tears that were left with my sleeve and walked with Mel to the library steps. Several of Merendael’s sparks were bouncing between and off the members of the SAPMM. I overheard Linda explaining to Dominic what she meant about me being like Peter more than Judas. This was the first time I’d ever heard of Dominic not knowing something.

“Are you joining us?” Dominic asked me, his smile back to his usual smirk.

“Yes.”

“It’s about time,” Molly grumbled.

“I’m sorry for charging at Merendael like that and for what I said in front of the class,” I said.

“You should be,” said Molly.

“Don’t be hard on him,” Linda admonished her. “Eddie’s had a rough time of it.”

“He sure has,” said Mel. “Remember, Eddie was the only one to see Merendael at first, as far as he knew anyway. I didn’t help him any back then. And saying you’re sorry is one of the hardest things anyone can do.”

Molly gave me a pained look.

“Sorry I said that,” she apologized.

I couldn’t believe it. I had shafted these people as long as I could and they were still apologizing to me.

“I nominate Eddie as honorary president of SAPMM,” said Hubert.

That was a shocker. Dominic and Molly and Rosemary and Laura all gave Hubert the looks everybody gives him when he says something stupid. As usual, Hubert didn’t seem to realize how stupid he looked to everybody else.

“What?” I exclaimed. “I think you should elect me your dishonorary president.”

“You saw Merendael first, so you should be the honorary president,” Hubert persisted.

For the first time I saw how innocent Hubert is. I’m sure it’s something that had been under my nose since we both started school but I could never see it before. Hubert might be stupid, but he never says anything bad about other people. He also seemed to have the most sparks bouncing off and around him.

“”Hubert’s right,” said Mel. “Like I said, it’s hard being the first one to see somebody strange like Merendael. We should give Eddie credit for that. Besides, he knows Merendael better than the rest of us.

Mel’s words made Hubert’s face light up. The odd thing was that Hubert didn’t look quite so stupid anymore.

“Do you accept the nomination?” Linda asked.

“Uh—yes.”

“Everybody in favor of electing Eddie honorary president say ‘aye’!’” Mel.

“AYE!

“Passed,” Mel announced.

“Speech! Speech!” cried Laura.

That, too, was amazing. Laura hadn’t shown any signs she even knew I was on the planet before this.

“Uh—thanks a lot,” I stammered. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Then say it anyway,” said Linda.

“Uh—I think Merendael wants to give us something. But he hasn’t done that yet. So maybe it isn’t easy for him to do it. So, we have to make it as easy for him to give us his Gift as we can. And I guess you know that Brian is starting the Space Alien Emergency Army.” Everybody nodded. “So, that means we’ve got to stop them somehow before they hurt Merendael before he can give us his gift.”

“Why do those boys think Merendael is an evil creature come to attack them?” asked Laura.

“He looks strange,” said Mel, “and you know what that means.”

“How do we know Merendael isn’t an evil creature come to destroy our planet?” asked Dominic.

“How come you joined this society if you don’t trust Merendael?” Molly asked him.

“Just wondering,” said Dominic. “I question everything.”

“Did you think Merendael was evil and dangerous when he first appeared to you?” Linda asked me.

“I was kind of scared and freaked out at first,” I admitted, “but right away, I heard, or felt, Merendael ask for help. So I felt sorry for him. Maybe that’s why I wasn’t scared of him. Besides, Merendael feels like a friend when he appears to me.”

“These little shooting stars feel neat,” Hubert added. “A bad monster couldn’t give us good shooting stars, could it?”

“I don’t think so,” said Linda.

“They take some getting used to, though,” said Rosemary as she flinched from a spark that glanced off her hand.

I looked longingly at the sparks that seemed to avoid me. I didn’t blame them after the way I’d treated Merendael.

“Eddie doesn’t have any shooting stars,” said Mel.

“That’s okay,” I said.

“He deserves to have some,” said Linda “since he’s our honorary president.”

Only then did I realize that each spark seemed to stick primarily to one or another member of the SAPMM. Hubert was the first to respond to Linda’s suggestion. He stepped over to me and held out a shooting star to me. I opened the palm of my hand and the spark jumped on it. Its prickles were exhilarating in some strange way.

“Thanks,” I said.

“You’re welcome,” said Hubert, his face flushed with pleasure.

Within a matter of minutes, each member of the SAPMM had given me a shooting star and my hands thrilled with the exhilarating prickles they gave me.

“Yea, it does feel neat,” I said.

“Is there a chance that these sparks are the gift Merendael promised us?” asked Molly.

“I don’t think so,” said Linda, “because the whole time she was sending out these sparks, she was telling us that she had to give us something when it was ready.”

“I think these sparks are kind of a pre-gift,” said Laura.

“I think the sparks are the result of Merendael building up the required energy to generate the Gift he’s giving us,” Dominic suggested.

“If the Gift Merendael wants to give us is bigger and better than these sparks,” said Linda, “then it’s going to be a great Gift.”

“On the other hand, I suppose an evil person could give out nice things like these sparks just to get our trust before they do us in,” Dominic reminded us.

“Why do you keep thinking Merendael is trying to hurt us?” asked Molly.

“Do you think that’s what Merendael has done to us?” asked Linda.“Do you think these shooting stars are going to hurt us in the end?”

“We don’t know for sure,” said Mel. “But then I don’t really know if I can trust any of you to be real friends in a pinch, either.”

Dominic opened his mouth to protest but then snapped it shut.

“I see the point,” Dominic admitted. “You can’t trust me to stick with you if things get tough. But I promise I’ll try.”

Another miracle! Dominic had never before suggested that he might not be perfect in everything worth being perfect in.

“I think we have to decide that we are going to trust Merendael and each other,” said Linda, “and hope for the best.”

“I trust Merendael,” said Hubert.

“If we treat Merendael like a friend, then it’s more likely he will be a friend,” said Mel.

I looked at Mel in amazement. I had never known that Mel could be so thoughtful, but then Brian and I and the others wouldn’t have let Mel hang out with us if he’d acted the way he was acting now.

“But it would be awful if she uses us to take over our town and our country,” said Rosemary.

“Wait a minute,” said Dominic. “Make up your minds. Is Merendael male or female, or both or neither?”

“Good question,” I said. “I still haven’t the slightest idea. I just think of him as a ‘he.’”

“That’s because you’re a boy.”

“I suppose that’s true,” I admitted.

“And I suppose I think Merendael is a ‘she’ because I’m a girl,” said Laura.

“On the basis of some science-fiction books I’ve read and my own deep speculations, I suspect Merendael is both or neither,” said Dominic.

“I think it’s more important to trust Merendael than to figure out if Merendael is male or female,” said Linda.

“I agree,” said Rosemary.

“Okay,” said Dominic, “I move that proceed on that assumption that Merendael is our friend and we don’t have to specify Merendael’s gender. Everyone can refer to Merendael as ‘he’ or ‘she’ as he or she wishes.”

“I second the motion,” said Molly.

There was a pause and all eyes turned in my direction.

“Mister president?” Linda prompted.

“Uh—everybody in favor say ‘Aye.’”

“AYE!”

While we were taking our vote, we heard a group of kids chanting: “Look out Space Alien, here we come! Look out Space Alien here we come! We’re the Space Alien Emergency Army! Ye-e-e-eh!”

I don’t have to tell you who was leading the group and who the three-star generals were. They turned the corner of the block across the street from us and kept on marching.

“I think we’re going to have to tell people that Merendael is really okay,” said Laura.

“Looks like it,” said Mel.

“How do you spell ‘Merendael,’ anyway?” asked Linda.

“Does it matter?” asked Molly.

“It does if we have to create a letterhead for our stationary or make signs,” said Linda.

All this time I’d never thought much about how Merendael’s name was spelled. I think I spelled it in my head something like ‘Marrindale.’

“I guess it’s M-A-R-R-I-N-D-A-L-E,” I suggested, or something like that.

“I think he deserves a better spelling than that,” said Dominic. “I suggest M-A-R-E-N-D-A-E-L.”

“Nice,” said Linda.

“I move we spell it Dominic’s way,” said Mel.

“Second,” said Linda.

“All in favor?” I asked.

“AYE!”

Our voice vote was all but drowned out by a woman screaming about a block away. It was Mrs. Ferguson, a lady down the street from me. Even from that distance, we could see that Merendael was appearing just a few feet away from her.

“Looks like Merendael appeared to the wrong person,” said Dominic.

“We’d better get over there and tell her Merendael is okay,” said Mel.

“Merendael probably didn’t want to appear to you again after what you’ve done,” said Molly as we gathered up steam to help the woman and Merendael.

“Leave it, Molly,” said Linda.

“Ma’am!” Dominic called out. “Don’t worry! He won’t hurt you!”

“The Space Alien!” Brian yelled from across the street.

“Help! Police!” cried Mrs. Ferguson.

The Space Alien Emergency Army poured across the street while the drivers honked their horns and slammed on their brakes. A police car zoomed over. Two police officers stepped out. Officer Perry and Officer Jenkins. All the kids know them because they do the most patrolling around the school. Merendael, of course, was long gone by this time.

“What’s the problem?” asked Officer Perry.

“This—this—Thing—this—monster—suddenly appeared and threatened me!”

“All I see are a bunch of kids running at you,” said Officer Jenkins. “Are you sure they aren’t playing some trick on you?”

“That was Merendael!” said Dominic. “He won’t hurt anybody. He’s just trying to give us something.”

“No! He’s trying to destroy our whole country, starting with us!” Brian yelled.

Officer Perry gave all of us kids a pretty unbelieving look.

“I’d say you’re just a victim of a practical joke by a bunch of kids. Now where is your fake monster?” he asked us.

“There is no fake monster,” said Molly.

“It’s real!” Brian yelled.

Officer Perry held up his hands.

“Look, kids, I can’t arrest you for scaring a lady in broad daylight like this, but if I hear of any more tricks like this, I’m going to have to take action. Before you go, I want all of your names.”

Of course, he knew most of our names already, but we gave them anyway. Mrs. Ferguson asked for a police escort into the dry cleaners. Officer Jenkins took care of that.

**********

I was feeling pretty discouraged when I got home. Then I got a whole lot more discouraged and scared besides when I came in the kitchen door and saw my father waiting for me at the kitchen table with that certain look in his eye. Beth was setting the table. Mom was stirring taking the lasagna out of the oven. Tom and Wally were draped over their chairs.

“Eddie!”

“Yes, father.”

“Your mother got another call from the school today.”

Pause.

“Yes.”

Father’s face turned into fire.

“Why do you persist in playing your imaginary space alien game?!”

“I apologized to the class,” I said.

“Some apology that was,” said Dad. “We just got a call from the police department. They said you were stirring up even more trouble about this space alien downtown.”

“But . . .”

“What do you deserve when you behave this way?” father thundered.

“I—haven’t . . .”

“What do you mean you haven’t done anything! We have witnesses. Lots of them.”

Dad started to take off his belt. My brothers were grinning like Cheshire cats.

“But Dad!”

The phone rang. Saved by the bell. At least for a few minutes. Wally answered it. Dad was stuck with waiting until the call was over so he wouldn’t be accused of child abuse if anybody heard me screaming over the phone.

“Dad,” said Wally. “It’s the mayor.”

So now the mayor was on my case? That was going to double the belting I was about to get. Then when I saw horror spread across my dad’s face, my punishment tripled. I figured I deserved what I was about to get for betraying Merendael the way I did in front of the class. Maybe Brian wouldn’t have been able to get much of an army if I’d told the truth in front of the class instead of chickening out.

“WHAT?!” my father yelled.

Quadrupled, I thought miserably.

“My son claimed he saw something like it, too,” said Dad.

That got everybody’s attention.

“I’ll ask him and tell you what he says about it. I’ll be here and available for any updates on this.”

I didn’t know how to interpret the look my father was giving me when he hung up. He didn’t put his belt back on right away, so I was still on pins and needles. I had a feeling that anything could happen, most of it bad. Mother bought me a little time by plopping the lasagna down in the middle of the table and insisting that we start eating. Father said the blessing, and then eyed me warily.

“What’s up, Pops?” asked Tom.

“You look like the mayor told you we’ve just been invaded by space aliens,” said Wally with a nervous laugh.

“Stan Burdick says the Brad Ford reported an attack from some outlandish creature to the police. Is this one of your tricks?”

Stan Burdick is the mayor and Brad Ford is the president of First National Bank. No wonder my father stood up and took notice this time. I’m sure you can imagine how angry I was feeling about being accused of everything by my father, no matter how much I respected him.

“I haven’t attacked anyone in any way,” I answered, “and Merendael has not attacked anyone either.”

“Who is this Marrendale?” asked my father.

I could see he was getting scared. That meant more trouble. The more scared he gets about anything, the madder he gets, and the more dangerous that makes him to kids like me.

“Merendael is the name of the space alien—or whoever he is—who I’ve seen around,” I replied. “If that’s who Mr. Ford saw, then he wasn’t attacked; he only thought he was being attacked, only because what he saw would have looked pretty strange to him.”

“Brad Ford wouldn’t say he was attacked if he wasn’t attacked!” my father raged.

“Is he in the hospital with any injuries?” I asked.

Dad jumped out of his chair, grabbed me by the arms, and gave me a shake that scrambled by brains for over an hour. That took care of any appetite I might have had for dinner.

“I won’t take any more sass from you! Now what kind of tricks are you playing on the rest of this town?”

“I’m not playing any tricks,” I insisted. Tears were really flowing, but I was too angry to care about that. “You yell at me for saying I saw something I saw because you wouldn’t believe me. Now that the president of the bank sees it, you think it’s real. But you won’t take my word for it that Merendael isn’t going to hurt anybody.”

This is where things got so painful that I still can’t bear to tell you about it in any detail. My parents went ballistic at that point. I had always known my parents were a pain but, otherwise, I kind of liked them. They’re my parents after all. Now, I could hardly recognize them at all. It was enough to make me think that a space alien was twisting the minds of people all over town, but if an alien was doing that, it wasn’t Merendael. I don’t remember if I got sent away from the table, or if I left because I’d had enough. I suppose you could say it was mutual consent. As soon as I slammed the door of my room, all of my sparks jumped out and bounced about my room. This cheered me up quite a lot. The heat I was getting downstairs was so bad, I’d forgotten about them. The sparks seemed to know when they could come out and when they should stay hidden. The sparks tingled when they glanced off my face or hands. That also made me feel Merendael’s terrible sadness about losing his planet. The sparks made it clear that Merendael was still around and that he needed me and the rest of SAPMM to receive his Gift before it was too late.

I probably wasn’t supposed to use my computer, but my parents were too hysterical to tell me I couldn’t use it, so I did. I sent Mel an email to tell him what was happening. He wrote back to say I could stay at his house anytime I needed to. That was a relief. I was ready to pack my bags on the spot and get out of my house. I sent out emails to the rest of the guys in SAPMM and got quick replies from most of them.

I was reading a reply from Dominic that suggested my parents had the brains at the mollusc level when I got called back downstairs. Needless to say, I was worried about what parents of mollusc mentality would do to me, but it turned out that Officer Perry had come to question me. I wasn’t sure that was going to be an improvement. I decided that since I knew he wouldn’t believe anything I said that was true, and that anything I said would be used against me, I would stand on Fifth Amendment. It turned out the reason Officer Perry was questioning us kids was because two downtown stores were broken into about a couple of hours of Merendael’s appearance to Mr. Ford. Poor Merendael! He wasn’t a U.S. citizen, so he didn’t have any constitutional rights. I really wished I could tell Officer Perry that I’d seen Merendael lots of times and I’d never seen him do anything like break into a store, but I just knew he would think that was a coverup for some store robbery I’d done myself. So, mostly I stood on the Fifth Amendment and said I didn’t know anything about any store robberies. My dad was glaring at me the whole time that had me expecting to be beaten me black and blue as soon Officer Perry left, but the phone rang. Saved by the bell again!

The news was getting worse. The mayor had gotten reports of two more store break-ins and dozens of reports of citizens getting attacked by strange creatures. Not wanting to stack the deck in favor of extraterrestrials, the strange beings officially being called Unidentified Visiting Creatures. Because of this danger, the mayor and the chief of police agreed to organize an emergency citizen’s militia to protect the town. The mayor asked my father to help organize this militia. I suppose I should have been proud of him, but this time I was ashamed that he was becoming Merendael’s biggest enemy, and that made him my enemy as well. My brothers wanted to join right away. Dad didn’t think that minors could be enrolled in the militia, but he said he would suggest that older boys help patrol the school grounds the next day to protect the younger children. I didn’t bother to tell my father about the Space Alien Emergency Army. I figured they’ll find out about it soon enough. The mayor and council thought of canceling school, but ended up keeping the schools open, but asking that car pools be arranged for all children below ninth grade. While phone calls were pouring in about all this, those of us in SAPMM formed in chat room where we exchanged news fast and furiously. It turned out that every one of us got questioned by the police. None of us told them anything except Hubert. He told them everything, but he said he knows everybody thinks he’s stupid and so they won’t take seriously. They didn’t. That made me think that Hubert was smarter, in his way, than any of us thought. We worked out a couple of car pools so that all of us in SAPMM could all ride together. Mel told me his parents had backed up his invitation for me to stay at his house starting with after school the next day until the crisis blew over, or the world came to an end, whichever came first. All the time I was chatting online, my sparks danced around the room to help me keep my spirits up.

**********

I was so upset with my family that I couldn’t face any of them at the breakfast table. I stayed in my room to pack for my overnight at Mel’s house and listened to the news on the radio. That got me an earful about the mysterious attack on the Brad Ford in the parking lot of the First National Bank and the attacks on others that occurred soon after. At least a dozen break-ins of stores in the downtown area had been reported, followed by the savaging of the industrial park where an estimated millions dollars of damage was caused by the Unidentified Visiting Creatures. Finally, I’d had enough and I switched the radio off. When I heard the car honk, I ran downstairs. My father was wearing a maroon armband that identified him as a member of the Emergency Volunteer Militia and his hunting rifle rested in the corner of the kitchen, ready to be taken out on patrol duty.

“Bye!” I said with two feet out the door.

“Aren’t you going to eat any breakfast?” asked my mom.

“Not hungry. See you later.”

“Now don’t go round spotting more space aliens,” my mother told me, “or you won’t have any friends willing to ride to school with you or spend the night with them.”

“Don’t worry,” I said.

I conned my parents into letting me stay at Mel’s house on the grounds that they would be too busy handling to crisis to have time to take care of me, and because they still thought that Mel was a sensible boy like Brian and Charlie and Peter.

Mrs. Sweeney was driving our group from SAPMM.. Linda was in the front seat of the car with her mother. Mel and Molly were in the back. I squeezed into the back with them.

“Thanks,” I said.

“No problem,” said Mrs. Sweeney. “I can’t believe how crazy this town has gotten in just fourteen hours.”

Linda help up a blueberry muffin.

“Need some breakfast?” she asked.

“Yes,” I replied gratefully.

I took the muffin and devoured it in two or three bites. I could tell the Linda knew I wouldn’t feel like eating breakfast at home.

“Have you seen Merendael since yesterday?” Mel asked me.

“No.”

“Me neither,” said Molly.

“I’m afraid she’s going to stay away with all this going on,” said Linda.

“That’s what I’m afraid of, too,” said Mel.

The short trip to the school was an eerie experience. Police and militia volunteers were on patrol every half block. Spookier still, there were no children out on the sidewalks. It felt like the town was under siege in the middle of a terrible war. As we passed one street, a car quickly turned the corner and followed us. I looked back, fearing that some monster would be at the wheel, but then I recognized Dominic sitting in the front seat. The man at the wheel looked weird enough to be Dominic’s father. He’s got flying black hair and a beard that gets trimmed once in a while. We all know that Dominic’s father stays home all day, writing books on subjects nobody wants to know anything about. How could Dominic help being the class nerd with a father like that?

“Mr. Boulanger wanted to get Dominic to the school at the same time you did,” Linda’s mother explained. “He thought it might be safer for all of you.”

I nodded grimly. Mr. Boulanger’s worry was confirmed when I saw a long line of children marching along the last block to the school with Brian at their head. The front yard of the school was swarming with police officers and militia members, leaving no room for a space alien to edge his way in and attack any students.

“I guess the ranks of Brian’s Space Alien Emergency Army have swelled since yesterday,” said Mel.

“Just leave it to human beings to form an army at the drop of a hat,” muttered Mrs. Sweeney.

“We’re going to have to find a way to tell people the truth,” said Mel.

“That’s what I think,” said Molly.

“Well, more power to you,” said Mrs. Sweeney. “Here you are. I suggest you stick together.”

“We will,” said Mel as he opened the car door and stepped out. “Thanks a lot for the ride.”

“You’re most welcome.”

Walking past the police and militia volunteers, even with the safety in numbers of SAPMM, made me feel like I was walking into a thunder cloud,. Neighbors I saw everyday looked like strangers with their maroon armbands and guns in their hands. They eyed our group in such a way as to make me think they thought we were terrorists.

“Hey, Eddie!”

That was Brian. He looked so cold and hostile that I hardly knew him. Peter and Charlie and Terry and Sally stood with him at the head of their army. The other members of the SAPMM clustered around me to protect me.

“What do you want?” I asked uneasily.

“Are you still friends with that alien who came here to take over our planet and who broke into half the stores in town last night to get supplies for his attack?” Brian asked me.

“How do you know Merendael is the one who broke into those stores or the industrial park?” I asked in return. “He hasn’t had a fair trial, so he’s innocent until proven guilty.”

“If you wait to give that creep a fair trial, he’ll have skinned every human alive before the trial even starts,” Peter insisted.

I was mad enough to draw back my fist and land a punch in Peter’s kisser, but I knew that wouldn’t go down well with the rest of the Society, not to speak of Mr. Landon, so I restrained myself.

“You guys are all projecting your own violence on Merendael,” said Dominic.

I didn’t quite understand what he was talking about, but what else is new? Brian eyed Dominic coldly. I’m sure he didn’t understand it either, but he knows when he’s being insulted.

“I’m not about to endanger myself and the school by taking chances with an alien,” said Brian.

“I think you guys are the ones creating all the danger around here,” Dominic retorted.

Brian drew back his fist. All of us in the Society closed in around Dominic.

“Hey boys!” cried one of the militia men. “No fighting! Save that for your real enemy!”

*********

Before classes started, we got herded into the school auditorium for an assembly. A crisis counselor, Mr. Stroh, was there to talk to us. We’d seen h im before. He was helpful last year when he came to talk to us after a girl in our school got killed by a car. This time, I had the feeling he didn’t know what to say about a space alien who might really just be a bunch of hoodlums in disguise. He gave a lot of good advice for coping with the pressure of being under attack by some monstrous creature, but it wasn’t much help for those of us in the SAPMM who had other issues. At long last, Mr. Landon asked if we had any questions for Mr. Stroh. Molly held up her hand.

“Yes, Molly.”

“Why does everybody think Merendael is so dangerous?”

“I think the profusion of police reports on the subject is a sufficient answer to that question,” Mr. Landon replied.

“But Eddie’s seen Merendael lots of times and he hasn’t been hurt at all,” Molly protested.

That got a lot of hisses from most of the kids. I shrank down into my chair.

“That’s enough,” said Mr. Landon. “Eddie, I wish you would stop causing trouble over all of this. Dominic?”

Dominic was as hot as a branding iron.

“I have listened to every news report about this, and I haven’t heard one report of anybody actually being hurt by the so-called Unidentified Visiting Creature, or Cretures.. Why are so many people projecting their violence on the Unidentified Visiting Creatures? And why do you blame Eddie for everything?”

More hisses and murmurs. Mr. Landon quieted us down again, and Mr. Stroh stood up to answer Dominic’s question.

“One of the things that makes our situation difficult and frightening is that we don’t really know what sort of creature is at large in our town. We don’t know if it’s just people causing mischief or something of a more exotic nature. This young man has raised a very important point for us to keep in mind. Projection is accusing other people of the violence that we actually experience in ourselves. This is something we have to be very careful about. If can keep from projecting our violence and our fears, we are much more likely to emerge from this crisis in a healthy way.”

Well, there’s nothing like telling all the kids that Dominic is right to make sure that nobody thinks he is, except for the loyal members of SAPMM.

********

Recess was as cheerful as a funeral. Nobody played any games, unless you consider Brian’s leading the SAEA in a military drill a game. All of the school’s athletic equipment that could be used for defense was put at their disposal and the kids marched all over the playground with bats, hockey sticks, pucks and hard baseballs. As they passed by the police and the volunteer militia, they saluted and the police and militia saluted back.

Those of us in SAPMM were huddled together in one corner of the playground. A wiry boy named Louie Hamilton, talked into joining by Molly, was our only new member. I had a feeling he was the one kid who failed the physical to join Brian’s army. When the SAEA passed us by during their rounds of the playground, they hurled insults and threats at us. A few of the children in the army looked longingly and might have joined us if they were braver, but they weren’t. When the army was far away, Merendael’s sparks came out to liven things up for us and raise our spirits. But when the army came close enough to see them, the sparks knew to hide themselves up our sleeves until the army passed by.

“If we’re going to live up to the name of the Society,” said Rosemary, “we’ll have to defend and affirm Merendael in public.”

“We’ll get lynched if we do that,” said Laura.

“I thought those kids were going to kill me when they saw I’d joined you,” said Louie.

“If we aren’t going to defend and affirm Merendael in public, then there’s no use in having our a society,” said Molly.

“A couple of us tried that this morning at the assembly and didn’t get anywhere,” said Linda.

“That’s no reason to quit speaking out,” said Dominic. “Every just cause starts small and gradually it snowballs. It’s all a matter of reaching a critical mass that turns everything around.”

“Sort of like the faith of a mustard seed,” said Mel.

“Why don’t we go straight to the mayor and tell him the truth about Merendael?” Linda suggested.

“He’ll never believe us,” I said. “I can’t even convince my own father.”

“We won’t know if the mayor believes us or not unless we try,” said Laura.

“I think the best thing to do is find Merendael again as soon as possible and get the gift he wants to give us,” said Mel. “Then the whole thing can blow over and we’ll be okay.”

“That’s true,” said Molly, “but if everybody else in town is swinging bats and pointing guns at Merendael, it might not be possible to Merendael to appear long enough to give us his Gift.”

“What we need is a two-pronged strategy,” said Dominic. “We’ll proclaim the truth that Merendael is not here to hurt us, but is here to give us a Gift, and we’ll try to be available to Merendael for him to give us his Gift.”

“I think that’s the best we can do,” said Mel. “My mom and Dominic’s dad are picking us up after school. They can drive us over to city hall.”

“I move we follow all go to City Hall after school and then find a place where Merendael can come and give us his Gift,” said Hubert, sounding more intelligent than I ever thought he was.

“I second the motion,” said Molly.

There was a quiet moment during which all faces turned in my direction.

“Mister honorary president?” Mel prompted.

“All in favor say ‘aye,’” I. said.

“AYE!”

“If we’re serious about affirming Merendael, we have to do it right now,” said Molly, as she nodded at the Space Alien Emergency Army that was heading our way again.

“Let’s do it!” said Dominic.

Dominic rose to his feet and headed toward the army without even waiting to see if any of the rest of us would come with him. There was no question of leaving Dominic to face the army alone. We caught up with him to makes ourselves a united front against Brian’s army.

“Have you seen the light?” asked Peter.

“Come to join our army?” asked Terry.

“We’ve seen the light all right,” said Dominic. “We have all seen Merendael, and we have seen that Merendael is a beneficent creature who wishes only to do us good.”

Dominic didn’t even get to the end of that sentence before he was drowned out by catcalls. They didn’t even ask him what “beneficent” means. Dominic had to explain to us later that the word means “good,” “concerned with the well-being of others.” The catcalls didn’t stop Dominic. He went on preaching with raised voice. The rest of us pitched in with our own sermons, but it was a lost cause. Brian raised his baseball bat and a lot of the kids in his army raised their weapons. The playground whistle blew. I think that saved me and the rest of SAPMM from getting our bones and heads busted.

“Why are you fighting among yourselves when we are in so much danger from the invader in our midst?” asked Mrs. Martinez, the teacher on playground duty.

“These guys are trying to hand us over to the space aliens!” Brian charged.

“No we’re not!” I yelled.

“Eddie started this!” yelled Terry.

“Eddie, how many times do we have to tell you to stop causing all this trouble?” asked Mrs. Martinez.

“If Eddie is in trouble, than all of us are in trouble with him,” said Dominic. “Stop blaming him for everything.”

That helped a little bit. With Dominic being such a teacher’s pet because he’s so smart, all the teachers treat him like royalty.

“Well, I want no more trouble from any of you. Mr. Landon has allowed you to defend yourselves against hostile alien invaders, not against other kids in this school. Is that understood?”

I know that Brian and his mob didn’t understand anything except swinging baseball bats and hockey sticks, but they had to pretend they understood as long as Mrs. Martinez was looking.