I started writing this story and its even more unfinished sequels (The Promise and Ascension--a fourth novel, The Dreaming Pool, was never even started) back when I was going through my "alien abduction" phase, and all sorts of stories about this phenomenon kept me entranced. I've since rather faded out of my interest for this, but may return to it someday if the right mood strikes me; I do think this novel showed promise, despite a rather clunky subplot which really needs to be modified by now. Basically...the novel was about my characters Puck Benteen (yes, same guy from the D4D novels) and Anders Carlsson (vaguely based on a Swedish exchange student at my high school, whom I only ever saw from afar) and the difficulties they both faced following an apparent alien abduction. The novel was kind of clever, IMO, in that it starts out with Puck being the believer, and Anders being the diehard skeptic, but then slowly shifts to Anders being the tentative believer, and Puck being the one in denial. I thought I handled that shift pretty well, considering that it wasn't even planned. The story was meant to be much more about the trauma and psychological effects following the abductions, rather than about aliens and flying saucers themselves, and that's pretty much how it played out...but for the subplot. I unfortunately introduced the character Jacob, who had a rather cheesy connection to things in the story; and although I never mentioned it, the character Al Goodwin has a similar cheesy connection to things, which I think would be best left out of any future rewrite. Even though the story never reached the punchline, I don't quite feel like publicly spoiling the big surprise regarding Jacob, so if you really want to know you can simply ask. There's a lot of alien abduction symbolism throughout the story (I was inspired by Whitley Strieber), so you can check that out if you want. It might make a good companion story to the Minot spinoffs and "A Crack Of Light," with their dealings with the aftereffects of ritual abuse...there are some people who believe that accounts of alien abduction are just screen memories of childhood abuse, and there are others who think that accounts of childhood abuse are just screen memories of alien abduction. Judging by the similar emotional effects, it's easy to see why this is. Just a thought.
This may not be the original file of the story, though judging by the formatting and fonts used, I think it is; if it isn't, then it's a retype which was done of the original file. I feel like I SHOULD remember the story's date, but I can't! I'm positive it was mid- to late-Nineties, however, as I seem to recall making a "movie poster" for this in high school art class--and of course, Anders was based on exchange student Anders Christiansen, whom we girls drooled over in homeroom. I may also have worked on it while in college. The file this is from was last modified in August 2001 but it is DEFINITELY earlier than that; I will place it around 1995-97, give or take a year.
UPDATE: Yikes! I've since found a printout of yet MORE of this story which for some reason was not saved in the file above. No clue how that happened. Perhaps this is from a later saved version of the file which I lost. It contains part of the existing text of Chapter 17 (starting with "Bingo!"), and carries on past the cutoff point of the word processor file (I'll indicate when). The formatting (italics) appears to be missing from the first few pages, then picks up again partway through. This section could date from slightly later than the saved text, though likely not by much. Typos from the retype may be present in that area of the text.
Front, Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18
Thanks for the owls.
[Note--read some Strieber--or else just look at a barn owl--and you'll see what I mean.]
--Whitley Strieber, Transformation
[Note--despite all my chatter about him, I don't think I've ever actually FINISHED reading one of Strieber's books. Maybe after I read the zillion others I have on my list.]
Anders peered over at the other side of the room; Puck was curled up on his side, fast asleep by now. So why couldn't he get to sleep so easily? He sighed and stared at the ceiling for a long while.
He was so absorbed in this that at first he didn't notice the humming that was starting outside until a bright light suddenly flashed through the window behind him. He sat up abruptly and, not even bothering to look outside, whispered loudly, "Puck?"
No answer.
"Puck!"
No use; it was as if Puck were dead.
Anders could only stare at him a few moments as the humming grew louder, the light brighter. Finally, he just lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling again. Let them come, he thought.
The light flooded the room. He turned his head on the pillow to look off to his side, waiting...
We are not alone
Charlevoix, northern Michigan doesn't seem like the place where anything unusual would happen. But that's the only sort of thing that's been happening lately. Multiple students at a small college are suddenly and for no apparent reason being assaulted by bizarre nightmares and day terrors. There seems to be no connection until they share just what it is that they've been dreaming...
The students and their friends, including Matthew "Puck" Benteen, a skilled computer hacker; Anders Carlsson, a Swede; Damon Barrymore and his brother Gabriel, a haunted young man from Vancouver; Jack Hunter, a barnstormer; and Alexander Goodwin, a professional hypnotist, uncover signs of a possible shared experience--that of extraterrestrial abduction. [Note--somehow, Jack's role in the story just kind of faded away, and he never became a major player in events. You can see a lot more of him in the unfinished Men In Black novels.] All of those involved exhibit the classic signs, including their strange nightmares of bright lights and weird alien faces, and terrible headaches. The question is raised--what is happening? Who are they? And why do they want us--now? All clues seem to point to the newcomer Jacob Sanders, a young man seemingly on the run from the government for some reason. Jacob is wanted, and very badly--for he has experience of which no one else could ever boast. But who is right--Jacob, with his message to deliver to the students and their friends, or the government, in saying that he's a habitually lying, dangerous individual? There are no easy answers, and the only ones there are lead in a totally unexpected direction...
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1: THE STORM GATHERS
CHAPTER 2: MEETING WITH THE ANARCHIST
CHAPTER 3: A RIDE ABOARD THE GRAVITRON
CHAPTER 4: AT THE FAIRGROUNDS
CHAPTER 5: SWEET DREAMS
CHAPTER 6: OWLS FROM THE SKY
CHAPTER 7: ENCOUNTERS
CHAPTER 8: CREATURES
CHAPTER 9: REMAINS TO BE SEEN
CHAPTER 10: CHOICES TO BE MADE
CHAPTER 11: GOING UNDER
CHAPTER 12: CHANGING BELIEFS
CHAPTER 13:
[Note--TOC incomplete.]
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