Grandpa has important lessons for the whippersnapper. Flat tires and flagging down friends, on DAY 19 of Flash Fiction February. 10 days to go. I can’t wait.

“I lost count.” Sherry says to her grandpa. “I have to start over.”

“That’s OK; you don’t have to start all over again; just guess where you were and keep going.” Granpda says while he assesses the damage to the rim of their tire.

“It’s a lot of stars. It will take a long time to count them all.“ Sherry says.

“Be patient,” he says. “Keep at it. If you get sleepy, go ahead and take a nap.”

Fred is driving his granddaughter home after a weekend at his high desert cabin. He had a pretty serious tire blowout, and they are stranded, kind of. They’re about 80 miles between his cabin and Sherry’s parents. He left his spare tire in his shop back at the cabin, and the rear tire was just shredded on this road.

“Can you tell me what constellations you can see up there? What do you remember from the telescope lesson you had last night?” He asks her.

“Yeah. There is the belt of the three stars, so that’s Orion, right?” She says.

“Yep, you got it,” Grandpa says. “What else you got up there?

“There is that Big Dipper, Urmajor”. She says.

“Ursa, that’s Ursa Major.” He says.

“URSA major". She repeats.

“What’s the name of that star right there? The bright one over there?” He asked her, pointing east. "

“That’s Spica!” she said.

“And what is that constellation it is in?” He asks.

“That’s Mommy’s birthday constellation! Virgo.” She responds.

“And when you see that really bright star, the brightest one, what do you know about that?” He asks her.

“Well, that is Sirius; it’s the dog star in the big dog constellation.” She says.

“Do you remember the name of the constellation?” He asks.

“Canis Major, but that just means big dog.” She says.

“You got it.” He tells her. ”You got it, kid.”

“You know what that planet is, right?” He asks.

“Yep, that’s Venus; you can always see it early at night, then you can see Jupiter the other way,” she points, “late at night.”

“Good job,” Grandpa says.

“Is Daddy going to come pick us up?” She asks her Granddad.

“Nope, no.. They know we’re out here, but don’t worry. There’s another plan.” He assures her.

They sit on the lift gate of the truck, have a couple of granola bars, and talk about the sky some more. Just then, there is something in the sky floating toward them.

“What is that, Grandpa?”

“The world may never know,” he says as he jumps down from the truck gate.

A dark triangle with three bright lights hovers very close to them. There is a bright flash of warm light and a force wave. Dust is kicked up, and as the craft comes closer to the ground, a hum can be heard.

“What is he doing, Grandpa?” She calls to him.

“Just sit tight, baby!” He shouts over the hum and through the dust in the white light.

Much quicker than it appeared, the craft pulls itself into the night sky; it drifts off until, in low earth orbit, the lights blend in with the stars.

Grandpa walks over to where the craft was hovering and comes back, rolling the spare tire he had left at home in the garage.

"Wow,” Sherry says. “How did you get that, Grandpa?”

“It doesn’t matter, honey; no one would believe it. Just finish your granola bar and get back in the front seat. We’ll be heading to Mom and Dad’s in a few minutes.” He says. “Do yourself a favor and don’t even bother telling anyone about that ship and all that light because people will just think you’re fibbing.”

"OK” She says.

The End.

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