The Cliff

Once upon a time there was a cliff and a little fellow who had fallen down onto a crag in the cliff. He lay on the crag unconscious, a ways from the top. Then he woke up because a voice called down, "Hey, you've fallen and you can't get up."

The fellow rubbed his head a bit and called back, "Oh..." But being a little prideful he replied, "I can get up."

"How did you fall down there, anyhow?"

"Well...I was with all of my friends and all my friends walked off the cliff, so I tried it too."

"Didn't your mother tell you about all of your friends walking off a cliff?"

"Yeah..." the fellow replied.

"Why didn't you listen to her?"

"Because I'm a skeptic. Besides, she didn't really say not to so when Timmy said, 'Did your mommy really say not to walk off of a cliff?' I thought about it and she might not have, she only said what if they did. Besides, he said we would not necessarily get hurt and plus we could be like superman!"

The voice paused, "Are you like superman?"

"No...but maybe I can...well, the least I can do is get back up this cliff on my own."

"No you can't because little Timmy was lying. I can get you back up the cliff. I'm the owner of this property so I know how. That is the only way because there are beasts at the bottom of the cliff who will eat you if you slip down further. I would think you would have learned that you are not superman. You are just a child who didn't listen to the wisdom of his mother."

Little Tommy didn't like that answer and he shouted up angrily, "So you're the owner?! Why do you let this dangerous cliff exist on your property? And dangerous beasts too?!" Tommy stomped around the crag rather petulantly.

The voice answered, "This property is perfectly safe for boys who listen to their mothers. I am with a group of scientists studying the beasts at the bottom of the cliff. We study their behavior so that we can capture more of them and save little boys from being eaten. Tommy, we're at the point that you have to trust me to guide you back or you can continue believing Timmy about being like superman."

"Maybe Timmy wasn't right but I can stay on this crag and figure things out, the cliff isn't all that high. I'll bet my friends are at the bottom safe and you just want me to come up there to take me to the police. I think you're making up stories about beasts to scare me, is all!"

The scientist replied, "Okay Tommy..."

So Tommy began walking on what seemed to be the best path back up the cliff, it seemed safe enough, it was even looking grassy and there was not so much of a rocky edge. Then he walked on a soft spot and slipped down the rest of the way. He worried a bit but thought, "I still know the way back if I can find my friends. ...and see, it wasn't all that high or the fall that bad, just like I thought. That scientist was just trying to scare me."

But then little Tommy saw a shadow moving up the ravine toward him and his breath caught in his throat. Shaking and sniveling Tommy tried to clamber back up the slippery part of the slope, then he turned and saw something coming down the ravine toward him too. He wet his pants.

But while he was standing there wetting his pants a strong hand grabbed him by his collar and began pulling him up the cliff. He looked up and saw some scientists who had repelled down the cliff and heard a voice say, "Aw man, looks like your little skeptic wet his pants. Careful Joe..." The man pulling him up just laughed, then turned down to him and said, "You thought you were going to get torn apart by beasts? We can't have little boy's stories ending like that, now, can we?"

Little Tommy looked up gratefully and asked, "What about my friend Zed?"

Joe replied, "Some stories do end that way, Zed is dead Tommy....Zed's dead."

Index I
Index II
Index III
Not indexed yet, Science Fiction
The Extracosmosials