Between*The*Stars!

 

           Millicent Price and Ralph enjoyed doing interviews but finding a convenient place to meet was always a problem.  He could hardly come to her office in downtown Milltown.  He is a little too amazing to look upon even for those storied streets. So, it falls to Millicent, a real pro as everyone knows, to make it happen and to meet himself somewhere a little more discreet for one of their little interviews

The town of Index, WA.

.

            So, using Maeve as the go between, they decided that Milly should drive to the town of Index, up in the hills, and that Ralph would be lurking down at the end of the main street where it turns into a dead end under the trees. Then Ralph would squeeze himself into her big British Racing Green Escalade and they would go for a ride and do the interview in the car, always assuming he could fit. Only time would tell.

            She wished that they could just take a seat outside the historic Bush House Hotel and Café, but once again, the vision of Ralph sitting there would be much too exciting for the general public, even in a place like Index with its 150 or so residents.

            On the appointed day, at the appointed time, like 10 AM, Millicent drove slowly down the main street of Index and out into the forest. She turned her vehicle around facing outward and settled in to wait for Ralph to show up. He didn't keep her waiting long. Pretty quickly he was there, hugely, and tapping on the passenger side window.  Milly rolled it down and unlocked the door.

            “Hey Ralph,” said Milly. “Do you think you can get in here, if you shove the seat all the way back maybe? By the way, thanks for coming.  I bet Ramona is extra busy these days, huh?”

            “I think so,” says he, sticking his big head inside the Cadillac SUV. “And if I have to I can diminish a little bit.”

           “You continue to surprise me every time we meet Ralph. You can change your size?” she said laughing.

            “Yeah!  It’s like vanishing, but in a different direction like. Some guys from Between*The*Stars showed me how to fine tune this location slipping thing. And yes, Ramona is busy with Cherry and Twigg, but she has Constance to help out. That is when Ferdy isn’t there singing courtship songs and trying to get her to go for a long walk.”

            As it turned out, Ralph was able to ride in the passenger’s seat.  His head was touching the overhead, and his knees were pressed against the dash, but he was inside the car, feet and all.  This was his first ever ride in a motor vehicle.  He kept laughing out loud and saying “Wow!” And then, “WHEEE!”

            “This is fun, man!  You guys get to do this all the time! Well, I’ll be paddled and sent to bed hungry! Hey, can we just drive around all these forest roads, and you can ask me all the questions you want while you drive us around?”

            “Oh sure.  That’s easy. Nobody much is going to see you inside this thing.  If they do, they will think it was their crazy imagination again,” said Millicent. So, she just drove all along forest roads, which are dirt or gravel roads mostly, dusty in the summer, rutted, sometimes very narrow.  It takes a fair amount of attention to stay on the road and out of trouble, but as we know, Milly is a pro. And as she drove the switchbacks, the steep rutted hills and the narrow dark, over grown roads Ralph was having a swinging time. 

            Getting right down to brass tacks and all, she said, “um, so, you called the ETs those guys from Between*The*Stars.  Is that what they call themselves?”’

            “I don’t really know. Every time I see them, they introduce themselves as from Between*The*Stars. I guess when you think about it, everything, all living creatures and everything but the stars themselves are between the stars. So, they aren’t telling us much when they say that. Maybe they want us to think about it?

            “I think it’s ET poetry,” said Ralph. “But I suspect that what we think of as poetry is how they slide up and down the total scale of existence the way they do.  It seems like figurative language. But the neat thing is that we can learn it from them. They taught me a few things! It just seems like singing a song. There are some breathing things too.

            “See, Millicent, it’s like this. Different types of life see different parts of the totality out there. A lot of your people don’t see much but a narrow strip in the middle. Some, however, see outside that narrow strip.  You call them seers, or prophets. Most of us are on that level. And not only do we see in a wider band, but we can move around at different wavelengths. But the beings that you call ETs are our teachers.”

            “Do you have any idea why the ET’s are the way they are?  Was it time?  They just developed over time, or did God just make them that way,” she asked.

            “Milly, my friend, I can’t get over how much fun this is. I wonder if I could just drive it?  Boy!  Think of that!”

            “I don’t know about that Ralph.  It present quite a vision in the mind,” she said. “Let’s think about that one for a minute.”

            “Back to the beings from Between*The*Stars, I think it might have been the passage of time and development, but I think maybe they were created that way too. You know, sometime we could meet Mak. He’ll talk!  You remember him from Cherry’s birth party.”

            “No way I will ever forget that party, Ralph.  It stands alone! Absolutely, I’d love to talk to Mak.  Can you set that up, with all your special skills?”

            “I can do that for you Ms. Millicent Price, girl reporter, yep I can!” giggled Ralph, still having way too much fun.

            “Well, thanks. That interview would probably make me a star in the world of amazing news stories.  I think people just think I make the stuff about you up! Can you believe that?” asked Millicent.

            “It’s better that way,” said Ralph. “It really is. Part of our essence is that we don’t exist in the average human mind.”

            “Where would you like me to drop you off Ralph, somewhere in the general vicinity of home? I can get you within a few miles.”

            “Oh, Milly, just take me to that cool walkway through the woods that we saw a while back. I can get home from there.  You don’t have to drive this contraption out of your way,” said Ralph. “I still want to drive it!”

            “Man, I dunno Ralph, I’ll have to think about that one. Maybe, just maybe.  But let it marinate for a while. In the meantime, thanks for the meeting. It’s always a learning experience, and a lot of fun.  I had no idea you would like riding so much.

            “Here we go, your stop dear sir! Hey, tell Ramona hi, and love to Cherry and Twigg!”

            “You bet,” said Ralph as he wandered down the dim and cool walkway into the forest and then sort of shimmered out of sight.

            Millicent, was not phased, she just smiled, shook her head, and drove that Escalade for home. She had some writing to do.