Wrote another short story. Hope you like it. Let me know.

1. Electra Blue
A Short Story by Alan Walsh
Black ice brought on by fresh rain and freezing night air made driving conditions dangerous
& tiring for the Deputy Sheriff making his mountain rounds; so he decided to stop at his
favorite turnout for a rest &smoke. He lit up whilegazing down into the valley at the
villagethat was his next stop. The contrast of bright village lights against the dark valley
floor, and the towering mountains all around, touched a part of his soul.The air was crisp,
dead-still, and rain-sweet in the aftermath of the storm.
Long before his conscious mind kicked in, his subconscious detected a subtle change.Slowly
the valley took on a blue hue that crept part-way up the surrounding mountainsides. It had
an eerie “electric” quality about it, but there was no sound emitted and no detectable
sparking or movement in the valley. It brightened in intensity to the point of being
uncomfortable towatch. As he turned away and reached for his shades, the light suddenly
blinked out;like someone had thrown a switch. The valley was immediately plunged into
cave-blackdarkness.No blue hue.. no village lights.. no nothin‟.Only faint moonlight painted
the upper slopes ofthe surrounding mountains.
The Deputy assumed a power outage, and headed down the mountain to see if they needed
assistance. The village was utterly pitch-black. Only his headlights provided illumination.
Not a soul in sight. Given the time of night, this didn‟t surprise him too much; but then a
realization came to him. No light anywhere. Not even candlelight. Most people would be
asleep and blissfully unaware, but every burg has it‟s night crawlers; and they were
nowhere to be seen. Cruising around, he searched out likely places for people to
congregate. The local diner, which he knew stayed open for night workers, was dark and
silent. The door was unlocked, and there were signs of recent activity, but no one was
home. The tiny city hall, the school, the town auditorium.. all deserted.He found an
unlocked car and tried the horn & headlights.. nothing. Not a soul to be seen anywhere. He
stopped and banged on a couple of doors. He drove around cranking his siren and “Mickey
Mouse” lights. No response. Everything looked perfectly in order; except forno light.. no
power.. and no people. The hair on his neck & arms stood on end, and a creep settled into
his soul.
Things were getting over his pay-grade fast, so he jumped on his radio to call in. No
response. The repeater up-mountain apparently wasn‟t working. At this point, there was
only one thing to do. He headed out to the nearest Forest Service fire lookout station.
Relief at last.. lights and people! No one there knew a thing. A mountain sat between the
village and their locale. A couple Rangers tried to call places they knew in the village, and
got busy signals. Using their phone to call his headquarters, the Deputy reached a bored
desk sergeant who listened to his story and then said “damn transformer probably blew..

2. would explain the weird blue light. These are tough mountain folk. They‟ll be okay. Move on
and finish your patrol. We‟ll check on „em in the morning”.
The next day, a Ranger rolled into the village for an early breakfast.. and soon found
himself rushingout to the lookout post with his skin crawling. A phone call later, Sheriffs
were rushing up the mountain. They found the town intact and untouched.. with no one
home. No bodies.. no indications of a mass exodus.. no nothin‟. State and federal officials
were called.. searches conducted..tests done.. no answers..not a singleclue. The village was
cordoned off, and everyone sat outside the newly-established “danger zone” scratching their
heads in shock and disbelief. Drivers were reroutedbythe excuse of a landslide, and the
whole matter was hushed up tight.
A private pilot crossingthe mountains next spotted an eerie blue light below that suddenly
brightened and blinked out. It was broad daylight, so a light of that size &intensity had to
bereally significant; especially in the largely vacant mountains. A post-landing call was
made, and he next found himself locked in an interrogation room at the regional Air Force
base. The GPS position of the sighting was determined, and once again authorities
descended on an uninhabited mountain village. At this point, the response escalated rapidly
An overall Area Army Commander was assigned, who set up shop at the sizeable regional
Sheriff‟s headquarters down in the flats overlooking the mountains; with connections to the
Air Force, National Guard, Police, and other civic assets of surrounding towns.The entire
mountain range was emptied and cordoned off. Every conceivable asset was utilized to
observe and search for answers;intelligence satellites repositioned.. electronic assets
scanning the skies.. aircraft, military, and police personnel scouring the mountains.
No one observed a thing.. until the night a satellite sensedsimultaneous blue lights across
three mountain locales. There had been police and military observers in those three villages.
No one heard from them, and they were gone along with all the villagers. Their equipment
sat where they left it; lifeless.
There was no hiding the events from the press anymore. The Area Commander put out a
public call for help from anyone who might have observed anything even remotely useful.
Hours & hours were wasted taking calls from nut-cases. Front page headlines screamed for
answers. Politicians pressured. Family & friends of the missing congregated and held vigils;
when not pressuring the authorities. National media pitched camp and interviewed everyone
in sight. Self-proclaimed experts put out “end-of-the-world” warnings. UFO nuts held signs
up to the sky inviting “ET” down. A wide array of personnel, equipment, and weapons sat on
alert. Nerves were heavily frayed.
Two weeks passed without event, so tensions eased a bit. The alert level was lowered.
Assets were slowly pulled off for other needs. Politicians complained about the cost.
Searches wound down. Local leaders commiserated about the pressure they were under,
and their utter inability to provide any answers whatsoever. Everyone held their breath,
praying that the bizarre horror was over.

3. The Area Commander madehisdaily update call to the President. “No, Mr. President, I‟m
sorry but we have no answers. Not a clue. Every conceivable asset has been brought to
bear, and we‟re no further ahead than we were at the beginning..” As he spoke, the
Commander‟s aid waspulling on his arm. At first he ignored it, but it was getting rougher
and he eventually covered the phone receiver with his hand to deliver a sharp rebuke. His
eyes turned to the aid, and he saw the man lookingout the window.. white as a ghost.
Hiseyes followed to where the aid was looking.. out the window.. toward the mountains..and
after a momentary pause for recognition, he dropped the phone.
The entire mountain range was bathed in blue light. It was brightening, and expanding
rapidly..spilling over the local foothills.. down into the flatlands.. straight toward them.