Aaron Smith wondered why the school bus was late. In the five years he had been going to school the bus had never been late before.  He wondered why today was different.  Hanna Pilcher sat contentedly on her books and studied her laptop.  A cute freckle-faced redhead, she looked up and smiled at Aaron. “Be patient! It’s not really late…it’s transportation day!”

“Transportation day?  What’s that?”  Aaron was puzzled.  He had never heard of transportation day.

“Oh silly boy!  Transportation day is when they come and take the smartest of us kids and send us to school far away. I can’t wait to go…it’s really going to be fun!

“Wait a minute!  Who comes?  Where do the smartest go to school anyway? All the kids in our school seem a lot like us to me.”

Yes, some of them are like us.  They’ll go with us.  The rest of them won’t be chosen.”

Chosen?  By who?  Are you saying we were chosen?”

Yes, silly…of course we were chosen.  Why do you think they’ve been watching us so carefully for so long?

Who’s watching us?  And, where is the school bus anyway?

Them…they’re watching us.  Deep in the middle of the night, don’t they come to visit you?  They come to visit me every couple of weeks and test me.  She looked closely at him. “They haven’t been testing you?”

No… I don’t think so.

Well, I doubt you slept through it!  It’s hard.  My Dad says it’s one of the hardest things a being can go through.

What?  What’s so hard?

Their tests…they hurt and they take long time.

“Where is the school bus?”

“Oh…ok, I’ll tell you, the bus already came.  You couldn’t see it and it couldn’t see you.

What are you talking about?

“The bus.  The bus we’re waiting for is different from the bus we’re used to.  It can’t be seen by just everyone like our regular bus. Its…well, it’s just different…it goes to a different place.

“Right!”   Aaron looked at Hanna cross-eyed.  “You’re telling me that those people walking by us can’t see us?

“No.  They can’t see us either.”

“Right again!”  Aaron reached out his hand and tapped a passerby on the shoulder. “Mister?”  Aaron’s hand passed through the man’s arm seeming to ripple slightly as it passed through it.  Aaron turned around and did the same to a woman with the same result. He stared at Hanna, shock written all over his face.

“Told you!”

“Where, exactly, are we?”

“At our bus stop, silly!”

“Yeah, but if they can’t see us, then they are going to think we’re missing.”

Yes, your parents will.  They’ll call the police and put out an Amber Alert, but they won’t find you.”

“What about your parents, wouldn’t they do the same thing?”

“My parents know all about it.  They have always been a part of this program.

“Program?”

“Yes, for years they have tried to train the best and brightest humans so we can eventually overcome the worst of human nature before others find us.  According to my parents, it’s up to our generation.  They have trained enough now to change humanity.  If our generation can’t change human values, then there is no hope for the future.

“You and your parents seem to know a lot about this.  How did I get involved?  I know nothing about it?”

“You are one of the humans who must learn to make the change.”

“Right!  And what are you, sliced bologna?

“I’m your recruiter. You’re my assignment.  My parents are from Cygnus. I’m here to make sure you don’t miss the bus.”

“Sure you are! What happens if I miss the bus?”

“You have a key role to play. If you don’t play it, things won’t work out the way they should.  .Human’s have a word for it, “karma”…in this case bad karma since mankind wouldn’t survive.  Oh, here comes the bus now!  Good luck with your destiny!”

Aaron looked up just in time to watch himself rise from the concrete and enter a saucer-like ship.  He fought briefly until Hanna smiled and said, “It’s pointless to struggle.  You’ve been chosen…your education has begun.”

The End