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If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Lesson for Today - -Author: Joel Nydahl - -Release Date: August 27, 2021 [eBook #66151] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LESSON FOR TODAY *** - - - - -LESSON FOR TODAY - -By Joel Nydahl - -With the world destroyed around them, Helen -wondered why she and Robbie were still left alive. -There must be a reason--and of course, there was.... - -[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from -Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy -May 1953 -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - - "_While we remain in our invisible space-ship, the inhabitants of - this world cannot see us. Prepare to take notes now in preparation - for your final exam on the subject Alien Creatures and Their Actions - in Given Situations. Notice below us the female of the dominant - Species. She is with her child...._" - -Clutching Robbie in her arms and holding him tight, Helen Thompson -sat down wearily on the ground. The cold and dampness was all around -her, boring through the thin cotton dress she wore. Her flesh was cold -and her dark brown hair hung in ringlets over her forehead. She wore -no shoes. She had lost them miles back, near the ruins at the edge of -Chicago. Her feet were blistered and bleeding, numb now from the cold -of early morning. - -Carefully she put her sleeping child on the ground for a moment as she -rubbed her feet trying to restore circulation. Slowly feeling came back -and then she flinched as pain shot up her legs. - -She picked up the child and started again, heading westward. - - "_See the way she tries to protect her young, cradling it in her - arms, shielding it from the coldness with her own body._" - -Now the sun was higher in the sky. The cold was gone now. But still -there was something surrounding her, enclosing her, almost like a -prison wall. Yet she could not see it. - -_Radiation!_ - -Radiation from the long exploded bombs. It poisoned the air. It killed -all vegetation. It killed all the animals. All except the two of them, -the woman and her child. It had spared them. Not because it wanted to, -but because it had to. Vaguely she remembered.... - - * * * * * - -She and Robbie had been sitting in a Chicago park when the first -bomb dropped. It fell quite near them, about three miles away. She -remembered the bright blinding flash. Above them the branch of a tree -cracked. It fell to a point twenty feet over their heads. Then it -stopped. It was as if some force held it back. The force, whatever it -was, also held back the heat. But it didn't stop her from fainting in -terror. - -When she regained consciousness, the burned and broken city lay all -around them. Buildings were fused together. Everywhere was destruction. -Everywhere except around she and Robbie. There, the grass was green and -flowers grew. At the edge where the green ended and the black began, -there was a pile of rubbish piled up _as if leaning against something_. -She picked up a stick nearby and threw it. It reached the point where -the green stopped and then it too stopped, _in the middle of the air_. -Finally it fell to the ground. - -She arose and walked over to where the stick lay. She extended her hand -a few feet in front of her, and touched something. Something tangible, -yet she could not see it. And no matter how hard she pushed, she could -not extend her hand beyond a given point. - -_A dome was covering them and protecting them!_ - -For weeks she and Robbie stayed under the dome while the wind took some -of the radiation away. Each morning, when they awoke, a package of food -lay by their side. Strange food, food they had never tasted or seen -before. _Alien food._ - -_They had been spared by--what?_ - -The puzzling thoughts spun in her mind. _Why_ were they being spared? -_Who_ was sparing them? - -Then one day, weeks after the bombs dropped, the dome disappeared. She -could not see it disappear, but she knew that it was gone for the pile -of ash that had leaned against it fell to the ground. - -Then she started out with but one thought in mind. _I must find -Johnny!_ Across country she went, through small towns filled with death. - -She walked, with Robbie stumbling along at her side, his small face -wide with wonder and fear. Her heart ached as she looked into his -staring eyes, while an occasional whimper left his lips. "... mommy, -where's Daddy? Where is he, mommy?" - -She gripped his hand tighter and continued to walk, each mile a numb -and crazy nightmare. - - "_Now take note of the setting the aliens are in. It took careful - planning for our scientists to devastate the planet's surface as - you now witness._" - -It was late afternoon when Helen stopped to rest by a seared oak tree. -Robbie had been walking beside her. Suddenly he turned and looked up at -her. "Mommy, why are we walking so far? I'm tired of walking. I don't -want to walk any more. Where is daddy?" - -"Hush, dear. We're going to find daddy." She knew they would never find -him ... alive. But something made her keep going. Something inside -wouldn't let her turn back. _She had to know...._ - -"We've got to find daddy so he'll make everything right again, don't -we?" - -She hesitated before answering. "Yes--yes that's it. We've got to find -daddy so he can help us--and make everything right again!" - -"Oh." - -"Go to sleep, Robbie. You've got to rest." - -"But I'm hungry." - -"Sleep, dear. We'll eat ... later." She kissed him, sat on the ground -beside him and rocked his head in her weary arms. - - "_For those of you students who do not understand the languages of - this planet, I'll interpret. She was trying to comfort her young - one, telling him that his father was going to make everything right - again when they found him. While inwardly she knew they would never - find him alive. Primitive peoples often react to disasters in this - way, making themselves and others around them believe things that - are not true._" - -Slowly Helen opened her eyes. She sat up slowly, taking in the scene -around her. She sat that way for a moment, thinking, her mind far from -there, somewhere in southern France where her aunt and uncle were. She -wondered if-- - -"Robbie," she whispered. She nudged his shoulder gently, trying to -awaken him. Finally his eyes opened. He smiled wistfully. - -"Get up, dear. We've got to be going now." - -"I'm hungry." - -"I know. So am I. We'll find something to eat pretty soon. You will -have to wait." - -"But--" Tears came to his eyes. One ran down his dirty cheek, making a -rivulet. - -"Please Robbie," she pleaded. "Don't cry. Remember what daddy always -said, 'A smile blocks up the tears.'" He smiled weakly. "Now buck up," -she added. - -She took his hand and they started walking. - - "_Reading her mind, I see that she is more concerned over her - child's welfare than her own. This is very unusual in primitive - races._" - -They entered a small town. Down the main street they walked. The town -was deserted, but showed no sign of being bombed or burned. In the -street, numerous automobiles were parked. But she saw no people.... - -They entered a restaurant. Inside, the tables and chairs were in good -order except for a half inch of dust and a few dirty dishes. She -inspected the kitchen and found what she had been looking for. Canned -food. - -"Robbie," she called. "Where are you?" - -She walked back to the door of the kitchen and looked into the -restaurant. Robbie was not there.... Then she saw him through the -restaurant windows, standing on the street outside. She called -"Robbie--I've found some food!" - -Robbie turned, his small face twisted with hunger. He started back -toward the door. - -She returned to the kitchen and looked for a can opener. - - "_We will drop down a few hundred feet and pick up the young one - with our magnetic-force-field. We shall examine him._" - -One moment Robbie was standing at the restaurant door, and the next -he was floating upward in the middle of the air. There was a strange -sensation in his stomach. He was scared. He started to cry. - - "_Notice the noise he makes with his mouth. This is not a form of - communication, but rather he is using a primitive form of expressing - his thoughts, which is called crying. Reading his mind, I find only - confusion and fear. He wonders where he is, but knows that he - doesn't like it._ - - "_Another interesting fact about these aliens is that they feel - pain. It is hard to understand and even harder to explain. But I - will try. We are aware of touching something or somebody only as a - sensation on the skin. These people have more than that. Now watch. - As I cut the skin of this young one slightly, notice that he jerks - and screams louder. He is feeling pain. It is a strong sensation - that leaves a sharp impression on the brain. That does not fully - explain it, but it is the best I can do along with this - demonstration._" - -"Oh, good God! Robbie! What happened, honey. What happened?" Then she -saw the blood dripping on the floor. "_Robbie_, your arm!" - -Then he was in her arms, sobbing hysterically. "I--I ... they took me, -and cut me--and ..." but he could go no further. - -Carefully, she laid him on a table and examined his arm. The bleeding -had subsided some. She took a clean wet cloth and wiped off the blood. -Then she bandaged it. - -Robbie had stopped sobbing now, but the tears were still coming. She -tried to get the story of what had happened to him, but what she did -hear, she didn't believe. - -After he finished she said, "Now, Robbie, I can't believe that you were -lifted into the air by a space-ship, tied to a table and cut in the arm -by some monster!" - -"But Mommy, that's what happened. Honest! And when I was laying on the -table I heard them talking. But I couldn't understand what they were -saying!" - -A grimness filled her as he spoke. And then a terrible horror spread -through her. She remembered the Chicago park, when the bombs fell--how -they alone seemed to be spared death.... _Was it possible?..._ - -She grabbed Robbie into her arms and dashed up the street away from the -restaurant. She saw a car standing by the curb and ran to it. There -were keys in the ignition. She put Robbie on the front seat and got -in. As the motor coughed into life she meshed gears and sped out of -the town. One thing buzzed in her mind. _Peoria--that's where Johnny -is--oh, Johnny--help us!_ - - "_The conveyance in which you now see them is called an automobile. - It is propelled by a liquid fuel, gasoline, in an internal - combustion engine. We purposely had the automobile left there for - them._" - -She drove through the industrial section of Peoria. She knew she was -near the factory where Johnny worked. She started looking for the -building, thinking how unfair it was for Johnny to have taken a job -so far from Chicago. But her heart lifted as she thought about her -husband. _Johnny--Johnny, we're here!_ - -There! To her left. There it was! She stopped the car, took Robbie's -hand and ran toward the building. - -"Mommy, is this where daddy is? Is he here?" Robbie's voice trembled. - -She nodded her head as they ran. "Yes, Robbie--daddy's here!" - -She reached the building. The door was open and they stepped inside. - -She was breathless now. Johnny--so close.... She led Robbie to the -stairs and her knees shook as they went up. "Johnny! Johnny!" she -called, her voice close to hysteria. - -But there was only silence. - -She ran down the hall on the second floor, pulling Robbie with her, -heard him sobbing. Then she saw the door and the gold letters on it. -JOHN THOMPSON. - -"Robbie, stay here." She hesitated. Her hands were cold and clammy. She -was trembling. - -She shoved open the door. - -She screamed. - -There on the floor lay a body. It had once been a man. Now there was -only a skeleton of bleached white bones. Then she saw _it_. On the ring -finger of his right hand. A gold ring with silver letters on black -onyx. Johnny's.... - -Then she was running and screaming. Screaming and running. Down the -stairs and out the door. Behind her Robbie followed, crying, terror in -his small eyes. - -She collapsed on the ground, her body shaking with sobs. Robbie fell -beside her. - -She put her arms around him, clutched his body to her. "Oh, Robbie," -she cried. "You're the only thing I have left in the world. I love you. -Don't leave me. Don't ever leave me." She snuggled him closer to her. - -Then she looked at his face. She gave a little cry in her throat. She -looked closer. Covering his skin were small red sores. What was it she -had once read in a book?--Something about radiation poisoning--red -sores appearing just before death-- - -"No, Robbie! Oh, no!" - -He looked up at her, his eyes hot and feverish. He tried to talk but -the words bubbled on his lips. - -She pressed him to her breast and rocked him, shaking her head. "No, -Robbie! Don't leave me!..." - -She felt the beating of his heart against hers. Slower. His small body -twitched. Then grew silent. - -... She sat there on the ground, holding the still form in her arms -long after the sun had set. The Moon shone down with a silver glow, -bathing the child's dead body in its soft light. 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