"First Contact"
The grass was tall and as I walked through it, I put my arms out at shoulder height flipping the seeded tops as I made my way. It was a beautiful, sun-shiny day as I escaped from the big white house and the family behind me.
I could hear them calling for me, but I ventured on hoping to steal away for just a few more minutes. More than that though, something was drawing me.
Pushing through the grass, I came upon a man, a bright-shiny man. He was dressed all in white and was extremely muscular, balding on top with white hair on the sides.
“Ricky,” he said, “Please, don’t be afraid.”
Even though I was trembling inside to the marrow of my bones, I simply said, “I am not afraid.”
I could tell he saw my fear, but he smiled kindly and told me, “I have a gift for you.”
I asked him, “What is it?”
He then reached inside his bosom and pulled out an absolutely beautiful, gold sword. It looked fairly plain but solid gold, heavy, smooth, and very shiny.
I looked at the sword and thought to myself, “When he leaves, I will play with it.”
He smiled seeming to know what I was thinking and said, “It is not a toy, but it is for you.”
Then he said, “I need to give this to you as it came from me.
I said, “Okay.”
He then placed the sword in my bosom. It slipped right in painlessly and seemed to dissipate as I felt just a light touch. I then heard the family calling for me again more frantically than before and I turned to check on them.
Realizing that I needed to go back, I turned to inform him so, but he was no longer there, seeming to have simply vanished.
I thought about him quite a bit over the years and one day on T.V., I saw a soap commercial with “Mr. Clean” in it. He reminded me of the man who gave me the sword and so it was that I came to refer to him as the “Mr. Clean Angel”.
I was two and a half years old when this event occurred. I would not see him again for about ten years.