Random stories

No one really knew where he came from or what he did, all I know was that there was no one better at spinning yarns than Steve.

Steve was a quaint fellow, a bit of an oddball, but he was the kindest person I had ever met. Maybe that's why I always stuck out to hear the end of all his stories, even if he did start another right after finishing one.

The neighbors weren't too fond of him though, they would joke and say he was off his meds or that he should be institutionalized. On one occasion, one of the neighbor's kids was sitting attentively on the front lawn as he told a story of meeting men that lived far beyond the stars.

"Junior! Get away from him!" screamed his mother as she ran to pull him away.

Poor Steve was initially startled, but he regained his composure as this type of thing happened often.

"Ms. Miller, Steve was just telling a story, he meant no harm," I said as she pulled Junior away and dragged him back him to "safety".

Steve just smiled at me and told me, "Leave her be."

Normally Steve would walk over to me and pick the story up right where he left off with Junior, but this time he just looked up to the skies. Almost as if he was searching for something or he heard something pass by.

"You know," Steve said, "they always said they'd come see me one last time."

"Who?", I asked, playing along.

"The men beyond the stars."

Steve always had a watch on, but it didn't tell time the way I thought it would, rather, it was always counting down. The first time I met Steve and asked for the time, he said it was "ETD 05:10:12:03:55" and every time since, it was the same, but less of it.

"What time you got?"

"ETD 00:00:00:12:37" and Steve smiled and walked back inside, leaving me puzzled.

The next morning, the police had came around and I could hear them through my window.

"STEVE! WE NEED TO TALK YOU!"

I got dressed, Steve would need me right now to help diffuse the situation, and out I walked towards them. Before I could get there, they had already barged through the door and I could see the inside of the living room from the sidewalk.

Steve was on his recliner, gazing at the ceiling without batting an eyelid. A faint sound came from his record player:

"This is Major Tom to Ground Control

I'm stepping through the door

And I'm floating in a most peculiar way

And the stars look very different today"

I wanted to send out invitations for the funeral service, but I figured an announcement in the local paper would be enough. This way I didn't have to deal with invitations ending up back in my mailbox or Ms. Miller telling me "Good riddance."

It was an empty funeral service. I had brought a pot of coffee, just in case anyone arrived , but I was already halfway through it.

Steve's record player sat beside the casket, I figured he would want music to fill the silence, especially if it was Elton John playing.

"I'm not the man they think I am at home

Oh, no, no, no

I'm a rocket man"

*schoom*

*whoosh*

All across the sky, these ships appeared. Some looked weathered and tattered, others reflected the sky around it.

"I hope wer'e not too late", a voice from behind me said. I turned around and dropped my coffee in shock when I saw where the voice came from.

"The men beyond the stars," was all I could say.

---

Submitted by dudewithbrokenhand on Mon, Aug 29, 2022 to /r/WritingPrompts/

The prompt

You are the only attendee at a man's funeral. He was derisively known as "the UFO man" in the community, regaling others with stories of years of adventures among the stars. As the funeral begins, however, hundreds of alien spacecraft of all shapes and sizes suddenly appear in the sky above.