Lesson for Today

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._"