The Secret Life of Owen Skye by Alan Cumyn Page B

first-hand eyewitness accounts. Mostly they looked like lizard-men with big, smooth, shiny heads and saucer eyes, and three long fingers and gimpy legs. They were green or silver and had tiny mouths and no eyebrows.
    â€œThey probably look like tin foil,” Leonard said. “And have two heads.”
    â€œTin foil!” said Andy. “Why would they look like tin foil?”
    â€œWell,” said Leonard, “they would have to be light to fly across the universe. And if they were like tin foil, they could change into different shapes easily. So they could be an airplane if they needed to fly somewhere, or a horse if they wanted to walk, or become really thin to slip under doors. And they have two heads,” he added, “because they marry their cousins.”
    Andy said, “What would be the point of being an alien if you were going to look like tin foil and marry your cousin? Honestly!” Then he laughed at Leonard, who tucked his chin into his chest and kept walking into the wind.
    â€œWhy couldn’t an alien look like tin foil, just because the book hasn’t thought of that?” he muttered.
    With the cold weather the river was frozen over, but there was deep snow on top of it. When Leonard stepped down from the riverbank he fell up to his neck in snow. Andy and Owen pulled him out and then Leonard refused to cross the river because he thought he might fall through the ice.
    â€œMom and Dad told us to never cross the river on our own,” he said, folding his arms and slumping into the snow.
    â€œFine. You can stay here,” Andy said. “You tell us if you see any tin foil flying around from outer space.”
    Owen said nervously, “Maybe we shouldn’t cross.”
    â€œOh, come on!” Andy said. “This river’s been frozen for months! The Empire State Building wouldn’t fall through that ice!” Owen thought that even if the Empire State Building did fall through the ice it would still be tall enough to stick out a mile into the air. But little kids would sink and drown.
    â€œThey did tell us,” Owen said. “And they were pretty angry before.”
    â€œAll right then!” Andy said. “
Both
of you stay here and look for flying tin foil!” He turned and started walking out across the frozen river. He was the tallest and the oldest but even he was having a hard time in all that snow.
    He fought his way about halfway across. Then he turned around and looked back at his brothers, who were standing on the shore watching him.
    â€œIt’s all right!” Andy called back to them. “You can — ”
    But before he could finish, the river made a sound like a cannon being fired.
Crack!
    Andy didn’t wait. He ran back to shore faster than if a rocketship had been after him.
    â€œWhat was that?” he gasped when he was safe again. They all watched the river and listened. And after awhile Owen could hear what he hadn’t been able to before — the size of the ice underneath the snow, and how hard it was pushing against itself, so that there were little creaks and groans, and long pauses full of strain. And every so often, after it felt like the whole river had been holding its breath for ages, the same kind of
crack!
as before.
    â€œIt isn’t safe,” Owen said, and Andy was silent.
    â€œI guess we’ll have to take the bridge,” Andy said. He was looking over at the railway bridge that crossed the river about a quarter mile downstream. He started off and the other two followed. There was no path along the river at that section so they had to make their own, tramping through the deep snow, falling every so often. Owen hated the melting snow squiggling down his neck and forcing its way into the space between the tops of his boots and the legs of his snowsuit.
    When they got to the base of the bridge they had to climb a high chainlink fence, then crawl their