The Best Five Minutes of My Life

Two boys were lying down on the hood of a broken-down abandoned car at 3:04 A.M. on a Saturday in August before the school year had begun. There was supposed to be a meteor shower on this night, and they were eagerly awaiting it. Unsure of when it would come, they kept their eyes glued to the skies. They had been silent before, but the moment was too right for silence, and finally one of them broke it.

“Hey, Adam?”

“Yeah, Tom?”

“What do you think is up there?” Tom asked. Adam looked at him.

“What do you mean?”

“Like, in other places, other worlds, maybe. What do you think? Think anyone is watching us?”

“I dunno,” Adam replied. “Maybe so, maybe not.”

“Well, if anything is watching us, I wonder what they think of what they see...” Tom said.

“I can’t imagine they’d like it too very much,” Adam replied.

“Why not?”

“Well, war, I guess. Do they watch us blow each other away? What do they think of it?”

“How do you know they don’t like it? Who’s to say that if there’s any other life out there, they aren’t just waiting for us to wipe each other out before making their move?”

“I find it hard to believe that any species who had the power to make it across lightyears and find us would need us to wipe each other out before making their own attack. If they had the intention of killing us, they’d have done it already,” Adam explained.

“Well, what if they’re using us for testing? What if that’s what happens when they abduct people?”

“What could they possibly learn now that they haven’t learned since we first started seeing UFOs in the 1950s?”

“Well why else would they abduct people?” Tom asked.

“Who says they do? Maybe it’s just hallucinating,” Adam said.

“What about when more than one person is abducted at a time and they all see the same thing?”

“Who’s to say they aren’t lying?” Adam asked.

“Why would they do that?” Tom wondered aloud.

“Maybe it’s because nobody likes to think that in all the vastness of space, in all of the Universe sprawled across Eternity in every direction you can think of and maybe even some that you can’t; they don’t like to think that in all of that space and time, humanity is utterly and definitely alone; and we’re the only ones waiting to wipe each other off the face of the Earth,” Adam said as he closed his eyes.

3:05 A.M.

“So what do you think about Heaven?” It was Adam’s turn to start the silence-killing this time.

“Well, I’m not really all that sure. Whenever I picture it, I see this really cloudy, pleasant place and all,” Tom said.

“Most people do. Think you’ll go there when you die?”

“I don’t think it’s my place to decide that. I’d sure like to, but I can’t decide for myself if I will or not.”

“Why wouldn’t you want to?”

“I don’t know, but you’d be surprised at what some people believe in.”

“And some people would be surprised at what you believe in,” Adam replied.

“I wonder what God thinks of us.”

“Maybe He thinks we’re slow learners. I’d like to think that He understands and will forgive us for it, though.”

“Is that so?” Tom asked.

“Yeah. I mean, I don’t know if we should be held accountable for all of Eternity for things we do in less than a century. But I can only speak for myself,” Adam said.

“What about people who believe in nothing?” Tom asked.

“There’s no such thing,” Adam replied.

“What do you mean ‘there’s no such thing’?”

“Well, let’s say you believe in nothing. That means that you have faith that there is nothing there. Therefore, by having faith that nothing is there, you definitely believe in something, see what I mean?” Adam asked.

“I see what you’re saying, so believing that nothing is there is in itself a belief, and therefore you believe in something.”

“Exactly. At least, that’s the way I see it. I wonder if faith in nothing is enough to count,” Adam asked.

“Who knows?” Tom replied. Adam laughed.

“Nobody here does.”

3:06 A.M.

“You said before that you can only speak for yourself.”

“Right, Tom. I can’t speak for anybody else.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t know anybody else.” Tom was dumbfounded by this.

“Of course you know somebody! You know ME, don’t you?” Tom asked.

“I see you every day, I talk to you every day. You’ve been in my life for about 12 years now. But I’m not in your head, I can’t see what you see or feel what you feel. So in a sense, no, I don’t know you. In a sense, nobody knows anybody else.”

“Because no one is in anyone else’s heads. I see what you mean; I never thought of it that way.”

“Anyone can say anything that they want, but you don’t know if they mean it. People can even think they feel or believe something and not even know it themselves. Nobody spends enough time with themselves anymore; nobody takes the time to get to know themselves these days,” Adam explained.

“Maybe if we all knew ourselves, we’d be a lot better to ourselves, even to each other.”

“Maybe, Tom. Maybe.”

3:07 A.M.

“Why don’t people ever do this?”

“Do what, Tom?”

“Sit out here on the roof of a car and think about this stuff.”

“Because they don’t stop to think. We live at the speed of Light, Tom. Nobody ever stops or slows down anymore. People just go, go go until life is over, and they don’t see the wall coming until they hit it at the end.”

“If people just stopped every now and then, we could go so far...” Tom said.

“Don’t worry so much about it, we’ll get there eventually. One day we’ll hold starlight in a jar. Then we’ll know; then we’ll look back at these days and know what went wrong.”

“I think so, Adam. Think we’ll see it in our lifetime?”

“What does it matter? The important thing is that we get there.”

“Like we’re all just tiny pieces in a huge game. It’s the big picture that matters, right?”

“Yeah. I hope...” Adam trailed off.

“What?”

“When it’s done, I hope I get to see the big picture. I want to know that we made it.”

“I do too, Adam. I do too.”

3:08 A.M.

“Hey, Adam?”

“Yeah, Tom?”

“Do you think maybe we could change the world?” Tom asked.

“Why not?”

“You hear of all of these people wanting to change the world, make it a better place. A lot of them never actually do it, and some help but just in small areas, small places. Do you think we could really turn things around, and make a big change?”

“I think anybody could do anything if they really tried. The only person who can limit someone is themself. Not enough people get that,” Adam stated.

“I think we should try it.”

“Every little bit counts,” Adam said.

In the sky above their heads, a meteor shower more brilliant than any they had ever seen began. It was a fine compliment to the conversation they had just had; and it seemed as though a million eternities came and went in the passing seconds. It was 3:09 A.M. on a Saturday in August before school started when two boys who were laying on the hood of a broken-down car finished watching a meteor shower. The last few stars faded away, and they just stayed there for a moment before sitting up and then climbing off of the car and onto their feet on the green grass.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” Tom said.

“Yeah, I’ll see ya,” Adam said. They turned and started to walk in opposite directions before Adam stopped and turned back.

“Hey, Tom?” Adam asked. Tom stopped and turned back.

“Yeah, Adam?”

“Tomorrow we’ll start changing the world, okay?” Adam said. Tom smiled and nodded. “Okay,” he said. They bid each other good-night, and then walked off toward their homes.