The Marfa Lights We Didn’t See

[SHANEA]

We continued scanning the horizon.  My husband elbowed me.  “I’ve got a laser in my pocket,” he said.  “Wouldn’t it be funny if I — “  Don’t you dare,” I said.  I elbowed him back.

“Is it that red light?” the woman from San Antonio asked.  No one answered her.  We were all too intent on the horizon, looking for something.

A small red light danced on a nearby desert plant.  I knew where it had come from.  I elbowed my husband again.  I could just see the scene he was about to set up: A dancing red light, not as big as a basketball, but who cared?  “Ohmygod!  It’s the Marfa lights!”  Pandemonium.  Cameras flashing.  People screaming, calling on their cells.  “We’re seeing the lights!  Get your butt over here!”

Then — a lynch mob, when onlookers realized the source of the red light was a jokester from Austin who couldn’t keep his laser in his pants.  “Put that damned thing away,” I whispered and elbowed him again.