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said. “There’s…uh…something I want to take a picture of.”
    Mom and Dad exchanged glances.
    “Something in the woods?” Dad said. “Since when do you do nature photography?
    “Uh…well…”
    Mom set a casserole dish on the table. She frowned at me. “Sorry, Ben. It’s time to eat. You can go back out after dinner.”
    “But, Mom—” I protested. “It’s important! It will take only a minute or two.”
    Mom and Dad looked at each other again. Their expressions were strange, troubled.
    “Ben, you heard your mother,” Dad said. “It can wait until later.”
    No, it can’t, I thought. It will be too dark to take a photograph after dinner.
    “Will!” Mom called upstairs. “Dinner!”
    “Sit down, Ben,” Dad said.
    Frustrated, I sat down while Mom spooned macaroni onto my plate. I was dying to get a picture of that figure eight. What if it disappeared before I could get back there?
    “What are we having?” Will asked as he bounded into the room and slid into his chair. “Not tuna casserole again?”
    “Macaroni and cheese,” Mom told him, loading up his plate. “Eat some salad, too.”
    She and Dad sat at the table and started eating. I picked at my food, wishing dinner would hurry up and be over.
    I might as well wait for Summer and Jeff to get here now, I thought. It’s going to be too dark. But at least I can take them into the woods and show them the figure eight.
    We ate in silence. It seemed a little strange to me. Usually Mom and Dad asked us all about school and everything. But that night they were strangely quiet.
    Finally, Dad said, “Your mother and I have to go out tonight. Just for a short while. We’ll be back by nine.”
    “Mrs. Jenkins will be next door if you need anything,” Mom added.
    “Where are you going?” Will asked.
    “No place special,” Dad replied. “We should be back by nine.”
    I glanced at Will. He shrugged. I could tell he was thinking what I was thinking—what’s up with them?
    “I’m going to hang with Jeff and Summer tonight,” I told them. “They’re coming over later.”
    “That’s fine,” Mom said. “Keep an eye on Will.”
    “I’m going with you,” Will said to me. “Wherever you’re going.”
    “Yeah. Sure,” I muttered.
    No way was he coming to the woods with us.
    When dinner was over, Mom and Dad left the dirty dishes in the sink, which was also strange. They always cleaned up right after dinner.
    Mom got her purse. She and Dad drove off.
    “Where do you think they went?” Will asked.
    “Who knows?” I replied.
    “Maybe they’re going to surprise us with something,” Will said.
    “Maybe,” I said, but I doubted it.
    I logged on to my computer while I waited for Summer and Jeff to arrive. I wanted to see if I could find any information about weird figure eights. Instead, I ended up on a website with this message:
    Spontaneous amphibian replication is a well-documented sign of alien invasion. Amphibian earth creatures such as frogs, salamanders, newts, and certain lizards reproduce extremely quickly in the presence of alien life-forms….
    “Turn that thing off!” I glanced up to see Jeff and Summer standing in the doorway. I rushed over to them.
    “You guys, I’ve got something so amazing to show you!” I hung my camera around my neck, grabbed them both by the arm, and dragged them downstairs.
    “Hello, it’s nice to see you. Thank you for coming over…” Jeff teased. “There are dozens of greetings you could have used, Ben.”
    “Where are you taking us?” Summer asked.
    “Just follow me,” I told them. “You’ve got to see this for yourselves.”
    I led them outside. It was a beautiful, clear night. I paused in the backyard to gaze up at the sky. There were millions of stars and planets.
    Which ones had aliens living on them? Which ones had sent visitors to Earth?
    We flicked on our flashlights and started into the woods. There was no wind that night. Everything was very still.
    “It’s kind of