Taxes

Taxes

Sitting in my dining room looking into the back yard that day, I was working on the taxes but it was so confusing. I thought a break was beneficial. If nothing else, it would keep me from throwing the stupid, confusing forms out the window.

As I sat there, I noticed something moving near the tree. Hoping it wasn’t a skunk, I grabbed my glasses. It wasn’t a skunk, it was brown but not a squirrel either. I stood up to get a better look and caught a good glimpse, and then it vanished.

I stood there for minutes, staring at the spot trying to get my head around what I thought I saw. That couldn’t be right. It had to be my mind playing tricks on me. Too many taxes, too much confusion. What I seemed to have seen was a small human shape, all in brown, with a round head, like a helmet. A tiny spaceman.

Finally, the absurdity of the situation hit, I let out my breath with a laugh. ‘You need a break girl!’ I said to myself, ‘a big break!’ Grabbing my coffee cup, I went to the kitchen, adding a bag of cookies to the bounty as I made my way back to the project. If I was driving myself crazy trying to do my taxes, I was determined to enjoy the ride.

Back at the table, I’d settled down in a caffeinated, sugared semblance of calm and clarity when I heard a noise outside. Looking out, up from behind the tree rose a large silver ball, it went straight up, and then disappeared into the sky.

I got a two thousand dollar refund that year. I keep wondering if I’m going to jail, but so far, it seems to have stuck.