Jane hung up the phone and sipped her coffee, wondering what would come of her meeting with Howard and Dr. Allister. How could this be happening? Could it actually be that she and some total stranger shared the same bizarre and uncanny experience?

In all the time she'd ever remembered anything about her supposed abduction, she never recalled seeing another human being, was never even aware of another human presence. Each time it was just her, as a little girl, and the being with the white face and huge dark eyes.

Later at home, she logged back on to the abduction website and saw 17 replies to her request for personal stories.

Skimming through them, she noted three that mentioned a particular light. Above all else, the light seemed to be the most important aspect of her memories, and apparently of Howard's as well. It was a prominent feature.

For as long as she could remember, she had never seen anything that even came close to that singular kind of light. And she'd looked for it. There was some quality to it, though, that was unparalleled in any other light --natural or artificial. Like the way the sky looks just before a summer storm, it was instantly recognizable and impossible to duplicate.

The personal accounts on the website were intriguing when it came to the light.

"And I remember walking on top of the light," one entry by IBelieve2235 said. "It had a firmness to it, like a solid substance."

TheyRoutThere wrote: "He carried me over the light and we walked right above the trees. I couldn't see anything, the light was so bright and all around me. There were no sounds at all."

"I remember the light," wrote MulderMan6. "As soon as we stepped into it, everything else sort of disappeared. It was like we became part of the light, and it was so bright, but somehow I could still see."

She wrote back to the three of them, asking where they lived and whether any had tried hypnosis to further their memories along.

Jane felt vaguely uneasy about her sudden acceptance of the whole thing. For the first time in her life, the experience was at the forefront of her thoughts, and not pushed aside. For as long as she could remember, she'd not allowed herself to dwell on the thoughts for too long, never really examined what the memory meant. Even though, deep down, she'd always felt somehow defined by it.

Now she thought of herself as the woman who had been abducted by aliens. She found herself looking at other people, on the street, in line at the drug store, in elevators, and wondering whether they, too, had been abducted. She craved some sort of connection, something to ground herself on. 

More than once she'd almost said something to her son, if only because she felt certain he'd at least think it was "cool." Jason, being 12, would have loved it. Probably would have told all his friends, been full of questions and eager for details.

Her daughter, on the other hand, would have been appalled, and likely would have gone running to her father, armed with yet more ammunition against Jane having total custody of the kids. Lexi, 16 and fully entrenched in her adolescent defiance, made no secret that she would have preferred to live with her father after the divorce.

So, in the end, Jane told no one. She logged on to the websites after dark or during the school day, away from prying eyes. 

Thursday couldn't come fast enough for her. 

And, when Thursday did come, she was surprised to find herself, of all things, nervous about what to wear to her meeting with Howard. What did an alien abductee wear, she wondered. Finally, she decided that casual was best. Jeans and a light sweater. Casual. "Oh, you were abducted, too, then? How was it for you?"

When she arrived at Dr. Allister's office, she checked in with the secretary and took a seat in the waiting area. There was no one else waiting. It wasn't long before she was called in.

Dr. Allister opened the door himself, ushering her in with a wave of his hand. Another man, older, as she'd guessed before, stood up from his chair as she entered. He smiled slightly, and opened his mouth as if in greeting, and suddenly stopped and all but fell back into his chair at the sight of her.

"Oh my God," he said. "It's you!"