“911, what is your emergency?”

He pulls the telephone receiver away from his ear and looks from it to his wife and back to the receiver again. He slowly lifts the phone back to his ear as he stares at his wife.

How could this beautiful woman, the mother of his children, stand there looking at him like nothing was happening, like he had told her there was a fluffy little bunny in the mailbox? Well, this was no fluffy little bunny. Maybe this wasn’t even his wife.

Did things like that actually happen? Could someone… something… replace his wife?

That is crazy talk. He doesn’t believe in aliens. Of course, he isn’t too sure he believes there is a severed hand holding a gun in his mailbox, either.

A more insistant voice is now breaking through his thoughts. “Hello, is there someone there that needs help? Hello.”

He thinks for another second and says, “Sorry, I think there has been a mistake.”

He replaces the receiver and turns back to his wife.

“A terrible mistake.”