ET- In the TVs

  A telepathic beam rose from his brain, and sped out between the twin stars of Lakama and Oto. Passing the first, second, and all successive boundaries, the tiny beam found its way to Earth, off by about 20 degrees, powerful but erratic, like its sender. It landed in the TV section of a department store, where twenty-five TV screens suddenly showed a silvery ghost, with duck feet and a long neck, crowned by an eggplant-shaped head.

  “Sumpin’ wrong with yer sets, mac,” said a shopper, as channels began flipping in a rushing pattern, while the little mental replicant tried to find its way out.

  “I assure you, sir,” said the department head, “there is nothing wrong with these sets.”

  “Yeah, sumpin’s flyin’ around inside ’em, bugs or sumpin’.” The customer, who had to purchase a small set for his drinking den, a place of cosmopolitan grace, gave one of the sets a kick.

  “Please, sir, these are not used cars.”

  “Sometimes a kick straightens ’em out.” The customer, who made submarine sandwiches for a living, adopted his electrical engineering stance. “Wakes the old tubes up.” He took a set in his hands and shook it violently. E.T.’s little beam was bounced out through the back. “Yeah, that’s better,” said the sandwich engineer.

  Set free in the store, the tiny glowing replica of E.T. was wondering where in the name of heaven it was.

- E.T. The Book of the Green Planet, chapter 12