ET- Mr. Zontack

  Elliott took one, chewed it thoughtfully. On top of the TV set was another framed photo of Mr. Zontack, at the amateur arm wrestling championships. It was an action shot, with the veins bulging out of his head. A victory cup stood beside it.

  Another wave of insecurity passed over Elliott, the strange feeling of being in somebody else’s house, somebody else’s life, with somebody else’s babysitter. It was alien and unnerving. And then, for no reason at all, he felt E.T., somewhere far away, but signaling him somehow, telling him never to be afraid of anything, to always remember he was connected to the stars.

  Elliott opened the curtain again, and saw a flickering red light over the houses, just like the one he’d seen at the bowling alley. It was sailing around confusedly, up and down the block, and then crash-dived into a dish antenna in somebody’s yard. Elliott opened the door and ran outside. “E.T.!” he shouted. “E.T.!”

  But the light had died out with a little hissing sound, and now the street was silent.

  Except for the sound of an approaching automobile.

  Elliott leapt into the darkness between the houses and pressed himself against the side of the building. The car slowed, and pulled to a stop, and Mr. Zontack got out, along with Mrs. Zontack.

  “So don’t take me to the movies,” Mrs. Zontack was saying.

  “That’s right,” growled Mr. Zontack, “I won’t.” He yanked his keys from his pocket and looked around suspiciously. “Somebody’s been here.”

  “Would you please calm down?”

  “I can always tell when some young punk comes around. Eating everything in the refrigerator. Snooping.”

  “Don’t you go scaring Julie, you monster.”

  Elliott crept silently away from the family quarrel, slipped onto his bike and rolled it out of the backyard. He pushed it past a few houses, then brought it back up through the yards, onto the street, right in front of the dish antenna. “Thank you, E.T.,” he said softly, and rode away.

- E.T. The Book of the Green Planet, chapter 20