“What on earth is Dad doing?” Sandra stood beside her mother, both looking out into the yard where the man in question was getting rather red in the face.

“I don’t have a clue, love.” Pam sighed, shook her head. “He doesn’t look too happy though. Best leave him to it, I reckon, and we’ll go on our own.”

Sandra grinned, looking forward to a shopping trip where her father was not forever hurrying them along.

Frank barely heard the car as it stopped beside the yard. He did not pause his digging, and was only vaguely aware of the ‘See you later, Dad,’ that Sandra had called. He’d assured Pam that he knew what he was doing, but that hadn’t been true. He didn’t understand why he was out there, shovel in hands and muscles screaming, but he was certain of one thing – he had to keep digging.

The mountain of earth grew taller as the shovel dug deeper and deeper until it struck something solid. Was this it? Had he finally found the treasure, whatever it turned out to be?

Carefully now, Frank used the shovel to clear what looked like just another piece of rock. Only when he had lifted it out of the hole and cleaned off the dirt did he notice how it glittered in the sun. Leaning the shovel against the wall, he carried the rock indoors.

Three bowls of muddy water later, Frank gently dried the rock. His care and attention had restored its long forgotten glow, and it gently radiated warmth as a way of expressing its thanks.

Unused to all the physical exertion, Frank groaned. He had not felt his muscles straining, not while he was digging, but now the work was done he felt both sore and exhausted. He’d lie down, just for a few minutes, give himself a chance to recover before he headed back out to the yard to fill up the hole. Not wanting to climb the stairs, Frank headed for the couch and was asleep the instant his head touched the cushion.

The rock’s glow grew brighter and brighter. Frank was oblivious as the light it gave off began to beat out a rhythm that pulsated through the entire house and up into the sky. Freed from its earthy grave, the rock finally carried out the purpose of its existence, guiding its creators through space to retrieve it.

Did anyone see what happened? There were some crazy reports of a blinding flash; and some even crazier ones where people claimed to have seen a spacecraft appear above the house which then vanished, taking the building with it.

Pam and Sandra stood in complete shock when they arrived back to a home that was no longer there. Nor was there any sign of Frank. The only sign that anything had been there was the deep hole in what had so recently been their yard.

If you should ever find yourself feeling a strange compulsion to go digging, it might be best to resist it; otherwise, like Frank, who knows what you might un-Earth.