The graduation gown ghost story I hadn’t thought about in years
Do aliens believe in Heaven and Hell?

Writer’s note: This was briefly discussed in this “Toastmasters” blog, but here is the extended story. This post was originally published on August 1, 2021 for a Medium writing competition.
I keep seeing news stories regarding cicadas returning after a 17-year disappearance. When I don’t see coverage about that, it’s the obsession with unidentified flying objects (UFOs). I don’t care about either. I wasn’t even into Chicagoans’ excited faces when a piping clover hatched here for the first time since 1955 and laid eggs a week ago.
The last place I thought I’d talk about any of these three “hot topics” in Chicago was at a Toastmasters meeting. But to my surprise, UFOs were the focus of a Table Topics query. I groaned, thinking, “Here we go with this again. Is COVID-19 completely gone?”
Recommended Read: “Alexander McQueen, your next foot model just got a diploma ~ In a year of social isolation and seniors robbed of graduations, this Hahnville High School faculty member went too far”
As I sat quietly and listened to other members’ views on UFOs and science, a graduation gown kept popping into my head. I’d forgotten all about that — incident. By the time I was called, I couldn’t get that graduation gown out of my head. So when I heard the Table Topics Master ask me what would I like to know if I could ask an alien a conversation, I told the graduation gown story again for the first time since 2003.