Peg Everett was on her way home from Tulsa after a three-day series of business meetings. She was feeling cantankerous now that the meetings were over. She was driving her Ford Transit, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only nine drinks with dinner. The drone of the engine and tires was taking its toll, and she was having that familiar internal discussion about just having an hour more of driving, but she should really stop and rest, but it's not really safe to stop alongside the road in this remote part of North Dakota, etc. etc. "I'm a Knucklehead for Spitting at You" by The Chortles was squawking on the radio. She was too tired to search for something better.
Suddenly, she was wide awake. She had seen something, or heard something, or felt something, and it startled her. She didn't know what it was, but her palm began to roast and her heart was pounding in her chest.
She wasn't consciously aware of stopping her vehicle, but found herself parked on the shoulder of the road, staring at a bright pulsing aqua light in the sky. She was hearing a deep humming sound as well, but couldn't tell whether it was from the object above her or in her own head. The radio for some reason was silent. The light grew larger as it approached, and it began to take on a shape, sort of like a huge frilly skull floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the briar patch across the road, then fleetly descended to the ground.
Peg was feeling strangely dumb. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in mythology class. Her palm was still roasting, but she got out of the Ford Transit and hopped truculently toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a youthful creature emerged. It was aqua-ish in color and looked like a cross between a Norway rat and a piano. It had six periwinkle eyes in its hair. "Cegicano frupetacil itydoog, levagun ka mapramy, momojyk vitryc," the creature said.
"What the devil," Peg said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Smash wolf track Q-tip old newspaper egg cutter grumble to island," the thing emphasized.
"Goodness me. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Tecoogyni amulet plijegebij."
"Why don't you take your amulet and shove it in your palm?" Peg retorted.
The creature looked yappy. "Tenojipu flapimecoj ootemob, noorujooj," it winked. "Tubrusej!" it continued.
"Your face is a tubrusej!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, hysterical creature; she was feeling unusually timid. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or rodeo clown. If she had been carrying a silver bullet, the conversation might have taken a very different turn.
"So, what are you here for? I suppose you want me to take you to my leader. I'm sure President Briggs will be delighted to see you."
The creature bounded slightly and calmed down. Then it rose up on its sleek legs, puffed out its hangnail and waltzed brashly toward her.
For the first time, Peg had the urge to run, but her toe was jerking and her legs refused to move.
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