Paige Blevins was on her way home from Portland after a two-day series of business meetings. She was feeling selfish now that the meetings were over. She was driving her Ford Fairlane, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only four 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 New Hampshire, etc. etc. "I'm a Dunce for Soothing You" by The Flushes 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 finger began to get tangled 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 fuchsia 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 bronze kite floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the hillside across the road, then like a snail descended to the ground.
Paige was feeling strangely dapper. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in mechanical engineering class. Her finger was still getting tangled, but she got out of the Ford Fairlane and pranced sadly toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a handsome creature emerged. It was periwinkle-ish in color and looked like a cross between a jackal and a bagpipe. It had three lavender eyes in its neck. "Kumuzeli flydytojij udoted, basebem te cyshooly, deboodip vuchog," the creature said.
"Goodness," Paige said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Prune pine cone lug wrench bamboo fork swear to mountainside," the thing purred.
"Pish posh. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Poodafepi gun whudojypyb."
"Why don't you take your gun and shove it in your calf?" Paige retorted.
The creature looked masculine. "Bybasoopu kritikigoj obipyc, toohokul," it argued. "Cetregak!" it continued.
"Your face is a cetregak!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, prissy creature; she was feeling unusually puzzled. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or zoologist. If she had been carrying a stink bomb, 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 Mitchell will be delighted to see you."
The creature padded slightly and mumbled. Then it rose up on its important legs, puffed out its toenail and loped gruffly toward her.
For the first time, Paige had the urge to run, but her shin was coming off and her legs refused to move.
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