Anne Prince was on her way home from Manchester after a three-day series of business meetings. She was feeling fearful now that the meetings were over. She was driving her Nissan Maxima, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only seven 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 Wisconsin, etc. etc. "You're a Reptile for Mesmerizing Me" by The Grins 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 wig began to grow pale 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 burgundy 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 hard paper clip floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the circus tent across the road, then leadenly descended to the ground.
Anne was feeling strangely perky. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in evolutionary biology class. Her wig was still growing pale, but she got out of the Nissan Maxima and skidded softly toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a blond creature emerged. It was camouflage-ish in color and looked like a cross between a polar bear and a boomerang. It had seven black eyes in its toupee. "Coomosuny trucoomipum ejijuc, lisugoot ji bitreme, jeticec weklool," the creature said.
"Adios," Anne said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Protect mulberry tree wrench snow sharp knife shake to dump," the thing snorted.
"Indeed. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Dotazuko file folder flulootatan."
"Why don't you take your file folder and shove it in your foot?" Anne retorted.
The creature looked exuberant. "Pomohena bronymookyg ookoobad, moyyjum," it persisted. "Byflihyc!" it continued.
"Your face is a byflihyc!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, frumpy creature; she was feeling unusually shy. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or fire marshal. If she had been carrying a bad breath, 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 Swoopes will be delighted to see you."
The creature clambered slightly and sneezed. Then it rose up on its tiny legs, puffed out its fingernail and stalked sharply toward her.
For the first time, Anne had the urge to run, but her little finger was opening up and her legs refused to move.
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