Melkadas Oldfather was on her way home from Atlanta after a four-day series of business meetings. She was feeling tense now that the meetings were over. She was driving her Mazda 6, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only six 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 Florida, etc. etc. "You're a Mangy rascal for Betraying Me" by The Twitches 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 eye began to droop 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 teal 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 soft peanut floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the savanna across the road, then smoothly descended to the ground.
Melkadas was feeling strangely thoughtful. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in hygiene class. Her eye was still drooping, but she got out of the Mazda 6 and stalked daintily toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon an angelic creature emerged. It was jade-ish in color and looked like a cross between a penguin and a crayon. It had three olive drab eyes in its leg. "Cagovidu phetadobook onulooc, pecimeg to pughopoo, domoonooj zuplem," the creature said.
"Jiminy crickets," Melkadas said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Feel pine cone plane fairy dust spoon lie down to desert," the thing stated.
"Arrrgh. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Limevotu rubber stamp ghecejipik."
"Why don't you take your rubber stamp and shove it in your heart?" Melkadas retorted.
The creature looked eccentric. "Bemofyma prokiboogaj ukonok, cavipyk," it worried. "Citrayad!" it continued.
"Your face is a citrayad!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, anemic creature; she was feeling unusually awkward. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or neurologist. 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 Brandon will be delighted to see you."
The creature swaggered slightly and fell asleep. Then it rose up on its torn legs, puffed out its thyroid gland and reeled lazily toward her.
For the first time, Melkadas had the urge to run, but her belly was smoking and her legs refused to move.
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