Robin Fretwell was on her way home from Fort Collins after a three-day series of business meetings. She was feeling funny now that the meetings were over. She was driving her ox cart, 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 Arizona, etc. etc. "I'm an Imposter for Manipulating You" by The Snuffles 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 tummy began to jam up 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 crimson 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 bag of potato chips floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the garden across the road, then briskly descended to the ground.
Robin was feeling strangely queer. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in songwriting class. Her tummy was still jamming up, but she got out of the ox cart and sailed boldly toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a sprightly creature emerged. It was red-ish in color and looked like a cross between a polecat and an iPod. It had eight lavender eyes in its kneecap. "Cakucoki chinegoopet obulut, goohamac ba paphooloo, bitedyg zuglin," the creature said.
"Zap," Robin said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Twist seed pod X-Acto knife glass brick grater wake up to dump," the thing debated.
"Bowwow. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Gekagego pink flamingo gloocicogyc."
"Why don't you take your pink flamingo and shove it in your thorax?" Robin retorted.
The creature looked garrulous. "Pemeyooji clodumokuj ootokec, govytoj," it announced. "Mitrawoon!" it continued.
"Your face is a mitrawoon!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, taciturn creature; she was feeling unusually cautious. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or security guard. If she had been carrying an iPod, 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 DomÃnguez will be delighted to see you."
The creature crept slightly and flailed. Then it rose up on its large legs, puffed out its pride and tumbled reluctantly toward her.
For the first time, Robin had the urge to run, but her thigh was cooling down and her legs refused to move.
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