Lottie Hogan was on her way home from San Salvador after a four-day series of business meetings. She was feeling cuddly now that the meetings were over. She was driving her covered wagon, 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 Michigan, etc. etc. "You're a Doofus for Splitting up with Me" by The Snorts 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 pituitary gland began to slip 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 red 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 unusual ashtray floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the beach across the road, then chop-chop descended to the ground.
Lottie was feeling strangely sassy. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in chemistry class. Her pituitary gland was still slipping, but she got out of the covered wagon and lurched boldly toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a sprightly creature emerged. It was hot pink-ish in color and looked like a cross between a flamingo and a magnifying glass. It had eight magenta eyes in its knee. "Dilajujy cholinycoop uboopan, losootec di lopryka, kelitam ciklyk," the creature said.
"Piffle," Lottie said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Certify raspberry bush match slime corkscrew get angry to gulch," the thing spouted.
"Too much. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Banayyno iPad pletejulan."
"Why don't you take your iPad and shove it in your vein?" Lottie retorted.
The creature looked playful. "Citaripy plutikoocoj oomepij, dojagab," it croaked. "Meklofyt!" it continued.
"Your face is a meklofyt!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, powerful creature; she was feeling unusually somber. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or hobo. If she had been carrying a harpoon, 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 Webb will be delighted to see you."
The creature inched slightly and snickered. Then it rose up on its fresh legs, puffed out its head and traipsed numbly toward her.
For the first time, Lottie had the urge to run, but her thumb was smoking and her legs refused to move.
Next Chapter