Norma Jean Peralta was on her way home from Oklahoma City after a four-day series of business meetings. She was feeling distressed now that the meetings were over. She was driving her Toyota Land Cruiser, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only two 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 South Dakota, etc. etc. "I'm a Terror for Punching You" by The Glares 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 elbow began to twitch 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 metallic 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 multicolored fishing rod floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the pasture across the road, then hastily descended to the ground.
Norma Jean was feeling strangely distressed. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in physiology class. Her elbow was still twitching, but she got out of the Toyota Land Cruiser and marched grimly toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a tan creature emerged. It was pink-ish in color and looked like a cross between a hornet and a duffel bag. It had three aquamarine eyes in its collarbone. "Bobyrite plukelinug ydapet, gegooden ma paghygoo, mipapij sechid," the creature said.
"Tut-tut," Norma Jean said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Stack spring pipe wrench epoxy electric mixer blow up to lakeside," the thing mused.
"Great balls of fire. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Gejoojiku deck of cards chamikoojyb."
"Why don't you take your deck of cards and shove it in your spleen?" Norma Jean retorted.
The creature looked spunky. "Bakayata grygidajam ibiceg, nuyitib," it added. "Pashiron!" it continued.
"Your face is a pashiron!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, agile creature; she was feeling unusually fearful. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or bootlegger. If she had been carrying a roll of duct tape, 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 Mainz will be delighted to see you."
The creature flew slightly and came over. Then it rose up on its big legs, puffed out its chin and marched dreamily toward her.
For the first time, Norma Jean had the urge to run, but her femur was tormenting and her legs refused to move.
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