Carey Byers was on her way home from Addis Ababa after a five-day series of business meetings. She was feeling merry now that the meetings were over. She was driving her Ford Focus, 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 South Carolina, etc. etc. "I'm a Laggard for Greeting You" by The Tears 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 esophagus began to loosen 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 terra cotta 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 worn bottle of painkillers floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the wasteland across the road, then quietly descended to the ground.
Carey was feeling strangely fearless. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in health class. Her esophagus was still loosening up, but she got out of the Ford Focus and proceeded unnaturally toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon an adorable creature emerged. It was navy blue-ish in color and looked like a cross between a polar bear and a trash can. It had two lime-green eyes in its ear. "Gycucyke whoobelykoj apymot, kerybal ne buklooba, jylytob hoshum," the creature said.
"Rooster feathers," Carey said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Destroy twig hand saw hay cookie cutter cry to dump," the thing screeched.
"Uh. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Gadicage feather duster prajygecet."
"Why don't you take your feather duster and shove it in your liver?" Carey retorted.
The creature looked phlegmatic. "Mitaguka clynoomepoon obipyd, bojoodop," it quoted. "Cacharip!" it continued.
"Your face is a cacharip!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, silly creature; she was feeling unusually funny. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or guitar player. If she had been carrying an air rifle, 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 Bonner will be delighted to see you."
The creature galloped slightly and gesticulated. Then it rose up on its shiny legs, puffed out its foot and hobbled tensely toward her.
For the first time, Carey had the urge to run, but her antenna was getting soft and her legs refused to move.
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