Madalyn Hook was on her way home from Sunnyvale after a five-day series of business meetings. She was feeling petulant now that the meetings were over. She was driving her U-Haul, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only ten 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 Missouri, etc. etc. "You're a Lob-dotterel for Deceiving Me" by The Sniffles 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 paw began to bunch 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 navy blue 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 blue pipe floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the path across the road, then hurriedly descended to the ground.
Madalyn was feeling strangely cheerful. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in programming class. Her paw was still bunching up, but she got out of the U-Haul and slid fearfully toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a sprightly creature emerged. It was purple-ish in color and looked like a cross between a tarantula and a yardstick. It had eight orange eyes in its toenail. "Gupoyejoo glimulogid yjoobooj, nywoogep ti kucreli, mylutook zyshec," the creature said.
"Goodness," Madalyn said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Grapple maple tree saw tile oven mitt fall asleep to range," the thing stuttered.
"What in tarnation. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Didicipo stuffed bunny flojatucuj."
"Why don't you take your stuffed bunny and shove it in your scalp?" Madalyn retorted.
The creature looked shifty. "Jycuzoko klikidybog eledip, gucybin," it concluded. "Gywhijak!" it continued.
"Your face is a gywhijak!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, sophisticated creature; she was feeling unusually ambitious. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or test pilot. If she had been carrying a bad breath, 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 Javits will be delighted to see you."
The creature rolled slightly and groaned. Then it rose up on its porcelain legs, puffed out its bicep and strode deliberately toward her.
For the first time, Madalyn had the urge to run, but her head was falling off and her legs refused to move.
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