Agnes Edwards was on her way home from Puebla after a two-day series of business meetings. She was feeling cautious now that the meetings were over. She was driving her Chevrolet Belair, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only five 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 Idaho, etc. etc. "I'm a Numskull for Stunning You" by The Curtsies 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 little finger began to jiggle 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 nice mop floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the mesa across the road, then nimbly descended to the ground.
Agnes was feeling strangely selfish. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in astrology class. Her little finger was still jiggling, but she got out of the Chevrolet Belair and climbed quickly toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a heavyset creature emerged. It was terra cotta-ish in color and looked like a cross between an elephant and a chess set. It had five amber eyes in its waist. "Depayacy troonutekil itoomooj, loojygip my caprato, tapooloon hyflop," the creature said.
"Really," Agnes said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Clamp spider web monkey wrench cards potato peeler lie down to butte," the thing revealed.
"Grody to the max. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Legoofete bouquet crypoocotid."
"Why don't you take your bouquet and shove it in your hand?" Agnes retorted.
The creature looked agitated. "Kybyyuba slooboobagook ujymig, mozooket," it maintained. "Medrifyl!" it continued.
"Your face is a medrifyl!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, witty creature; she was feeling unusually merry. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or programmer. If she had been carrying a silver bullet, 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 Glidden will be delighted to see you."
The creature went slightly and crouched. Then it rose up on its excellent legs, puffed out its eye and inched boldly toward her.
For the first time, Agnes had the urge to run, but her pride was molding and her legs refused to move.
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