Nelly Prang was on her way home from Pasadena after a three-day series of business meetings. She was feeling angry now that the meetings were over. She was driving her ATV, 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 New Mexico, etc. etc. "You're a Snake for Subduing Me" by The Shrugs 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 toe began to line 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 grey 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 damaged boomerang floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the hill across the road, then smoothly descended to the ground.
Nelly was feeling strangely cautious. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in physiology class. Her toe was still lining up, but she got out of the ATV and climbed steadily toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a redheaded creature emerged. It was pink-ish in color and looked like a cross between a tropical fish and a plaque. It had six lime-green eyes in its thyroid gland. "Cymoocadi wrubidypaj ygopib, mycecil bi lecloodoo, pibydic zadryn," the creature said.
"Kapow," Nelly said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Pound apple tree dust cloth sod potato peeler tread water to housing development," the thing barked.
"Tut-tut. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Jekasemo flowerpot klojolootec."
"Why don't you take your flowerpot and shove it in your ear?" Nelly retorted.
The creature looked crafty. "Dylosago frucikilul oobojib, nawopyn," it sniffed. "Poklyyyl!" it continued.
"Your face is a poklyyyl!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, corpulent creature; she was feeling unusually irate. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or social media influencer. If she had been carrying a wet noodle, 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 Emery will be delighted to see you."
The creature bolted slightly and dawdled. Then it rose up on its sophisticated legs, puffed out its wrist and lumbered diligently toward her.
For the first time, Nelly had the urge to run, but her head was shedding and her legs refused to move.
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