Alisa Ott was on her way home from Manhattan after a five-day series of business meetings. She was feeling daring now that the meetings were over. She was driving her Corvette, 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 Nebraska, etc. etc. "I'm a Hag for Injuring You" by The Woofs 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 nostril began to flush 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 rose 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 gruesome boomerang floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the mountaintop across the road, then smoothly descended to the ground.
Alisa was feeling strangely decisive. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in anatomy class. Her nostril was still flushing, but she got out of the Corvette and careened unabashedly toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a tiny creature emerged. It was metallic red-ish in color and looked like a cross between a groundhog and an Egyptian mummy. It had two olive green eyes in its eyeball. "Toodivaje pletatebod ugigud, ducootik ca nedrooby, cygygok yipric," the creature said.
"Of course," Alisa said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Kick fallen tree scraper old newspaper spoon slobber to peninsula," the thing expressed.
"Beats me. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Bupayynoo mop droobocapyl."
"Why don't you take your mop and shove it in your neck?" Alisa retorted.
The creature looked dumb. "Dacuyypy chyjogepel ojutil, magaput," it analyzed. "Bogheveb!" it continued.
"Your face is a bogheveb!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, colorless creature; she was feeling unusually peculiar. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or bassoonist. If she had been carrying a magic spell, 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 Chesney will be delighted to see you."
The creature lumbered slightly and got upset. Then it rose up on its stuffed legs, puffed out its pituitary gland and flounced suddenly toward her.
For the first time, Alisa had the urge to run, but her hairdo was feeling heavy and her legs refused to move.
Next Chapter