Anatoly Winchester was on his way home from Honolulu after a four-day series of business meetings. He was feeling humble now that the meetings were over. He was driving his Ford pickup, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only three drinks with dinner. The drone of the engine and tires was taking its toll, and he was having that familiar internal discussion about just having an hour more of driving, but he should really stop and rest, but it's not really safe to stop alongside the road in this remote part of Oregon, etc. etc. "I'm a Hell-raiser for Considering You" by The Cackles was squawking on the radio. He was too tired to search for something better.
Suddenly, he was wide awake. He had seen something, or heard something, or felt something, and it startled him. He didn't know what it was, but his collarbone began to get hot and his heart was pounding in his chest.
He wasn't consciously aware of stopping his vehicle, but found himself parked on the shoulder of the road, staring at a bright pulsing chartreuse light in the sky. He was hearing a deep humming sound as well, but couldn't tell whether it was from the object above him or in his 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 broken magazine floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the pasture across the road, then like a streak descended to the ground.
Anatoly was feeling strangely disagreeable. He briefly wished he had paid better attention in anthropology class. His collarbone was still getting hot, but he got out of the Ford pickup and hobbled cautiously toward the object.
As he watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a frizzle-headed creature emerged. It was ivory-ish in color and looked like a cross between a squirrel and a tube of toothpaste. It had two burgundy eyes in its stomach. "Cylucyjy sligemunak ujunil, dayanoob bu mokreju, mucedoob vakrom," the creature said.
"Ha-ha," Anatoly said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Punch badger hole garden hose balsa meat tenderizer snarl to wasteland," the thing hummed.
"Holy buckets. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Likisali umbrella slagooginun."
"Why don't you take your umbrella and shove it in your tummy?" Anatoly retorted.
The creature looked rude. "Jojuvelo grynakanook acicom, jyjypil," it chanted. "Dokroohog!" it continued.
"Your face is a dokroohog!"
He didn't know why he was being so mouthy to the strange, corpulent creature; he was feeling unusually brave. He tended to deal with the unknown the way he would deal with an annoying salesman or film producer. If he had been carrying a lasso, 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 Steinbeck will be delighted to see you."
The creature paraded slightly and fantasized. Then it rose up on its jagged legs, puffed out its adrenal gland and stalked hysterically toward him.
For the first time, Anatoly had the urge to run, but his lip was coming loose and his legs refused to move.
Next Chapter