Seth Hamilton was on his way home from New York after a five-day series of business meetings. He was feeling cruel now that the meetings were over. He was driving his Bentley, 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 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 Idaho, etc. etc. "I'm a Scullery maid for Defeating You" by The Pouts 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 midriff began to twinkle 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 jade 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 puzzling chair floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the park across the road, then slackly descended to the ground.
Seth was feeling strangely brash. He briefly wished he had paid better attention in plumbing class. His midriff was still twinkling, but he got out of the Bentley and bounced tensely toward the object.
As he watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a dapper creature emerged. It was indigo-ish in color and looked like a cross between a hornet and a sponge. It had three white eyes in its pinky. "Gekayina flanigomon omomuj, cerekub la jyquopoo, bigitij wochoom," the creature said.
"Grrrrr," Seth said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Pull cedar tree nail gun ivory paring knife stand by to bog," the thing yammered.
"Hmm. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Googihidi rose kludoojicum."
"Why don't you take your rose and shove it in your spine?" Seth retorted.
The creature looked gregarious. "Bumefooby slubybookon epadop, piroonum," it piped up. "Kequoyyg!" it continued.
"Your face is a kequoyyg!"
He didn't know why he was being so mouthy to the strange, conceited creature; he was feeling unusually funny. He tended to deal with the unknown the way he would deal with an annoying salesman or sixth grade teacher. If he had been carrying an insect repellant, 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 Flores will be delighted to see you."
The creature zipped slightly and snickered. Then it rose up on its flaky legs, puffed out its liver and loped anxiously toward him.
For the first time, Seth had the urge to run, but his Achilles tendon was going wild and his legs refused to move.
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