Manfred Park was on his way home from Midland after a two-day series of business meetings. He was feeling confident now that the meetings were over. He was driving his Hummer, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only nine 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 New Mexico, etc. etc. "I'm a Vile viper for Overlooking You" by The Face palms 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 throat began to slip 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 amber 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 new saddle floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the river across the road, then slackly descended to the ground.
Manfred was feeling strangely brave. He briefly wished he had paid better attention in agriculture class. His throat was still slipping, but he got out of the Hummer and traipsed gingerly toward the object.
As he watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon an unkempt creature emerged. It was crimson-ish in color and looked like a cross between a sloth and a bouquet. It had three carrot-orange eyes in its fingernail. "Capifyboo chomonaloj ugopym, dayijen to githumy, cadipyg yikrak," the creature said.
"Bless you," Manfred said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Hammer dead tree powder puff junk car spatula creep to butte," the thing whispered.
"Ulp. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Tooperypi coin fryponikook."
"Why don't you take your coin and shove it in your jaw?" Manfred retorted.
The creature looked obedient. "Kijuzago whakuboomyn oogadun, cocetooj," it intimated. "Baslacik!" it continued.
"Your face is a baslacik!"
He didn't know why he was being so mouthy to the strange, impish creature; he was feeling unusually daring. He tended to deal with the unknown the way he would deal with an annoying salesman or barber. If he had been carrying a carbine, 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 Pham will be delighted to see you."
The creature sneaked slightly and chuckled. Then it rose up on its amazing legs, puffed out its pancreas and sped timidly toward him.
For the first time, Manfred had the urge to run, but his tail was wrinkling and his legs refused to move.
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