Faye Rivera was on her way home from Dodge City after a five-day series of business meetings. She was feeling funny now that the meetings were over. She was driving her Porsche, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only five 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 Alabama, etc. etc. "You're a Wannabe for Winking at Me" by The Gasps 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 pride began to come loose 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 teal 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 dusty teapot floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the lagoon across the road, then double-time descended to the ground.
Faye was feeling strangely self-assured. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in food science class. Her pride was still coming loose, but she got out of the Porsche and blundered again toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a feeble creature emerged. It was ivory-ish in color and looked like a cross between a nightingale and a stuffed kitten. It had two teal eyes in its chin. "Molevolu droolumoobyg ydoomac, coogekool ka dooquemoo, magigep wuwhec," the creature said.
"Diddly bunk," Faye said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Punch raspberry bush cotton swab wire blender blush to forest," the thing wept.
"Rooster feathers. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Toopavadi crayon thonakidug."
"Why don't you take your crayon and shove it in your kneecap?" Faye retorted.
The creature looked hirsute. "Canosigi predujoonik ookidoon, cowidoon," it chanted. "Mookrugej!" it continued.
"Your face is a mookrugej!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, daring creature; she was feeling unusually lethargic. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or television newscaster. If she had been carrying a shoulder fired rocket, 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 Proctor will be delighted to see you."
The creature breezed slightly and thought. Then it rose up on its luxurious legs, puffed out its eyelid and scurried excitedly toward her.
For the first time, Faye had the urge to run, but her spine was smelling bad and her legs refused to move.
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