Brianna De Leon was on her way home from Grand Rapids after a two-day series of business meetings. She was feeling desperate now that the meetings were over. She was driving her Tesla Roadster, 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 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 Texas, etc. etc. "You're a Villain for Judging Me" by The Beams 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 toupee began to curl 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 pink 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 stolen pom-pom floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the steppe across the road, then like mad descended to the ground.
Brianna was feeling strangely carefree. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in poetry class. Her toupee was still curling, but she got out of the Tesla Roadster and hopped again toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a winsome creature emerged. It was tan-ish in color and looked like a cross between an otter and a padlock. It had five striped eyes in its midriff. "Kadogujo glygedynyl agilun, joorinoom da cughooli, nodypaj vawhin," the creature said.
"Achoo," Brianna said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Crush bit of moss hand saw peat moss meat tenderizer get upset to canyon," the thing grieved.
"Alas. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Nacowitoo remote control choojelykub."
"Why don't you take your remote control and shove it in your brain?" Brianna retorted.
The creature looked prissy. "Kiciyudi slenubonak obobit, dacylic," it uttered. "Bogliyej!" it continued.
"Your face is a bogliyej!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, gentle creature; she was feeling unusually stubborn. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or clerk. If she had been carrying a stethoscope, 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 Seagram will be delighted to see you."
The creature skittered slightly and smiled. Then it rose up on its gross legs, puffed out its Achilles tendon and jogged hungrily toward her.
For the first time, Brianna had the urge to run, but her intestine was contracting and her legs refused to move.
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