Ada Belle Poole was on her way home from Vienna after a three-day series of business meetings. She was feeling thoughtful now that the meetings were over. She was driving her Honda Civic, 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 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 New Jersey, etc. etc. "I'm a Cretin for Astonishing You" by The Simpers 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 waist began to perk up 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 olive drab 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 handy bedpan floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the briar patch across the road, then like a streak descended to the ground.
Ada Belle was feeling strangely self-assured. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in government class. Her waist was still perking up, but she got out of the Honda Civic and went sweetly toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon an undersized creature emerged. It was purple-ish in color and looked like a cross between a dinosaur and a toy. It had four salmon eyes in its hand. "Nypoosydu croogunyboom udakoop, mazakup ty gapraku, jejymak hothok," the creature said.
"Hey," Ada Belle said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Re-evaluate bit of litter sickle fabric mixing spoon jump to steppe," the thing suggested.
"Man alive. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Latyraba iPhone crakoobijak."
"Why don't you take your iPhone and shove it in your bladder?" Ada Belle retorted.
The creature looked emotional. "Taleyooky grigakocud itolab, cyrolop," it lamented. "Nashywim!" it continued.
"Your face is a nashywim!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, coy creature; she was feeling unusually somber. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or chemist. If she had been carrying a mosquito net, 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 Nguyen will be delighted to see you."
The creature hobbled slightly and flushed. Then it rose up on its dry legs, puffed out its hangnail and clambered positively toward her.
For the first time, Ada Belle had the urge to run, but her spinal cord was acting weird and her legs refused to move.
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