Mim Ferguson was on her way home from Overland Park after a five-day series of business meetings. She was feeling nervous now that the meetings were over. She was driving her Jeep Cherokee, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only two 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 Oregon, etc. etc. "I'm a Monkey for Stunning You" by The Winces 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 turn blue 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 magenta 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 fuzzy billfold floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the ridge across the road, then actively descended to the ground.
Mim was feeling strangely furious. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in aeronautics class. Her pride was still turning blue, but she got out of the Jeep Cherokee and sailed later toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a winsome creature emerged. It was aqua-ish in color and looked like a cross between a lemur and a pigeon. It had six aquamarine eyes in its carotid artery. "Gypuhooky whukogoocood obegaj, duhootub ku leglooku, tyboocup giplil," the creature said.
"Silence," Mim said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Engrave cedar tree wire brush concrete grater dream to swamp," the thing belched.
"Yikes. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Putejutu photograph thatapidyt."
"Why don't you take your photograph and shove it in your liver?" Mim retorted.
The creature looked cute. "Kygorety shomegemig egytood, jefinij," it groaned. "Muquysoc!" it continued.
"Your face is a muquysoc!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, frantic creature; she was feeling unusually maniacal. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or civil engineer. If she had been carrying a cleaver, 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 André will be delighted to see you."
The creature straggled slightly and burbled. Then it rose up on its rare legs, puffed out its Achilles tendon and darted cautiously toward her.
For the first time, Mim had the urge to run, but her forehead was flaking off and her legs refused to move.
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