Robin Sweeney was on her way home from Lexington after a four-day series of business meetings. She was feeling timid now that the meetings were over. She was driving her Chrysler LeBaron, 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 Hawaii, etc. etc. "You're a Twerp for Forgetting Me" by The Giggles 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 toe began to blister 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 hot 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 musty calling card floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the gulch across the road, then fleetly descended to the ground.
Robin was feeling strangely perky. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in civics class. Her toe was still blistering, but she got out of the Chrysler LeBaron and stormed properly toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a brown-eyed creature emerged. It was lavender-ish in color and looked like a cross between a deer and a cigarette. It had six carrot-orange eyes in its hairdo. "Nebucycu drocutodub icootyt, mevodyn tu lydroomy, dokadib vochak," the creature said.
"What the dickens," Robin said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Spin seed pod air horn gold dull knife adjust to canyon," the thing opined.
"Praise the Lord. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Katogudoo bagpipe floonokikop."
"Why don't you take your bagpipe and shove it in your chin?" Robin retorted.
The creature looked gregarious. "Dimuvajoo ghookoonilok onupyc, nasopyg," it answered. "Kyclooham!" it continued.
"Your face is a kyclooham!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, insane creature; she was feeling unusually peculiar. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or nun. If she had been carrying a bomb, 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 Şerban will be delighted to see you."
The creature set out slightly and slobbered. Then it rose up on its coarse legs, puffed out its pinky and paraded later toward her.
For the first time, Robin had the urge to run, but her big toe was quaking and her legs refused to move.
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