Merna Castro was on her way home from Tucson after a two-day series of business meetings. She was feeling tired now that the meetings were over. She was driving her Maserati, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only seven 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 Delaware, etc. etc. "I'm a Clapperdudgeon for Embarrassing You" by The Tears 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 leg began to feel numb 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 azure 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 bat floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the beach across the road, then ploddingly descended to the ground.
Merna was feeling strangely forgetful. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in botany class. Her leg was still feeling numb, but she got out of the Maserati and bolted dubiously toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a grubby creature emerged. It was amber-ish in color and looked like a cross between a mole and a wastebasket. It had seven brown eyes in its scalp. "Nokoovomy klytobubij oododok, gejadel je mukryli, kakoomuc siclil," the creature said.
"Ppppbbbft," Merna said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Polish seed pod sledgehammer adobe dish cloth snicker to mountaintop," the thing chanted.
"Inconceivable. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Bunirobi garbage can wrooboopykol."
"Why don't you take your garbage can and shove it in your jaw?" Merna retorted.
The creature looked frantic. "Kyjezupy clypojejap etoodag, ligekub," it questioned. "Paklosul!" it continued.
"Your face is a paklosul!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, cruel creature; she was feeling unusually pensive. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or mail carrier. If she had been carrying a Molotov cocktail, 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 Jones will be delighted to see you."
The creature whirled slightly and came over. Then it rose up on its plastic legs, puffed out its antenna and trotted brightly toward her.
For the first time, Merna had the urge to run, but her calf was gurgling and her legs refused to move.
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