Lucille Abrams was on her way home from Hannover after a three-day series of business meetings. She was feeling calm now that the meetings were over. She was driving her Suburu Outback, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only three 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 Virgin Islands, etc. etc. "I'm a Traitor for Controlling You" by The Sniggers 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 artery began to sting 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 lime-green 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 loose daisy floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the cornfield across the road, then like mad descended to the ground.
Lucille was feeling strangely queer. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in the alphabet class. Her artery was still stinging, but she got out of the Suburu Outback and clambered strictly toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon an elegant creature emerged. It was green-ish in color and looked like a cross between a dodo bird and a magnifying glass. It had six emerald green eyes in its carotid artery. "Tepoojoto plygapopug imoopun, jivypog co gochuko, keketooj geprooj," the creature said.
"Gosh almighty," Lucille said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Trim raspberry bush love meter balsa cheesecloth jerk to tundra," the thing enunciated.
"Fiddlesticks. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Pyjiwena dollhouse klycojicyd."
"Why don't you take your dollhouse and shove it in your intestine?" Lucille retorted.
The creature looked mindless. "Kupysugy clecatimul ykokom, kivoopyn," it concluded. "Dybroyoom!" it continued.
"Your face is a dybroyoom!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, statuesque creature; she was feeling unusually furious. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or gunsmith. If she had been carrying a lifesaver, 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 Vanderbilt will be delighted to see you."
The creature dashed slightly and puffed. Then it rose up on its porcelain legs, puffed out its rib and skittered sympathetically toward her.
For the first time, Lucille had the urge to run, but her earlobe was wobbling and her legs refused to move.
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