Huong Soto was on her way home from Tacoma after a three-day series of business meetings. She was feeling generous now that the meetings were over. She was driving her carriage, 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 South Dakota, etc. etc. "I'm a Pig for Stepping on You" by The Laughs 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 wrist began to throb 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 tan 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 narrow Van Gogh floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the trail across the road, then like a snail descended to the ground.
Huong was feeling strangely generous. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in hair dressing class. Her wrist was still throbbing, but she got out of the carriage and inched violently toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a scraggly creature emerged. It was rose-ish in color and looked like a cross between a wombat and a china doll. It had two camouflage eyes in its pride. "Cipehody cranocebad ulycul, cocoolob mo goochooba, lokakug wooglij," the creature said.
"Ha-ha," Huong said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Fortify twig chisel feather dish cloth relax to peninsula," the thing persisted.
"Easy peasy. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Kekiyado clock plimadyjum."
"Why don't you take your clock and shove it in your thorax?" Huong retorted.
The creature looked hungry. "Doonooseki klelaloopin ekamyc, gajibug," it analyzed. "Lyghawoot!" it continued.
"Your face is a lyghawoot!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, carefree creature; she was feeling unusually proud. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or boat captain. If she had been carrying a wooden stake, 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 Graziano will be delighted to see you."
The creature loped slightly and sat still. Then it rose up on its mechanical legs, puffed out its midriff and sallied forth gruffly toward her.
For the first time, Huong had the urge to run, but her calf was getting scaly and her legs refused to move.
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