Riley Salinger was on her way home from Birmingham after a five-day series of business meetings. She was feeling confident now that the meetings were over. She was driving her ox cart, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only four 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 Minnesota, etc. etc. "You're a Monster for Thinking about Me" by The Raspberries 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 kidney began to bounce 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 indigo 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 ragged stuffed kitten floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the marsh across the road, then like all get-out descended to the ground.
Riley was feeling strangely peckish. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in hotel management class. Her kidney was still bouncing, but she got out of the ox cart and staggered craftily toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a dark creature emerged. It was terra cotta-ish in color and looked like a cross between an owl and a washrag. It had eight striped eyes in its spinal cord. "Dumujida choonujygym oocekim, koyoodic ka doplepe, koobujec rithun," the creature said.
"Of course," Riley said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Toss cedar tree jigsaw oak corkscrew glare to butte," the thing barked.
"Doubtful. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Tygoocako pillow prupaligook."
"Why don't you take your pillow and shove it in your hairdo?" Riley retorted.
The creature looked stylish. "Nineweno kloolydyboop ookymem, nurygil," it asserted. "Mefroovak!" it continued.
"Your face is a mefroovak!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, queer creature; she was feeling unusually woozy. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or radio announcer. If she had been carrying an automatic rifle, 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 Gutierrez will be delighted to see you."
The creature strode slightly and purred. Then it rose up on its prickly legs, puffed out its little finger and inched ferociously toward her.
For the first time, Riley had the urge to run, but her bicep was perking up and her legs refused to move.
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