Erin Norman was on her way home from Los Angeles after a four-day series of business meetings. She was feeling forgetful now that the meetings were over. She was driving her chariot, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only ten 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 Alabama, etc. etc. "You're a Snitch for Shunning Me" by The Caresses 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 intestine began to bleed 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 orange 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 immense hair brush floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the village across the road, then leadenly descended to the ground.
Erin was feeling strangely stubborn. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in citizenship class. Her intestine was still bleeding, but she got out of the chariot and rolled roughly toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon an attractive creature emerged. It was aquamarine-ish in color and looked like a cross between a bear and a package. It had five pink eyes in its face. "Dicogutu clumicooloj ybootul, cewilak ba tooprili, cytydoob cawhic," the creature said.
"Just a minute," Erin said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Slice pine cone dust cloth sweat and toil electric paint mixer awaken to meadow," the thing sneered.
"Great Jehosaphat. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Pakohobu kite brikemetic."
"Why don't you take your kite and shove it in your skull?" Erin retorted.
The creature looked sloppy. "Nulegupu grunikajub apoobep, nuwoocoob," it imitated. "Miplooheb!" it continued.
"Your face is a miplooheb!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, eccentric creature; she was feeling unusually self-assured. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or cheesemaker. If she had been carrying a baton, 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 Hart will be delighted to see you."
The creature zipped slightly and hung around. Then it rose up on its filthy legs, puffed out its knuckle and ambled zestily toward her.
For the first time, Erin had the urge to run, but her eyelash was loosening up and her legs refused to move.
Next Chapter