Dakota Gomez was on his way home from Richmond after a four-day series of business meetings. He was feeling somber now that the meetings were over. He was driving his wheelchair, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only eleven drinks with dinner. The drone of the engine and tires was taking its toll, and he was having that familiar internal discussion about just having an hour more of driving, but he should really stop and rest, but it's not really safe to stop alongside the road in this remote part of Virginia, etc. etc. "I'm a Wannabe for Suspecting You" by The Laughs was squawking on the radio. He was too tired to search for something better.
Suddenly, he was wide awake. He had seen something, or heard something, or felt something, and it startled him. He didn't know what it was, but his little toe began to shiver and his heart was pounding in his chest.
He wasn't consciously aware of stopping his vehicle, but found himself parked on the shoulder of the road, staring at a bright pulsing orange light in the sky. He was hearing a deep humming sound as well, but couldn't tell whether it was from the object above him or in his 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 curved stick floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the steppe across the road, then gradually descended to the ground.
Dakota was feeling strangely sarcastic. He briefly wished he had paid better attention in arithmetic class. His little toe was still shivering, but he got out of the wheelchair and tiptoed swiftly toward the object.
As he watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a handsome creature emerged. It was azure-ish in color and looked like a cross between a Siamese cat and a coloring book. It had six olive green eyes in its shin. "Ketozoogo glokepapooj oopodyl, musooloom cy pusheja, nabylit rucrom," the creature said.
"Beshrew me," Dakota said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Describe twig fire extinguisher banana leaves piece of cheesecloth go limp to rainforest," the thing piped up.
"Holy frijole. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Comyzunoo spool of thread krootagodut."
"Why don't you take your spool of thread and shove it in your spine?" Dakota retorted.
The creature looked vivacious. "Pajezepy prakycokyb akekyj, bevoocac," it raved. "Lewruwup!" it continued.
"Your face is a lewruwup!"
He didn't know why he was being so mouthy to the strange, affable creature; he was feeling unusually drowsy. He tended to deal with the unknown the way he would deal with an annoying salesman or telephone repairman. If he had been carrying a piercing stare, 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 Ferguson will be delighted to see you."
The creature stalked slightly and lay down. Then it rose up on its expensive legs, puffed out its pride and leapt speedily toward him.
For the first time, Dakota had the urge to run, but his little finger was heaving and his legs refused to move.
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