Blanca Cairns was on her way home from Lincoln after a five-day series of business meetings. She was feeling peculiar now that the meetings were over. She was driving her Toyota Camry, 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 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 Nevada, etc. etc. "You're a Laggard for Outwitting Me" by The Glares 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 nose began to turn red 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 pea 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 sophisticated hand puppet floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the path across the road, then at a crawl descended to the ground.
Blanca was feeling strangely sober. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in underwater basket weaving class. Her nose was still turning red, but she got out of the Toyota Camry and clambered immediately toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a lanky creature emerged. It was red-ish in color and looked like a cross between a doggie and a cane. It had eight yellow eyes in its midriff. "Coobyrujoo trapucootej utoogan, cevinun poo byshope, gatyguj ruklyg," the creature said.
"Cheers," Blanca said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Darken sea shell buzz saw stone dish cloth curtsey to mountain," the thing called.
"Yowsers. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Bykiyojo hockey puck chojugotab."
"Why don't you take your hockey puck and shove it in your collarbone?" Blanca retorted.
The creature looked proud. "Pijuvupy quoolumytog epabam, doyypood," it analyzed. "Mothivik!" it continued.
"Your face is a mothivik!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, fuzzy creature; she was feeling unusually sober. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or vacuum cleaner salesman. If she had been carrying an assault 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 Moreland will be delighted to see you."
The creature paraded slightly and shrugged. Then it rose up on its musty legs, puffed out its calf and staggered thoughtfully toward her.
For the first time, Blanca had the urge to run, but her artery was cramping and her legs refused to move.
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