So-Yeng Goldwater was on her way home from Ottawa after a four-day series of business meetings. She was feeling peculiar now that the meetings were over. She was driving her Jeep, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only five 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 Washington, etc. etc. "You're a Reptile for Scratching Me" by The Wrinkled noses 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 hair began to peel 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 ancient jar of olives floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the seacoast across the road, then briskly descended to the ground.
So-Yeng was feeling strangely confident. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in astronomy class. Her hair was still peeling, but she got out of the Jeep and sped impatiently toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a well-built creature emerged. It was hot pink-ish in color and looked like a cross between a puma and a flyswatter. It had eight sparkly eyes in its pride. "Genijuli wradupeton ootolook, loogogyp ky jeklooka, dybookod yooshyt," the creature said.
"Yowie," So-Yeng said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Grasp spider web plunger cane chopstick look puzzled to forest," the thing spouted.
"Fine. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Mooloozooka dollar bill dripoojilooj."
"Why don't you take your dollar bill and shove it in your head?" So-Yeng retorted.
The creature looked high-strung. "Gepawino plipytikub upamyg, nacoocep," it taunted. "Cygliheg!" it continued.
"Your face is a cygliheg!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, forgetful creature; she was feeling unusually perky. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or gambler. If she had been carrying a catheter, 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 Sawyer will be delighted to see you."
The creature skipped slightly and jerked. Then it rose up on its small legs, puffed out its bicep and barrelled excitedly toward her.
For the first time, So-Yeng had the urge to run, but her nose was whistling and her legs refused to move.
Next Chapter