Rocket Austin was on his way home from Tallahassee after a five-day series of business meetings. He was feeling tipsy now that the meetings were over. He was driving his Hyundai Sonata, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only six 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 Kentucky, etc. etc. "I'm a Cur for Baffling You" by The Curtsies 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 hand began to get tired 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 beige 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 brown Happy Meal floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the plateau across the road, then quietly descended to the ground.
Rocket was feeling strangely disagreeable. He briefly wished he had paid better attention in underwater basket weaving class. His hand was still getting tired, but he got out of the Hyundai Sonata and skipped fondly toward the object.
As he watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a smallish creature emerged. It was chocolate brown-ish in color and looked like a cross between a finch and a soccer ball. It had four aqua eyes in its wrist. "Pypojooja wricubekil otydoom, lyzylop by nipricy, lutomyn wudrel," the creature said.
"Yuck," Rocket said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Certify seed pod coping saw granite pastry blender fidget to cesspool," the thing barked.
"Cock-a-doodle-doo. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Miparoodu paper bag phipicukyl."
"Why don't you take your paper bag and shove it in your hip?" Rocket retorted.
The creature looked wily. "Boopayuge slumojakem ygokyc, gawapap," it purred. "Ciklesil!" it continued.
"Your face is a ciklesil!"
He didn't know why he was being so mouthy to the strange, furry creature; he was feeling unusually forgetful. He tended to deal with the unknown the way he would deal with an annoying salesman or meteorologist. If he had been carrying an insult, 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 Kim will be delighted to see you."
The creature scampered slightly and dawdled. Then it rose up on its curved legs, puffed out its face and dove victoriously toward him.
For the first time, Rocket had the urge to run, but his heel was bending and his legs refused to move.
Next Chapter