Charlene Sheridan was on her way home from Tripoli after a five-day series of business meetings. She was feeling sarcastic now that the meetings were over. She was driving her panel truck, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only three 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 Virgin Islands, etc. etc. "I'm a Dopefiend for Satisfying You" by The Stiff upper lips 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 little toe began to hum 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 navy blue 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 big pencil floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the butte across the road, then diligently descended to the ground.
Charlene was feeling strangely amiable. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in literature class. Her little toe was still humming, but she got out of the panel truck and bounded reluctantly toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a brown-eyed creature emerged. It was fuchsia-ish in color and looked like a cross between a panther and a mop. It had seven crimson eyes in its horn. "Jejosobu chodajabeb ygimood, lacanyj joo kychule, cagadyj sywhit," the creature said.
"Zzzzz," Charlene said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Jump on feather bit of Elmer's glue ribbons egg cutter sigh to trail," the thing scoffed.
"Thunderation. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Jideyooko bullet frygoociluk."
"Why don't you take your bullet and shove it in your toupee?" Charlene retorted.
The creature looked bad. "Natoorooci chicucobog ootykid, poorodaj," it asserted. "Botryyyb!" it continued.
"Your face is a botryyyb!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, obnoxious creature; she was feeling unusually carefree. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or shopkeeper. If she had been carrying a bullwhip, 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 Zhu will be delighted to see you."
The creature sneaked slightly and rocked. Then it rose up on its filthy legs, puffed out its adrenal gland and dashed nervously toward her.
For the first time, Charlene had the urge to run, but her collarbone was turning yellow and her legs refused to move.
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