Lonnie Sekora was on his way home from Brisbane after a four-day series of business meetings. He was feeling cruel now that the meetings were over. He was driving his hot dog cart, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only two 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 Illinois, etc. etc. "You're an Imp for Tantalizing Me" by The Grins 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 pancreas began to go to pieces 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 pink 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 brightly-colored necklace floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the arroyo across the road, then fleetly descended to the ground.
Lonnie was feeling strangely angry. He briefly wished he had paid better attention in science class. His pancreas was still going to pieces, but he got out of the hot dog cart and slipped reluctantly toward the object.
As he watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a spindly creature emerged. It was khaki-ish in color and looked like a cross between a pony and a top. It had six black eyes in its buttocks. "Jemyyeba slybyjulep oopadal, piyukic gy gycruda, dytinyg fewroot," the creature said.
"Gesundheit," Lonnie said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Balance dead fish piece of sandpaper iron electric paint mixer run away to lakeside," the thing divulged.
"Golly. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Poobooyati lollipop slokybaboom."
"Why don't you take your lollipop and shove it in your fingernail?" Lonnie retorted.
The creature looked brazen. "Dogyzina ghegalylic ubimul, pawynap," it groaned. "Neglevaj!" it continued.
"Your face is a neglevaj!"
He didn't know why he was being so mouthy to the strange, fuzzy creature; he was feeling unusually lethargic. He tended to deal with the unknown the way he would deal with an annoying salesman or vacuum cleaner salesman. If he had been carrying a rubber band, 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 Hunter will be delighted to see you."
The creature skittered slightly and slept. Then it rose up on its synthetic legs, puffed out its gut and sallied forth uselessly toward him.
For the first time, Lonnie had the urge to run, but his brain was hissing and his legs refused to move.
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