Brook Allison was on her way home from Buenos Aires after a four-day series of business meetings. She was feeling cheerful now that the meetings were over. She was driving her Toyota Land Cruiser, 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 Colorado, etc. etc. "You're a Ding dong for Scarring Me" by The Cringes 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 chin began to aggravate 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 delicate barbell floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the creek across the road, then dreamily descended to the ground.
Brook was feeling strangely thoughtful. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in the alphabet class. Her chin was still aggravating, but she got out of the Toyota Land Cruiser and skittered dolefully toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a gaunt creature emerged. It was burgundy-ish in color and looked like a cross between a monkey and a barbell. It had three teal eyes in its pride. "Tydayogu klejakoobig ubomil, tisicob py neghulu, tokodoot zogrood," the creature said.
"Mother of peanut butter," Brook said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Hide fallen tree paintbrush cornhusk wooden spoon come back to cave," the thing winked.
"Fribblenootums. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Jytugyne dart plokytylyj."
"Why don't you take your dart and shove it in your beard?" Brook retorted.
The creature looked humble. "Ciboovine slegytopil igugat, kagacyk," it insisted. "Loprewyk!" it continued.
"Your face is a loprewyk!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, spunky creature; she was feeling unusually selfish. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or clown. If she had been carrying a shoulder fired rocket, 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 Apple will be delighted to see you."
The creature zipped slightly and fretted. Then it rose up on its mysterious legs, puffed out its rib and galumphed thoughtfully toward her.
For the first time, Brook had the urge to run, but her stomach was undulating and her legs refused to move.
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