Then she sat down.

“She,” possibly the one woman in all the universe who could replace Victoria. She closely resembled Victoria, except even more captivating. “What’s your name and what’s your sign,” George blurted out. “Joy,” she responded, “What do you mean, ‘sign’?”

Suddenly George realized how silly his greeting was and explained about astronomical signs.

Joy thought a while and said, “Then I guess I would be a Caldonian because my home star was in the constellation Caldon when I emerged.

This was the first vital clue that Joy wasn’t normal. But, George was too captivated by her beauty to pick up on this life changing clue.

They talked a bit and George figured it was her intoxication that caused her to mangle words. He offered to buy her a drink but Joy said, “I don’t drink.” Later she ordered a wine cooler saying it wasn’t the same. George sat staring at Joy’s perfect face. A perfect little nose, two perfect little ears, two huge beautiful eyes, and 36 perfect pearly white teeth. As for the neck down, she was so perfect that George was afraid to look. Two perfect ...

When it was time to go home, George asked Joy to spend the night with him and she responded, “I’m not that type of girl, but I’ll met you here again tomorrow night and we’ll see,” and she gave George a wink. George decided this would have to due. So they parted - sort of. Joy said she wanted to leave just a minute before George which George agreed to in a confused manor. After Joy left, he peaked out the window to see where she went and she had already disappeared. George shook his head and told himself he would learn more about her tomorrow.

Once home, George laid in bed thinking about Joy for several hours before falling into a restless sleep. When he awoke in the morning, he said to himself, “I feel like I’ve been run over by a spaceship.” Then he stared into the mirror and pondered why he had said “spaceship” rather than his usual “truck.” As George shaved, he began to recall some bazaar dreams he had. Why had he dreamed sexual fantasies with space aliens? Usually he dreams of replacing automobile transmissions, which confuses him because he works in a bank and can’t even change his own oil.

George was still thinking of Joy as he ate his saucer of cereal. Why did he think saucer rather than bowl, he wondered? George gave a quick glance at the newspaper as he rushed out the door. More UFO sightings. “This is the third time this week,” George thought, “boy, some people are nuts.”

All day at the bank, George couldn’t stop thinking of the coin drawers of little flying saucers. He couldn’t understand his sudden fascination with space craft and UFOs and sex with space aliens, he never even saw Star Wars.

By quitting time, George couldn’t wait to get back to the Gemini Bar. He hoped she would be there again. Tonight, he wouldn’t go home alone.

George sat there for six hours. He sat there watching the door, for six hours. He sat there looking around for her face, for six hours. He sat there crushed, watching the door, looking around for her face, for six long hours. Finally, half an hour before midnight, he saw her. She had just left the restroom. How could she have entered the bar and walked across to the restroom without his seeing her? To Georges delight, Joy sat down on the stool next to George. She placed her hand on his thigh and smiled at him saying, “I’ve been thinking of you all day - good thoughts. Have you thought about me? I’d like to sleep with you tonight”

George’s jaw dropped to the floor.

It must have been the moment that made him think that she reached five feet to the floor to pick up his jaw. Her arm looks normal enough most of the time.

They talked until closing time. Joy asks some of the strangest questions. She mangled words, She seemed very naive about some things and very intelligent about others. She knew the order of the 11 planets, even the two that George didn’t know about, then didn’t know left from right or north from south and didn’t even know what state she was in. George though, the state of confusion. Joy was vague about her past and family and George couldn’t figure out what her profession was. She talked about caring for kids and he thought she might be a teacher, then she didn’t seem to like children. She told George how much she liked singing, but he couldn’t get her to sing a note. Joy was strange. Strange but captivating.

George was daydreaming as he talked with Joy. Suddenly he was jarred into awareness that the bar was closing. This was the moment, she said she would come home with him, now was the test. They got up and walked out into the crisp, but not too cold night air. Joy shivered a little. “This way to my chariot,” George said as he lead he to his car. He was a bit tired, so maybe he didn’t hear her right as she responded, “I thought your planet had advanced further in wheeled transportation since my people first visited the Romans.” George opened the door and Joy sat down in his car. Joy fumbled with the seat belt for almost ten minutes. She seemed to have no idea where she was and asked all sorts of odd questions about traffic signs, speed limits, and what all the instruments in the dash did. She tuned the radio to a point between stations and seemed happy to find relaxing static. She tried to hug and kiss poor George while he was making a turn and almost sent them through a shop window. George was trying to be on his best behavior as he told her to never try that again. Joy seemed exceedingly rejected by George’s admonishment.

Joy had cooled off a little by the time they reached George’s apartment. It was 2:15 am and Joy was talking a bit loudly as they walked down the corridor to George’s apartment. Joy was again rejected when George asked her to be quieter.

George had cleaned the apartment before he left for work, so there were no dirty clothes or plates and glasses lying around. He opened the door and Joy entered the apartment. She studied it carefully and finally said, “I can regenerate here.” George politely asked Joy if he could help her disrobe. Joy said she would be fine sleeping as she was, these were anytime clothes. George was a little disappointed, but decided it was a start. George slipped into his pajamas and lead Joy to the bed. They curled up together and drifted off to sleep.

George had another night filled with strange dreams of flying saucers, sex with space aliens, alien women with extra body parts. He awoke grateful that for the first time since Victoria left, he would not wake up alone. He turned to Joy, and he was alone. No Joy, no note, nothing. Nothing except a strange metal object about the size of a lipstick case. It had a strange shape with groves and knurling cut in. It didn’t seem to have any moving parts or buttons. It was in the middle of the living room, the only evidence that she had actually been there.

Just as the day before, George readied himself for work, only this time, his thoughts were of disappointment. He dragged himself through the work day, glad that it was finally Friday. A customer wore a hat shaped like a saucer, two customers talked in an unfamiliar, almost squeaking language. Three customers were named Joy, but the faces were wrong. On the radio at lunch time he heard of yet another UFO siting last night, about 5:00 am. He couldn’t get the vision of flying saucers out of his mind, but why? At quitting time, he almost volunteered to work some OT, but decided he was too depressed to get the balances right.

Should he try the bar again? He decided not to. Even if she was there, he wasn’t sure he wanted to see her again. He ran into some friends on the way to the local coffee house so he decided to join them. He was a bit tired from being up so late the previous two nights, so about 11:00 he decided to go home. His cat Lulu met him at the door, hungry as George had forgotten to fed her this morning. He watched TV for a few minutes, another report of a UFO just an hour ago. He gave Lulu a saucer of milk, then wondered why, as he usually didn’t give milk to the cat, and why this saucer thought again? George curled up in bed, alone, and drifted off to sleep dreaming of Joy and of having sex with space aliens.