[ Thanks to Andy Updegrove for this
link. ]
“Frank stepped out of the dark, moonless night of the
Nevada desert and into the bright light of the bar, restaurant and
motel that was the Little A’Le’Inn. Along one wall ran a counter
with stools and the backsides of a couple of locals. Behind the
counter he saw a waitress, cash register, and a modest assembly of
liquor bottles that apparently constituted the bar. That took care
of the predictable part of the room. And then there was the rest.“Despite the odd spelling, there couldn’t be much doubt over the
meaning of the café’s name. Hung on pegboards, sitting on
shelves, and hanging from the ceiling was an impressively random
collection of just about anything you might (or might not) imagine
could be presented with an extraterrestrial theme.“Frank placed himself on a stool at the end of the counter and
glanced at the densely packed array of memorabilia that covered the
wall behind the counter – alien posters, alien postcards,
alien pens and coffee cups, and dozens of busts of aliens of every
shape, configuration and size. That said, most interpreters had
reached consensus on two facts: aliens are green, and have large,
black slanted eyes. Amid all the clutter was a small mirror, in
which Frank noticed the eyes of the man sitting next to him. Those
eyes were staring back at Frank intently over the brim of the man’s
beer mug.”