Otherworldly--A Genre Fiction Anthology--Volume 1 by Ben Penrod's Nerd Street

Author:Ben Penrod's Nerd Street [Nerd Street]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-04-11T00:00:00+00:00

Over the course of the next two weeks, I stay away from Arnie. And Yavrik. And the casinos. Instead, I find a temporary gig making deliveries. All through the crust, up to the surface, even down to the sixth level where the Syndicate runs the appraisers and the dealers. But I keep my distance from anything illegal. Julie was right about that, there is still honest work to be found on this rock if you look in the right places.

On one trip up to the surface, I even find the permaglass panel above our maintenance shaft. With a little work, most of the dust and grime comes right off.

We buy groceries. A bottle of bathtub gin even. We celebrate. We spend more time in our bed. The stars shine a little brighter through the cleaned-up panel. Things are good.

Still, I can’t shake that nagging feeling of something missing. It’s like that feeling you get when you set something down, just for a second, and someone else picks it up before you have a chance to notice. Like you forgot something, but you can’t remember for the life of you what it is you forgot. Like walking down the steps at night and thinking you’ve reached the bottom, just for your foot to fall another step further down.

I took my notebook and buried it deep in a drawer of my nightstand. Better to focus on the present. Better to focus on what I have and hold onto that. Like Julie said, the past is the past. We’re our future. See, you never really understand how much you’ve gained until you’ve experienced loss.

And then, on a day like all the ones before it, the address for Arnie’s shop appears on my list of deliveries. As temporary as this position is, I don’t have the option to refuse to make the stop. If I don’t follow the list, they’d just move on to the next ex-miner lowlife who will. So I grit my teeth and make my way back along an all too familiar path.

When I shoulder open the door, I don’t look up from the chipped tile floor. Figure all I have to do is set the package on his desk and be on my way. Don’t have to say a word. Keep it quick, simple, and pure. Two steps through the door, my plan starts to crumble.

“Stones, is that you?” Arnie calls through the permaglass barrier. “Where the hell you been, man?”

Okay. Fine. So there’s no getting out of here without at least speaking to the man. I can still do this. Just make the delivery and get out. Just like all the rest. Doesn’t have to lead to anything else.

“How’s it going, Arnie?” I say over my jacket collar. “Got a package for you. Then I gotta be on my way.”

“Sure, sure. Set it down other there. What have you been up to man? You know, decadence is back up! I can probably re-appraise that memory you brought in last we talked.

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