Albert part 5

As Albert sat in his room, still in pain from the vinegar in his gills, he decided it was time to run away. Nearly every Aridian boy decides to run away at Albert’s age. These treks usually don’t last long. Aridia is a farming community and there is nothing to run to, you can’t join the circus or become a priest. You can only become a moisture farmer. That is the option.

Therefore, a boy who rebels on Aridia realizes rather quickly that he has no other options. His life will be like the life of his father and his father’s father, one of bored tedium collecting and selling water to the big ships that come to Aridia.

Those ships are what inspired his Dad as a youth, inspired him to get off the Planet. His Dad was actually the first person in Aridian history to try and jump on a water ship. They were not the most imaginative race of folks. In the 10,000 years of water trading, no one has ever tried to sign on with a departing freighter. This is one of the many reasons the freighters kept coming back, no one likes a tag a long. The other reason was that the Aridians had not changed their water prices in 10,000 years. Despite the fact water now sells at a 2,000% increase across the galaxy, there is never enough water to go around.

Albert’s Dad discovered all this while talking to one of the freighters, trying to sign on to a ship. He was shocked and ran back home to tell his parents they were being taken advantage of and to tell them of all the wonderful things on other planets, to which they replied, “What else do we need, son.” His response was “Everything.” was a cause of some contention in the house. Eventually his contact with that freighter caused him to became the first Aridian to successfully run away. Albert was about to become the second.

Albert did not want to be around failure. He hated losers and his parents were the worst kind of loser he knew, the dreamer. So he loaded up his fanny pack and his backpack and he snuck out the back tunnel into freedom.

He didn’t know where to go, but he knew he would make it. If his failure of a Dad could get off his home world, than Albert knew he could run away. What he didn’t know was what an adventure it would lead him on.

That is what this story is really about, Albert, the Curmudgeon Aliens Adventures Though Life And Philosophy.

Come join in on the adventure.

K Tuttle