Ryan polished his security badge while staring through the viewport of the Petrolia Peninsula Parking Hub. Below, in the ammonia-fountains, Nebula was laughing with a guy who looked like a walking disco ball with six massive arms.
“That is Glax,” Dover groaned, his rubber handrails sagging. “He is a star-surfer. I am a staircase to nowhere, and you are a bipedal primate with a flashlight.”
Ryan watched Glax use four arms to juggle flaming donuts while the other two massaged Nebula’s shoulders. Ryan adjusted his baggy belt and marched toward the kiosks.
“Hey Nebula,” Ryan said. “Is this the guy who did not validate his parking? That is a triple-solar fine.”
Glax laughed, a sound like crystal chimes. “I do not park, tiny human. I orbit.”
Nebula’s third arm emerged from her neck to snatch a donut. “Ryan, relax. Glax is just my ex-larva-mate.”
“Does he have a discount card?” Ryan asked, pulling a crumpled flyer. “This Buy-One-Get-One-Void-Cake coupon expires in ten seconds.”
Glax’s eyes widened. “A BOGO?”
The six-armed giant sprinted toward the food court.
“Common sense,” Ryan shrugged.
Nebula smirked. “True, but he still smells better. You smell like floor wax.”
Ryan sighed, and continued his lonely patrol tour of the alien parking hub. “It’s not floor wax,” he muttered. “It’s the mist from that ammonia fountain.”
“Ugh.”
(This story created by a California earthquake on July 16th. Magnitude 2.6 – 20 km WSW of Petrolia, CA. URL: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75397501/executive)
