{"id":2752,"date":"2025-02-02T07:26:07","date_gmt":"2025-02-02T14:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/?p=2752"},"modified":"2025-02-02T07:26:07","modified_gmt":"2025-02-02T14:26:07","slug":"worth-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/02\/worth-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Worth It"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

prompt: Set your story in a place where the weather never changes.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

available at Reedsy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The more technologically advanced a shelter, the more disconnected it was from nature. In the case of Travers Station, that was a necessity. Outside the station, nature was nothing other than lethal to all the inhabitants of the station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sapient creatures that inhabited the station came from multiple stars. All of them had their own evolutionary history that drove them to innovate. They all had their own social evolution that drove that innovation to push them out among the stars. Still, none of them had evolved in an environment like the one outside the station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nature outside the station was the vacuum of space, bathed in the intense ultraviolet radiation of the O4 class star it was here to study. The closest thing to nature inside the rotating station was the garden. Comprising one quarter of the highest ring, with the lowest apparent gravity, the garden boasted shielded windows which allowed precise amounts of light and UVB from the deadly star. Still, warning signs about possible dermal damage were posted outside and throughout the garden, along its well-tended walking paths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just inside the spinward entrance of the garden was a picnic table and a collection of chairs in different sizes and shapes to accommodate the many different body plans on the station. It was there that the self-proclaimed \u201cLunch Club\u201d met once a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEasy,\u201d the crab-like creature said around mandibles that worked at a walnut shell, \u201cthe scora \u2014 I mean the artificial is okay, but it\u2019s nothing like the real thing, fresh from the ground at home.\u201d His carapace was a dull yellow with pale green spots. His manipulator limbs ended with segmented fingers tipped with a claw made from the endoskeleton that extended outside the exoskeleton. Each of his eight walking limbs ended with a single such skeletal claw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The orange furred creature seated next to him twiddled with a distraction toy with the middle two of her six multiuse limbs, the lower two grasped like folded hands, while the upper two deftly stacked a sandwich with deli-sliced meats and cheeses, interleaved with lettuce and pickles. \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d she said. \u201cI mean, I miss a lot from home, but it\u2019s hard to say which I miss the most. Maybe it\u2019s my family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe same family that you complain about?\u201d the crab-like alien asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHurtur, be nice,\u201d the bronze-skinned human woman interjected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust because they make me mad sometimes doesn\u2019t mean I don\u2019t miss them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cApologies, Gexna,\u201d Hurtur said around the crunches of the walnut shells he was busy stuffing himself with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She took a bite of the sandwich that seemed as tall as her head, but her jaws opened wide to accommodate with teeth well-suited to shred and crush. With her mouth full as she chewed, she said \u201cYou\u2019re fine. But maybe I miss my boat on the lake more than my family, or\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet Marina answer,\u201d Hurtur cut her off. \u201cIt\u2019s her question, after all. What do you<\/em> miss most from your home?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marina sighed. \u201cWeather. I miss weather. Rain, wind, hot days, cold days, snow, fog, all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gexna\u2019s large, pink eyes grew wide. \u201cOoh, that\u2019s a good one. I sometimes take a cool shower, close my eyes, and pretend it\u2019s raining.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t spend too long doing that, though,\u201d Hurtur said, \u201cor you\u2019ll exceed your water allowance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSays the guy with a hundred-liter exotic fishtank in his office.\u201d Marina laughed. \u201cI do that sometimes, too, Gexna.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHey, that tank and those fish were gifts from the Terran ambassador.\u201d Hurtur clicked his mandibles. \u201cBesides, it belongs to the office, not me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut you are the ambassador, it is your office, and,\u201d Gexna leaned closer to him, \u201cthe gift was addressed to you by name.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFine, it\u2019s mine, but I still stay within my allowance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe all do,\u201d Marina said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gexna closed her eyes. \u201cI wish I could walk in the mist once in a while.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMist?\u201d Marina asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBack home, we didn\u2019t get rain often, but we would get a fine mist every morning.\u201d She ran her fingers down the fur of her arm. \u201cIt would bead up on my fur and drip off. Such a refreshing feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marina smiled. \u201cWe used to get misty rain like that in the autumn at home, too. I might have an idea.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not going to do something crazy, are you?\u201d Hurtur asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, nothing crazy. Just, meet me at the anti-spinward entrance to the garden right after the third shift start.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s so far, though,\u201d Hurtur said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s literally only four kilometers from here.\u201d Marina shook her head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut there\u2019s no tram through the garden,\u201d he complained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTake the tram the other direction, then. It\u2019s twenty minutes on the express,\u201d Gexna said. \u201cWe won\u2019t get in trouble for being in here late, will we?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNah,\u201d Marina gave the furry creature a hug. \u201cMy brother works in a special section of the garden. I\u2019ll clear it with him this afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be on the first express tram after the end of second shift,\u201d Hurtur said. \u201cUntil then, I\u2019ve got paperwork to see to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSee you then.\u201d Gexna waved with the distraction toy. \u201cI should get back to work myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSee you this evening.\u201d Marina made sure to police up the table area to make sure they left nothing behind before she exited the garden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hours later, when she re-entered the spinward door of the garden to walk to the far end, she found Gexna waiting for her. \u201cAre you walking with me to the other end?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes. I could use the exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNonsense. You\u2019re in fabulous shape.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have just been spending too much time sitting in one place.\u201d Gexna moved in an undulating gait on all six limbs beside the human woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s too easy to do that here,\u201d Marina said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat is it your brother does?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They reached the other end of the garden just in time for Hurtur to enter from that door. \u201cUgh. That tram ride was interminable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTwenty minutes is interminable?\u201d Marina asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is when there\u2019s a wailing child three seats away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe tram was full,\u201d he cut Marina off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, follow me. I think you\u2019ll like this.\u201d She led them down a side path that led into ever-denser foliage. The scent of moisture greeted them a few hundred meters in. A wall of flexible slats hung in front of them, painted in a color that disappeared in the trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moving aside the slats, she motioned them in. \u201cWelcome to the moss garden.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inside, they were greeted by a cool mist, with soft moss underfoot, and dozens of types of moss growing on every surface. Hurtur made a sound the other two had never heard, a sort of grumbling purr. \u201cOh, this is marvelous,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gexna stretched her body out to nearly double her normal length. Water droplets formed on her fur, and she shivered with a giggle, causing them to run off in rivulets. \u201cThis feels like home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marina smiled. \u201cThe misters run every day for the entire third shift. We can stay as long as you like. Or at least until we\u2019re all soaked.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hurtur stepped farther down the mossy path, then lay down. He flattened himself out until gaps appeared along the edges of his carapace and let out what could only be a heavy sigh. \u201cCan we come back?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery day if you want,\u201d Marina answered, \u201cif you can deal with screaming toddlers on the tram.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hurtur spread himself out as far as his legs would stretch on the mossy path. \u201cWorth it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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