Gan at the Smoggy Canyon
Illustration by Paolo Louis Manghihilot
A plastix flooed past the pathroad as me two-wheels whizzered through the Smoggy Canyon. Rubbage burcinerated from the possmerdiem heat effected blacker smog than common nowday — causing the aerie to olfactate more stinker than common. If it weren’t for me trusty gogglemask, me face woulda burcinerated with them.
Me stopped me two-wheels just past Mount 2204. Tis is where Planter Lex treatied to bartrade me townty’s aqua for vegefood. The gaunty man holdered herm sax of vegefood as common. Not common, though, was herm holdering only six sax.
“Only six sax, Planter Lex?” me questasked as me removed me googlemask. “Tis is not nuff to feed me townty for one workcycle.”
“Tis is twopart of what we gathervested,” the skinny planter spake. “The sol was nonkind in the last workcycle. It burcinerated most of our gathervest. You can see it with the blacker smog in the rubbage mounts.”
Me set me eyes to tis blacker smogs on the mounts of Smoggy Canyon. Trudeed, the plastix and the rotwood were burcinerating dire. Even the dury metalwerks were crackaged by the sol’s dire heat.
“Tis is funnorous. Legemyths spake that tis landfill was once fullered with vegefood and aqua, more nuff to last one workcycle. Can you imagize free vegefood and aqua for one earthturn, Plummer Gan?” Planter Lex questasked me.
When he lookseed me turnting me head, he spake more, “Tis landfill deadened when we — men and evemen — never stopped litterthrowing our rubbage here. Nowday, we have lesser vegefood to eaten and lesser aqua to drinksip. Hownay, it being six juggers of aqua for six sax of vegefood, yea?”
“Yea, Planter Lex,” me spake back. “Me cannot bartrade more.”
Planter Lex spake, “Me under—”
Me lookseed a beamlight whizzer, and in a snap of me fingerdexes, Planter Lex was on the grund, with eyes and mouth still widegape. Me rushrunned and hid at a near rubbage pile, holding me aerie breaths. Me holdered me plasgun as the heat of the rubbage burcinerated me skin.
Me then hearded a ruff-gruff voice spake, “Tis man here is deadened. He got here six sax of vegefood. What mumber of juggers are there, Jun?”
Me offerayed a praywish to Fiksar for the deadened Planter Lex, and me began unknowlearning tearweep. Tis shoulda be the frightfeared gangbike from the north mounts, infam for nonkind robstealing of vegefood, aqua and whatnot.
“Twinny, Dan!” Me heard a chimey voice spake back.
Tis minment, me had to survive — my townty repended on me to backturn with vegefood. Me rushrunned away from the rubbage file and fireshooted at a chubby man holdering one sax of vegefood. He dropfelled to the grund deadened.
A gaunty man near me two-wheels fireshooted at me with herm plasgun one-hander. The other hand holdered a tinny contrapvice, a loud larmwanging turnted on. Me dodgvaddied the plasmo, and fireshooted me own.
The gaunty man, too, dropfelled, but not before shoutcursing, “You shall pay to Master Marcie, you scumrat!”
That larmwanging must be for aidhelp, so me rushrunned to holder the sax of vegefood to my two-wheels, and me began whizzering through the Smoggy Canyon again.
Minments next, me heard whizzering two-wheels behind me. Me turnted me head, and lookseed ten two-wheelers on me backtail.
A brobdingnag man was leadheading them two-wheel roadriders. He shoutcursed in a ruff-gruff boomloud voice, “Naughtbody rushruns from Master Marcie!”
The brobdingnag man then fireshootted the wheels of me two-wheelers, and me was sent flooing like plastix to a pilemount of rubbage. Allthing then goed black.
Nowday, me knowlearn not where me am. Me just eyewaken nudelewd, me limbers tied to a woodboard on the summittop of a pilemount of rubbage. Me olfactate the stinker of the rubbage — stronger than common. Redwater mixened with sweatwater as the unkind sol burcinerated me body. Me struggle for me survival and for me townty is dimiduced to naught.
Nowday, me am certainsure me will be deadened, and me townty aint gotting its vegefood for the workcycle. Me survival is certainsure naught, but me pray to Fiksar for me townty’s. Me pray to Fiksar to be lovekind to the townty me failed.
