4. Jesse
JESSE
Three weeks and the best thing I’d found was with a temp agency, cleaning offices in the dead of night.
It was honest work and nothing to be ashamed of, but I found myself longing for the open air and the gentle nudges from the cattle and horses that had filled my days.
My coworkers barely spoke to me, wearing earbuds to listen to music and podcasts and books or whatever, so I was feeling rather lonely too.
There was none of the camaraderie with the other ranch hands, and my work schedule precluded me from meeting up with my buddies at the bar.
Though really I was beginning to realize they were more like friendly acquaintances, even Jase who’d mysteriously stopped being online when I was.
I kept logging on and saw that he was online, only for him to immediately disappear.
I wasn’t stupid - Jase had obviously fibbed about his cousin and the family party, or at least, decided he’d dodged a bullet being able to stay out of my drama in a personal manner.
He must have told the others too, as they all kept popping offline just as quickly or popped up a DO NOT DISTURB message.
It hurt that they’d also turned their back on me as soon as I wasn’t the fun guy they hung out with and who played wingman as needed.
Another day, another dollar come and gone, I mused to myself as I pulled out of the parking garage of the office block I cleaned at, holding my debit card out to pay for the parking.
The agency paid it back come payday, marking it as an expense that the client covered since, unlike with the regular cleaning staff, I did not have a parking pass, though why they paid for a temp for so long instead of simply hiring one on, I also remained clueless about.
I pulled out, and instead of heading back to the motel immediately, I turned the other direction to hit the twenty-four hour box store so I could get Buster some more food and pick up a few more ready meals for myself.
As I drove along, a billboard advertising the new Mylos-Dragonii programs came into view, and that got me to thinking about the land claims the Dragonii were offering.
By the time I’d checked out with my purchases, my mind was made up.
I was going to sign up. Everyone knew the odds of getting matched were low, and I’d heard personal pets would be allowed with very few restrictions, same as with the Mylos, so Buster could come along.
Given it was an agrarian colony and I’d be ranching, I no doubt could gain permission to have my horses shipped as part of my personal moving allowance, and if not that, using the stipend they would provide as seed money to start me off.
Open skies, gently rolling grasslands as far as the eye could see, and folks who wouldn’t look down their noses at me, as none open to marrying an alien is likely to bat an eyelid at a fella being gay.
I loaded my shopping into the truck and got in, taking a moment to look up the local center on my phone.
It was still closed from the integration program groundwork, but a message was up giving a link to fill in an application for an appointment.
I filled that in immediately as it only asked for my name, a picture of my ID, my age, and if I had any dependents or pets, as well as which of the programs I wished to apply for.
I selected Dragonii only as I didn’t want to go to college again, just start my own ranch.
That done, I put my phone down in the center console and returned home to feed Buster.
“Hey, buddy,” I told him as he bounded to me when I opened the door. “Who’s my good boy? That’s right! You are the bestest boy!”
His tail wagged enthusiastically, as much a display of genuine affection for me as it was the large bag of dog food I had in my arms.
“Hey, guess what?” I asked him once I’d put a filled bowl in front of him. “We’re going to move to another planet. I don’t know when, but soon, hopefully before we have to pay for here again.”
He kept eating, snuffing his puzzle bowl eagerly so as to miss not a single bite of kibble. I walked back out to my truck to fetch the bag holding the three ready meals I’d purchased. Placing two in the fridge, I popped one into the microwave.
Wonder what kind of food they’ll have there? I pondered. Not that I’m super picky, but I hope it isn’t creepy crawlies or some shit like that. What do Dragonii even eat?
Once the microwave pinged to let me know my food was ready, I took it out and settled down to eat it at the small table the motel provided. I opened my laptop and entered a search to find out what I could on the Dragonii.
Meat, veggies, and fruit. Meat nearly completely raw. Okay, I think I’m good. I’ll simply cook my meat for longer. Kilt-ha, wonder what kind of meat that is.
I clicked to discover it was a sort of reptilian looking beast that ate both meat and plants.
Apparently they laid eggs in nests they built out of grass, and the unfertilized eggs were collected and used the way we used chicken or duck eggs.
The article said the taste of the meat depended upon the cut, with some parts tasting beef-like, while others leaned more towards a pork flavor and were indeed smoked to produce a kind of bacon, which they ate completely raw.
The article also referenced a creature called a hopalong, which was a marsupial raised for food, though often also kept as pets.
It looked like a cross between a huge lop eared rabbit and a wallaby, if they had blue and purple fur and mostly hopped on four legs when moving about, unless carrying a baby in its pouch, which, as the information vid provided showed, meant they then stood upright like a wallaby to hop on only its rear legs.
Oh, man. They also have little hands at the ends of their front paws, like a raccoon. Cute little guys, but weird looking. I dunno if I could eat one, as they seem too much like something I’d want as a pet.
I finished my food and cleared up before taking Buster out for a walk, thinking about what life on my future ranch might look like. By the time we got back and I got into bed, that had morphed to wondering how long before I was contacted to arrange my test.
Please let it be soon. I can’t keep spinning my wheels like this.