In the Alpha-Beta Galaxy, In the Delta Solar System. There is a planet called XR21, surrounding this planet is an asteroid belt. On one of these asteroids is a bar and grill named “Charlie’s”.
Hi I’m Charlie. My family hails from the planet Earth. Though no member of my family has lived on the planet for decades. My father’s name is Tony. My father flew a transport ship. (He has retired). Transporting cargo from one planet or solar system to another. His ship was as long and tall as an eighteen-wheeler, and about as wide as a football field. It was in the back of that ship I was born. I was raised by the on ship nurse. She also helped with my primary education. Further education was done by Hologram teaching. And on ship tutors. As I grew older I would travel with dad as he made his runs. The many stories I could tell about those times, and maybe someday I will. But what I will say is that almost every trip brought us to a place called “Ambrose’s Space Hut” (later to be renamed Charlie’s).
Something I found out later in my childhood. the on ship nurse we had that helped me come into this world, and helped with my primary education. Was just a nurse who happened to be at the spaceport when my dad was delivering cargo. My dad only asked for her help in raising me through my primary years. After mom had left. This next part I did know but had been told a lie about the reason. When I was seven we took the nurse back to the spaceport we got her from and dropped her off. I was told at the time that she had to leave us due to a health problem. The truth was my dad and her had an argument and she said she quit. The reason for the argument I never found out. Never needed to know either.. However the reason doesn’t matter. She was very much missed by both of us.
The on ship tutars and teachers that helped with further education. Were few and far between. They were teachers we helped move from one planet to another. Most of my learning came from dad or the use of holograms.
Ambrose was a shape -shifter. One day he may be in human form. One day he may look like a hammer -head shark on two legs, and on other days he looked like things no human I has ever seen. But he was always Ambrose, good humored, sweet as can be, and alway ready to help someone out. Ambrose’s wife’s name is Renee. Renee was not a shape-shifer like her husband. Renee worked mostly in the office handeling the business part of the restaurant. Letting Ambrose meet and greet the costumers, and filling in where needed. During staffing shortages.
Ambrose also had a daughter named Janine, even at the young age of six. I knew what love was and her name was Janine. Ambrose, Renee, Janine, Dad, and I became great friends. Janine even got to go on a few runs with us. That was cool
When I turned 18 I told my dad I wanted to start working at Ambrose's. My dad agreed. So I packed up what little I had and dad dropped me off. I took a house on a nearby Asteroid, and started working the next day. At first it was washing dishes, doing clean up, and busing tables. But that was ok. I enjoyed it. My relationship with Janine grew during this time.
By the time I was 20 I was a cook. Janine had left to join the Galactic Army (Under her Mom ans dad’s protest) Janine and a few of her Army friends would come by every now and then to eat. Upon one of these visit’s I changed mine and Janine’s life. Through the cook window I asked Janine to come back to the kitchen. When she entered the kitchen her dad greeted her and brought her back to where the staff ate their meals. There I stood my apron soaked with grease (Janine’s mom standing next to me). Standing at the table. When they arrived I babbled out some words. Then I got on one knee and asked Janine to marry me. She said yes. The next few months were a blur as we planned our wedding well Janine still served in the Army. Then one day she came home in a wheelchair. She had been wounded and the doctors said she would never walk again. Thus ending her time in the Army. Janine said she would understand if I didn’t want to marry her anymore. I called her crazy for even having such a thought in her head.
The day came and Janine and I were married. Her mom and dad also made an announcement. They were retiring and was giving the restaurant to us as a wedding present. The only thing was that we loved it and cared for it as much as they did.
We changed the name to “Charlie’s”. Worked on the menu a little. Throwing out some of the older stuff, or the stuff that just did not sell, and adding a few new items. We also changed the decor a little to match the change in the times. Mostly however things were kept pretty much the same. One other thing we added was a stage for live music. Once a week we had “Open mic night” where bands would play, comics would joke around, and poets would recite their poems. This however got so popular that we had to have a seperate night for each act. One night would be for bands and music, another night for comics and laughs, and another night for the poets.
All this while also raising two kids (both boys) and setting up a house together.
Now Janine and I are in our 40s. The boys are grown and raising families of their own. They work at the restaurant with us. When not at the Restaurant, the boys have side projects. Sam, our eldest, takes photos and writes for several magazines and newspapers. Tommy, who is a year younger, is an artist. His works are well known throughout the galaxy. “Charlie’s” is still as popular as it ever was.
You ask why I never mentioned my mom during this whole story. The truth is I never knew my mom. The day after I was born, my mom and dad went to a bar to celebrate. My dad went to the restroom. When he got back, he found my mom gone. The bartender told him that mom had left with a drum player of the hottest intergalactic rock band. My dad and I never saw her again.
Earlier in the story. I called XR21 a planet. Well where it is large enough to be one, it’s not. It is in reality the final moon that orbits the planet Delta 4. There are planets Deltas 5-10 behind Delta 4. Then you have Deltas 1-3 in front of Delta 4.
In later stories, when I discribe the customers we have. I will do so to give you an idea of what they look like’ though in truth they may look somewhat different in reality
It was discovered in the late 21st century. That what had been known as “blackholes' ' in space. Are in fact super highways that let you travel light years in a matter of minuets. Though you have to keep your eyes open. You go so fast in one of those things. You can easily miss your exit. Yes, even in space we have exits.
Everyone wears a device in their ear (Not much different than a small hearing aid,). That can translate any speech from any creature, from any planet in space. So say someone from a distant planet tells me what his name is. I would hear something like the word “Bob” and when I called them”Bob” they would hear their own name. This device has made intergalactic communication so much easier
No comments:
Post a Comment