The Lemon Desert

The mechatractor’s conveyor belt feet crushed yellow dirt relentlessly as the gross machination rolled swiftly across the Lemon Desert. Dale Ribbit, lemon farmer, sat at the helm in the cockpit and piloted the metal beast with many years of honed skill and precision. It was a lonely, repetative job but it paid the space bills.

The weather was on a positive spin for a change. Dust storms were predicted to be minimal today. That meant there was ample opportunity to suck up as much sweet juice from the enlarged fruits of the desert that grew from the dirt floor out here.

Dale took a nice generous swig of Moon Juice from his flask. 50% alcohol with a delightful citrus aftertaste. Then he hit the nitro booster and the mechatractor blasted forward thrust straight towards an attractive patch of engorged mega-lemons. It had been a solid day of farming so far and it would be getting dark soon. That was bad. The werewolves that lived in the caves out here came out at night… Mostly.

The clock hands on Dale’s watch ticked like a pendulum as Dale inhaled the mega-lemons into the gaping duel-maw of the mechatractor. Today was a bonus bounty – A pleasant change from the oppressive banality of most days, but he was employed by the Intergalactic Federation of Planets, and in this day and age, that was something to be thankful for.

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