The sandstorm died out a little over an hour later, just like Ms. Reba had predicted. Mom and I said our goodbyes and continued on to our next errand.

Merchants had begun to to set up their outdoor stalls. It was time to open shop now that the risk of their goods being blown away or damaged had diminished. And now that they could actually hold a conversation with their customers without resorting to hand signals.

Mom browsed quickly, taking advantage of the lack of lines because of the storm. the list of items she intended to purchase was kept in her head. It was a mix of items, greatly favoring the merchants set up outside.

There were two distinct areas to the market. There was a small indoor market, and a larger outdoor space. Both areas had stalls where merchants could display their wares and call out to shoppers. Most had one or two people working behind them, but a few of the larger ones had more. Inside, the stalls were mostly dedicated to various bits of tech. There was even one for a shipbuilding company, where you could design your own spaceship. Outside, there were stalls for work clothes and boots, protective gear, dresses, small trinkets, and even one selling hover scooters. Mom shuffled me quickly past that one.

By far, the most abundant product of the outdoor stalls was food. As the vendors fired up their heat sources, all kinds of smells began wafting through the air. There were dishes on offer from all over the system. I'd never been off planet - well, except when I was a baby but that doesn't count cause I don't remember it - so the food in the marketplace was my first reference point for other cultures.

A few stalls sold meat kebobs with their own proprietary spice blend - easy to eat while doing your shopping. There was a stall next to the scooter salesman that specialized in chili. They had a mild version for the kids, and a significantly spicier batch for the adults. Mom liked the spicy stuff. We also passed a stall selling stuffed flaky pastries. They filled them with different mixtures of meat and vegetables, and then fried them to cook the crust.

As we neared the end of our shopping, we passed my favorite food stand. It had a proper name, but I called it The Magic Grill. The medium sized stall had bright flags strung from one pole to the other around all four sides. There were three people working within the borders.

A man in his early twenties worked the front, taking orders and payment.

An older man stood with his back to the crowd. There was a deep fryer off to the side, and a long counter with various ingredients in front of him.

Finally, along the wall between them, there was an older woman behind a large flat top grill. Her age was somewhere between Mom and Ms. Reba. She was holding a long metal spatula in either hand. She could just barely reach the edges of the grill with her arms outstretched. I could spend hours watching her work, if Mom would ever let me.

I started to tug at Mom's sleeve as we passed. It was just past midday and the market was starting to fill with workers looking for their lunch. "Nope, not today, sweetheart." Mom replied. She already knew what I was going to ask for.

"Please?" I begged.

Mom shook her head and readjusted her bulging tote bag. "I've got a shift tonight at Vincent's, remember?"

I did, of course, but that didn't mean I wanted to pass up something from The Magic Grill when it was right there. Everything that came out of that stall was a treat.

I put on my sad little puppy eyes and looked up at my Mom.

"Don't look at me like that. Vincent will have a big plate of food for you in just a few hours."

Dang it. That usually worked. I took the look up to eleven, pleading silently for a sandwich. After a moment, I made my final request. "Just something small?"

Mom rolled her eyes. "Maybe another day." She offered. "If you're hungry now, have a snack from your bag."

I began to pout. How could she resist my sweet little puppy eyes? I'd perfected them over the last year, and she always gave in. Hmph.

We left the market and started walking towards home. Even with the delay caused by the morning's sandstorm, we were ahead of schedule. Mom and I dropped off the day's shopping before heading back out.

The sun was harsh overhead. I kept my scarf on over my head and much of my face to avoid getting a sunburn. Those were not fun. I could feel the heat radiating up from the packed sand under my feet.

"Hey, Fifi." Mom squeezed my hand three times. I returned the gesture. "We have some time before my shift. Do you want to go to the park?"

My heart jumped. Had I heard her right? She never took me to the park unless my best friend, Liv, was with us for the day.

"Yeah!" I cheered as I pumped my arm. I began to skip beside my mother as we went down the street. The park, and before all my lessons for the day were done? This made up for not letting me have something from The Magic Grill.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Mom and I cut through an alley to reach the street that ran in front of the park. It was the only place I'd ever seen with grass. The town worked hard to keep it alive. There was a designated employee, and the grass was their only job. On all four sides of the green space, there were large shades. They let some light through, but kept most of it out. They also did something to dissipate the heat. I didn't know what, but that's what Mom had said when I'd asked. It helped keep the sun from drying out the blades of grass.

Closer to the street there was a playground, surrounded by a chain link fence. The structure had been cobbled together from recycled bits of scrap. Parts of the outer shell of a spaceship had been cut down to make platforms. Giant, flexible ducts had been turned into a bridge between two of the platforms. There were bits of massive hoses that had been cut into slides. Old water pipes were cut into short lengths and then welded together. They formed a ladder, and a few other things to climb on. Even a synthetic cargo net had been bolted to the side of the play structure. The roof of the tallest platform was made from the nose cone of a fighter jet. It made my voice sound funny when I yelled into it.

The whole thing had been painted in bright colors without any rhyme or reason. There were only a few places where the material's natural color was left. The playground might look strange, but it was fun to play on. And it was big.

The whole area was twenty five feet on each of the six sides. There were soft chips underneath the entire structure, meant to keep us from getting hurt while we played. They were made from some kind of squishy polymer. The chips were all kinds of colors, but blue and black made up the bulk of them.

There were benches all around the edge of the playground area. About half a dozen adults were using them, watching their children or charges play.

Mom was making a bee line for an empty bench in the shade when I heard a familiar voice yell at me.

"Fiona!" It was a kid's voice.

I looked around.

"Over here!"

I looked at the playground and saw a small girl with a big smile waving her arms over her head.

"Liv!" I shouted. "Hi!" I gave her a big wave back with my free arm.

I looked at my mom for permission and she nodded, releasing my hand. I shrugged out of my backpack and handed - practically tossed - it to her. I sprinted for the playground. Liv was coming down the structure as I was crossing the open ground towards it. We met just at the bottom, jumping into a tight hug. There were at least fifteen other kids playing on the playground, but we didn't care.

Liv was smaller than I was, both in height and weight. She appeared delicate and thin, just barely outside the range of malnourished. She had short, shaggy black hair. It was always a mess. Her eyes were several shades of blue, a gradient that strangers loved to admire. She was okay at her lessons, but liked my help when we worked on them together.

We had been friends since before we were two. Our moms had met in the market when we had both been fussy. They fell into a conversation, trading ideas on the best ways to calm us down. Our stressed mothers ended up putting us both on a blanket together to let us cry it out. We calmed down right away, much to their surprise. We'd been super close ever since, and so had our mothers. Our moms' friendship meant we got to spend a lot of time together.

"Wow, you finished your lessons fast today." Liv remarked. "Did your mom keep you at home because of the storm?"

I shook my head. "Nope. We had errands to run, but we stopped by Ms. Reba's place first. We ended up waiting out the storm there."

"Ooh, what did she have for you?" Liv asked. She was also a benefactor of Ms. Reba's treats.

"Blueberry scones." I whispered, like it was the biggest secret.

Liv gasped. "I'm so jealous."

We started climbing towards the highest platform as we talked. We dodged around other kids that were playing.

"Mom wouldn't let me have more than one." I whined.

"Aww, maybe next time."

"Yeah," I agreed. "But I haven't finished my lessons yet today."

"And your mom let you out to play? No way."

"That's what I said."

We climbed the ladder to the next platform.

"Did something happen?" Liv asked.

"Not really." I shrugged. "There was some Guildsman who came to the door first thing this morning. He wanted to talk to Mom."

"That's something. What did he say?" Liv knew about my eavesdropping habit. People love to forget kids are there, and I used it to my advantage whenever I could. I loved knowing what was going on.

"Dunno." I replied. "She kicked him out."

Liv laughed loudly.

"He left a letter."

"What did it say?"

"No idea. We left right after Mom read it. I asked, but she told me not to worry about it."

We pulled ourselves onto the top platform, where an older boy stood with his hands on his hips. As we got to our feet, he held one hand out to us, palm up.

"Toll please." He said, not so nicely.

Liv and I looked at one another and sighed. This happened sometimes. An older kid would try to extort the younger ones up on the tippy top platform where the parents couldn't hear.

"We don't have any money." Liv told the boy.

He must've been around eleven or twelve. Just old enough to be allowed out unsupervised. He had at least a foot and fifty pounds on each of us. He had uncombed blonde hair and freckles across his cheeks. His clothes were nice, and his boots looked almost brand new. So he wasn't a street kid, and probably came from a wealthy family. He had the unfortunate trait of stupid looking ears. They stood away from his head, much outside any range of normal.

The boy's mouth curled into a wicked grin. "That's okay, I also accept candy, gum, snacks, and meal tokens." He ticked them off on his fingers before extending his hand for payment again. "So, what'll it be?"

"What happens if we refuse?" I asked.

This got a laugh from the boy. "Well, then you can't be up here."

"The playground is for everyone." I said.

"Not today. Now pay up, or get down." He stomped his boot on the metal platform with the last word, a feeble attempt to intimidate us.

Liv still flinched, startled.

I can't stand bullies, then or now. Especially when they target me or my friend.

I shared a look with Liv, who had recovered quickly. She grinned, and gave me a single nod, picking up on my intent immediately. He did say to 'pay up or get down,' so...

Liv and I rushed towards the boy at the same time. I was the slightest bit faster, so he reached for me first. I dodged his outstretched fingers and dove head first down the slide behind him. It was the biggest slide on the structure, and looped a couple times on the way down.

Behind me, Liv did the same thing to the boy's other side.

He missed her too and yelled in frustration.

I heard her shriek with happiness behind me. By the time we made it to the bottom, we were both giggling so hard we had to hold our sides.

"Want to go again?" I asked, once we were both on our feet.

"Yeah!" Liv cheered, and we sprinted back towards the lower tiers of the playground.