Sweet winds blew through his white and black hair, as well as his bushy mustache, while he stood outside his ship taking in the sights. His ship, however, complained about the soft ground wreaking havoc on its joints and wiring. Billy had also woken up briefly, looked around, and rolled over, continuing to snore despite the ship’s frustration.

  Ignoring the two of them, Girry took a few steps on the planet’s surface and tested the ground with a few tiny jumps, then he got down onto his hands and knees and sniffed it. Beth, looking around frantically, went slightly pink as she watched her new friend frown, sniff again, lick, and spit while giving the ground a very dirty look.

  Unimpressed with the planet’s taste. “Never again,” he muttered.

  Beth sighed and motioned him to follow. “Why did you lick the ground? It’s not edible, you know.”

  Shrugging. “How do ya know? Besides, I couldn’t help it. It looked tasty.” He spat. “But it tasted worse than my old sweaty boot.” He glanced at Beth’s white appearance. “Don’ ask; it was a rough time.”

  Beth sighed at him while he looked around at all the interesting things, or lack thereof. One thing stood out to him, though. There were absolutely no mountains. In fact, there wasn’t a bump, lump, or mound. Not even a confused molehill. Just a flat, opaque orange and green surface as far as the eye could see. Everything felt unnatural to Girry, and the “trees” didn’t help the situation either. Instead of leaves, they grew straight and thick and had a bulging base. The canopy looked like a veil and was made of hard gelatin skin.

  Girry looked at them and smirked, “Heh, they look like jelly mushrooms.”

  Her body waved gently. “What’s a mushroom?”

  He froze for a second, looked up at the sky, and folded his arms. “Uh, well. Do ya know what fungi is?”

  “Fun guy? Yeah, I know a few. My uncle is a fun guy.”

  Shaking his head. “No, no. Not a fun guy. Fungi, as in fungus.”

  Beth stared at him while her body jiggled gently.

  Pinching his nose. “It’s food, sometimes.”

  She stared at him, her colors shifting to brighter shades. “Oh, ok. I don’t eat food.”

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Sighing, Girry walked past her. “Right. They look like those trees.” He pointed at one.

  “Oh,” she said, changing colors, “Are they nice?”

  “It depends how ya cook em. But ya haveta to be careful; a lot of em are poisonous.” He glanced at Beth, who had a blank expression. “It means ya can die if ya eat the wrong ones.”

  She gasped. “And everyone eats them? Are you all crazy?”

  He smirked. “You’d be surprised. But I know my way around shrooms.” He tapped his nose. “I can tell the good from the bad.”

  Beth giggled as they neared a bright orange and pink dome-shaped structure. “This is my home.” She beamed.

  Girry inspected the structure. He poked it, slapped it, and, with permission, tried to stab it with his knife. As firm as it was, the hard skin jelly simply deformed around the blade.

  Walking around the structure, he found a small flake of the hard skin and tore it free. Then promptly put it in his mouth.

  Nodding his head. “That tastes better than the ground,” he muttered.

  Coming around the corner with some water. “Did you say something?”

  Spitting it into hand. “Just talking to myself.”

  “Here’s some water,” she said, handing him a jelly mug. “So, how long are you staying?”

  Taking the mug and drinking. “Thanks. Not long. I have work to do.”

  “Work?”

  Swallowing. “Yeah. I cook and sell food.”

  Turning a light pink. “Oh, right. Sorry. Jelly memory.”

  He smirked as he examined the area. “Nah, I didn’t really tell ya what I do.”

  “You gonna take some stuff from here to cook?”

  “Nah, there isn’t really anything here that would make a good ingredient.” He looked in the direction of his ship. “Sides, I still have a new ingredient to use.”

  Wobbling energetically and shifting colors. “Really? What is it?”

  He grinned at her. “Curious, eh?”

  “Yeah.”

  “It’s a creature I call a lizird. I have two of em that I plan to breed.” He winked.

  She frowned. “Breed them? You mean they’re going to make babies?”

  “Exactly.” He clicked his fingers. “I’m gonna start with just the two, then eventually get more females.”

  Well, the conversation went on for a while longer with Girry trying, and failing, to explain the juicy tenderness of young animal meat. Unable to understand, she just took Girry on a little tour of her hometown.

  They stopped at a construction site, and Girry watched as other jellies constructed dome-shaped houses with the hard gelatin skin. They used what looked like a bicycle pump and a few paper clips. Next to that was a marketplace that mostly sold bags made from gelatin skin.

  But after a long while, Girry grew tired, hungry, and slightly bored of the planet. Residents ate dew, and most of the wildlife had been wiped out years ago. No matter how much he looked or tasted, there were no ingredients for him to use. So, after some long consideration, he decided to go home.

  He and Beth had a nice chat on the way to her home, telling her that if she’s ever in the area, to stop by and he’ll make her the best dew she’s ever absorbed. She laughed at the idea, then agreed, and the two said goodbye.

  Girry arrived at his ship a few minutes later to find Billy being yelled at by the ship, the lizirds frantically running in circles, and the clamps sighing.

  Even though he didn’t get anything he wanted, he was glad he met Beth and that he visited. Once he boarded his ship, he fed the animals, made a note of the planet’s location, and took off for home.