"Why do these stupid theme parks hate us, Zane?!" a strained voice called.

  "I have no idea Charlie,"a gruff older man, Zane, replied, "Just keep meaning the crane. Who knows, maybe we'll find something valuable."

  Charlie looked over at the man with a smirk.

  "Don't you mean 'womaning' the crane?"

  Zane just grunted and went back to work.

  Things really never did change.

  Zane and her lived on the planet Altos, home of The Realm for the past forty years.

  Before she could say anything else to annoy Zane, there was a huge shadow above them.

  A shower of trash and broken merchandise fell from the park and into the water, pulling down on the boat's crane in the process.

  "Not again!" Charlie sat back down at the crane.

  People from the parks, guests and employees alike, would throw things they considered worthless over the edges of the floating islands. People like her and Zane worked to clean it up.

  "Just look on the bright side, Charlie, things might just get better."

  "Easy for you to say..." Charlie muttered.

  A loud whistle sounded a few minutes later. All around them ships were pulling into the docks.

  “Looks like it’s time to go.” Zane said as he set down the bag he was carrying.

  Charlie just picked up her bag full of small scraps and jumped onto the dock.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  “You know me and Rowans’ door is always open, right?”

  She looked back at him, “I’m fine Zane. No need to bug you two with my issues.”

  She ran off into the street before Zane had a chance to reply.

  *   *    *

  “Finally. Back home at last.”

  Charlie had lived in this old warehouse as long as she could remember. Not even Zane knew where it was.

  Sliding off her bag, she kicked the small lever next to the door and the lights flickered to life. She had installed them herself.

  “I hate this stupid city.” Charlie groaned as she sat down at the small table in the middle of the room.

  But things would never change. No matter how hard she tried.

  As the sky grew darker, Charlie emptied out her bag and lay down on the dirty mattress she called her bed.

  * * *

  "I take back what I said the other day." Zane grunted out.

  Charlie was still working with the crane while Zane had to bag up the items they pulled from the sea.

  "You get the easier job!" she argued.

  A sudden bang stopped Zane from replying.

  The large attached to the crane had been strained so hard it nearly snapped.

  "What the heck did they throw over for that to happen?" Zane looked over at the huge pile of junk.

  Charlie hopped off the crane to look through the huge haul.

  Before they would send scraps to the factories, Charlie would go through the piles. Anything useful she found would be brought home with her.

  But nothing could have prepared her for what she saw.