A collection of short stories centering around a kid named Sammy and a few of his friends, not so good friends, and straight up enemies. It's 50% simple vibes, and 50% teenage angst.
I didn't know what I was doing when I wrote this, and a lot of the...
Way out there, on the greatest frontier, high up in the sky where no mere mortal can see their trails, roams a species of man unprecedented in this world: Space Cowboys. They're not like those of legends of old told by elders gathered around campfires, no, Space Cowboys are very real and very vital to our race's future survival.
Millenia ago, when the earth was a newborn infant straight from its mother's womb, there was a race of man tasked with its protection. Out there in the chaotic cosmos the fledgling planet stood no chance on its own. So, it was their duty, their calling, and their soul reason for existence to keep that baby world from impending extinction. They pledged their allegiance, said goodbye to their wives and children, mounted their faithful phantom steeds, and galloped into the horizon.
Ever since that day they have been protecting the Earth from alien invasion, meteor strikes, and rogue black-holes. It is due to their faithful and selfless service that any lifeform on earth is able to survive. Despite their crucial role in our day to day lives, it is with great distress that I must admit that they have slowly faded from the public consciousness into deep obscurity. To help right this wrong, I am taking this time to share a couple of the oldest Space Cowboy legends.
In Memoriam
When the cowboys first left their homes on Earth to do their duty in the skies, it was not in haste. Each of them had to first truly understand the sacrifices they were making in that decision. Many of the original candidates were unable to follow through with the plan, and stayed behind. For although they would all receive immortality as recompense for their service, they also had to leave behind their family and loved ones, never to see them again. There were many tears and laments when they departed, but their families promised they would never be forgotten.
To represent this promise every year the families and friends of the cowboys would light fireworks as little messages up to their loved ones in the heavens. Up there in space the cowboys would see the lights and know that they were still remembered and loved. They also sent back messages filled with love. They would send comets streaking through the sky in the form of meteor showers that are visible to the earth's inhabitants. They still send them today, so that their descendants can see them and remember their love.
Extinction
Not all of the Space Cowboys have always served faithfully. There have been times, although few and far between, when one cowboy has neglected his duties and the entire world as suffered the consequences. It is a shame among Space Cowboys to even consider deserting their post or purposefully harming those they have sworn to protect. Only the best and most true volunteered to serve in the skies, and most of them have stayed as honorable and brave as ever, but the solitary confinement of blank space have a way of changing those who are not constantly vigilant against its invisible walls.
There once was a cowboy named Smutny Brachu who was the kindest of men. His name was deemed as rather unfortunate, so everybody just called him Tim. Tim was a very noble and valiant dude and volunteered without hesitation to join the ranks of the Space Cowboys. He left behind his young wife and infant son, but pledged to them that he would never forget them, and would gladly spend the rest of eternity protecting them from intergalactic threats.
Unbeknownst to Tim his wife had been having an affair with another man for quite some time, and Tim's son was not actually Tim's son, but rather Gary the Goldsmith's son. She was quite pleased by the news that her unwanted husband would be leaving forever and so she feigned her remorse at him leaving for posterity's sake, and then went off the next day and married Gary.
Tim was none the wiser up in space that the loved ones he had sacrificed everything for did not actually love him at all. However, when it came the day to light the fireworks to send up to the sky, as he watched with all the other Space Cowboys, he noticed that there did not seem to be any meant for him. He spiraled into a deep depression, thinking that his family had surely died. Tim realized that nothing he could do would ever guarantee happiness and safety for his family, and suddenly his whole purpose for going to space in the first place seemed dreadfully forfeit.
Tim's depressive thoughts slowly drove him insane over the next few centuries, and unlike those on earth who could escape the existentialism through death or a really good therapists, Tim had received immortality just like all the other Space Cowboys when they left for space, and there are no therapists in space. One day while on patrol Tim realized that the only way for him to escape the pointlessness of his existence was to destroy all the reasons for this existence and move on to another. So he drew his stead up to a medium sized meteorite, but instead of leading it away from the earth's gravitational pull, he slung at full force towards the innocent planet.
The other cowboys realized what he had done too late and despite all their efforts, all they could do was slow it down a little and change its trajectory so it would hit Australia. Even with those adjustments, the force of the projectile bouncing off the planet killed all the dinosaurs, and it's radiation turned all the creatures in Australia into alien mutants.
As punishment for his treachery, Tim's immortality was revoked and he was left to die slowly by asphyxiation. All alone.
And that's the end! Goodnight kids!
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