Mike Pearson's Adventures on a Pale Blue Dot

Meanwhile, Lanky Pete and Slim sat on the ground below an old apple tree. Just off an old dirt side road,where nobody hardly ever drives by. Slim and Lanky pulled two beers out of the paper bag and fumbled with opening them. They toasted each other by reaching over and clinked the bottles together and then…took their first pull on the bootlegger's cheap, but pricey beers. Now recall, Lanky Pete and Slim Jim had been through a lot today, with the theft of the donation jar, the embarrassing beatdown by Monty, and the bold illegal purchase of alcohol. All this leading up to the reward of sitting under an old fruit tree, on a Wednesday afternoon, facing towards the warm sun.  The beer was warm. At first gulp, the beer mixed with dried blood from lips and loose teeth as it fell to the back of their throats. The taste was, hops, sugary sweet, some kind of citrus peel and arm pit sweat. Slim Jim and Lanky Pete didn't have much experience with beer, but somehow knew this wasn't go...