My mom was never all that demanding. She always said she just wanted better for me. “You can be anything you wantâ€?, she’d say, “doctor, baker, physicist, horse trainer; whatever you want.â€?

She wasn’t concerned with prestige, just that I do something well and take pride in it. But did I listen? No, Of course, not.

Caught the first freighter to New Regina. That’s what I did. I wanted adventure. Schmuck!

So, I could have listened to my mother. If I had, I could be drinking a beer after helping build a barn. I could be arranging flowers for someone’s wedding. I could be redesigning code for one of the multi-stellars. I could be doing a lot of things.

But I’m not. I’m tucked as far into this dark wet cave as I can get.

The good news is that the thing that keeps sticking its nose into the cave opening is too big to get any more than its snout into here. The bad news is that the thing that keeps sticking its nose into the cave opening is too big to get any more than its snout in here.

Mmm. Beer.