1269_UgliesFreeBook

UGLIES 157
That last dream had been only one of many falling
nightmares.
Night was coming, the sun setting over the ocean, turning
the water bloodred. Tally pulled her shirt and jacket on
before daring to emerge from the sleeping bag. The temperature
seemed to be dropping by the minute, the light
fading before her eyes. She hurried to get ready to go.
The hoverboard was the tricky part. Its unfolded surface
had gotten wet, covered with a fine layer of ocean
spray and dew. Tally tried to wipe it off with her jacket
sleeve, but there was too much water and not enough
jacket. The wet board folded up easily enough, but it felt
too heavy when she was done, as if the water was still
trapped between the layers. The board’s operation light
turned yellow, and Tally looked closely. The sides of the
board were gradually oozing the water away. “Fine. Gives
me time to eat.”
Tally pulled out a packet of SpagBol, then realized that
her purifier was empty. The only ready source of water was
at the bottom of the cliff, and there was no way down. She
wrung out her wet jacket, which produced a few good
squooshes, then scraped off handfuls of the water oozing
from the board until the purifier was half-full. The result was
a dense, overspiced SpagBol that required lots of chewing.
By the time she was done with the unhappy meal, the
board’s light had turned green.
“Okay, ready to go,” Tally said to herself. But where?