A boy of 14 looks beyond into the canyons from behind his desert rock.

A beetle, minding its own business, meanders closer. It catches the eye of the boy, who shifts, pulling back his hand onto his hip. Onto his blaster— and BAM!

A quick-fire shot from the hip, just like he saw in the movies. A black scorch mark was left sizzling on the red sand. It had missed the beetle, who scurried away, learning its lesson not to tempt fate with The Kid. Never again.

A carriage of new travelers is arriving today at the station; it’s harvesting season for the crops so new characters are bound to have interesting backstories and lives for our young boy to investigate. To pry and wonder. What’s it like further South? What happens in the capital these days? Cause what else is there to do? Milk more goats?

His father called out from across the field, “It’s time for supper!”

“I’ll be back in an hour! The train’s just arrived!”

“Oh! That’s today?” He checks the clock on the wall and asks someone else at the table “Did we pick up the tickets yesterday?”— and then he turns to call out, “Okay! Stay safe! 1 hour!”

“I will!” And the kid bolts off, holding onto his a-little-too-big belt, eager to see the new arrivals. What adventure awaits!