It wasn't real. But for a download, it was enough.
And they saw a tiny lizard silhouette on the dish.
He saved the file. He set it as his screensaver. The dish landed gently on a new rock formation, miles from the gas station. He found a tiny puddle of morning dew and a stray beetle.
The shimmering pool. The giant leaf. The word "PARADISE." But this time, the video kept going. The camera panned up. The pool was a puddle in a dried-up riverbed. The giant leaf was a scrap of green plastic. "PARADISE" was spray-painted on a rusty refrigerator door. oscar oasis download
Oscar stared. The dish began to descend. His stomach growled again. He was alone in the empty sky, his only possession a file that showed him a thing he could never have.
Oscar had watched the first two seconds a thousand times. A shimmering pool. A leaf big enough for a hammock. The word "PARADISE" written in glowing green letters. Then the file froze, pixelated into a mess of green and blue blocks, and died.
A progress bar appeared. 73%... 74%... 75%... It wasn't real
Oscar looked at the tablet. The download was complete.
Oscar tied a string to a tumbleweed. He placed a single, juicy grub in the center of the road. He hid behind a rock and tugged the string. The tumbleweed wobbled.
Below, the chase ended. The tumbleweed had exploded into a thousand pieces. The grub was gone (eaten by a passing ant). Harchi, Buck, and Popy slowly turned. They looked at the empty road. Then they looked at the gas station. He saved the file
The problem was, the only place with a strong enough signal to resume the download was the satellite dish on top of the abandoned gas station. And the gas station was currently occupied.
While the chaos erupted in a cloud of dust, Oscar scrambled over the gas station's cracked pavement. His tiny claws clicked on the metal ladder leading to the satellite dish. He held his breath. He could hear Buck yelp, Popy squawk, and the sound of Harchi colliding with a signpost.
It wasn't a video of an oasis.
Harchi’s ears shot up. He abandoned the oil drum. Buck’s nose twitched. Popy tilted his head. The grub was real. The tumbleweed was a lie, but the grub was very real.