Pollen

Skinny walked up the path toward Boris' house, he had left his motorcycle in the parking area on the Truck Road since the farm area between the mountains was strictly a walking zone, no motorized vehicles were allowed here.  It was the end of the Spring semester and Boris needed to submit his grades to the University, but his farm was out of range of the closest cell phone tower and he didn't use the internet, he preferred a low tech lifestyle that gave the students who worked for him a chance to really see and appreciate the environment around them.  The University knew this and sent Skinny to pick up the grades and bring them back.  

Having adapted to city life, Skinny only spent a minimum of time outdoors, mostly when on a family hunt in the Free Game Preserve outside the city. The long walk from the Truck Road was taking its toll on his nose, he was sniffling and sneezing so much that he had to stop repeatedly and clear his head.  For a short time he thought that he had come down with the virus that his brother, Shifty, had last year, but when he walked straight into a pollen cloud that was blowing out of a pine grove, Skinny realized that his sinuses had fallen victim to the reproductive processes of the local forest.