New Planets and Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

During this episode Astra shares a message from the aliens from the Cetus constellation about their impending visit to Earth. Episode Quote “We decided we are going to bring pineapple upside-down cake. A risky decision, but it is too late to turn back now.”

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For more details about the Star Jelly Files visit www.starjellyfiles.com
To support the podcast, visit my Patreon page at www.patreon.com/starjellyfiles

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:17 Episode Start
• 15:40 Support the Podcast

Transcript

Hello everyone! Welcome back to the Star Jelly Files, and season 2 of our story. The release schedule for season two will typically be weekly but is subject to change depending on the phases of the moon, the presence of meteor showers, and the alignment of the 12th planet of the solar system. Now let’s dive in with our first story. 

The Star Jelly Files
Season 2: Episode 1
New Planets and Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

 Hello Everyone, 

I know it has been a while. Off the air for eight Earth months. You are probably wondering where I am. Well, I’m on a world not too far away from you actually. Gathering and curating the other parts of the story that need to be told. Rather than reading letters I have been spending most of my time sifting through torn pages, old computer files, and lost memories. Looking for the truth in it all. Looking for what really happened when the veil fell. Trying to figure out who really played a part in it all. I also may or may not have been meeting with certain ancient beings and souls that have, until recently, lived amongst the farthest reaches of space as they say. They ignored you for the longest time, perceived your daily activity as boring and old fashioned, but that changed when new and young planets such as yourselves began to awaken. They requested an audience. So, I went. It’s my job after all. Well, I made Walter and Hum go with me too, but that is a story for later. While I have been spending time in the past, the present and future are racing forward. Forward towards Earth. You know things are in motion. I have told you the stories of other beings visiting your planet in the past. Now some want you to know about their plans to visit you in the present. I figured we should start with their message. Then, as we move forward, I can talk to you about the past. Maybe move a few more puzzle pieces together so the bigger picture makes sense. Maybe, but no promises. Nothing in this universe is simple.

Our letter for this week arrived to us via the relay station located on Mercury. It arrived in the typical way. Hitching a ride on the carrier waves of the asteroids that travel across our universe. Jumping around planets, stars, and ships, until it landed in the translation que that receives thousands of messages each day.  An old technology, but one that still works. Despite the best efforts of many worlds to make everyone adopt new technology, sometimes the old-fashioned way is just simpler to use. Luckily our letter didn’t sit in the relay station for too long. The beings who live there noticed the message was addressed to me, and without fail, forwarded on the message at my request. Allowing me to see it where I currently am, to attach this note to it, and offering to translate and rebroadcast it here so you can hear it while I am still away. The message is from beings who live within the constellation Cetus, on a planet that revolves around the red giant star Mira.

I will leave it here and let them speak for themselves. We’ll talk again soon. 

-Astra 

Communication from the beings of the Cetus Constellation about their impending visit to Earth. 

Greetings Astra,

We are sending on this message expecting that you can rebroadcast it to Earth for us. So those who wish to know more about our existence can hear about who we are from us instead of through rumors or whispers. We understand that you may not have time to address our journey specifically, especially considering where you are right now. We must admit we are a little jealous that you got to visit with the ancient ones. We would love to hear your stories over a cup of warmed chocolate when you have the time. For now, though, we thought it was important to share our travel plans with Earth. The planet has too many stories about alien visitors traveling to their world to cause harm, rather than to bring them delicious deserts and interesting conversations. Which is the truth of the worlds that wish to make contact. We wish to sit down over tasty snacks to talk, to connect, to learn from each other, maybe we can even try some apple cider donuts?  I mean, we get it. A good monster movie or book is always fun to experience. And actually, we would love to talk about some of them. The effects are so well done, and the stories so fast paced.  It just doesn’t match the reality of what or who we are. What any of us are out here. So, we wanted to say hello. 

We decided we are going to bring pineapple upside-down cake. A risky decision, but it is too late to turn back now. We got all the ingredients, made a bunch of very not good practice cakes until we got a few just right. Who knew how impossible it can be to cook pineapple correctly, or make a cake grow the way it is supposed to? Now Earth is only a day away. We debated about bringing fondu, I mean who can resist delicious melted cheese and chocolate, but this cake was a tradition at one point. The human’s we visited used to love it. It will have to do. Even if the humans we are planning to meet have forgotten the old ways, maybe they will still find the recipe delicious. If not, we can just share it with the local bigfoot colony. We are planning to visit them too while we are in the neighborhood. 

The last time we visited Earth, was in 1973. We spent our time in a small New England town, with a family we had been visiting for generations. We stayed in their home that was tucked between the trees and amongst the small mountains that covered the area. Our transport ship, a silver and gold orb, hidden beneath a tarp behind their garage. A quiet place, back then at least, to be with those who knew us, and who wanted to catch up. 

Our plan now is to stop and visit them again. Well to visit their adult children. We think they will remember us. It hasn’t been too many years, and we still send letters to the family from time to time. It is hard to know for sure though. Humans are very good at forgetting things from their childhood, especially when they are supernatural in nature. It probably doesn’t help that we don’t age the way you do. It can be hard for humans to understand that they have known us for almost 50 years, but we don’t look as if we have aged. Even harder for them to believe we were real because of this. We look fake to them, or like blurred memories. Humans grow so skeptical of the existence of things outside their experience of the universe as they age. Soon though, they will remember we are very real, and may even remember spending evenings on our ships watching the stars fly by. If they don’t remember any of that, they will certainly remember our horrible attempts at Earth cooking, and the old photos we are bringing with us. 

To be truthful, as we think humans still say, we are not only going to visit them to catch up and enjoy quiet time on another world. We also need help. We are hoping they can help us, as their parents, grandparents, great grandparents and all the others have, to get an idea for the state of Earth so we can consider if it is the right time to introduce ourselves on a broader scale. We see the news, hear your broadcasts, but that is not the same as knowing the experience from those who live it. We feel we need to talk to those who are living through your history as it is created to determine what the environment really is on your world. Rather than make decisions based on what we are seeing from off world. To be clear, we are not the only ones deciding. We will decide as a community. We have many beings from our world, who have traveled to your planet over the years, who will be checking in with their friends who live in a variety of other places. We will work together to build the bigger picture. The best we can anyway. At a certain point we will be making this decision based on history, a little bit of guess work, and a lot of hope. 

But wait, you are probably thinking, why haven’t we decided yet? That must be a lie. We are already traveling all the way to visit you. And wouldn’t this letter announce our arrival to everyone anyway? You are probably thinking, we would be forced to say hello. That isn’t accurate though. Yes, we have decided that we are ready, and think it is the right time to introduce ourselves. Well, introduce ourselves again. This isn’t the first go around for Earth after all. It’s the fourth actually. But if we look back at modern history, from the current cycle of Earth, there have been dozens of times that beings from other worlds have visited your planet, even announced their arrival in advance, and when they make the attempt to make contact, or decide they need to turn back, most humans decided it was fake, or was never going to happen anyway. Even when there is proof right in front of them every day. Ships in the sky, signals from space, crashed ships on the ground, none of these things have historically been believed by humans. If we were to turn back, most residents of your planet would assume this message wasn’t real, and that aliens don’t exist. To be fair things have changed on Earth. We know some of you believe in us now. More than in the recent past, less then in the distant past. We know your world is waking up to the idea that there is more out there than just you. So, maybe you wouldn’t ignore or forget about us this time. Maybe this time you will be excited to greet us, to really know what else is out there. To see us for who we actually are instead of seeing us as monsters from a movie set. That is part of the reason we are visiting now. We think it is time. We hope that you are ready. We have been waiting a very long time to meet you, and for you to meet us.  

So, with logistics, and the whys and how’s out of the way, we should probably tell you a little about us. Not everything. We don’t have time for a 50-page research paper, that project is for another day, but a few notes to get you thinking. We are a grouping of beings who live within the constellation you call Cetus, on a planet that circles the star, Mira. Our planet is not very old. We once lived on an old planet, but our communities tend to have a great deal of wander lust, and the opportunity to explore is not often ignored. It is also helpful that our solar system provides new planets to us often. In the grand scheme of the universe, our current home world is pretty young, but only because our star gives birth to new worlds every few years. We spend our time moving from planet to planet. Developing the terrain to make it livable for our community, and for other beings who are looking for a new place to land. We don’t abandon the worlds we have lived on before; we just continue to explore. Those who wish to stay do, they retire for instance, and those who wish to explore or take on bigger projects do to. 

Sometimes we even move planets from solar system to solar system if someone needs help. That is usually a big deal though. Lots of beings from different worlds involved in that process. The Galactic Alliance usually has lots of questions. Lots of paperwork. It is easier to get the approval to move a moon than to move a planet. Because we love to travel, love to build community, and have a skill set particular to recovering lost worlds, it is more common for us to spend our time teaching those beings, who would like to learn, how to care for their world and keep it healthy and functioning. Not an easy task. Most civilizations learn the hard way how much work it is to care for their world. No one really likes doing chores. We get it. Cleaning your room can be boring and tedious. So, many beings from our world spend their time traveling so they can help others. It feels like a fair trade to us. We help worlds to keep their environments thriving, we get to meet new beings, and maybe make some new friends and learn a few new recipes. Although that doesn’t mean we don’t miss home, and we do travel back from time to time. Our world is not like many others that are out there. 

Our home world is a mishmash of forests and oceans. Brilliant red and violet trees cover the land and clash against the emerald-green water that fills our oceans. Each pushing the other out of the way to create and change the land bridges that connect our communities. There are no roads on our world, not like yours anyway. Gray dirt paths wind their ways between the trees, and from home to home. Large crystal boats carry us across the waves, and you will not hear any motor or electronic device in the air. Although we do have them. They have simply been designed to not interrupt our day. Instead, you will hear the breeze, the water, rusting of leaves as they fly across the landscape, and the chatter of our community as we live our lives. Most of our time is spent in the open markets that line our shores, and the small clusters of homes that grow over generations. We spend hours sharing meals, telling stories, and sharing what we have learned during our latest journey. During the long evenings, we settle into our small homes built of sand and glass watching the stars. It is peaceful here. To us anyway. Some visitors to our world find how social we are overwhelming, and the quiet of the night concerning. We love it though. 

 Sometimes we will spend our time in the sprawling space port that sits at the south pole of our world. The one place where technology temporarily takes over nature. Instead of dense trees, and small homes we are surrounded by tall buildings made of glistening orange stones. Each holding a fleet of ships, the gold and orange orbs we favor traveling in, ready to take us where we need to go. This is where most of our visitors first meet our world. Surrounded by the noise and bustle of travelers beginning their journey, by food carts, and the smells of a place they have never been. Maybe that is why the quiet of our homes startles them at first. The first impression they get is that of a typical space adventure, ships, technology, bright lights, and noise. I think most civilizations that have not made it off world yet, assume that that noise spreads across every planet. Integrating itself into every facet of life and their world. But we learned a long time ago it doesn’t have to. It is more about balance for us. 

That is a little bit about us. About our world. About our current trip to visit you. Of course, there is more we could tell, history we could share, and more we will tell as we share future letters with you. But we have learned it is wise to start small. Start with the things that might seem familiar, what a place looks like, what you might see at first glance, and then move on to things that are strange or detailed. Move on to the history and the nuance.  And maybe a 50-page research paper you can read at your leisure. This isn’t on our current to do list though. Sharing a few letters, and our first visit with you is.

Someday we hope you get to see our world. Experience the space port for the chaos that it is, and the shore for the peace that is brings. We think you would find part of our world familiar and new all at the same time. That is part of the fun of it. We will start with an introduction though. That is how all new friendships begin, even in space. The galactic community is ready to meet you, we are simply the first to get to your front door. In the coming weeks we will decide if we will move forward with our plan. We will let you know how our thinking goes. 

Thank you for listening to our letter. 

The beings of Cetus 

Thank you for listening to this episode of the Star Jelly Files podcast. If you would like to support the podcast and gain access to bonus content check out my Patreon at www.patreon.com/starjellyfiles. If you would like to learn more about the podcast or visit our merch store, check us out at www.starjellyfiles.com. The links are also in the description.

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