The Star Jelly Files
I have some surprising and predictable news. Aliens are real, and you are not alone in this neighborhood called space. That’s right, you heard me. There are trillions of worlds with intelligent life, and they have been there all along. Going about their space business, and even stopping by Earth occasionally. Why haven’t humans noticed you ask? Well, that is a very long story. The Star Jelly Files is a science fiction and fantasy podcast that asks the questions, what if the universal community was simply hiding from Earth this whole time, and what exactly has been happening out in space. If you choose to listen to these broadcasts, you must be prepared to meet those that live among the stars and experience their worlds. Are you ready to explore beyond the familiar skies of Earth? The release schedule of this podcast 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. To learn more about the podcast visit us at www.starjellyfiles.com.
The Star Jelly Files
Oatmeal and Secrets
This episode shares a letter from Bert about the day the beacons arrived at her home to meet Clara, and the reveal of Clara’s accomplice. Who can Bert really trust?
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
The Star Jelly Files
Episode Seven
Oatmeal and Secrets
Hello everyone, and welcome to this week’s episode of the Star Jelly Files. This week I have decided to share a letter with you from Bert about the arrival of her fellow beacons to her house, and the discussion around Clara’s betrayal and accomplice. Bert was not very excited to have so many house guests tossed into her life, but the meeting did help to reveal some interesting problems that need to be solved. Many of the beacons who went to her house had never been on Earth before which can present its own challenges, but what the bigger challenge is I think is that so much trust has been lost between them. Bert sent me this letter to share her experiences with the day, and some ideas about what they planned to do next.
Letter from Bert about her visitors and the secret villain.
Astra,
Here is my account of what happened when everyone showed up at my house and found out who Clara’s accomplice was. Also, some details about the day in general. I hope that it shows you how some of us have changed, and how we work together after all this time. I think it will impact how we need to move forward with some of the other things we have discussed. I have taken a page out of Walter’s book per say and chose to try and keep the dialogue we had included to give you a better feel for everyone’s mood, their thoughts and their word choices. I don’t think I will always do this, but for this day I think it is important. Important to see how they were choosing to present themselves. The conversations may not seem important, but I do think it will matter in the future how they talk to each other.
One additional thing though, briefly before I dive into that mess, just a quick mention that the flight over phoenix was less successful than we wanted. Although we had lots of witnesses, and lots of documented photos and videos, many humans still wish to brush the encounter off as fake. It seems the number of witness accounts is not enough to sway the consensus that everyone witnessed something new that night. I think we will need to move forward with phase two of our plan for introductions, but we can discuss that later. It is not as urgent.
Now to the day everyone showed up at my house. After my mission with the beings from Sirius B and our flight that night, I went straight home. First confirming that Clara hadn’t caused any trouble. She hadn’t. Then went straight to bed. I knew the next day would be busy and I wanted to get myself back into a place where I could actually be awake enough to meet with everyone. I know there was some additional research you wanted me to do before they showed up but I just didn’t have the energy, and I figured it was worth the risk to take care of it the following day.
I fell asleep quickly when I got home. When I next opened my eyes, I was lying in bed listening to the sounds of guests already in my house. I shifted my arms and pushed up against the dozen or so quilts that were wrapped tightly around me, as I attempted to escape the cocoon someone had tucked around me. I squinted against the sun that streamed in through my windows and on my face. I could hear Walter singing quietly downstairs. A familiar song from one of the worlds we both used to live on. It must have been him that tucked me in last night. I rolled out of bed and made my way down the stairs to the kitchen. As you know, my house is a small, handcrafted home that sits at the edge of the woods, and at the edge of town. This provides me with the quiet I crave, and the privacy that my work requires. Especially when I have the occasional guest. So, it was odd for me to hear singing coming from my kitchen. I rounded the corner of the kitchen door and saw Walter sitting at the worn kitchen table. His head bent over a book as he ate oatmeal with bacon and plum pieces sprinkled over the top. Clara sat across from him stiffly. Looking as if she wasn’t sure if she belonged there or not. She had apparently also showed up either in the night or early morning. My guess was after Walter, who likely let her in. I was a little surprised she was brave enough to show up, stubborn enough to be willing to talk to everyone else without me there.
Walter briefly looked up at me and mentioned that there was more food if I wanted it, and that I should probably eat. I had been asleep for twelve hours. I hadn’t realized I had been asleep for that long, the journey home, the meeting, and the mission the night before must have made me more tired than I had been in a long time. The time differences probably hadn’t helped matters either. Humans often complain about trying to fix their sleep schedule after traveling across a country but let me tell you that traveling between worlds is worse.
Clara looked up at me and nodded her agreement. She was being unnaturally quiet for her personality. I think it may have been because Walter was there. But I was a little surprised she was letting that get to her. The two for them didn’t really get along before the war, so being together after all of that wasn’t going to be easy for her, but she was never one to be afraid of those who disliked her. In the before times that just made her want to be somewhere with them more to try and either fix things, or at least make things less tense. I tried to smile reassuringly at her, and she turned to finish eating her breakfast. She seemed to have decided to stay out of the way as much as she could. I walked to the other side of the kitchen and took a bowl out of the cabinet. I wasn’t in the mood to argue, and the best way to get Walter to move on to another topic was to give in and eat breakfast. He could be such a mother hen when he wanted to be.
Before I could place the bowl on the counter and start making breakfast there was a knock at the door. Walter told me to sit down and eat and that he would get up to answer the door. But I walked in front of him to block his path. I had no idea if it was a local neighbor or someone else. Walter smiled at me and simply said I shouldn’t worry. That Earth was not the first world he had visited. That he can deal with answering the door. He placed his hand on my shoulder and moved me aside. He ducked low as he stepped through the doorway and into the hall. I whispered after him reminding him to change his appearance. Yes, he currently was in his form that he used during the council meeting. A tall man with lavender colored skin, bright white hair, and wearing a baggy sweater that fell beyond his hands. But, as a beacon, he could change his appearance like a chameleon of sorts so that he fit in better at the places he visited. Just like me. Although I wasn’t sure why I was reminding him. He knew all of that already. I had no idea why I was so nervous. Maybe Clara being in my home, and the plan being real, was making my nerves worse.
Walter turned around briefly and gave me a smirk. The knocks on the door became more persistent. He whispered back at me “Yes mother” And resumed his course. Can you believe that Astra? Walter calling me the mother hen. I can’t believe him sometimes.
Anyway, we had not moved quickly enough to answer the door, because by the time Walter was approaching it my visitor was banging on the door, and yelling out for me to answer.
“Bert! Bert! Are you in there!” They yelled. It was Opal. She was yelling from my doorstep as she continued to bang on my door. “If you don’t answer me NOW I am going to break in!”
By the time Walter placed his hand on the doorknob he had shrunk to a height that fit comfortably within my house, and below the door frame, and altered his appearance so that he looked like he could be a college kid on earth. He still looked like him. He added a pair of jeans but kept the baggy sweater and brown eyes and bright white hair, and his body language was the same. But his features were slightly altered, just enough to pass as human. He must have done some research before he arrived. “She seems excited,” he said. He turned the doorknob and Opal nearly fell on top of him as she rushed her way through the door and into the house. Her hair flying around her face as she gained her balance. Walter stepped back to give her some space. She looked up into Walter’s eyes. “Who are you?! Where is Bert!” Opal held her bag above her head, preparing to hit Walter with it. “Tell me where she is!”
“Opal! Enough.” I said as I rushed down the hallway to meet her. “I’m fine. I’m right here. This is my friend---” Opal launched herself across the room and wrapped her arms around me. Holding me in a vice tight hug. “Where have you been. I didn’t see you come back last night, and there was nothing on the news that I could find here, and I have been trying to call you all morning. I thought you were hurt, or missing, or I don’t know.” She pulled back from me. Staring at me with wild eyes. Tears threatening to steam down her face. “I even asked Clara if she had seen you. She said you were probably fine. But you look pale. Have you been sick? What happened last night?”
It took me several minutes to calm Opal down without giving her too many details about my day to come and my visitors. I just told her that an old friend had stopped by last night and we were working on a few things that day. I had no idea why she was so scared at the time. I didn’t find out till later that several suspicious people had shown up looking for me at her house the night before. She didn’t tell me that part. So, for the time being I just thought she was over tired from learning so much about me in such a short amount of time. I hadn’t yet had enough time to ask her about our trip home and what she thought about what she had seen. She hadn’t known what the council meeting was really about, but seeing a new world can be overwhelming. As she began to calm down Walter waved at her. He had a wide smile on his face. “Hi. Nice to meet you,” he said cheerfully. Opal finally stopped concentrating on me and seemed to take in the fact the Walter was there. A strange look crossed her eyes, and she narrowed them at me. “What are you working on? Am I interrupting something? I am, aren’t I?” she said quickly. Her eyebrows raised.
“Wait. No. Opal. That’s not what is going on.” I said in a rush. Heat rising in my cheeks as her eyes widened, and she began to smile. She was wildly misinterpreting the fact that I had overslept. She leaned into me and gave me another hug. Rapidly whispering in my ear. “Why didn’t you just tell me. I will leave you two alone. But I expect a call later with all the details, and to talk about everything else. He is SO cute.” She pulled away from me and walked towards the door. “Well, I can see that you two are busy. I will leave you two alone. Nice to meet you, Walter.” She reached out to shake his hand.
Opal left quickly and Walter and I turned to walk back towards the kitchen. Walter started laughing as he walked back towards the kitchen. “Don’t start.” I said as I followed him down the hall. I followed Walter back into the kitchen and watched as he plopped back down into his chair. A smile still spread across his face. “So. You really have become a homebody, haven’t you? So much so that your friend was willing to almost throw herself out the door, so she didn’t interrupt our time together.” Walter threw his head back and started to laugh more loudly. “And here I was thinking those rumors were just exaggerations.” He paused and took a long look at me as if he was deciding how much he wanted to say. “Bert the destroyer now enjoys spending her days staying in and reading. Okay then,” he said with a nod of his head.
Clara was gazing at me from her spot at the kitchen table. Looking at me as if she was trying not to smile, but Walter’s joy was so loud it was infectious.
I hitched my hip on the edge of the kitchen counter and allowed the coolness from the granite to spread through me and draw the flush of embracement out of my face. There really wasn’t any real reason to be embarrassed by his laughter or accusations. They were accurate. I have known Walter for centuries. We have worked together and been stationed in the same realm together. We had even been married for a time. He knows more about me than I know about myself most of the time. But if I had to admit, I guess I was embarrassed about how much I had been shutting the world out since I had moved to Earth. How much I had let myself forget about my role, my world, me. Okay and maybe the fact that Opal had assumed we were dating wasn’t helping my mood either. I love Opal, but her ability to say awkward things at just the right moment still amazed me.
“What’s wrong? Why are you making that weird face,” asked Walter.
I shook my head to clear my melancholy. “Just thinking about the past. Sorry.” I said. It was time to change the subject before he insisted that I elaborate. “So, when does everyone else get here?” I asked.
Everyone else was supposed to arrive in the evening according to Walter. So I spent the rest of the day digging through old notes and records in my office. Looking for any reference to the old war that I could. I needed to be clear on how everything had been documented, to know how everyone had thought Clara had caused so much trouble, and I didn’t want to just trust that what she was telling me the truth. I needed to know that our history explained some or most of what she said, so I could at least be informed about what everyone else thought about the war. Especially before I had to argue for her safety in front of a bunch of other beacons. I also spent most of the day avoiding Walter. He had arrived early and unexpectedly. Even though you Astra had not officially assigned him to show up early, he was secretly helping out. Trying to work with Clara ahead of time to figure out her story. Something the rest of the beacons would find out when they finally got to my house. He was also spending his time trying to make me feel better about having a bunch of beacons visiting my house. I didn’t love the idea of having them all in my home, and so I left it to him to prepare for the council without me. If he wanted to surprise them with more information, and himself, then he could spend his time making sure they were comfortable.
I didn’t end up finding anything despite the numerous paper cuts that now graced my fingertips, and the layer of dust on my jeans. As you know each of us was given a complete set of records of all things that have passed. Notes and journals from each beacon for their reference in case anything came up. We were supposed to read them from time to time but considering I had lived through and contributed to most of the events mentioned I didn’t usually bother. When I did take the time to read a journal or two, I was usually able to find information of value, but the piles of old notebooks and papers were failing me. Although to be fair I wasn’t really paying attention to what I was reading either. My shoulders had been tensing all day with the thought of seeing everyone again. All of them. In one room. Having to lead them again. The last time I had led a team was years ago. When I declared that I was abandoning them to go live a quiet life, I had abandoned my team leaving them to fight their battles on their own. Some of them understood, and some of them didn’t. It was as simple as that. The question now was who was still holding a grudge. Even after you had cleared me of wrongdoing Astra.
The doorbell rang and woke me from my worried daze. It was just past sunset, and my office now sat mostly in shadow. I hadn’t bothered to turn on the lights. I wasn’t really reading anything anyway. I had just ended up sitting against the wall and staring off into space as I thought about the night ahead. As I obsessed about how many of them would walk into my home and still claim that I was lying. To see if they were actually here to talk to me or about me. At least nightfall and the doorbell meant my wait was over. I could just get to the argument at last.
For your listeners Astra, I should mention that the beacons always arrived at new places at night when possible, because it was the perfect time for each of them to sneak out of the woods and to whatever home they were visiting. This is one of the many reasons I was surprised Walter had arrived early. They liked avoiding upsetting the locals when they could. Not that they needed to do much actual sneaking. We could all hide ourselves well enough if we wanted or needed to. This talent is what had caused our existence to fade into legend in most of the realms that we care for. Why some beings, like humans, thought we might be extinct or more often a myth. Invisible beacons that took care of the universe sounded more and more like a myth as the years went on. Even to me.
“Bert, are you going to answer the door? Or are you still sulking?” Walter yelled up the stairs. He was probably standing at the bottom of the stairs leaning against the wall in front of the window that framed my front door, which would make it clear to my visitor that he was there. He has always been much better than me at playing the subtle games that keep the council playing nice with each other. I usually just stayed out of the way unless I had something that I needed to say, or if something needed saying that I thought they were ignoring.
I stood up and dusted the dirt from my jeans as I made my way to the stairs and paused at the top to look down at Walter. I was right. He was there at the bottom waiting for me. He allowed his smile to warm his eyes as he looked up at me. “Is that what you are wearing? You look like you have been crawling around the floor with the dust elephants” he said.
“Distracting me won’t work. Let’s get this over with,” I said. Although I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. Maybe the dust would be enough to bother a few council members and give me an edge. A council meeting was supposed to be a formal event when we were not at our home world. I wasn’t in the mood for formal.
I made my way down the stairs and to the front door. The planks of wood creaked beneath my feet and announced my approach to my visitor. I allowed myself to pause for a moment with my hand hovering over the doorknob. It was time to pull myself together enough that I could convince these people that I should be left in charge. Okay, and maybe I was more than a little nervous. Walter was right, my level of panic was way out of control but that was something to figure out later. I didn’t know if my panic was coming from my lack of sleep, from being so out of practice with being on a mission, or because Clara was just making me jumpy. But I couldn’t fix anything then, so I tried to ignore my feelings of dread.
“Are you going to open the door, or are you just going to stare at it all night,” a calm soft voice called from the other side of the door. “I don’t bite Bert. Or have you forgotten that? Okay maybe I was a little angry the other day, but I am on your side.”
I glanced to my right and could see her tall shadow blocking out the light from the porch that usually shone through the windows. I should have known she would be the first one to show up. Well besides Walter who wasn’t supposed to be there anyway. I turned the doorknob and yanked the door open. “Hi Vi. I wasn’t staring at the door. I was stalling. Since when do any of you wait for someone to answer the door anyway?” I said with a shrug of my shoulders. Still trying to force the tension away.
Vi was standing back from the door as if she was trying to give me some space. Some room to decide how we would move forward. The last time she was on Earth I had ignored her offer to help me settle into my new home. We often fought by each other’s side in the past during times of turmoil, and I wanted to detach myself from that part of my life. So, I left her behind when I retired. Yes, I had completed a brief mission with her on the Mantis world, but I stayed mostly silent then. Concentrating on our task and left quickly once I could. This was the first time I would have to talk to her outside of our job.
She had changed her silver spots and feathered hair from the council meeting, and was now wearing a plain pair of jeans, a bright red t-shirt, and black pair of sneakers. She wore long raven hair down to her waist, and she wore her lace bracelet on her wrist. Her arms hung casually at her sides. Every part of her body language screamed that she was relaxed except for her eyes. Her bright gray eyes were staring at me, through me, trying to read my thoughts. Trying to see how I had changed. “Are you going to invite me in?” she asked lightly.
I stepped aside and silently motioned for her to come in. Opening the door more widely so that she could make her way around me and towards my living room. Where Walter had set up enough chairs for everyone. She skirted her way through the front door. Changing her position as she went so that she didn’t lose eye contact with me until she was all the way inside. Maybe she really thought I might be the enemy now. I had no idea what Walter had actually told the council when I wasn’t in the room. Maybe I shouldn’t have avoided him all day. I need more intel.
She finally turned away from me and stepped in front of Walter. He was still leaning up against the wall by the stairs. “How are you, Walter? Long time no see. Didn’t expect to see you here this early. Weren’t you dealing with another problem in your realm? Did you ever solve that problem in the fourth realm? The one with the escaped pixies who were trying to move the stars. I thought I saw one or two missing last time I went through there.” Her eyes were now laser focused on him as she asked questions that were obviously aimed at avoiding talking about me, while still trying to gage his expression for how he felt about the current situation and why he was there.
“Yes, he was. Although we never found the three stars they hid away. There are still a few of us looking though,” a voice filled with laughter said from behind me.
I spun around to face the newest intruder of my home and found myself face to face, literally, with Hum. His indigo eyes inches from my own. I resisted the urge to pull away from him and held my ground. Recovering from his powerplay would take forever if I let him win at his games. We stood like that for a long breath. “Hello Hum. Won’t you come in?” I said.
“Thought you’d never ask!” He placed his hand on my shoulder and walked past me. He pulled me lightly away from the door as he went. “Come on Vi and Bert. Let’s sit down and catch up while we wait for Fall and Linc. Walter can guard the door.”
Hum completely ignored the fact that Walter was early. I didn’t know if it was because he knew more than he was letting on about my mission, or if he just didn’t care. Hum tended to assume that if someone was in the room that they would be important to the mission eventually.
I shot a quick glance at Walter as I followed Vi and Hum into the living room. Silently begging him to go with us. Or better yet to make me stay at the door. But, he was smiling. Of course, he was. He knew how much I hated small talk. Now he was leaving me to my fate.
“I don’t know that the door actually needs guarding, but I will wait for them to arrive. I can hear you from here anyway,” he said.
Vi had already settled herself on one of the overstuffed chairs that sat along the left-hand side of my living room. The bright yellow and orange fabric made it look like she was sitting against a sunset. She was glancing around the room taking in all the little knickknacks that had somehow built up over the years. Hum had decided to sit on the floor by the edge of the fireplace. His elbows resting on his crossed knees. It was odd to see him sit there when we had spent so many nights sitting on the couch watching TV. But, unlike Vi, who looked like she was a stranger taking in all the oddities of an unseen world he looked like he belonged in the room. Like he had always sat there. I walked to the right-hand side of the room away from both of them and sat on the edge of a chair so that I could quickly escape if I needed to. There was no reason to let myself be trapped by the overly fluffy furniture that Opal had insisted I buy.
“So, Bert. What have you been up to the past what? Couple hundreds of years or so? It’s been awhile hasn’t it?” asked Walt casually from the door. “I like your knickknacks. I noticed the one that looks like me that you have in the bathroom, and the one that looks like Vi over there on the bookshelf. Have you spent all of your time collecting earth figurines of your friends?” His comment caused Vi and Hum to begin looking around the room. Trying to find the bookend Walter was talking about. He had obviously given himself a tour of my home while I was asleep.
“It’s all in my journals. Haven’t you read them? You are the record keeper after all,” I said blandly. “Also, that soap dispenser is not you. Look closer next time.”
“Oh, I’ve read them. But they were pretty wishy-washy. Empty of facts. What have you been leaving out? Or have you just gotten lazy?” asked Walter as he stared at me innocently. Evidently, he still wasn’t over his love of digging for information. He was the perfect record keeper no matter how much it bugged me. Walter had spent most of his life collecting data. Both from his own travels and ours. He spends most of his days writing and reading journals from all of the beacons and filing the data away for future reference. He also spends a fair bit of time traveling so that he can experience some of the bigger things in life for himself. Like Clara, Walt was a wanderer, and he didn’t like staying in one place for very long.
“Enough Walter,” said Vi. She had shifted in her seat so that her attention was focused away from me and on him. Her legs now hung over the side of the chair. “If Bert wants to tell us her life story she will, but for now it isn’t relevant. Besides you will find out every detail someday. What’s the rush?”
“No Rush, just wondering why her reports have been so lack luster lately. No details that would ever help anyone else. It’s not really like her. She used to send me thousands of pages of data. Now I get maybe twenty. I’m concerned. Isn’t that allowed anymore Vi? Or were we all really expected to stop thinking about her when she walked out the door? Not all of us are as cold hearted as others.” Walt turned and smiled at me. Allowing happiness to travel to his eyes. I had forgotten how genuine he could be when he wanted to be. “Also, Bert, is it true you have been single for the whole time you have been here? Seven hundred years single?”
“Hum! Why did you tell him that,” I yelled over my shoulder? My face quickly turning bright red at the question. “That has NOTHING to do with my job.” I could hear Hum laughing at me.
“It was an accident. It just kind of slipped out. You know how good Walter is at getting information out of people,” Hum said still laughing.
“Aren’t you lonely,” asked Vi in a small voice. “That is a long time to be alone. Especially since you couldn’t visit home either. Do you have friends?”
“Yes! I have friends,” I said briskly. “This is stupid I am not talking about this.”
“Well, you must have friends. Hum said you have one you work with,” Walter said with a big laugh. “Also, it is relevant. Aren’t you supposed to be experiencing life while you are here? Maybe I can stay after our mission and help you find someone,” Walter said. “We can experiment with one of those dating apps Earth beings seem to be so excited about.”
“Well, that sounds horrifying,” Fall said from the doorway. He and Linc had arrived as Walter was busy questioning me.
“You are the worst person to ask for dating advice Walter. Leave her alone” said Linc dryly. There was probably a story there, but I didn’t have time to ask about it and take the focus off me.
Fall walked into the room and settled himself onto another of the large chairs and looked at me expectantly. “Okay then,” said Fall. “Let’s get started. What needs to be done first.” Fall was very much not in the mood for chit chat. Which I get, and I was grateful for.
“Well first you should probably talk to me,” said Clara from the doorway behind Fall. She had been lingering in the hallway waiting for everyone to arrive. Staying unseen until she thought we would be ready to talk.
Fall’s body stiffened at her voice, and Hum stepped quickly between the two of them. “We need her alive Fall,” said Hum firmly.
“Why is she free to just walk around the house! I don’t care if she had an accomplice, or if she was the accomplice, or whatever. She is still a criminal,” said Fall.
“I know,” said Clara. “I have given all my weapons to Bert a very long time ago, and I have agreed to be confined on this planet until you decide what to do with me. But we need to talk about who really tore down the barrier all those years ago and who is trying to do it again now.”
“Just tell us it who it was then and let’s get going. Enough stalling,” said Fall.
Clara didn’t stall, she took in a deep breath and dove right into the reason we were there. The reason she was now trusted. “It was Chester,” said Clara. A frown had spread across her face and she looked at the floor.
We all looked at her in silence. I hadn’t expected her to just come out and say it and no one else seemed to know what to say. I think they all thought it was a blatant lie. It had to be. Even though Hum and Linc had followed her, they never found out who she was working with. That was information she had only shared with you Astra, and then you shared with me. Everyone inthe room thought, as I did when you first told me, that Chester was too young to have been involved.
“Chester is too young. You are wasting our time. He wasn’t even alive then,” Yelled Hum echoing my thoughts.
“I know what you think,” said Clara quickly. “But he isn’t who you think he is. He is older than almost all of us. From the time of Astra and Bert as far as I know. He just changed his name. Among many other things.”
“We have to call the rest of the council,” Vi said. She had jumped up from her seat with a great effort as the cushions tried to hold her captive and started to move towards the door. “They are in danger being around him.”
“No,” said Clara as she stepped in front of the hallway and blocked the way to the front door. “We need to draw Chester here if we have any hope of stopping him from beginning his war again. And Believe me it was war he was looking for last time, and he has not changed his mind over all these years.”
“Let’s say you aren’t lying. What is the point of dragging him out here? Bringing him to another planet for him to destroy! If you aren’t lying why would you let him near another plant? Near another planet that has no way of protecting itself,” yelled Fall.
“Don’t you see? This is the perfect place to bring him. It is isolated and quiet. We can trap him somewhere where he can’t just jump on a spaceship and leave! It is a world that he would want. One that has just discovered the stars. That has a newly opened door.” Clara said back at Fall. “Just sit and listen to my story. You should at least hear my facts before you deicide. Stop being so closed minded. That was always your problem.”
Everyone stared back at her. Trying to decide if they should give her the chance. If they should sit and listen, or if they should brush her aside and take their own paths. I decided to interrupt them. “We need to listen to her story. I know it is true. I have seen it in person. Why else would I have given up so much of my life to protect her?” I said quietly.
They all sat down then and waited. Waited for Clara to tell her truth.
Tune in next week for a letter from Clara with her story, or what she thinks her story is at least.
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Star Jelly Files podcast. I hope you enjoyed this episode and that you are having a great day. The Star Jelly Files is written, produced, voice acted, and created by me, Elizabeth Hamblett. If you would like to support the podcast and gain access to bonus content check out my Patreon at www.patreon.com/starjellyfiles. The link is also in the description.
Copyright 2021 Elizabeth Hamblett. All Rights Reserved.