Once Upon The Future E-Book

Marta Nieto Romero

• Herausgeber: Babidi-bú
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Seitenzahl: 359

Beschreibung

Once Upon the Future is an anthology of fictional stories written for children age 7-12 inspired by the research of six sustainability scientists. Each story is sprinkled with humor and magical realism, enlivened with beautiful illustrations, and complemented by educational resources. Using simple yet vibrant language, the stories convey insights on circular food economies, rural development and cultural textile traditions, forest commoning practices, biodiversity conservation and regeneration, youth in urban governance, and the importance of values and imagination for sustainability leadership. Close your eyes. Imagine you're sitting around the fire in the forest. Firelight dances over your face, sparks float in the darkness, and the magic of storytelling begins... Join Charlie, a big nosed carrot, as he battles the gang of plastic bottles and searches for the great compost heap. [The Magic Jumble by Anastasia Papangelou] Follow Alma and Helio as they discover magical creatures and secret natural realms, while searching for the Skunk Cabbage, rare plant that can save their forest from destruction. [Alma in the Woods by Angela Moriggi] Meet Olivia who never spends time outdoors until a new classmate from a distant land shows her the joy of street play. [The City's Heartbeat by Lorena Axinte] Gather around the campfire to hear one-eyed Aunt Bloom tell stories of a secret society - the Cosmos Mariners - who battle the Hungry Ghosts destroying our planet. [The Legend of the Cosmos Mariners by Kelli Rose Pearson] Go through a magic portal into the Wood Wide Web with Brunaia - a girl who has fused with a young oak tree to restore the lost equilibrium between humans and forests. [Brunaia by Marta Nieto Romero] Attend a fashion show with young Jaime, who has put his reputation on the line to show off his grandmother's traditional linen.[Fashionista Jamie by Alessandro Vasta]

Leseprobe

To cite this book:

Axinte, L.; Moriggi, A.; Nieto Romero, M.; Papangelou, A.; Pearson, K. R. & Vasta, A. (2020). Once Upon the Future: Everyday Adventures that Change the World.

Illustrator: Rita Reis

The rights to individual stories and artwork remain with the respective authors and artist.

This book uses a dyslexia-friendly font.

© text:

Lorena Axinte

Angela Moriggi

Anastasia Papangelou

Kelli Rose Pearson

Marta Nieto Romero

Alessandro Vasta

© illustration: Rita Reis

© design and correction: Team BABIDI–BÚ

© this edition:

Editorial BABIDI–BÚ, 2022

Avda. San Francisco Javier, 9, 6ª, 23

Edificio Sevilla 2

41018 – Sevilla

Tlfn: 912.665.684

[email protected]

www.babidibulibros.com

Production of the ePub: booqlab

First edition: march, 2022

ISBN: 978-84-19228-45-1

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, under the project SUSPLACE ‘Sustainable Place-Shaping’—a Marie Sklodowska Curie Innovation Training Network (grant agreement No 674962).

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword

About This Anthology

About Us

The Legend Of The Cosmos Mariners

The Magic Jumble

The City’s Heartbeat

Fashionista Jamie

Alma In The Woods

Brunaia

Acknowledgements

The Authors

FOREWORD

Once upon a time, a little girl happily lived with her parents and sister in a land far north of almost everywhere. She was happy, that is, until she learned to read and discovered what adults were doing to the Earth. The more she read, the sadder she became.

Her parents got very worried about their little girl. She never went outside to play anymore. She thought that games seemed like meaningless wastes of time while animals were dying, waters were being poisoned, and the world was burning. Eventually, she stopped speaking. And then she stopped eating. Her parents got really scared and took her to the doctors, but the doctors only gave the girl pills and assured them she would be fine.

The parents knew that would not be enough to help. So, they patiently waited, hoping their daughter would tell them what was breaking her heart. Eventually, she did.

She told them how sad she was that people were polluting everything, killing animals to eat, and putting so many pollutants in the air that the climate was changing. And she was scared watching all these problems get worse. So, the girl asked her parents to stop flying on airplanes and stop eating animals. And because the parents loved their girl so much, and they truly understood that they needed to do everything they could to ensure she had a safe and worthy future, they changed their work, stopped flying, and changed what they ate every day.

Slowly, the darkness in the girl’s heart lifted as she saw that she made a small difference. But it was not enough for her. She wondered what else she could do. She couldn’t vote yet or change what business leaders were doing…It didn’t take rocket science to figure out the answer: she would show the world that school was useless if there was no future! And so, every Friday, she sat on the footsteps of her country’s parliament, rather than the school bench, and went on strike for the future. Over time, people noticed, friends joined her, and then school children all over the world did the same in their own countries.

Soon enough, the girl was invited to speak to her country’s parliament, the richest men in the world, the leaders of other countries, reporters from everywhere, even the Pope and the United Nations. Everywhere she went she told people that she would rather be in school and learn what she could for her future, but that she didn’t see the point of that until she could be sure she would have one. Until the adults acted like adults and safeguarded the climate and life on Earth.

It all made so much sense. But those powerful people didn’t budge. At least not for a long time.

Until one day…

Thus goes the story as we know it so far. A fairy tale in so many ways. And yet it is not.

In the age of Greta Thunberg, in the age of children acting like adults and adults acting like children, who is to say that ‘children’s stories’ aren’t the most important stories for everyone to hear, that these ‘fairy tales’ are not the truest account of our time?! Who is to say that such little heroine’s and hero’s journeys are not the most healing stories to tell our children—and ourselves?!

Open this book and find just such medicine here. Six stories of children righting the wrongs of their worlds. Six stories of children facing a world made inhospitable by ignorance, greed, and misguided ambitions.

As such, these stories reprimand but they never lose touch of the lightness of children’s tales, nor the simplicity of language even the youngest among us can understand and the oldest must hear. Accompanied by perfectly matching illustrations, they brim with imaginative vibrancy and colorful clarity, bring delight, and reveal the essence of the human condition today.

This collection even puts to rest the ‘old story’ of scientists unable to communicate to anyone but expert audiences. Written by up—and—coming scholars, these stories accessibly convey insights from research on how to sustainably shape the places where we live. What an example of experts bringing research alive. What an example—again—of the young having more courage than the old to do something different, creative and path-breaking.

And that may well be the only way Greta’s story, these stories, and all our stories may yet have the best possible ending we can create.

Read them. Share them. Then act!

Susanne MoserNovember 2019

ABOUT THIS ANTHOLOGY

The idea of translating our scientific research into stories for children started as a joyful collective daydream, as so many good ideas do. As you probably know, the field of sustainability science can be heavy with difficult concepts, abstract strategies, and discouraging statistics. And as we—the authors of this book—were going about our own ‘everyday adventures’, we found ourselves longing for stories that brighten us, that spark our imagination, and that give us light and courage, while not shying away from difficult truths. And we especially longed for new stories to share with future generations.

With this in mind, our small band of six scientists set out to discover our own form of alchemy—how to turn the heavy, sometimes laden, results of our research into fairytale gold. With support from each other and from diverse experts in storytelling and creative writing, we are now excited to present the results of our adventure.

We hope that our stories will be ‘ambassadors’ for sharing our scientific insights and knowledge about sustainability, but also that they feel alive with love, care, and humour.

This being said, describing a children’s story is like describing the taste of ice cream. It’s better to try it for yourself. Enjoy!

ABOUT US

We are six researchers with very different backgrounds, who once took part in a research project about ‘sustainable place-shaping’, with the code name SUSPLACE. Our mission was to explore different ways in which people make the places they live more sustainable and more regenerative.

We investigated many interconnected topics, such as circular food economies, arts-based practices for sustainability leadership, pathways for re-commoning forest landscapes, youth engagement in city-regional governance, the role of traditional artisanship in revitalizing rural areas, and the power of nature to heal people and foster social inclusion. These themes are now woven into the stories of ‘Once Upon the Future’.

‘Have you heard the legend of the Cosmos Mariners, my children?’ A tiny, ancient woman poked at the fire.

Sparks flitted and floated.

Up!

Up!

Up!

Until they were lost in the starry night.

Zella, Fiona, and Sebastian, the littlest cousins in the Seymou-Hoshi Clan, shook their heads, watching the woman closely. The firelight danced over their faces, which were smeared with dirt and sticky with the remnants of roasted marshmallows. Arlo, who had just turned twelve and was several years older than the others, sat to one side. He frowned, flipped his shaggy black hair out of his eyes, and looked away.

‘Tell us! Tell us!’ Fiona clapped her hands and bounced eagerly.

Zella and Fiona were huddled together beneath a blanket on a log. They were both seven and wore matching blue flannel shirts. They could have been twins but for their hair and their colouring—Zella’s hair floated like a fiery orange cloud around her head, while Fiona’s was blue-black and slippery straight down her back. Sebastian, Fiona’s older brother by a year and three months, was crouched close to the fire, poking it with a stick.

‘Welllllll…’ The old woman, known to the children as Aunt Bloom, cocked her head and looked them over with her one small, sharp eye, which was narrowed to a slit. Just on the other side of her nose, where you would normally expect to find another eye, was a dark empty socket. Her face was cracked and whorled like the bark of a gnarled desert tree. The children tried not to look at the empty eye too closely, partly out of politeness, but mostly because it made them uneasy—as if, once they looked, they wouldn’t be able to look away.

‘Pleeeease!’ Zella flashed a lopsided smile and batted her eyelashes.

Aunt Bloom paused and turned away from the fire, staring into the velvety shadows of the forest. ‘Are they ready, the dears?’ She seemed to address the darkness politely, as if consulting a wise old friend. ‘Well, it’s about time… gotta know some time… a lot of potential in this lovely lot.’ She clenched her wiry, weathered hands into fists. ‘But are their hearts big enough? Bright enough?’

As if in answer, an eerie call drifted through the thick night air from somewhere deep in the woods. ‘Hoohahoooooooooooo!’

With a whoosh, Aunt Bloom twirled back around. The midnight black of her good eye flickered with firelight.

‘Are you children worthy and brave?’ She shouted, wagging her finger wildly. ‘Or will the darkness swallow you up... and spit out your bones?’

The children jumped, and then smiled uncertainly. Time spent with Aunt Bloom was never boring.

Arlo narrowed his eyes and his lips twitched into a sulky smile. He leaned towards Sebastian and whispered in his ear. ‘Maybe Aunt Bloom’s finally lost her marbles. Maybe she’ll just wander off in the night and disappear from our lives.’

‘Don’t be so mean, Arlo,’ Sebastian hissed, showing off the gap between his front teeth.

Arlo crossed his eyes and made a face. If my parents weren’t so mean, I wouldn’t be stuck with these dorks, he thought.

At that very moment, he was missing his best friend’s sleepover, where his whole gang was playing video games and reading comic books. He could imagine the laughter and almost taste the salty sweetness of popcorn and candy.

It was such a very little stink bomb, Arlo thought. A giggle tickled his lips. But the scowl quickly returned. As punishment, he had been condemned to spend three days stuck in the forest, camping with his little cousins and crazy Aunt Bloom. No phone, no nothing.

A line formed between Arlo’s eyebrows.

It’s not fair! Grounded! It’s my parents’ fault anyway—they don’t care. They’re always off on their Very Important Business. A heaviness settled on his shoulders. Saving the world and all that stupid junk. Like there’s any hope of that!

Arlo’s parents worked for an environmental research institute. He didn’t understand exactly what they did, but he heard their worried conversations when they thought he wasn’t listening. And he heard bits from the news: Heat wave kills one-third of all bats in two days! Largest forest fires in history kill over a billion animals! A once-in-500-year storm hits three years in a row! Worst period of species die-offs since the dinosaurs disappeared 65 million years ago!

When he was little, this kind of news had terrified him. Once, he’d seen a grim educational video about how the oceans are rising, and afterwards he had been haunted by a recurring nightmare. In the dream, he was building an elaborate sand city on a quiet beach. An odd breeze tickled his ear and he looked up. There, towering over him, was a wave the size of a skyscraper! A dreadful, deafening, rushing noise vibrated through his whole body, like the battle cry of an army of hungry ogres. At the very last moment, just as the wave began to crest, a giant great-horned owl, the size of a small airplane, swooped silently down from the sky and lifted him into the air with its talons. When he woke up, his sheets were soaked in sweat.

Now he just felt numb. Besides, his life was fine (when he wasn’t grounded). Such bad news felt far away.

‘Ehhhemmm!’ Aunt Bloom interrupted Arlo’s thoughts. She patted her hair and smoothed her skirt. ‘Now then children... I’ve decided. I believe that you are all indeed ready for the most certainly very true story of the Cosmos Mariners and their nemesis, the Hungry Ghosts.’ The last words she growled in a loud whisper.

Arlo hunched over and looked down. Whatever, he muttered under his breath.

‘Yay!’ Fiona’s sticky face beamed.

Aunt Bloom looked around the fire and waited until she had their complete attention.

‘So, where to start?’ She tapped her fingers together and looked up at the sky. When she began, her voice was strong and clear. ‘Alright, let’s start with the ship—that’s where the story takes place after all. Well, it is a very, very, VERY large sailing ship. In fact, it is so large that it is the size of…’ She threw her arms open wide, seeming to grow bigger in the flickering shadows of the fire. ‘The size of an entire planet!’

She paused and eyed the children expectantly.

They exchanged glances, grinned, and began peppering Aunt Bloom with questions: ‘Which planet? (They’re all different sizes you know!)’, ‘How did it fit in the ocean?’, ‘Were the sailors giant pirates?’ They knew from experience that the more questions they asked, the better the story.

Aunt Bloom grinned back at them.

‘The ship,’ she continued, ‘was exactly the size of our planet—the incomparable, the marvellous and majestic planet Earth. What a coincidence!’ She chortled. ‘And—imagine it!—it was sailing through the vast, stupendously, mind-bogglingly enormous darkness of space.’

Eyes bright, the children leaned closer to the fire. Arlo frowned, pulled the hood of his sweatshirt over his head, and continued to examine the ground.

‘Don’t forget, my dears—the universe is not only stranger than we imagine, it’s stranger than we CAN imagine!’

‘I can imagine a lot!’ Zella said with confidence.

‘Yes you can, my pet.’ Aunt Bloom ruffled her hair and laughed.

More like a cackle, thought Arlo with a shudder.

Aunt Bloom made Arlo nervous. He had no idea how old she was. Or even how exactly she was related to him. But his parents had always told him to be respectful. ‘There’s more to her than meets the eye,’ they had said. Whatever that means.

He hadn’t seen her in a few years and now he didn’t get her. When he was little, he used to hang on every word of her stories. Like the one about how she lost her eye in a sword fight. Yeah, right! Like anyone but a baby would believe that. Now he was old enough to know better than to listen to dumb stories of planet-sized sailing ships in space. He realised that that’s just what they were-stories! Nothing more. A pack of lies told to distract the kids while the adults did their so—called important stuff.

Aunt Bloom gave Arlo a sweeping look. Then turned towards the others. ‘Where were we?’

‘A ship the size of a planet!’ Fiona shouted, her eyes sparkling.

‘Yes, indeed.’ Aunt Bloom’s one eye sparkled back. ‘Now, what would you say if I told you that this ship was actually ALIVE? Not a ship at all, but a living, feeling something or somewho…?’

‘A somewho?’ Zella interrupted. ‘Is that even a word?’

‘Not exactly a what, not exactly a who, something in the middle,’ explained Aunt Bloom. ‘It needs water to live, and sunshine, and air, and even a bit of love.’

Her face softened and her eye was shining. ‘And, guess what? We are actually part of this living Earth ship! Not separate at all. With every breath we take, we are a part of the vast breath of the whole thing. It’s all interconnected.’

Aunt Bloom wove her fingers together.

‘Everything touches everything in a big, chaotic tangle of tangledness.’ She paused and looked at them each in turn. ‘One of the wonderful things about this tangle is that it means that every small act of kindness ripples out and touches everything else.’ Her hands fluttered through the air as if she were weaving a spell. ‘Got it?’

Zella, Fiona, and Sebastian all nodded. Arlo picked a bit of dirt off his sneakers.

‘Well, my dears, I must tell you that this ship is just spiralling around the universe and no one has any idea where it is going or what it is doing. Maybe somebody knows, or somewhen or somewhere or somehow knows… but we? Ha! Lots of kooky ideas out there. As far as we humans are concerned, the destination is completely unknown!’

Arlo felt his hands clenching. He was fed up. He had meant to keep quiet, but he just couldn’t stand it anymore. ‘That’s just so dumb. The story doesn’t even make any sense! A tangle of tangledness? And why would a ship just be sailing around randomly?’

Aunt Bloom looked at him thoughtfully. ‘It’s a good question. But I have a question for you, my dear.’ When she smiled, her white teeth glinted in the firelight. She tilted her head so that the dark, empty socket seemed to stare at him, making him feel dizzy and disoriented.

‘Hoohahoooooo...’ echoed from somewhere in the forest, more loudly than before.

‘Whooooooooooo, darling boy, do you think would save you if a giant wave were about to destroy the world? If the Hungry Ghosts—who wail like an army of ogres—were about to devour you and everything you ever cared about?’

Arlo’s mouth dropped open and his stomach tightened. Could she read his mind? He had never told anyone about his dream.

Maybe she had just guessed?

Arlo had always been fascinated by owls. He could name twenty species off the top of his head. Two summers ago, he had volunteered at the local wildlife rehabilitation centre and had learned how to care for injured owls. At the time, it had been the highlight of his life. But somehow, over the last year, it had faded to a distant memory. Friends and video games had become more important.

Aunt Bloom’s one eye bored into his, and then she turned back toward the others. She stooped over, leaning heavily on her walking stick, and lowered her chin. The flickering fire cast strange shadows over her face, making her look not quite human.

She turned back to the others. ‘Listen closely, loves.’ Her voice was hushed but fierce. ‘All of it, the whole ship and everything on it is in grave danger.’

Suddenly, she cried out and waved her walking stick above her head. The flames leapt higher into the sky. ‘There is a deep, soul-sucking sadness upon the Earth!’ The words boomed through the quiet of the forest and the children gasped, their faces illuminated in the bright light.

Aunt Bloom drew her eyebrows together and opened her one eye so wide that the white showed all around the black of her iris. On the other side of her nose, the empty socket was as black as a black hole and it seemed to suck in both the light from the fire and the darkness of the forest.

‘The great life force of our beautiful planet, this wonderful sailing ship, is being devoured by the Hungry Ghosts. We don’t have much time...’

Zella and Fiona linked arms and squished closer together on their log. Sebastian froze.

Arlo shuddered, and then glared in disapproval. Not that he was scared, he told himself, but scaring the little ones before bedtime? He was going to tell his parents.

Zella frowned for a moment, and then leaned forward and whispered, ‘But what’s a Hungry Ghost, Aunt Bloom?’

Aunt Bloom lifted her chin. ‘Yes, well, let’s see.’ Her tone was suddenly brisk. ‘A Hungry Ghost is a kind of bloated, zombie-like ghoul. Mindlessly hungry, of course. Belly the size of a hundred elephants and mouth the size of a pinhole. And never, ever, ever satisfied. They feed on loneliness and despair. As they get stronger, they drive some people mad with greed and desire, and others become numb and dull.’

She lowered her head and then continued, a quaver in her voice. ‘No evil sorcerer, nor enemy action created the Hungry Ghosts. They come... they come from our very selves. From the wastelands of our souls!’

The not-quite-human look came back over her. She looked around the fire and fixed each of them in turn with her one glittering eye. ‘But thank goodness for the Cosmos Mariners…’

There was a long pause.

‘Okay…’ ventured Sebastian, ‘but who are the Cosmos Mariners?’

‘And how do they stop the Hungry Ghosts?’ asked Zella.

Like a rainbow after a storm, Aunt Bloom’s face burst toothily into a smile. She sighed, gave a little wiggle, and looked up at the starry sky. After a moment, she squared her shoulders and hummed a few notes of what sounded like an ancient sea shanty. And then, abruptly, she opened her mouth wide and launched into song.

‘I’m a far wandrin’ pirate,

I’ve sailed for so long,

So show me true treasure,

and I’ll sing you a song.

Her voice was clear and hauntingly beautiful—it seemed to fill the forest and the sky. Arlo and the others fell into a hushed silence.

When the Cosmos Mariners take to the sea,

Your mind’ll stretch wide

with such sights that you’ll see

There’s wonder and kindness,

and stardust and all.

They’ve all made the pledge,

they all hear the call.

‘Tis feeling the heartbeat of all that we be,

‘tis seeing the magic of forest and tree.

And laughing with joy,

that’ll set the world free.’

The last note rose up with the sparks from the fire, disappearing into the starry sky. As it faded, the owl called again from somewhere in the forest.

‘Hoohahoooooo!’

Arlo was surprised to find himself as mesmerised as the others. The words were strangely familiar and for some reason he felt tears prick his eyes. He blinked rapidly, pressed his lips tightly together, and let out a muffled ‘Hmmfff.’ The children were all staring in wonder at Aunt Bloom.

‘In other words,’ she continued in a no-nonsense voice, ‘the Cosmos Mariners are people of all kinds who have taken a vow to spread truth, beauty, and kindness in the world. They dedicate their lives to this vow, so they say. Well, as best they can. It isn’t easy.’ A gleam came into her eye. ‘According to legend, it’s an ancient secret society...’

‘Do you know any real Cosmos Mariners?’ Sebastian interrupted.

‘Were you listening dear? Didn’t I just say it was a secret society? They don’t go telling their secrets to just anyone.’ Aunt Bloom chuckled. ‘Oh, and by people,’ she added, ‘I don’t mean just human people. A tree, for example, can bring truth and beauty and kindness to the world just as well as anybody.’

Zella shook her head. ‘Wait a seconnnd!’ She sounded sceptical. ‘A tree is a person?’

‘Can cats be people?’ Fiona asked. ‘Purring is like a super power!’

Aunt Bloom laughed. ‘Actually, trees are some of the best people! Mustn’t forget the trees.’ Her tone left no room for contradiction. ‘Cats too,’ she added with a twinkle. ‘And dogs! Most dogs are just love covered with fur.’

Arlo brushed his hair out of his eyes, crossed his arms, and continued frowning into the fire.

Aunt Bloom sat down on a log and clapped her hands together to get their attention.

‘Soooooooo,’ she said, her voice pitched high like a snooty school teacher. ‘Cosmos Mariners. Much more pleasant to talk about than Hungry Ghosts. We’ll start with a simple definition. C-O-S-M-O-S.’ She spelled out the word. ‘The whole universe and everything. M-A-R-I-N-E-R-S. An old-fashioned word for sailors. Cosmos Mariners. People who sail through the universe.’ Her voice changed to a loud, dramatic whisper. ‘People who feel the waves and the winds of life itself. Like pirates. Good pirates that is.’

‘Me!’ cried Fiona. ‘I love big waves. Dad and ‘Bastian and I went on a boat on the ocean this summer. I’m a pirate!’

Sebastian shushed her. ‘Let her tell the story, Fi!’

‘Listen, my loves.’ Aunt Bloom put her hand to her chest. ‘The Hungry Ghosts are very real and more powerful than ever before. Somehow, they have convinced people that we are living on a cold, dead rock drifting through space and that a living being is no different than a ro-bot—that we are biological robots. Expendable. Replaceable. That an air filter is just as good as a tree.’

Aunt Bloom snorted and paused for a breath.

‘This is nonsense, of course. To put it bluntly…time is running out. Our world is in great peril.’ With each word her voice grew louder until she was almost shouting. ‘If nothing is done... we will all surely DIE!’

In the pause that followed, even the forest seemed to be holding its breath.

Arlo gasped. Suddenly, he heard a rushing vibration that sounded like an army of ogres. He closed his eyes and could see a giant wave towering over him. All his fears came flooding back—the storms, the fires, the death of so many animals. He had tried so hard to ignore this feeling of sadness and dread. Now he was shaking and his knuckles were white from clenching his hands. It’s just a stupid story, it’s just a stupid story.

The others looked horrified and angry.

Aunt Bloom let out a heavy sigh that seemed to contain all the sighs ever sighed. ‘We know how to save ourselves, how to stop it. But we hesitate.’

‘Why?’ asked Zella, her voice quavering.

They sat frozen in silence for a long moment.

Aunt Bloom shook herself as if shaking off the gloom. ‘It’s scary. We are all scared. Those of us paying attention. But, listen my dears, you can’t be brave if you’re not scared.’

Aunt Bloom’s face brightened.

‘And don’t forget the Cosmos Mariners! This is where they come in. Their radiance and courage ripples through the interconnected tangle of everything—which makes the Hungry Ghosts lose power. They are our hope for the world!’

At this, Zella jumped up from the log again. ‘But, can we be Cosmos Mariners? I mean, really?’

‘Hmmmm…’ Aunt Bloom pursed her lips. ‘To become a Cosmos Mariner, you must sail into the unknown. The pain of the world will feel like a knife in your heart.’

‘We can do it!’ Sebastian drew himself up a bit taller.

‘It will leave you bloody and bruised,’ she went on. ‘This is the price. Not everyone can make it. But if you do, your spirit will know how to soar like a hawk. That is the reward.’

Arlo was paying close attention now.

‘Now, Cosmos Mariners don’t go around bragging about who they are. But here’s a hint: when you are with them, you feel more full of life. They care about the fishes in the sea, the insects crawling on the earth, and the birds and the bats flying in the air. Kindness dances in their eyes.’

Arlo’s mind darted to his parents. The other night his father had been talking softly to his mother, and Arlo saw his father’s eyes glistening with tears.

‘What’s going on?’ Arlo had demanded, worried that someone had died.

His father had looked up sadly. ‘It’s the Christmas Island Pipistrelle... a tiny, lovely little bat. I studied it at university. It’s just been declared extinct.’ At the time, Arlo had been unreasonably angry and had rushed back to his room to play a video game. A bat? His dad was crying over a bat? How stupid was that?

But Arlo had felt sad too. He and his dad had spent many hours learning about bats, watching documentaries and reading books. They had even visited a famous bat cave in Texas—the largest in the world—and watched the 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats flood into the dusky sky like a river. Bats were his father’s passion.

Arlo felt a wave of regret. Why had he been so mean about it?

‘Okay, so I know they’re secret and everything,’ Zella said. ‘But then how does anyone even join? Is there like a test or something?’

Aunt Bloom smiled gently at Zella, then turned and fixed Arlo with her eye. ‘Well, according to the old stories, there are many, many ways. As many ways as there are stars in the sky. But, as far as I’ve studied it, I think I’ve figured out some hints about how to start.’

She took the stick she was leaning on and tapped on the ground.

‘First is a simple Yes! Yes to the very idea of the Cosmos Mariners. Sounds easy, but you can’t fake it. The Yes must be said with the most tender, truest part of you, from the centre of your heart.’

She drew a heart in the dirt by the fire.

‘Second, you’ve got to learn to see with your heart and mind at the same time. Tricky! When you can do this, you’ll be able to understand the world from many surprising points of view. What would it be like to flow through the land for a thousand years? To live in a maze beneath the ground? It takes practice to see through the eyes of a river, an ant, or even another person. When you feel dizzy with wonder and with new possibilities, you’ll know you’ve got it.’

She drew the shape of an eye around the heart.

‘Finally, take action. Do any type of something that brings joy and goodness and truth. Big, small, doesn’t matter. Breathe kindness into the world. Sounds simple? Ha!’ She snorted. ‘It is and it isn’t.’

Then she added rays, as though from a sun, around the image of the eye.

‘After that? Well, with a bit of patience and a bit of luck, other Cosmos Mariners will find you and teach you the rest… that’s when the real adventure begins.’ She pointed to the sky. ‘And you’ll be sailing through the stars.’

The children looked up in silence.

‘Well then, I just happen to know a little game that they say the Cosmos Mariners themselves use to build up their strength and courage. Would you like to give it a try?’ Aunt Bloom asked.

Three heads nodded eagerly. Arlo did his best to look uninterested.

‘Okay then. Close your eyes,’ she commanded. ‘Take a deep breath and imagine that you are standing on the edge of a silvery smooth ocean that goes on as far as you can see, and farther.’ She gave them time to imagine.

Arlo sighed, but he closed his eyes and followed along.

‘Now, look up at the stars shining above you. Feel the heartbeat of the Earth below you. As you breathe, open your arms wide and imagine that you are getting bigger and bigger, stretching out, out, out into the universe.’ Her voice was hypnotic. ‘Remember that every molecule, every atom of your whole body was once a part of a star. Got it?’

They all nodded in unison. Even Arlo.

‘Now, breathe in.’ Aunt Bloom inhaled noisily through her nose. ‘And dive! The water is warm and you float like a cork. When you look down, when you look up, all you see is stars.’

They sat there with their eyes closed. Arlo could hear the snap crackle hiss of the fire and the whoosh of wind whispering in the trees. His cheeks were warm and rosy. A distant ‘Hoohahooooooooo!’ brushed his ear with feathery softness.

As the sound evaporated into the night, Arlo inhaled and exhaled slowly. His heart felt suddenly heavy, but in a good way, like it was full.

‘Okay,’ Aunt Bloom said gently. ‘Now, before you have a chance to think about it—what’s the first word that comes to your mind?’

‘Wowzee,’ Fiona whispered.

‘Stars so bright they will POP you out of your SEAT!’ Zella jumped up off the log and then sat back down again.

‘Peaceful...’ Sebastian said with a smile.

Arlo didn’t mean to say anything, but a word slipped out of his mouth.

‘Heart!’

His face heated up and he bit his lip. He glanced at the others, but they were staring at Aunt Bloom with rapt attention.

Aunt Bloom clapped like a small child. ‘You’ve got it!’ She glanced towards the forest. ‘You see! I knew they had it in them!’

She took a deep breath and smiled.

The fire was almost out. The children seemed lost in thought, their eyes glowing.

Arlo’s eyes were especially bright.

‘Right then, I’m off to bed,’ Aunt Bloom said abruptly. ‘See you when our side of the ship is facing the sun.’

The children all protested.

‘Tell us more!’ Fiona cried.

‘How do the Cosmos Mariners fight the Hungry Ghosts?’ Zella asked.

‘Is it dangerous?’ Sebastian asked. ‘I’m not afraid.’

‘Tomorrow, loves. Tomorrow. We have three glorious days out here. Tomorrow, we’ll walk to the pond and catch salamanders, then we’ll eat lunch under the majestic oak tree and I’ll tell you more. Patience. In the meantime, dream of stars.’

Aunt Bloom gave them each a big hug. When she got to Arlo, she paused and looked at him with a question in her eye. He hesitated and then gave a slight nod. She wrapped him in a big squeeze. As her head came near his ear, she whispered, ‘Why not say yes? Tonight...’

After the cousins had washed their faces and brushed their teeth, they all paraded off to bed in their shared tent.

As Arlo tried to get comfortable in his sleeping bag, another eerie ‘Hoohahoooooo’ drifted through the silence from somewhere deep in the forest. He was wide awake. Even the idea of sleep seemed absurd. He waited until the soft breathing of the others signalled that they were deep asleep. Then, moving like a cat burglar, he worked his way out of his sleeping bag and slowly unzipped the door of the tent.

He slipped out of the tent, and stepped into the night.

There was no moon in the sky. Only endless stars. His breath quickened and he felt a surge of exhilaration.

‘Yes...’ he whispered.

Without knowing why, he began to run down the wide path that led from their campsite, deeper into the forest. His skin tingled. He breathed in the fresh, green smell of the humid night air. He could make out the subtle textures of the dark forest shadows. But just as he was gaining speed and confidence, his foot caught on something—a root! He stumbled, sprawling face-first in the middle of the path. As he brushed himself off and spat out a bit of dirt and blood, he looked up. There, in the middle of a little clearing, was an enormous spreading oak tree that seemed to glow in the starlight. Fireflies danced and flickered around it like floating embers.

Limping a bit, he walked toward the tree. From its thick and gnarled trunk, its magnificent limbs flowed up, up, up, as if delicately caressing the starry sky. Looking up at the sky and at the tree, Arlo felt the Earth move under his feet and he felt himself spinning through the vastness of space. His heart was pounding. He sat down with a bump and steadied himself against the tree trunk. As he did so, he felt a strange surge of energy, like a jolt of electricity passing up from the ground and through his spine.

‘Yes…’ He whispered, feeling a bit silly. Suddenly, he realised that he desperately wanted the stories of the Cosmos Mariners to be true. He needed something to give him courage.

An urgent ‘Hoohahoooooo!’ filled the quiet of the night.

He lifted his chin and gazed up into the dark tangle of branches. There it was—a black silhouette of an enormous owl, perched at the top of the tree. And then, just to his right, he heard a gurgling chirping sound. He could make out a football-sized, fluffy, white blob. It was a baby owl.

‘Hoohahoooooo...’ again from above. Arlo felt like he was seeing double. He was himself looking up at the mother owl, but at the same time he was the owl gazing down at a boy. And then he was the baby owlet, scared, stunned, and alone.

Arlo’s thoughts raced back to his days at the wildlife rehabilitation centre. The owlet must have fallen from its nest. Arlo knew it couldn’t survive on its own.

Maybe it failed its first flight, he thought. Like I probably would.

He kneeled down and looked into the innocent creature’s eyes. It blinked back at him. His heart began to beat loudly.

He stretched his mind to remember what he had learned about nest-making. First, he felt around and gathered some twigs and leaves. Then he slipped off his shoes and his fluffy woollen socks. He managed to rip the socks with a sharp stick and pull the yarn apart, which he used to secure the nest. Gently, he scooped up the baby owl. It was so light in the palm of his hand—a warm trembling ball of feathers. He placed the bird snugly into the nest.

‘I’m going to take you home, don’t worry.’

He took off his sweatshirt and tied it around his waist, with the hood in front. Carefully he tucked the nest into the hood and began to climb.

He reached the first branch easily; it curved almost to the ground and was as wide as a sofa. But by the third branch he began to feel dizzy. His palms were slick with sweat. Looking up, he could see the nest, glowing.

‘Hoohahoooooo!’ came the call.

He squeezed his eyes shut and began to go higher, feeling his way, testing the branches, which became thinner and more slippery the higher he went.

Suddenly—CRACK! The branch under his foot snapped and he slipped. As Arlo fell, he managed to grab hold of another branch, breaking his momentum. He dangled for a long moment, his palms slippery with sweat. Eventually, after catching his breath, he scrambled onto another branch and checked on the owl, who looked oddly content. For what might have been seconds or hours, he clung closely to the trunk of the tree, careful with his precious cargo.

‘Hoohahoooooo!’ The sound woke him out of his trance.

Gradually, he made his way back down the tree, his eyes streaming with tears. He had failed. He didn’t have a plan, but he just couldn’t leave the baby owl there alone on the ground—it would surely be eaten by a fox or a coyote. He stumbled back to camp, the nest still tucked in his hood, and walked like a zombie towards the firepit.

‘Hello, my dear,’ came a low voice out of the dark.

Arlo jumped in surprise. There, perched on a log, was Aunt Bloom.

His lip began to quiver. ‘I... I tried Aunt Bloom, but I can’t...’

‘Why ever not, dear boy?’

He held out the nest with the baby owl snuggled inside. ‘I couldn’t make it to the top. I wanted to put it back, but I wasn’t brave enough.’

‘Arlo, look at you. You even gave up your socks for the wee bird. You won’t succeed right away every time. It’s in the trying. This is where the treasure lies. Listen, we can do it together.’ She got up and held out her hand. ‘This is our strength.’

‘Should I grab a flashlight?’ he whispered.

She smiled mysteriously and pointed to her empty eye socket. ‘I know the darkness, my love, it is my friend. It’s where dreams grow and live.’

They walked back into the shadows of the forest in silence, until they reached the clearing and the oak tree. Aunt Bloom reached out and put her hand on the trunk of the tree.

‘You’re going to climb up there?’ he asked, surprised out of his melancholy for a moment.

‘Ha!’ Aunt Bloom snorted. ‘Physical strength and courage do not a Cosmos Mariner make. They don’t hurt, of course, but there are plenty of other ways. I’m just saying hello. Showing my respect.’

She tapped her forehead with her bony finger.

‘Use that noggin and that heart of yours, dear. Feel your feelings and find the power of your dream.’

Arlo stood there, under the stars, under the spreading branches of the oak tree, with the baby owl in its nest. Its fragility hit him in the heart like a knife—his worry for the owl felt connected to his worry about everything. Again, he heard the sound of the ogres’ army mingled with the wail of the Hungry Ghosts and he could sense an immense wave of fear and destruction poised overhead.

‘Hoohahoooooo…’ came the call from above.

He took a deep breath and gazed up. With sudden certainty, he took a step forward.

He held the baby owl high up above his head and called up into the tree. ‘Hello owl! Here is your baby… I just want you to know… well, you are beautiful. Thank you for being alive. I’ll stay here all night if I have to, I won’t let anything happen to it.’

He made a little bow, set the baby in the middle of the clearing, and stepped back to the edge of the forest, next to Aunt Bloom.

Aunt Bloom cupped her hands over her mouth and made a sound, just like an owl: ‘Hoohahahoooooo!’

They both stood silently and waited.

A dark shape floated up, up, up from the branches of the tree. For a moment it seemed to hover, blocking out the stars. Then, on graceful silent wings, it swooped down and grabbed the little nest in its talons. In the blink of an eye, it disappeared back to its own nest at the top of the tree.

‘Hoohahahoooooooo…’

Arlo’s face was wet with tears for the second time that night. Aunt Bloom grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze.

Without saying a word, they ambled slowly back to the camp. Before he slipped into his tent, Aunt Bloom pressed something flat and round into his hand. It was attached to a string. In the dark he couldn’t make out what it was, but he held it tightly in his hand as he fell asleep.

***

The tent was glowing with morning light when Arlo finally opened his eyes. He felt strangely peaceful. What a crazy dream, he thought, blinking with wonder. He could remember every detail. And then he felt it. There, still clenched in his hand, was something flat and round. He was suddenly wide awake. He held the object up to his face and saw, etched in copper, an image of an owl in an oak tree.

Slowly, in a daze, he turned it over and on the other side was an eye with a pupil the shape of a heart, surrounded by sunbeams—the symbol Aunt Bloom had drawn in the dirt by the fire.

It was real. It really happened!

He wanted to shout with joy. His chest expanded and he felt a warm, tingly happiness spread all through his body. He scrambled out of the tent.

As Arlo walked toward the fire to join the others, he found himself humming: ‘When the Cosmos Mariners are preparin’ for sea, Your mind’ll stretch wide with such sights that you’ll see…’