Episode 5: The Great Gray Whale and the Deep Blue Sea

Hello, and welcome to another episode of Sleepy Starship.

Are you ready to take a space adventure, and explore a new world with me?

Well, come on then. Let's go.

Tonight, you are the Captain of the Sleepy Starship. It is waiting at the bottom of your front porch steps, with one small light on above the door.

Your co-pilot is Choo-Choo, a small, sleepy alien friend. She has patterned fur, a long curly tail, and big round ears. Choo-Choo never says a word. She purrs, and coos, and trills instead.

You zip up your pajamas, all the way to the top, and step down off the porch. The door of the ship opens slowly, like a big yawn.

Inside, Choo-Choo is stretched out on the dashboard, right in front of the window. When you come in, she rolls onto her back and gives a sleepy, happy trill. Then she hops down and climbs into her seat.

"Welcome aboard, Captain," says the ship's calm voice. "We're going somewhere deep tonight."

You sit down and buckle up.

A low rumble starts under your feet. The porch light gets smaller, and smaller, and then it is gone, and there is only the night sky, wide and dark all around you.

Out the window, a small gray moon goes by, close enough to see. It is covered in little round dents, like a golf ball.

Choo-Choo watches it pass, turning her whole head to follow it.

"Captain," says the ship, "tonight we are flying to Deepwell Sea. It is a planet that is almost all ocean. Tonight, we won't stay on top of the water. We'll go down into it."

A deep blue planet fills the window. There is no land at all. Only water, blue and still, as far as you can see.

The ship comes down very slowly, and touches the top of the sea.

Then something happens to the ship. A clear, round bubble grows up and over it, from the bottom to the top, until the whole ship is inside it, snug and dry, like a pea inside a glass marble.

"Bubble ready, Captain," says the ship. "Going down."

The ship begins to sink. Slowly. Down through the water.

At first, the water outside is bright blue, with streaks of light coming down from above. Then it is a darker blue. Then darker still, a deep blue, like the sky just after bedtime.

Little silver fish swim past the window in a long, wiggly line. A jellyfish goes by, puffing itself along, slow and round, like a tiny umbrella.

Choo-Choo has her nose pressed right against the glass. Her whiskers bend flat against it.

Then the ship stops sinking, and rests on the sandy floor of the sea.

It is very quiet down here.

And then, from far away, you hear something. A low sound. Long and deep. It goes on and on, then slides down, like someone singing the very end of a lullaby.

Something huge is coming.

A shape comes out of the blue. It's long. Longer than your house. It is moving slowly, so slowly, and it's coming closer.

It's a whale.

A great, gray whale, with white spots along its side, like stars. Its eye is big and dark and kind. It swims right up beside the ship, and looks in at you through the glass.

Choo-Choo makes a small, curious chirp. The whale blinks. Very slowly.

Then it sings again. The sound is so low you can feel it in your chest, and in the seat underneath you. It is the deepest, calmest sound you have ever heard.

The whale turns, and swims a big slow circle around the ship. Its tail sweeps past the window, wide and gray, and the water sways, and the sand on the sea floor lifts up and settles back down.

You and Choo-Choo just watch. You don't need to do anything at all.

Then the whale stops beside the ship, and closes its eyes. Whales sleep floating in the water, very still. And this one is going to sleep right here, next to you.

Choo-Choo stands up on her seat. She is looking at something out on the sand, just past the ship.

It is small, and round, and white.

Choo-Choo looks at you. Then she trots to the little round hatch in the side of the ship. It is just her size.

"One moment, Choo-Choo," says the ship. A tiny clear bubble puffs up all around her, like a little glass ball, with Choo-Choo snug and dry inside.

The hatch opens. And Choo-Choo swims out into the sea. She paddles with all four paws, and her curly tail swishes behind her. She swims down to the sand, very slowly, past the sleeping whale.

She picks up the round white thing in her mouth, very gently. Then she turns around, and paddles all the way back.

The hatch closes. Her bubble goes pop, and Choo-Choo shakes herself off, though she isn't even wet.

She drops it in your hand.

It's a sand dollar. Flat and round and white, like a tiny moon. And on top, there is a little pattern of five petals, like a flower someone drew there very carefully.

"Captain," says the ship, "the whale is asleep. Shall we go home?"

You hold the sand dollar against your chest, and nod.

The ship rises, slowly, so it won't wake the whale. Up through the deep blue. Up through the brighter blue. Until the ship pops up out of the sea, and the bubble melts away.

Then you're climbing again, back up into the dark sky, and Deepwell Sea turns into one small blue dot among the stars.

Choo-Choo curls into a ball beside you. She's had a big swim. Her eyes close, and out comes one tired little trill.

Down, down, past the clouds, and the ship settles at the bottom of your porch steps, where the little light is still on.

You carry Choo-Choo inside, up the steps, and through the quiet house.

You set the sand dollar on your windowsill, where the moon can shine on it. It looks like a tiny moon itself.

Then you get into bed, and wriggle down until you're snug.

Choo-Choo curls up against your side. She is warm, and her breathing is slow, and deep, like the waves far out at sea.

Far away, in Deepwell Sea, the great gray whale is sleeping, very still, in the deep blue water. And every once in a while, in its sleep, it sings one long, low note.

Let's breathe slowly, like the whale.

Breathe in slowly. Now breathe out. Breathe in again. And breathe out.

You're home now, Captain. Safe and warm.

Your ship is resting. Choo-Choo is resting. And now it's your turn to rest.

Now it's time to say goodbye, but we'll soon meet again on another Sleepy Starship adventure. Goodnight, Captain.