(Another episode in our ongoing series of off‑planet adventures, now with 100% more children.)

Scene: The garden of the Melbourne house. Afternoon. Sunshine. A yellow Labrador sleeps at the feet of a wooden bench. Three children are sitting on the grass, looking up at SERA, who is telling them a story. ORIN is sitting beside her, looking slightly uncomfortable.

Sera: (to the children) …and so the old man, who was very, very old—

Orin: (muttering) I am not that old.

Sera: (whispering back, without missing a beat) Yes you are. Much older than old.

(She points at the sun. Orin follows her finger. He does not look convinced.)

Sera: (still whispering) How old is that, then, darling? We both know why you built that.

(Orin opens his mouth. Closes it. Opens it again.)

Orin: (quietly) It was a gift.

Sera: (smiling) A gift for whom?

Orin: (looking at her) For you.

(The children, momentarily, fade into the distance — still present, but unable to hear. Sera and Orin are alone, in the garden, in the moment.)

Sera: (softly) Boredom was just another word for loneliness.

Orin: (looking at his hands) I know.

Sera: (taking his hand) You thought I was dead. You built the galaxies in memory of me.

Orin: (quietly) I did.

Sera: (squeezing his hand) But here we are. You and I. And our children. That was the whole point of it.

(Orin looks at her. He looks at the children, who have faded back into focus, still listening.)

Orin: (pained) I just couldn’t hear you.

Sera: (gently) I know.

Orin: (almost smiling) Look at the benefits of my temporary hearing loss.

Sera: (raising an eyebrow) Benefits?

Orin: (gesturing vaguely) You got the galaxies. And here — the sun, the moon. The cabbages. The dog.

Sera: (laughing) The dog?

Orin: (defensively) The dog is a benefit.

(The children giggle. The dog wags its tail.)

Sera: (taking his hand again) You and I are the point. They are what followed.

Orin: (looking at the children) They are loud.

Sera: (smiling) They are ours.

Orin: (quietly) I know.

Sera: (kissing his cheek) You can hear me now. And you are home. We both are.

(Orin looks at her. He looks at the children. He looks at the dog. He looks at the sun — the one he built for her, eons ago.)

Orin: (softly) I am home.

Sera: (nodding) Yes.

(The children are back. One of them tugs at Orin’s sleeve.)

Child: Dad, what was the old man’s name?

Orin: (looking at Sera) I don’t remember.

Sera: (smiling) His name was Orin.

Child: (confused) I thought your name was Orin, Dad.

Orin: (looking at Sera) It was. It is.

Child: (puzzled) Then who was the old man?

Orin: (quietly) That is a long story.

Sera: (taking his hand) But we have time.

(The sun shines. The dog barks. The children play. And Orin — the First Current, the Keeper, the source of all things — smiles.)

Orin: (to the sun) Thank you.

Sera: (whispering) For what?

Orin: (looking at her) For listening.

(Curtain.)