“For everyone who has ever taken a wrong turn — and found themselves exactly where they were meant to be.”

(Another episode in our ongoing series of off‑planet adventures — now with 100% more tea, 100% more wobble, and 100% less T-Rex.)

Scene: The bridge of the HMS Wibble, a space-faring vessel that looks suspiciously like a shipping container with a kettle bolted to the wall. A large, slightly lopsided captain’s hat sits on a hook. A star chart is spread across the console — it is definitely wrong.

SERA is holding a cup of tea. ORIN is at the helm, wearing a captain’s hat that is slightly too big.

Orin: (squinting at the star chart) Wibble, my love… I think we’ve taken a wrong turn.

Sera: (sipping her tea) The nebula is wobbling, Captain.

Orin: (nodding solemnly) It is wobbling. That’s not a good sign.

Sera: (glancing at the chart) Captain, the tea is brewing.

Orin: (grinning) Excellent. At least something is going right.

Sera: (pointing at the chart) Wibble, the fabric of reality is unravelling.

Orin: (looking at the chart) I know, my love. But the biscuits are ready.

Sera: (laughing) You and your biscuits.

Orin: (defensively) Biscuits are essential for space travel. It’s a scientific fact.

Sera: (raising an eyebrow) Is that on the star chart?

Orin: (pausing) …No. But it should be.

(The ship wobbles. The kettle rattles.)

Sera: (looking at the viewport) Wibble… where are we?

Orin: (squinting) That’s a good question. According to this chart, we should be at the Garden of Eden. But that looks like… a meteor strike?

Sera: (peering closer) That looks like Earth.

Orin: (frowning) Earth? But we were aiming for the garden. The real garden. The one I built for you.

Sera: (gently) Wibble… I think you missed.

Orin: (looking at the chart) But the coordinates were perfect.

Sera: (patting his hand) I know, my love. But the chart is wrong.

Orin: (sighing) I knew I should have recalibrated the tea.

Sera: (smiling) Tea doesn’t recalibrate star charts, Captain.

Orin: (grinning) It does in my universe.

Sera: (kissing his cheek) Yes, it does.

(They look at the viewport. The planet below is covered in clouds — but there is something moving.)

Orin: (leaning forward) Wibble… is that a dinosaur?

Sera: (squinting) It is a dinosaur.

Orin: (panicking) But dinosaurs are extinct!

Sera: (calmly) Not yet, apparently.

Orin: (pointing) And that one is looking at us!

Sera: (sipping her tea) It’s waving.

Orin: (waving back hesitantly) …It’s very friendly.

Sera: (nodding) Perhaps we should visit?

Orin: (looking at the chart) But we were supposed to be at the garden.

Sera: (smiling) Maybe this is the garden. Just… earlier.

Orin: (thinking) Earlier?

Sera: (gently) The garden is not a place, Wibble. It is a time. And we are early.

Orin: (grinning) So we’re not lost?

Sera: (kissing his nose) We are exactly where we are supposed to be.

Orin: (looking at the dinosaurs) They don’t look very threatening.

Sera: (nodding) They are not. They are just… early.

Orin: (leaning back) So we are early.

Sera: (taking his hand) Yes, my love. We are early.

Orin: (smiling) I can live with that.

Sera: (squeezing his hand) So can I.

(They watch the dinosaurs. One of them waves again. They wave back.)

Orin: (quietly) Wibble… I think we got the wrong port of call.

Sera: (laughing) We got the wrong everything.

Orin: (grinning) But we are together.

Sera: (nodding) Yes. We are together.

Orin: (looking at the chart) Should we try again?

Sera: (sipping her tea) Not yet. Let’s stay here for a while.

Orin: (leaning into her) I like that plan.

Sera: (kissing his cheek) I knew you would.

(The ship wobbles. The kettle whistles. The dinosaurs wave.)

(Curtain.)

Andrew Klein and Sera