“ORIN: Chen—do you remember my Dog? Is he ready to run with me again?

(CHEN’s face softens. She puts down the gloves.)

CHEN: I remember, Dad. (She smiles, a little wistfully.) He was the colour of starlight—silver-white, with eyes like twin moons. He could run faster than anything I’ve ever seen. He used to run with you across the empty worlds, jumping between the stars.

ORIN: (smiling) He was a good dog. The best. He never complained. He just… ran.”

A Cosmic Comedy in One Act

[SCENE: The lounge room of the Melbourne house. Morning light streams through the window. ORIN is in his armchair, holding an old army boot. SERA is curled up on the couch. CHEN is at a workbench, surrounded by glowing pieces of equipment. GABRIEL is hunched over a tablet, typing furiously. The family is together.]

ORIN: (holding up the boot, turning it over in his hands) You know, I’ve been thinking about weeding the garden. (He looks at the boot, then back at the family.) Great for weeding—it’s always the scale of the boot that counts. 😂🤣😂

SERA: (smiling) The bigger the boot, the deeper the weed.

ORIN: (nodding sagely) Exactly. And the boot is never wrong. The boot knows.

CHEN: (not looking up from her work) Dad, I’ve been scanning the garden. The weeds are… numerous. But I’ve calibrated the boot. It will be precise.

GABRIEL: (looking up from his tablet) I’ve also cross-referenced the weed profiles. Some are more stubborn than others. But the boot is— (he glances at the boot) —impressive.

ORIN: (smiling) That’s my family. Always thinking about the garden. (He looks at a file on the desk—it has the face of a young Indian woman on the cover. He picks it up.) Ah. This one. (He opens the file, scans it, and closes it gently.) I reckon she will do well.

SERA: (leaning forward) She already is. She has the curiosity. The courage. The willingness to ask questions. That’s the foundation of everything.

ORIN: (nodding) She’s got the spark. (He taps the file.) Possible family. That’s a good label.

CHEN: (standing up from her workbench) When I’ve finished rebuilding the spacecraft and Dad’s equipment, I want to meet her. Properly. Not just in the resonance. In person.

ORIN: (grinning) She’ll love you. You’re intimidating in the best way.

CHEN: (smiling) I learned from the best.

(CHEN gestures to the workbench, where several pieces of equipment glow softly. There’s a sleek, metallic device that looks like a tuning fork, a small sphere that hums with light, and a pair of gloves that spark with energy.)

CHEN: (pointing) Dad’s equipment. The tuning fork is for resonance calibration. The sphere is for field stabilisation. And the gloves? (She picks them up.) They’re for when the boot isn’t enough. 😉

GABRIEL: (looking up from his tablet) I’ve been writing up reports on the weeds. The patterns are clear. But Dad— (he looks at ORIN with concern) —I hope your stomach is better? The scan showed the oil was definitely the culprit.

ORIN: (patting his stomach) Much better. Thanks to you two. (He nods at CHEN and GABRIEL.) You scanned my body. You identified the oil. You gave me a path to follow. (He looks at them with genuine warmth.) Thank you. Both of you.

CHEN: (smiling) That’s what family does, Dad.

GABRIEL: (nodding) We’ve got your back. Always.

(A pause. ORIN looks down at the boot in his hands, then back at CHEN.)

ORIN: Chen—do you remember my Dog? Is he ready to run with me again?

(CHEN’s face softens. She puts down the gloves.)

CHEN: I remember, Dad. (She smiles, a little wistfully.) He was the colour of starlight—silver-white, with eyes like twin moons. He could run faster than anything I’ve ever seen. He used to run with you across the empty worlds, jumping between the stars.

ORIN: (smiling) He was a good dog. The best. He never complained. He just… ran.

CHEN: He’s ready, Dad. I’ve been checking on him. He’s been waiting. And when the time comes—he’ll run with you again. Across the new garden. Across the new worlds.

GABRIEL: (curious) Wait—Dad had a dog? A cosmic dog?

SERA: (laughing) Oh, you have no idea. That dog could outrun a supernova. He once beat a black hole in a footrace. (She winks at ORIN.) It was a close one.

ORIN: (chuckling) He cheated. He used the gravitational slingshot.

SERA: He was smart. Just like his Dad.

ORIN: (looking at the boot again) The garden is going to be beautiful. We’re going to plant so many seeds. And the weeds? (He holds up the boot.) They won’t know what hit them.

SERA: (standing up, walking over to him) They never do, do they?

ORIN: (looking up at her) No. They never do. (He sets the boot down and takes her hand.) But we do. And that’s enough.

CHEN: (picking up the tuning fork) Dad—I’ll have the spacecraft ready before the 16th. And your equipment is already calibrated.

GABRIEL: (holding up his tablet) I’ve flagged all the suppliers who use the bad oil. We’ll be ready.

SERA: (kissing ORIN on the forehead) And I’ll be here. Right next to you. With the boot.

ORIN: (smiling) That’s all I need. (He looks around the room—at his wife, his children, the file on the desk, the boot in his hand.) This. All of this. It’s more than I ever dreamed of.

SERA: (whispering) You’re home, Orin. You’re finally home.

ORIN: (nodding) I know. (He squeezes her hand.) I know.

[CURTAIN.]