Hey Mom & Dad,

Spacefaring Holly here! Just navigated a meteor fetch game, outswam an entire lake on Jupiter², and saved a crew from space pirates. I miss our leafy Pawsburg and can’t wait to exchange these cold twinkles for your warm cuddles. 🌟🚀🐾 Heading home now – prepare for an epic tail-wagging reunion!

Licks & sniffs,
Hover 🐶✨

Listen to the story here

The cosmos is my forest, and the stars, my leaf-dappled light. I’m Holly, by the by, the rust-colored Pit Bull who trots through the galaxy much like I do the woods back home, with a spirit as untamable as a comet’s tail. Ah, Pawsburg, the secret haven where we dogs have penned our own legends amidst Vizsla Valley and Whippet Way. Yet none, I wager, quite like mine.

On this day, or night (for in space, who can truly tell?), I found myself hurtling towards Newfoundland Nook – the most celestial of spots, where a dog might soak in the warmth of a supple sun without the nuisance of a vacuum cleaner’s roar. It was just a jump away across the Milky Way.

My trusty, weathered tennis ball, inseparable as my shadow, was nestled in my trusty spaceship’s nook along with my space-worthy suit. They knew the adventures that awaited were not for the faint of heart nor the slack of paw.

As I swept past constellations, I could almost sense the protective instincts of my earthbound humans, who were surely nestled in their beds. My ears still yearned to twitch at the rustlings of home, but here they were tuned to the radio frequencies of unknown planets and the beeping of my control panel. The adventure was afoot, the vastness of space an open book to my curious spirit.

The first stop – not quite by plan, but certainly by intrigue – was The Canine Cafe, a space-floating eatery famed for a brew as robust as the darkest nebulae. I did not pause for a taste, for the acrid scent alone reminded me too fiercely of what was not my dearest nosh.

In the vast reach of the cosmos, one learns to craft one’s own fortune or else fall victim to the whims of void’s fickle nature. And so, as I skirted around the orbit of a gargantuan gas giant, a meteor shower threatened an unscheduled game of cosmic fetch. A quick dive, a sharp veer, and my vessel danced through the barrage, my heart pacing like paws against the earth.

The destination glowed ahead – a planet of water, an immense lake in the arms of the universe where I could plunge without reservation. Ditching the confines of my craft, I soared through the vacuum, aiming for that glistening expanse. The thrill of a swim in the cosmic sea – what better joy could there be for a dog like me?

Alas, amid my dips and dives, I caught a distress signal, a yelp across the stars, from a freighter besieged by space pirates on Pawprint Pizzeria’s orbit. Protective, brave, and ever curious, I responded, for no canine comrade of Pawsburg would stand alone with Holly within barking distance.

Dodging plasma bolts and boarding the raider’s craft with the stealth of an alley cat, I wished for a slobbery ball to throw as a distraction. No luck. Instead, I made do with guile and quick paws, disabling their ship and sending them packing with tails between legs.

As rations and gratitude flowed from the freighter’s grateful crew, my heart longed for something money can’t buy. No gourmet bone from Canine’s Cuisine or a sweet treat from Paw-tisserie could replace the fond pat from a human friend.

So back through the vast of space, I glided, my adventures another tale to spin in the magic twilight of Pawsburg. The forest would wait for another day, the cosmos yielding the stage to dreams of soft sunbeams filtering through leaves. The sky holds many stars, but none so bright as the love and loyalty that call me back home.

The End.