Hello and welcome back to Kuala Moons, a podcast of original children's bedtime stories and meditations designed to make bedtimes a dream. We've truly gone global with the Cocoa Club now. Listen to who's joining tonight. We've got Jasmine and Arya from Washington, DC. Thanks, Gaga and Papa, for helping with the subscription. We've also got Freya in Scotland and there's Rosie in Corvallis, Oregon and we're also saying hi to Miriam Jupiter who's in Tucson, Arizona. Welcome, welcome, snuggle in, get comfy. Thank you all for supporting us with your membership and for your lovely messages for Kuala Moons. Oh, that's funny. Sending love to Kuala Moons is exactly what tonight's story is all about. Yes, a lovely idea spreads through sleepy forest to send thank you letters to the Kuala Moons for watching over the kingdom each night. So this is the story of how Cocoa here travels to the middle of nowhere to ask the brave catch-genots for help and together they turn an old spaceship into a very special post-rocket. Soon creatures from all across the kingdom are writing letters filled with gratitude destined for the Kuala Moon. But something almost catastrophic happens. When the rocket launches into space, the letters escape and end up drifting among the stars. As Captain Pusper and her team race through the galaxy to collect them, they encounter many things, including sparkling stardust, a magical cotton candy comet, and one surprising secret about their captain. But most importantly, will they gather every last letter and deliver them safely to the glowing Kuala Moon? Tie back in bed and try to relax if you can. Maybe this will help. It's a lovely breathing exercise that we were sent in by a listener Fletcher who's a third grader and it's called box breathing. And what you do is you breathe in for four, then you breathe out for four, and then you pat your shoulders twice. So let's do it together. Breathe in for four, two, three, four, out for four, two, three, four. Pat your shoulders twice. One, two. Breathe in for four, two, three, four, out for four, two, three, four. Pat your shoulders twice. Pat, pat. You keep breathing. As I begin, Captain Penelopus and the Rikety Post Rocket by Luke Prendergast. Before we begin, a quick message for the grown-ups. If you'd like to support our podcast, enjoy ad-free listening, unlock four bonus stories per month and much, much more. You can join Coco Club. Subscribe in just two taps via the link in the show notes. But now here's a quick word from our sponsors. Before we begin tonight's bedtime story, I think Snaffles has something he'd like me to share. He's been very busy finishing his birthday guest list. He's carefully checking names, making sure everything is just right, and he keeps asking if yours is on it. Because if you haven't yet heard the news, this week when you join Coco Club as a yearly member and ask your grown-up to send in your proof of subscription along with your name by the 20th of April, Snaffles can add you to his birthday guest list and include you in a very special story celebrating right there in the Kuala Kingdom. And since it is his birthday and Snaffles is so kind, he wanted to make it a little extra special for you. So while the celebrations are still going, we're offering 20% off our yearly Coco Club subscription. Inside Coco Club, you'll unlock over 500 episodes, all completely ad-free, including the full Capi and Tito series, with gentle storytelling to help you relax and drift into deep, peaceful sleep. But Snaffles won't be able to wait much longer. The guest list is nearly complete and the party in Kuala Kingdom is almost ready. So grown-ups, if you'd like your child to be part of it, now's the time. You'll find everything you need in the show notes, including how to subscribe and how your child can be invited to Snaffles' birthday party. Or you can simply tap subscribe on Apple Podcasts. See you there! No one knew where the idea first started. That's the way it sometimes went in sleepy forest. Someone might mention something quite offhand while they were choosing which brownie to buy in Betty Badger's bakery. Or the two duck sisters, bread and butter, who like to paddle up and down the sleepy river, might say something that got overheard by a passing fish. Then, the next moment, everyone in the kingdom knew about it. From the river's source in the snow-capped pillowy peaks, to where it emptied into the sea at Harmony Cove. Sometimes it even seemed like the trees themselves came up with the ideas and spread them through the forest through the whisperings of their leaves. However it happened, ideas often seemed like they appeared out of thin air. And that's just what happened this time. Apparently, overnight, everyone in sleepy forest started talking about how nice it would be to do something, some big display, to show the Kuala Moon herself just how grateful they were for her. After all, Prickles the Hedgehog said, she watches over us every night and makes sure we're safe and that our dreams are sweet. This high time we showed us some appreciation. Buck the beaver agreed. We ought, all of us, to write her thank you letters. That's what you do when someone gives you a gift. And the glow of the Kuala Moon has been a gift to this whole kingdom since time began. But how, Betty Badger asked, frowning and dusting flour from her apron, would we deliver those letters to her? Is hardly as though Penny the Pigeon's postal service makes deliveries to outer space. Well, that was rather a good question. The forest creatures stroked their chins thoughtfully, but none of them could come up with a solution. That was until Coco's eyes brightened up and he put a little pour up into the air. I've got an idea, he said. If it's space we need to get to, I know the perfect cats for the job. So Coco strapped on his backpack and caught the train to the middle of nowhere, a large sandy desert that spread on the edge of the Kuala Kingdom. As he wandered along, he passed big green cactuses and rolling balls of tumbleweed. He spotted potato and beans diner and waved at his old friends. He couldn't stop now, he said, he was on a little mission. Coco kept on walking until over one dune of sand he spotted his destination. A big glass dome rose out of the sand in the perfect shape of a cat's head, whiskers and all. Around the glass building sat all kinds of spacecrafts, spaceships and rockets and flying saucers and all kinds of other intergalactic vehicles Coco didn't know the names for. This was the Kitty Cosmodrome, the Kuala Kingdom's official space station, run by a band of plucky feline space explorers. The Catstranauts lived and worked here when they weren't off on some adventure in out of space that is. And there Coco saw happily was exactly who he was looking for. The leader of the Catstranauts, Captain Puss Puss herself, was leaning against the shell of a spaceship with her arms folded. When she saw Coco she let out a purr. What brings you all the way out here into the middle of nowhere? She asked. Coco told Captain Puss Puss about the idea that had been spreading around sleepy forest. The delivery of thank you letters to the Kuala Moon, high above them. We just need to find a way of delivering them. Coco concluded. Up into space I mean. And I of course thought of you. For a little while Captain Puss Puss just smiled at him. Then she tapped the shell of the spaceship she was leaning on. You know, she said. I've been scratching my head for some time, trying to think of what to do with this old ship. And now you've solved it for me. It's going to be a very special rocket. Her post rocket. Destination Kuala Moon. She gave Coco a grin. She was in. Now Captain Puss Puss had to get along with turning the old spaceship into a rocket fit for delivering letters to the Moon. Luckily for her, she had the most capable team of kitty cats you ever could imagine. Her catch snores. First there was Tinker's the tabby. She was the best engineer in the whole kingdom. When the captain handed Tinker's the plans, she took out her toolbox and set to work, turning the old spaceship into the kitty Cosmodrome's first post rocket. Then there was Smudge, the ragamuffin who ran the control desk. Don't let his fluffy face fool you. He was already busy with his navigation calculations. They had to be exactly right, so that the rocket flew straight towards the Kuala Moon and not an inch either side. While the catch snores worked on the post rocket, the citizens of the Kuala Kingdom were busy writing their letters of gratitude to the Kuala Moon. The sounds of scribbling filled not only sleepy forest but wonder jungle and pillowy peaks and moonbeam heights too. The catch snores wrote letters themselves of course. Smudge thanked the Kuala Moon for lighting up the night sky so that they could navigate the solar system easily on their expeditions. Tinker's thanked her for filling her dreams with rainbow coloured chocolate sprinkles. Her Captain Puspuss, but Captain Puspuss would not let anyone see what she put in her letter. She covered it with her paw. She doesn't want anyone to know her name, Tinker's giggled. I thought her name was Captain Puspuss, Smudge asked, his fluffy forehead frowning. I mean her real name, the one she was born with, Tinker said. She's never told a single soul. Captain Puspuss made no comment. She just licked and sticked her envelope, seething it closed. At last the evening of the mission arrived. Here was a barmy night, the dusk sky purple, the stars twinkling out. And the Kuala Moon looked very happy, glowing gently in the sky, as though she knew exactly what they were all planning and considered it a lovely idea. There had been so much love for the Kuala Moon, that Coco had to ask a handful of his friends for help carrying the big sacks of envelopes over to the Kitty Cosmodrome. When they arrived, they let out a big sigh of appreciation. Pretty swish, isn't it? Perred Captain Puspuss, tapping the side of the old rocket, which had transformed quite wonderfully. It was gleaming white and blue, with a pointy nose and a big glass cockpit. The word male was written down the side. It's beautiful, said Coco. But where'd all the letters go? asked Prickles. Tinkers gave a little grin. She was proud of this bit. She pressed a button on the control panel. A flap opened underneath the rocket and out descended a large sack, perfect for storing all those letters. Oh, that's brilliant, said Prickles. Everyone worked together to tip the letters into the post-rockets mailbag, and then the catch-trunauts climbed into the cockpit. Once they'd clipped themselves in and closed the glass-domed hood, they waved at the crowd who had gathered to watch lift off. Just seeing all their smiling faces made them realise how important a mission they were on. Perhaps the most important mission the catch-trunauts had ever been on. Captain Puspuss gave her team an encouraging look. Let's get these letters to the koala moon, she said. She pressed a big button on the control panel, and the engine started humming beneath them. They took one final look at the shifting sands of the middle of nowhere, then focused their eyes on the sky. Smudge pushed a lever, and they took off. Up, up, up they rose, as the koala kingdom got smaller and smaller beneath them. The pillowy peaks turned into tiny sugar-dusted cupcakes. Wonder jungle was just a little green splodge. The post-rockets rumbled merrily along, flying as smoothly as anything. But when they reached the atmosphere, that invisible doorway between the world and outer space, it started to get a little rickety. The post-rockets bounced up and down. There was nothing strange about that. A little jiggling was only natural when you were flying through the galaxies. But what the catch-trunauts hadn't accounted for was what all that jiggling might do to the mailbag. Tinkers pressed a paw to the glass of the window. Look! The mailbags come loose! Captain Puspuss looked out of the window, and saw that what Tinkers had said was right. The mailbag had come loose and was spilling letters all over out of space. Hoopsy-daisy, Tinkers said, with a sad little look on her face. How are we going to deliver all the letters to the koala moon now? Has the mission failed already? Hoopsy-daisy indeed, Captain Puspuss replied. But never fear, the mission hasn't failed. This is just a minor hiccup. What we have to do is this. We need to recover all those letters, and then we can go and deliver them to the koala moon. Smudge, she said. Can you navigate the post-rocket to help us gather all the underlopes? Aye aye, Captain, Smudge said. He tapped a few of the controls and pressed the joystick, turning the post-rocket away from the koala moon and towards all those lost letters. Many of the letters were just floating through space, so Captain Puspuss went and sat on top of the rocket, holding a long net. That way, as Smudge directed them through the solar system, she could just reach out with the net and scoop up the floating letters before tipping them back into the mailbag. They all kept their eyes peeled for the letters. Some were floating in clouds of stardust, others had been caught up in floating fragments of space rock. Sitting up on the top of the rocket, Captain Puspuss could hear the conversation drifting from the cockpit below. Tinkers and Smudge were discussing what they thought her real name could be. It was a real mystery, they said, and they kept putting forward rather silly suggestions. Wiggle-paws offered Smudge. Or Pickle-whiskers, wondered Tinkers. Captain Puspuss gave herself a grin and tapped her little pink nose. They weren't even close to guessing right. Her real name was her secret. Her cat's genauts might never figure it out. Then she saw something up ahead, something bright and beautiful, with a long tail as pink as candy floss. Oh, she said to herself, it's a comet. The comet shimmered as it flew through the solar system. And there, in its long pink dust tail, floated soft swirls of fluffy clouds that trailed behind it like ribbons of spun sugar, glowing in the starlight. She saw that a number of letters had been caught up in the tail. They would need to flag the comet down before it disappeared to the other side of the universe, otherwise they'd never be able to find it again. So Captain Puspuss stood up on top of the rickety post rocket and waved her arms up and down. Luckily, the comet spotted her and slowed down. Oh, hello there, said the comet. Is everything okay? Are you lost? We're not lost, Captain Puspuss replied. It's just that, um, Captain Puspuss trailed off, unsure exactly of how to continue. Yes, the comet encouraged. Captain Puspuss pointed, it's just you see, some of our letters have got all tangled up in your dust tail. The comet looked behind itself and let out a little noise of surprise. Oh, dear me, the comet said, so they have. You know, I was wondering why I felt a little weighed down just now. I was thinking that I wasn't able to fly through the cosmos quite as quickly as I usually can. But who are all those letters for? Captain Puspuss explained that for one day only, her team of cat-stranauts had become temporary male kitties, delivering words of gratitude from the citizens of the koala kingdom to the koala moon herself. The comet fizzed pink with delight. Oh, what a lovely idea, she said. I should really tell all my other comet friends about it. Then we could do the same thing, to show our thanks. Although, of course, we comets don't have hands, so writing letters might be tricky. And now, now it was the comet's turn to trail off. Yes, Captain Puspuss encouraged. The comet seemed to blush. Well, it said. Like I said, comets don't have any hands, so I can't get the letters out. Would you be so kind as to fetch them for me? Captain Puspuss had done many things as an intrepid explorer of the four corners of outer space, but she'd never climbed onto a comet before. She didn't know quite what to expect. She floated across the gap between them, and when the foot of her spacesuit landed on the comet's tail, she found that it was not only as pink as candy floss, but as soft as it, too. In fact, when she leaned down and touched it with her paw, she made the most wonderful discovery. It was candy floss. Oops, chuckled the comet. Did I forget to mention? I'm the cotton candy comet. You can have a taste, if you like. Who was Captain Puspuss to refuse such a polite invitation? She reached down and plucked up a fluffy piece of candy floss, opened her glass space visor, and had a taste. Oh, she said, that's the most delicious candy floss I've ever tasted. The comet beamed. Why, thank you, it said. Carefully, Captain Puspuss prowled across the comet's tail, retrieving the fallen letters. Sometimes little strands of bright pink cotton candy would remain stuck to the envelopes, and so she would have to lick the sponge sugar off with small strokes of her delicate tongue, which was, as you might expect, delicious. At last, all the letters were freed, and the comet gave a little happy shake of its tail. Oh, I feel so light now, it said, and wishing them a good evening, flew off through the sky. Back in the post rocket, tinkers and smudge enjoyed some clouds of candy floss that Captain Puspuss had brought back to them from the comet. As they gulped it down and licked their sticky paws, they counted up all the envelopes they'd recovered from out of space. If they'd counted correctly, they almost had all of them. All except one, said tinkers. Then she looked out of the window and pointed, and there it is, she said. The lone lost letter was floating through space right towards them. Smudge opened the window and it sailed right through, straight into his waiting paw. Oh, he said, gazing down at the piece of paper. This letter seems to have lost its envelope. Let's see who it's from. It says here it's from Penelopus. Hmm, do we know anyone in the kingdom called Penelopus? Smudge and tinkers had the same confused frown on their faces. But when they looked at their captain, they saw that her little pink nose was blushing. Then the penny dropped. Penelopus, said tinkers, so that's your real name. She looked at them and nodded. That was my name once. But why don't you use it all the time? asked tinkers. Why do you only use it when you're writing to the koala moon? Well, she sighed. I don't think that Penelopus is a very, well, captain-like name. Oh, said Smudge, shaking his fluffy head. I disagree. Captain Penelopus, that sounds like the most captainly name I've ever heard. Tinkers smiled. Yes, Captain Penelopus, that sounds like a space-faring ship, Captain, if I ever heard one. The captain's little nose was still blushing bright pink, but no longer with shame. Now only with pleasure. Well, okay, she purred slowly. If you like it, then I shall start using it again. Now Smudge, she added, getting serious again, take us to the koala moon. We have some letters to deliver. Hi, Captain Penelopus, Smudge said. They sailed through the dark night of space. Stars twinkled all around them, and on each planet they passed, they saw the inhabitants getting ready for sleep. Aliens tucked themselves under duvets, space cowboys unbuckled their boots and placed them under their beds. Even the catch-genauts started yawning. It was late, and they were tired. Soon they reached the koala moon. How beautiful she looked up here in space, with her gentle silver glow and her kindly smile. When they were close enough, Captain Penelopus climbed down to the bottom of the post rocket and untied the bag. Then she pushed the bag gently through space, so it floated down to reach the koala moon, smaller and smaller it got, until the bag disappeared entirely. Then the koala moon's smile got even wider. Thank you, she whispered, in a voice that sounded as soft and soothing as a lullaby. I will enjoy reading these very much. The catch-genauts felt their hearts fill up with pride. It was one thing to deliver thank-you letters to the koala moon, and quite another to receive her gratitude for delivering them. They clasped their arms around each other's shoulders as they basked in the moon's gentle glow. Mission completed, and what a good job they'd done. Back in the post rocket for the final time, Captain Penelopus let out a big cat yawn. All right folks, she said, we're all pretty sleepy, time to get us back to the middle of nowhere. Unless we'd rather not go back yet, said Tinkers with a small grin. Penelopus and Smudge raised their eyebrows questioningly, and she went on, you see, when I was building the post rocket, I added a secret to it, sleep mode. And to show them, she reached out and pressed a little purple button that was hidden right in the corner of the control panel. The rumble of the ship's engine softened to a gentle purr. A ring of lights on the ceiling, which had been lighting the whole cabin, dimmed to a warm amber glow. Panels in the wall slid apart with a smooth mechanical whisper, and out of it unfolded a large bed, the perfect size for three little kitties. Soft blue cushions and a thick warm quilt dropped down from a compartment in the ceiling, landing on the bed in perfect position, as though placed there by invisible hands. Then the pilot's chair lowered down into the floor, and up instead rose a small bedside cabinet with a nightlight in the shape of a green fish on top of it. The smell of fresh linen filled the cockpit, and a large screen, which usually displayed the interstellar navigation maps, faded into a deep indigo, scattered with slow-moving stars, just like the night outside. Tinkers smiled sheepishly at her friend's looks of wonder. I just thought it might be nice to sleep up here amongst the stars, she said. What do you think? Captain Penelope smiled. I think this time, Tinkers, you've outdone yourself. You've outdone yourself. In the draw of the bedside cabinet were three sets of fluffy pajamas in pink and blue and green. They pulled them on, and then brushed their teeth in the small basin at the back of the cabin. Then one by one they got into the bed, each remarking how soft the cushions were, and how cosy the quilt. They snuggled down, yawning and rubbing their eyes, and then Captain Penelope had a request to make. Tinkers, she said, is it possible that we turn off the screen entirely? I want to be able to just look out of the windows at the stars and the koala moon. Who needs a screen of twinkling lights when you have the beauty of the universe to look at? Tinkers said she couldn't agree more, so she slipped out from underneath the quilt, padded over to the control panel, and pressed a button. The screen faded to black, and now the post rocket cabin was filled only with the silvery glow of the koala moon. Warm and cosy in bed, with the whole universe spread throughout the window, the twinkling stars and little planets with their craters and their rings, the catch-de-naughts yawned and closed their eyes. It had been a long day, a successful mission, and their limbs were heavy with tiredness. It wasn't long before Captain Penelope's heard first tinkers, then smudge, fall asleep beside her, their breathing softening into quiet pervs. And soon Penelope was drifting off to sleep too, sinking into a dream about candy floss comics and letters sprinkled across the galaxy. She had one final thought, that as well as being grateful for the koala moon, she was grateful for her catch-de-naughts as well. You couldn't be a captain without a stellar team. And with this warm thought in her heart, Captain Penelope, who felt altogether rather proud of her real name now, closed her eyes and drifted off into a peaceful, dream-filled sleep.
