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Welcome back to Bedtime Stories.
We hope you've enjoyed listening to the super stories read by the great people of the BBC Radio Drama Company.
Today Rich and I are off on an adventure.
Welcome to Epic Space Center.
Intergalactic space travelers, come journey with us to other galaxies in outer space.
Whoa, look at this place, Dom.
It's full of cool space things.
I mean, look up there.
Sputnik, Voyager, Apollo.
Oh, brilliant.
We're going to have a great day here.
Oh, look at this.
Press here.
Space facts.
One million Earths could fit inside the Sun, and the Sun is considered an average-sized star.
Wow, I mean, that is a really interesting fact.
I did not know that.
Oh, what's this one?
Space facts.
There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth.
That's at least a billion trillion.
Crikey, that's a lot of stars.
Oh, look over there.
You can try on an astronaut suit.
What?
Come on.
These are brilliant.
Hey, look.
One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
You clumsy oaf!
Oh yeah, sorry, oh look, here's another button.
What happens when we press this one?
The 500 Words Bedtime Stories Podcast with Dick and Dom.
Empty space.
It started when I was 13.
People began to disappear.
At first just one or two, then whole families at a time.
They didn't die or explode or anything.
They simply weren't there.
No one knew what happened to them.
It was a sunny Friday morning and my best friend Asta and I were on our way to school.
The disappearances hadn't really affected us.
Asta's dad had disappeared a few years ago, but not like these people did.
He just got in a car one day and didn't come back.
We were walking along the old lane overhung by Blackthorn when Asta looked at me.
And then he was gone.
Just like that.
I ran to the school as quickly as I could.
''Astor has disappeared!''
I panted to the woman in the office.
''Oh, another one.
If I could ask you to fill out this form.
This isn't just another disappearance.
It's Astor!''
I shouted.
Literally, everyone has lost someone.
Now, fill out the forms.
I stormed out of the office and out of the school.
I was going to have to find Asta by myself.
I went home and searched the web for information about the disappearances.
I was reading the long catalogue of lost names when a message popped up in the corner of my screen.
Sarah, it's me, Asta.
Where are you?
It's hard to explain.
I haven't got long.
I'm in another dimension, and it was darkness that brought me here.
What?
Whenever a planet has more evil than good, it allows dark matter in.
That's what has happened to Earth.
What can I do?
Dot dot dot.
Asta?
Dot dot dot.
Asta!
I came out into the summer evening and saw a couple arguing.
A boy hitting another boy with a skateboard, a man stealing a lady's wallet.
I picked up a newspaper and I read about bombings and wars, children starving and rich people building golden towers.
I got home and mum welcomed me with a smile.
I told them about Asta and Dad came over and gave me a hug.
I realised that if everyone was like this in the world, maybe Asta would come back.
That we needed love and goodness to outweigh evil.
I sat down and began to write a book called Empty Space.
And in it, I wrote about Asta and dark matter and how the world had to make itself better.
I put the book on the internet and it was downloaded millions of times.
People started being kinder to each other.
The boy with the skateboard said sorry to the other boy.
The thief gave back the wallet.
The couple made up.
Wars stopped.
Terrorists gave up bombing and hugged each other.
Rich men sold their golden towers and gave the money to starving children.
One morning at the end of summer, there was a knock on the door.
Asta was there.
In a bungalow with an unused cat flap, there lived an old shrivelled granny named Marjorie.
Her only son's busy executive lifestyle meant he struggled to visit, call or even remember his mum.
But one Christmas, after the Queen's speech had ended, an alien arrived.
Well, not so much an alien, more a Thames parcel delivery drone.
The parcel had taped to it a note which read, Just plug it in and say, Hey, Bottie.
Ask a question and it will answer.
Lots of love, Jeremy.
Kiss, kiss, kiss.
Well, this was very confusing, but she followed her son's instructions and plugged the thing in.
Screamed the bewildered grandma as a ring of LEDs lit the face of the squatting black disc.
He's snotty, croaked the bewildered old woman, but nothing happened.
Two days later and the device was already forgotten.
The old lady was out shopping when it began.
Bored, the homebot ordered itself a friend.
It came within a week.
Thinking it was another gift, the grandma plugged it in.
Days passed.
Days turned into weeks.
Weeks into months.
Not much happened.
The most exciting thing that did occur was that Marjorie won £10 at bingo.
But one day, things started to get really freaky.
The homebots began to order more.
First came the lawn-o-matic X5000 robotic lawnmower.
Marjorie hated grass and had had her lawn paved over six years ago.
Next arrived the robot vacuum cleaner.
Then the parcels really started to flood in.
A torrent of automated tech came through the door every day.
The confused old crumpet dutifully unboxed each item and placed them carefully around her home, like the ornaments they weren't.
The thing was, every day when Marjorie woke, she was certain her new ornaments had moved.
She would find a different thing snuggled up on her bed each morning.
After three weeks of swatting away delivery drones which buzzed around her home like a swarm of wasps, the paranoid pensioner began to lose control.
She was forced to move out of her house and into her garage where she barricaded herself behind the tumble dryer, armed with a mop and a bucket of bot killer or water.
After three days in desperation and having learnt that tumble-dry fluff isn't food, something in the back of her mind stirred and she started to shout He grotty.
He potty!
He snotty!
He he!
He botty!
Everything stopped.
The lights flickered on and a friendly voice said, Hello, how can I help you?
Without stopping to think, Marjorie replied, I'm starving!
The old crone couldn't believe her eyes when, shortly afterwards, a vacuum cleaner trundled into the garage balancing a plate of steamed spaghetti bolognese.
After that, everything changed.
Marjorie moved back into her house and over time started to tolerate, if not tame, the tech.
Sometimes at night, the smart TV and the electric tin opener would play cards.
But Marjorie didn't mind.
She was busy playing chess with her fridge.
Here, Dom, watch this.
I am a robot.
Exterminate.
Exterminate.
Yeah, get off.
Right, come on.
Let's go and explore some more.
Hey, ooh.
What's this through this door?
Uh, Dom?
Dom?
Dom?
It says enter here to the fourth dimension.
Dom!
Yeah!
Yeah!
BBC Radio 2's 500 Words.
Bedtime Stories with Dick and Dom.
Once upon a time, the world exploded and all of its inhabitants got thrown into the vacuum of space and suffocated to death.
But there was one survivor who also died a few seconds later.
Meanwhile, on a planet that humans call B13TGH5, that is orbiting the star B13TGH, cats have just become the dominant species and are evolving at an alarming rate, like a seriously alarming rate, like they've just invented the wheel and discovered space travel, and never mind they're extinct.
On planet B13TGH6.
However, their prehistoric neighbours have just discovered that they can eat plants.
But it turns out that all plants on their planet are poisonous, and now they're also extinct.
Now back on B13TGH5.
About 100 cat people survived the mass extinction and have started to rebuild society.
And they've just reinvented the wheel and rediscovered space travel.
And they're re-extinct.
I can't believe it.
I've just seen a species evolve and go extinct twice in a matter of minutes.
All the galaxies are crazy.
Observed Sam from the astronomy tower in the HC of M.
Human colony of Mars.
Carl doesn't care, said his friend Carl.
They weren't really friends.
Ah, who are you? screamed Sam.
But then an exception occurred and Carl's file got corrupted.
See users Sam, game, characters.
Traceback.odt for more details.
This game is awful, said the real version of Sam, and he fell asleep.
While he was asleep, an anomaly cropped up.
But as it was being fixed, Sam got catapulted into the fourth dimension, where he merged with his higher dimensional version of himself and was erased from existence.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the fourth wall, the real actual, legitimate version of Sam was helping his brother make a bowl of interdimensional spaghetti.
Sam, have you ever wondered if there are any other dimensions where there is only three dimensions, such as only height, width and depth?
Erm, of course it is.
Remember that it is my job to fix anomalies in the three-dimensional timelines.
Anyway, when did you get so good at making interdimensional spaghetti?
I was always this good, remember?
Sometimes.
The brothers finished making their interdimensional spaghetti and then they went to sleep for an inconceivable amount of time, since time in their dimension fluctuates randomly.
Two hours later, Sam's brother said, Can you help me make some interdimensional spaghetti, please?
Sure, bro.
After an amount of time making spaghetti, Sam's brother said Sam, have you ever wondered if there are any other dimensions where there is only three dimensions, such as only height, width and depth?
Wait, we had this conversation in the last time, Luke, remember?
Yes, I do.
But do you?
Sometimes the brothers almost finished making their interdimensional spaghetti and time reset itself entirely.
Just another random amount of time at the office, said Sam.
BBC Radio 2's 500 Words Bedtime Stories A World Away The book signing was not going well.
Alan and Nick had never met before and now they were sitting in a small room in WH Smith's waiting to try and sell their first published books to largely disinterested members of the public.
There was half an hour to go, and Nick had drunk too much tea and now needed the toilet.
He decided to try and take his mind off it.
What's your book about? he asked Alan.
Alan looked up at him and sighed.
Do we really have to do this?
I'm just trying to pass the time, said Nick.
Pretend I'm a customer.
Alan looked directly at him.
It's a true story.
About me.
And about a journey that I made.
You see, there is alien life.
People don't think that there is.
But I've seen it.
But let me tell you Nick, that discovering that there was more than just my species in the universe has not been the revelation that I had hoped.
You see, I was a space traveller, a sort of astronaut, I suppose.
I was offered the chance to take part in a secret mission to try and make contact with extraterrestrial life.
No one knew about it, and it is a secret that I've had to live with for years.
But now I need to tell my story.
I can't live with it any longer.
Nick looked both intrigued and a little sceptical.
Tell me, he said.
The mission took place, Alan said.
I was alone in my craft, and I actually landed on a planet on which there was alien life.
I expected little green men, but what I got was very, very different.
The people there looked like me.
But that is where the similarity ended.
The inhabitants were very cruel to each other and seemed to get pleasure out of doing each other harm.
They had a beautiful planet, but they seemed intent on destroying it and never ever appreciated anything that it had to offer.
Where they could have worked together to have a better life for everyone, they chose to do the opposite.
Those that had the most got even more, and those that were less able to look after themselves were either used to make other people's lives even easier, or cast aside and left to die in the gutter.
I saw people literally starve to death in front of my eyes, whilst others threw away food because they'd eaten so much they could scarcely move.
It was horrible.
And that wasn't the worst bit, Nick.
Not by a long shot.
When I could take it no more, I returned to my spaceship and it wouldn't work.
No engine, nothing.
My God, that's awful, said Nick.
How did you manage to get back?
Alan raised his head and couldn't stop the tears flowing.
I didn't.
He whispered so quietly that Nick could barely hear him.
I'm still here.
Welcome to epic earth center.
Intergalactic space travelers, come journey with us to learn about ancient earth.
Cool, look at all these things mountains, sea animals.
Wow, this is exciting.
Look, it has gravity Watch.
I'm walking on the ground!
Brilliant!
Here, look what happens when I throw my space hat up in the air!
Ouch!
You zapper!
That landed on my head!
That's called gravity, you lunar lemon!
I can't hear you, oops.
Oh, what does that do?
Don't touch that earth facts the earth travels around the sun at a whopping 67 000 miles an hour.
Oh, that's really cool.
Let me have a go.
Earth is often called the ocean planet.
Its surface is 70% water.
The oceans help regulate the temperature of the planet and influence weather.
Look, here's another button.
What happens when we press this one?
BBC Radio 2's 500 Words.
Bedtime Stories.
2052.
It is 2052.
Daniel is the lone lookout.
It is dark and through the small window space opens velvet black.
Stars are specks of light that stretch away to infinity.
Since he could remember, Daniel wanted to be a space pilot.
And here he was, Flight Lieutenant First Class, alone at his station.
His sole responsibility to protect the landing stage from the onslaught of...
The creature.
It was vital.
The landing stayed open, lights blazing, welcoming, safe.
But that light attracted the creature.
Daniel sat tense with anticipation.
Although darkness surrounded him, the light above the landing stage brought it sharply into focus.
Time seemed to stand still as he waited for the creature to make its move.
Must concentrate.
Must protect the landing stage.
Minutes passed.
It had been a long day, and Daniel's eyes felt heavy.
But he jolted to attention and was fully alert as the creature slinked into view.
Stealthily it came, step by step.
Daniel held his breath as its familiar head slowly emerged from the darkness jaws open, rows of sharp teeth glistening its tongue, red and wet hanging from its mouth.
Shining eyes penetrated Daniel's skull.
The creature looked straight at him, and there was no mistaking that look.
The creature was hungry.
The creature was always hungry.
Every night it came, the search for food drawing it towards the light, night after night.
As his shoulders rose into view, Daniel reached for the ammunition.
The creature paused, its powerful tail swaying as it crouched, ready to leap.
Daniel slowed his breathing and took careful aim.
Ammunition was scarce.
He had few opportunities.
Exhaling, he spoke softly, preparing to repel invaders.
Hoping to catch it off guard, Daniel launched.
The creature twisted its body, lunging sideways, and caught the missile in mid-flight, snapping its powerful jaw upon it.
Immediately Daniel prepared to fire again.
The creature, more confident now, edged closer, nearer Daniel's door.
Lightning fast, it anticipated Daniel's aim before the next missile was even in flight.
It lined itself up and swallowed the second round whole, never taking its dense hungry gaze from the target.
Daniel tensed.
This was it, the last of the ammunition.
Waiting until the creature was completely in range, Daniel launched a sideways attack.
The missile missed its target, rebounded off the creature's head and disappeared out of sight.
The creature locked onto the movement, turned and hurtled away downwards into the darkness below.
Daniel froze.
Footsteps crossed the landing and his commander spoke.
Come on, Danny, it's nearly half nine.
Time you were asleep.
And what have I said about throwing biscuits to the dog at bedtime?
There's crumbs all over the landing and she's nearly knocked me flying, chasing one down the stairs.
Sorry, Mum, Daniel said sleepily, sliding under the duvet.
His mission was complete.
The creature would not return.
Not tonight, anyway.
Even ferocious alien creatures are afraid of the Commander.
BBC Radio 2's 500 Words.
Estella Jopp.
As I leave for work, the sun dips below the horizon, a fiery orange.
It casts its blood-red rays across the darkening sky, and then slowly blushes a deep pink.
By the time I arrive, the stunning radiance has disappeared, replaced by an inky blue sky pinpricked with glittering stars.
I notice my reflection in the colossal glass doors leading into the building.
Elegant, midnight blue suit, freshly ironed shirt, slender grey tie.
Swinging open the doors, I pace down a corridor lined with pearly tiles and deep azure walls studded with minuscule glinting gems.
I step into my office.
Polished oak furnishings greet me, an outsized desk the focus of the room.
I take my seat, my body seamlessly conforming to the soft leather chair, and I check my watch once again.
7.30 p.m.
Time to get to work.
I swivel around to see the familiar yellow button.
I press it with as much force as I can muster.
Almost immediately, an immense black door swings open to my left.
A tall woman, small glasses perched on her nose, enters.
Sir, we have 155,100 new consignments.
I rise from my seat and march briskly past her with a polite nod and enter the colossal room she has just left, so large I can hardly see the other side.
Although this sight greets me every night, I still marvel at it.
My eyes gaze around the whole room.
The space is lit up with bright iridescent lights that glint off the metal surfaces of the workshop.
In the center, a vast screen is the main focus, with rows of control buttons underneath.
Every few seconds, an alluring light beams up out of a wide glass tube and teams of workers rush to deal with it.
An efficient, neatly dressed man strides up to me and hands me a clipboard.
I scan through the first few names and call over one of the workers.
Tell me about Edith Hope, I instruct him.
Did she live her life well?
Yes, she was very selfless, always put others before herself, he replies.
Do we have any space in the northwest quadrant for a large Z2OR, 90% brightness?
The screen zooms in to reveal an empty gap in that quadrant.
Perfect for the new star.
I continue moving down the list, assigning the newly deceased with a permanent place in the sky.
Finally, the time flashes on the screen.
4.30 a.m.
Another successful night completed.
As I drive home along the twisting country roads, I wonder what kind of star will I be?
What kind of life have I led?
Will I be large, small, bright, or dim?
The twinkling sky glints down at me, and I sigh a contented sigh.
I created this.
As I smile to myself, I don't see two more bright lights.
Those of the truck heading straight for me.
That night, a new dazzling star appeared in the sky, brightest of them all.
That was really weird.
Oh, Dom, thank goodness.
There you are.
I went right through that door for a minute, and then everything went dark.
I think I was in a cupboard.
Oh, I couldn't find a way out.
Very strange.
Anyway, I wasted a few minutes.
What shall we do now?
Minutes?
You've been gone all day.
What?
The space centre is closed.
What?
But that's in potty bubble.
Space, the final frontier.
Oh, shut up.
That's it for all your supertastic stories today.
If you haven't already subscribe to Bedtime Stories so you don't miss out on any of our podcast episodes.
And if you hear your story, make sure to get in touch.
You could send us a picture or a postcard or a video of you listening to it.
We love hearing from our superstar writers.
Ah, that means it's time for our writing tip of the week from our friends at Oxford University Press.
Storytelling.
Think about who is going to tell your story.
Whose voice do you want the readers to hear?
Don't mix up your tenses in each sentence and your whole story.
Try to stick to either the past or the present tense to avoid confusing the reader.
Whatever ideas you choose, keep writing brilliant stories.
From everyone here at Radio 2 and 500 Words... Good luck!
And good night!
From less than a dollar a week for your first year.
Read, watch and listen to trusted independent journalism and storytelling.
Find out more at bbc.com.
