In tonight's bedtime story for kids, our rollerskating diner cats are off on a journey, along route 66! They're looking for some inspiration on how to make their diner even better, and they meet some pretty unexpected friends along the way! Relax, get sleepy, and let’s begin!
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The No1 kids bedtime stories & sleep meditations podcast that helps children sleep like a dream. Hosted by the world's biggest fan of bedtime stories, Abbe Opher! All episodes are safe for babies, children and really big kids 0 to 100, so settle down tonight and get sleepy with the world's greatest bedtime stories & sleep meditations for kids.
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Narrator 🎙 Abbe Opher
Author ✍️ Suzanna Mcloughlin
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
00:00:10
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome back to Koala Moon, a podcast of
00:00:14
Speaker 1: original children's bedtime stories and meditations designed to make bedtime
00:00:19
Speaker 1: a dream. I've got a bunch of wonderful names to
00:00:23
Speaker 1: shout out and say thank you to today. So without
00:00:26
Speaker 1: further ado, Coco and I are tootling our trumpets and
00:00:29
Speaker 1: trombones for Bobby from Dudley, for Etta, for Lady Bargotis
00:00:35
Speaker 1: it's his third birthday on June the fourteenth, And for
00:00:37
Speaker 1: Mamu from Melbourne. Thank you all so much for your support. Now,
00:00:43
Speaker 1: if your little one wants to shout out too, just
00:00:45
Speaker 1: join the Cocoa Club on a yearly membership today. It
00:00:49
Speaker 1: helps us keep making the show and you'll love all
00:00:51
Speaker 1: our bonus stories. I'm sure right. So what's in store tonight? Wow,
00:00:57
Speaker 1: how do you fancy joining? Potato and Beans are roller
00:01:01
Speaker 1: skating diner cats on a road trip. And I'm not
00:01:04
Speaker 1: talking about tripping along any road either. This road is
00:01:09
Speaker 1: arguably the most famous road in the world, the iconic
00:01:14
Speaker 1: Route sixty six, the famous Old American Highway. But why
00:01:19
Speaker 1: are we going? Well, our feline friends are looking for
00:01:23
Speaker 1: a little inspiration. Their diner is perfect in so many ways,
00:01:28
Speaker 1: but Beans just can't help but feel it needs jazzing
00:01:31
Speaker 1: up a little bit. She feels it needs some freshness
00:01:35
Speaker 1: and flare. So let's see what they find as they
00:01:39
Speaker 1: ride shotgun down the highway, jump into bed, and get
00:01:45
Speaker 1: all your wiggles and giggles out, maybe flap about a
00:01:49
Speaker 1: bit until your arms and legs, hands and feet grow tired.
00:01:56
Speaker 1: And when they do, just allow yourself to go still.
00:02:00
Speaker 1: Breathe nice and steadily. Great. While you do that, I'm
00:02:06
Speaker 1: going to begin. Potato and Beans Take Roots sixty six
00:02:11
Speaker 1: by Susannah McLaughlin. It was a beautiful blue sky day,
00:02:25
Speaker 1: just like almost every day in the middle of nowhere.
00:02:28
Speaker 1: When Turnip, the little pot bellied pig, came into Potato
00:02:31
Speaker 1: and Beans's diner for his morning shift. He called hello
00:02:36
Speaker 1: to his auntie Missus Pig, who was at work in
00:02:38
Speaker 1: the kitchen, seemingly testing the wobbliness of a plate of jelly.
00:02:43
Speaker 1: If his view through the kitchen window had told him correctly,
00:02:47
Speaker 1: then he joined Beans at the counter, where the cat
00:02:51
Speaker 1: was twirling around and around on a stool and gazing
00:02:54
Speaker 1: at the diner around her. She stopped and greeted Turnip,
00:02:58
Speaker 1: who was pulling an apron around him belly and stepping
00:03:01
Speaker 1: into his roller skates. Morning Turnip. Beans said. There was
00:03:08
Speaker 1: a kind of far awayishness to her voice, like she
00:03:12
Speaker 1: was here talking to Turnip, but her mind was somewhere else,
00:03:17
Speaker 1: drifting away with her thoughts. What are you thinking about, Beans,
00:03:23
Speaker 1: Turnip asked. He looked like you're miles away. Beans's eyes
00:03:29
Speaker 1: got a little clearer, and she shook her head as
00:03:32
Speaker 1: if to snap out of her daydreams. I was just
00:03:36
Speaker 1: thinking about the diner, she said. Do you think it's
00:03:41
Speaker 1: missing something? Turnip span on his roller skates a few times,
00:03:46
Speaker 1: similar to how Beans had swung around on her chair
00:03:49
Speaker 1: and observed the room around him. Red leather booths, check
00:03:56
Speaker 1: black and white checkered floor check, neon signs, colorful menus,
00:04:03
Speaker 1: jazzy arts on the walls. It was all there, no, Beans,
00:04:09
Speaker 1: Turnip said, I think it's perfect in here. It's cozy
00:04:14
Speaker 1: and pretty and full of our friends. Beans frowned. You're right,
00:04:22
Speaker 1: she said, It's just I've woken up in a funny
00:04:26
Speaker 1: sort of mood where I just want to make it
00:04:31
Speaker 1: perfect somehow. I don't know how or why exactly. I
00:04:37
Speaker 1: just think I want to change something or make something
00:04:42
Speaker 1: or build something an aquarium, Potato said, popping up behind Beans.
00:04:49
Speaker 1: She gave Turnip a hug, Hello, or a slide, or
00:04:53
Speaker 1: we could install a pool outside woo hoo, poor parties.
00:04:59
Speaker 1: Beans rolled her eyes, grinning. Well, those are some very
00:05:04
Speaker 1: big ideas, Potato, she said, I think we have to
00:05:09
Speaker 1: start smaller than that. We only have one little piggybank
00:05:14
Speaker 1: and four paws. It's hard to think small though. I
00:05:18
Speaker 1: feel like I'm so used to this place I can't
00:05:21
Speaker 1: tell what could be made better. Turn It began sorting
00:05:26
Speaker 1: the sugar from the salt packets and made a suggestion.
00:05:31
Speaker 1: I have an idea. Why don't you go away? Then
00:05:36
Speaker 1: you could go and check out some other diners. See
00:05:40
Speaker 1: what you can learn from them, go and gather some inspiration. Maybe.
00:05:46
Speaker 1: Potato and Beans looked at each other, considering it's not
00:05:52
Speaker 1: a bad idea, Bean said, it's a very good idea. Actually,
00:05:59
Speaker 1: Potato said, there's nothing like a bit of inspiration to
00:06:03
Speaker 1: get you out of a funk. But where do we go?
00:06:09
Speaker 1: Turnip pointed to a framed photograph of a pink Cadillac
00:06:13
Speaker 1: parked outside an old diner. Missus Pig can be seen
00:06:18
Speaker 1: beaming from the driver's seat with chic black sunglasses on
00:06:22
Speaker 1: and a silk headscarf tied over her ears and around
00:06:25
Speaker 1: her chin. Go there, Turnip said, Root sixty six, Like
00:06:31
Speaker 1: my auntie did. She said the food was amazing and
00:06:35
Speaker 1: the diners were super cool. She went for her honeymoon.
00:06:39
Speaker 1: It's an old highway that has become famous as a
00:06:42
Speaker 1: road trip. It goes through eight states and it's kept
00:06:46
Speaker 1: its old fashioned style. There's loads of wacky diners and
00:06:51
Speaker 1: crazy motels there. If you're gonna find inspiration anywhere, it's
00:06:57
Speaker 1: on old Root sixty six. Baba the Crab, sat at
00:07:02
Speaker 1: the counter, cutting up an omelet with his claws, murmured
00:07:06
Speaker 1: his agreement. There's nothing like it, he said, The old automobiles,
00:07:14
Speaker 1: the long open road, the desert dust. Now that's livin,
00:07:21
Speaker 1: Bean smiled. Baba would like it. Indeed, that's no surprise,
00:07:26
Speaker 1: since he drove for a living as the owner of
00:07:29
Speaker 1: crabs cabs. He'd go anywhere if it included a long
00:07:33
Speaker 1: road and hours of driving. Bean smulded over for a
00:07:37
Speaker 1: while and then looked at potato. Shall we do it?
00:07:43
Speaker 1: She asked. She needn't have asked, really, she knew what
00:07:47
Speaker 1: the answer would be. Potato was always fizzing with excitement
00:07:51
Speaker 1: and up for absolutely everything. Potato said yes and followed
00:07:57
Speaker 1: it with a yeehaw, much to Beans's amusement. So having
00:08:03
Speaker 1: reported their decision to missus Pig and Ossy the dish
00:08:06
Speaker 1: washing Octopus, the two cats hurried upstairs and packed their pejays,
00:08:11
Speaker 1: their toothbrushes, and an old camera into a battered, old
00:08:15
Speaker 1: suit case to collect pictures of our inspiration. Potato nodded knowingly,
00:08:21
Speaker 1: tapping the camera with her paw. Then the cats headed
00:08:25
Speaker 1: back down and went to tie the suit case to
00:08:28
Speaker 1: the back of their tandem bicycle. When Baba came clacking out,
00:08:33
Speaker 1: having polished off his omelet and three bowls of seaweed chowder.
00:08:37
Speaker 1: The cats were smudged with oil, pumping the tires and
00:08:41
Speaker 1: tightening the gears, ready for their long journey. Baba stopped
00:08:46
Speaker 1: in his tracks. He looked at the two cats with
00:08:50
Speaker 1: disbelief and put his pincers on his hips. Now you
00:08:56
Speaker 1: better not be doin what I think you're doing, he said.
00:09:01
Speaker 1: The cats looked up at him, wide eyed, like they'd
00:09:04
Speaker 1: been caught doing something naughty. Baba shook his head. You
00:09:11
Speaker 1: can't drive the famous, the revered the stylish root sixty
00:09:20
Speaker 1: six on that bicycle, he said, you'll run out of
00:09:26
Speaker 1: energy before you've left the canyon. For one thing, you
00:09:31
Speaker 1: need a cool set of wheels. The cat smiled sheepishly, shrugging.
00:09:40
Speaker 1: The bicycle hadn't failed them yet. Wait there, Baba said,
00:09:46
Speaker 1: I can help you. I'll be right back, True to
00:09:52
Speaker 1: his word, it had barely been ten minutes when Baba
00:09:57
Speaker 1: returned from his depot with a carl for the cat.
00:10:01
Speaker 1: It was remarkable how fast his vehicles could travel. The
00:10:07
Speaker 1: cats were more than a little suspicious there might be
00:10:10
Speaker 1: some magic involved. Potato gasped when she saw him cruising
00:10:17
Speaker 1: down the road across the desert towards the diner. She
00:10:21
Speaker 1: patted Beans and pointed for her to look, too excited
00:10:25
Speaker 1: to even form the words she wanted to say. A
00:10:29
Speaker 1: baby blue Cadillac was coming towards them, with the crab
00:10:34
Speaker 1: in the front seat, A huge slick car with shiny
00:10:39
Speaker 1: metal rims, boxy and wide, and the roof down. It
00:10:45
Speaker 1: was a sight to behold. Beans grinned in disbelief. She
00:10:51
Speaker 1: couldn't find her words either. That will do nicely, won't it, Potato?
00:10:58
Speaker 1: She eventually managed. Potato just nodded. When the car was parked,
00:11:05
Speaker 1: filling half the lot, Potato and Beans slung their suitcase
00:11:10
Speaker 1: in the boot and slid into the front seats. It
00:11:15
Speaker 1: was spacious, and the dashboard looked ancient, covered in little
00:11:20
Speaker 1: knobs and switches. Baba grinned, it's from the nineteen fifties,
00:11:28
Speaker 1: He said, it's a vintage. That's the Root sixty six style.
00:11:34
Speaker 1: You know you'll blend riding. Potato's jaw dropped the nineteen fifties.
00:11:44
Speaker 1: It is ancient, she said to Baba. He chuckled. The
00:11:51
Speaker 1: cats thanked Baba and waved goodbye to the customers and
00:11:55
Speaker 1: staff in the diner. Oozsi leant out of the window
00:12:00
Speaker 1: and waved his tentacles, calling, see a lad of dudes,
00:12:05
Speaker 1: bring me back a bumper sticker. The cats grinned and
00:12:09
Speaker 1: waved goodbye. Beans turned on the engine, which purred to life,
00:12:15
Speaker 1: and off they went, cruising down the road towards Root
00:12:20
Speaker 1: sixty six. They hadn't been driving more than five minutes,
00:12:25
Speaker 1: singing fifty songs and other pop hits at the top
00:12:28
Speaker 1: of their lungs when the scene in front of them
00:12:32
Speaker 1: changed with a pop and a poof of twisting shimmering
00:12:36
Speaker 1: silver fog. Just like that, they teleported hundreds of miles
00:12:42
Speaker 1: and found themselves at a left turn where they would
00:12:46
Speaker 1: be turning on to the famous Root sixty six. I
00:12:51
Speaker 1: guess that's why Boba travels so fast, Beans laughed. It
00:12:56
Speaker 1: is magic after all. The cats grabbed their camera and
00:13:02
Speaker 1: took her selfie at the Route sixty six signs Potato,
00:13:06
Speaker 1: pulling her mouth wide and waggling her tongue, and Beans
00:13:11
Speaker 1: creased up with laughter before they proceeded on to the
00:13:14
Speaker 1: famous road, beginning their trip. As they drove along the road,
00:13:20
Speaker 1: they wondered at the buildings that lined it. It was
00:13:24
Speaker 1: like traveling back seventy years. The buildings were old fashioned
00:13:30
Speaker 1: and quaint and sparse, made of wood with pitched roofs.
00:13:35
Speaker 1: They took a bridge over the mighty Mississippi River, green
00:13:39
Speaker 1: and swampy, winding across the countryside like a lazy snake.
00:13:46
Speaker 1: Before long, they came across a diner that looked not
00:13:50
Speaker 1: much more than a regular shack made of wood and
00:13:53
Speaker 1: painted white. As they drove past, they saw some customers emerge,
00:13:59
Speaker 1: rubbing their bellies in satisfaction. That was sign enough for
00:14:04
Speaker 1: them to stop, so Beans made a sharp turn into
00:14:07
Speaker 1: the parking lot. Inside the diner was quite basic, with
00:14:12
Speaker 1: rustic wooden furniture. A lanky frog was swaying on a
00:14:16
Speaker 1: rocking chair behind the counter. Welcome, Welcome, he called, in
00:14:22
Speaker 1: his croaky voice with his Southern drawl. What can I
00:14:26
Speaker 1: do you for? A menu hung on the wall behind him.
00:14:32
Speaker 1: It was huge and a little overwhelming. Potato cleared her
00:14:37
Speaker 1: throat and said, um, I'm not sure, Actually, what do
00:14:43
Speaker 1: you recommend? The frog grinned, well, I'm famous for one thing,
00:14:51
Speaker 1: and one thing only, frozen custard. Been serving it for
00:14:57
Speaker 1: eighty years. He chucked and raised his gray eyebrows like
00:15:02
Speaker 1: a kindly grandpa. Beans nodded, too please, she said, putting
00:15:08
Speaker 1: some coins in his webbed hands. Before long they each
00:15:12
Speaker 1: held a portion of yellow frozen custard. It's a bit weird,
00:15:19
Speaker 1: isn't it, Potato asked, warily, shouldn't custard be hot? Beans shrugged.
00:15:28
Speaker 1: If they've been around eighty years, they must be doing
00:15:31
Speaker 1: something right, she said, taking a big bite. The yummy
00:15:36
Speaker 1: noises she was making caused Potato to dive into and
00:15:41
Speaker 1: soon their pots were licked clean. Absolutely unbelievably delicious, Potato said,
00:15:51
Speaker 1: tapping her tongue. Maybe we can add this to our menu.
00:15:57
Speaker 1: Beans nodded, yes, the first inspiration, she said, And you
00:16:04
Speaker 1: know what this shows us. It doesn't matter what your
00:16:08
Speaker 1: diner looks like, as long as you're serving amazing food.
00:16:14
Speaker 1: Luckily we have missus Pig for that. Potato nodded back.
00:16:20
Speaker 1: Missus Pig really was talented, just like this old frog.
00:16:26
Speaker 1: They thanked him and headed back to their Cadillac. On
00:16:30
Speaker 1: they drove along Route sixty six past old style gas
00:16:35
Speaker 1: stations and motels, then with a poof, they were transported
00:16:41
Speaker 1: once again miles ahead. The stretch of Route sixty six
00:16:47
Speaker 1: they now found themselves on was busier, with more motels
00:16:51
Speaker 1: and diners dotting the side of the road. They did
00:16:56
Speaker 1: it dip do to decide which one to try, and
00:17:00
Speaker 1: giggled when they saw which they had randomly selected. The
00:17:05
Speaker 1: diner was covered in neon lights and had half a
00:17:09
Speaker 1: car coming out of its roof as if it had
00:17:11
Speaker 1: burst through, ready to drive into the sky. The parking
00:17:17
Speaker 1: lot was full, and there was a gas station on
00:17:20
Speaker 1: the other side, manned by a porcupine listening to the
00:17:24
Speaker 1: kind of rock music Ossie light and nodding his head
00:17:27
Speaker 1: to the music. The whole place looked pretty rock and roll.
00:17:33
Speaker 1: The cats parked up and headed inside, being sure to
00:17:37
Speaker 1: keep their sunglasses on to match the vibe of the diner.
00:17:43
Speaker 1: Potato had to lift her shades within a second, though,
00:17:46
Speaker 1: wanting to better take in the scene that confronted them.
00:17:51
Speaker 1: The walls were lined with number plates and bits of engine,
00:17:55
Speaker 1: and the seats by the tables took the form of motorbikes.
00:17:59
Speaker 1: There were old signs everywhere, and gumball machines and arcade
00:18:04
Speaker 1: games along one wall. The cats picked a table and
00:18:10
Speaker 1: slid onto a motorbike, each laughing and pretending to rev
00:18:15
Speaker 1: the engines, making brumming noises. Beans snapped a picture of
00:18:20
Speaker 1: fluffy Little Potato on her big silver motorbike. As they
00:18:26
Speaker 1: giggled away, the grizzly bear in the leather jacket from
00:18:30
Speaker 1: behind the counter came to greet them with high fives
00:18:34
Speaker 1: and grins. The two cats ordered milkshakes and onion rings
00:18:40
Speaker 1: and sat in silence, taking in the decor as they did.
00:18:45
Speaker 1: A grinning poodle in a big poofy skirt walked past
00:18:50
Speaker 1: their table and over to a jukebox behind them, scratching
00:18:54
Speaker 1: her chin before pressing a button, a swinging rock and
00:18:59
Speaker 1: roll shoe came out of the machine, and the bear
00:19:02
Speaker 1: waiter pulled the tables from the center of the room,
00:19:06
Speaker 1: catching the poodle's paw and swinging her into a dance.
00:19:11
Speaker 1: They jived back and forth as the cats watched on, enchanted,
00:19:16
Speaker 1: wondering how on earth they knew which steps to make.
00:19:21
Speaker 1: They twirled and jumped and spun and shook their hips
00:19:26
Speaker 1: to the music. Before long, Potato and Beans took to
00:19:31
Speaker 1: their feet and joined in. They didn't know how to
00:19:34
Speaker 1: do this particular dance, but they just felt the music
00:19:38
Speaker 1: and enjoyed themselves, and soon the other customers were cheering
00:19:43
Speaker 1: them on as loudly as they were cheering the bear
00:19:46
Speaker 1: and poodle couple. When the song ended, the two cats
00:19:52
Speaker 1: fell back into their seats, panting over the motorbike's handlebars.
00:19:57
Speaker 1: They grinned at one another. Is that more inspiration, Potato asked,
00:20:04
Speaker 1: Beans nodded, Yes, music, of course, they should have dance nights,
00:20:13
Speaker 1: dance classes, dance competitions, line dancing evenings. There's no better
00:20:21
Speaker 1: atmosphere than when there's music playing and feet tapping. The
00:20:26
Speaker 1: cats high fived when they'd slurped their milkshakes and munched
00:20:33
Speaker 1: all their onion rings. The cats waved goodbye to everybody
00:20:37
Speaker 1: and headed back to their Cadillac, back into the sunshine.
00:20:43
Speaker 1: This time Potato drove. She wasn't the fastest driver, but
00:20:47
Speaker 1: she did her best, and they tootled along the road
00:20:51
Speaker 1: at a slow pace, enjoying the sun on their ears.
00:20:56
Speaker 1: Before long, there was another poof the trees that line
00:21:01
Speaker 1: the road disappeared, and the desert stretched out around them,
00:21:06
Speaker 1: a vast open plane, even hotter than the heat they
00:21:10
Speaker 1: were used to in their valley. They poured on their
00:21:14
Speaker 1: sun hats and paused at a sign that stuck out
00:21:18
Speaker 1: of the earth by the side of the road. The
00:21:21
Speaker 1: sign had a smiling, waving alien on it and text
00:21:26
Speaker 1: underneath thread UFO crossing. The cats laughed and snapped a
00:21:32
Speaker 1: picture of the sign, rolling their eyes at one another,
00:21:36
Speaker 1: knowing there was no way they'd encounter an alien, whatever
00:21:41
Speaker 1: people said. Beans knew for sure that aliens aren't real,
00:21:46
Speaker 1: you see, but Potato secretly kept an excited eye on
00:21:51
Speaker 1: the sky just in case any UFOs trundled by. Soon
00:21:57
Speaker 1: they poured up to another diner, this one with a
00:22:01
Speaker 1: flying saucer attached to the roof and a green neon
00:22:05
Speaker 1: sign in the shape of a smiling alien. It read
00:22:10
Speaker 1: Extra Terrestrial inn. Inside, the walls were plastered with newspaper
00:22:16
Speaker 1: clippings and drawings of spaceships. A group of ground hogs
00:22:22
Speaker 1: were sitting around a table by the door, merrily debating
00:22:27
Speaker 1: whether a recent UFO sighting could possibly have been real.
00:22:33
Speaker 1: The two cats sat at the bar next to a
00:22:36
Speaker 1: bearded dragon. The goat behind the counter had a cap
00:22:40
Speaker 1: on that read eye Heart Aliens. He poured them each
00:22:46
Speaker 1: a coffee and served them up big sandwiches, the bread
00:22:50
Speaker 1: of which had been dyed green alien food, they supposed.
00:22:57
Speaker 1: The cats munched their sandwiches, enjoying the silly strangeness of
00:23:02
Speaker 1: the themed diner and marveling at all of the posters
00:23:07
Speaker 1: on the wall. As Beans went over to squint at
00:23:11
Speaker 1: a yellow newspaper clipping, Potato began chatting away to the
00:23:16
Speaker 1: bearded dragon on her right, babbling on about their journey
00:23:21
Speaker 1: down Route sixty six and their search for inspiration, and
00:23:26
Speaker 1: how she hoped they could bring things back from their
00:23:29
Speaker 1: trip to make their diner even better. Pausing for thought,
00:23:35
Speaker 1: she said that she didn't know what they'd take from
00:23:38
Speaker 1: this one though, I don't believe in aliens, she said,
00:23:46
Speaker 1: do you. The dragon grinned a kind grin and said no,
00:23:53
Speaker 1: he didn't think they existed either. He took a sip
00:23:56
Speaker 1: of his hot cocoa and a glob of whipped cream
00:24:00
Speaker 1: ripped onto his beard. Potato began dabbing it away with
00:24:04
Speaker 1: her napkin when she realized the beard was a little unusual.
00:24:10
Speaker 1: It was attached with a rubber band. It looked almost
00:24:15
Speaker 1: like he was wearing a disguise. She took in his
00:24:19
Speaker 1: green skin and sweet smile and pulled his beard away
00:24:25
Speaker 1: a little and gasped, you're not a bearded dragon, You're
00:24:33
Speaker 1: an alien, Potato whispered. The alien shushed her with a
00:24:39
Speaker 1: chuckle and whispered back not to tell anyone. He wanted
00:24:44
Speaker 1: to keep a low profile. Potato mined, zipping up her
00:24:49
Speaker 1: lips and throwing away the key. By this time, Beans
00:24:54
Speaker 1: had tuned into the conversation and it was too late
00:24:58
Speaker 1: to hide the secret from her. She looked at the
00:25:01
Speaker 1: alien with wide eyes. She shook his hand. Hey, mister alien,
00:25:09
Speaker 1: she said, with wonder in her voice, Welcome to our planet.
00:25:15
Speaker 1: The alien grinned, Call me Stanley, he said, he said,
00:25:21
Speaker 1: that his alien name would be too hard for earthlings
00:25:24
Speaker 1: to pronounce, so he had picked this as his earth
00:25:27
Speaker 1: name from one of the articles on the bathroom wall.
00:25:31
Speaker 1: He said he came to this diner often as the
00:25:34
Speaker 1: cocoa was so very delicious, and it amused him to
00:25:38
Speaker 1: hear everyone chattering about aliens and whether they existed. The
00:25:44
Speaker 1: cats beamed at him, overjoyed to have found a real
00:25:49
Speaker 1: life alien, Stanley reached into the pocket of his Macintosh
00:25:55
Speaker 1: coat and poured out a green sign about the size
00:25:59
Speaker 1: of a sheet of paper. I was planning on hanging
00:26:05
Speaker 1: this up when no one was looking, he grinned, just
00:26:09
Speaker 1: to make it clear. You know that we're nice, But
00:26:14
Speaker 1: since you guys are looking for new things for your diner,
00:26:19
Speaker 1: I guess you guys might want it instead. Beans flipped
00:26:25
Speaker 1: the sign over and they both grinned. What they saw.
00:26:29
Speaker 1: It was a light up sign with a green, grinning
00:26:33
Speaker 1: alien on one side, making a piece sign with his
00:26:37
Speaker 1: fingers next to him, words read we come in peace.
00:26:45
Speaker 1: The cats grinned and hugged him in thanks, telling him
00:26:49
Speaker 1: it was perfect. Soon they wished him a heart felt goodbye,
00:26:56
Speaker 1: encouraging him to come to their diner in the middle
00:26:59
Speaker 1: of nowhere whenever he wanted, and headed back to the Cadillac.
00:27:06
Speaker 1: Potato whispered on the way out that she thought he
00:27:09
Speaker 1: looked much more handsome without the fake beard on, and
00:27:13
Speaker 1: Stanley chuckled. The sun was going down by this hour,
00:27:19
Speaker 1: and the cats thought it might just be about time
00:27:23
Speaker 1: to look for somewhere to rest their heads. So the
00:27:28
Speaker 1: engine purred to life once more, and off they went
00:27:33
Speaker 1: with a poof of silver smoke. They soon found themselves
00:27:39
Speaker 1: where they wanted to be, outside a motel in a
00:27:45
Speaker 1: new kind of middle of nowhere, under the pink, streaky sky.
00:27:52
Speaker 1: The green cactus and rolling tumbleweed and warm calm air
00:27:58
Speaker 1: made it feel kind of like home. The rooms, however,
00:28:04
Speaker 1: were quite unusual. Each room was within a cream teepee,
00:28:10
Speaker 1: a pointed tent reaching up towards the stars, and boy
00:28:16
Speaker 1: were their stars. The sky was covered in them, shimmery
00:28:22
Speaker 1: and smudgie with them, and right in the middle was
00:28:26
Speaker 1: a big, round silver moon. As they gazed up at
00:28:32
Speaker 1: it from the open flaps of their tent, poor in Poor,
00:28:38
Speaker 1: they saw a little flash which they assumed to be
00:28:42
Speaker 1: Stanley flying back up to his home planet. They waggled
00:28:48
Speaker 1: their paws even though he was way too far away
00:28:52
Speaker 1: to see their waves. The two cats snuggled into their
00:28:58
Speaker 1: pajamas and wrapped their tails around one another and poured
00:29:04
Speaker 1: the blanket up tight around them. I like roots sixty six,
00:29:11
Speaker 1: Potato said, and I like going on adventures with you Beans.
00:29:19
Speaker 1: Beans patted her head and agreed. She said to morrow
00:29:25
Speaker 1: there was even more in store, But before she'd begun
00:29:31
Speaker 1: to tell her what, Potato was making little snuffily snores.
00:29:38
Speaker 1: Before long, Beans joined her, drifting off to dreams where
00:29:45
Speaker 1: she was driving their great open roads, wind in her
00:29:51
Speaker 1: ears and her best friend by her side, the Nu