Transcript for Parent Storytellers
Oni Pepperoni was having the most amazing adventure on planet Mars. He bounced along the red surface in his special astronaut suit, leaving little footprints in the dusty ground.
“This is so cool!” Oni said to himself as he hopped over a small rock. “I can jump so much higher on Mars than on Earth!”
Oni had come to Mars to visit his friend Captain Milky Way, the astronaut cow who had once crashed on Earth and needed Oni’s help to fix her spaceship. Now it was Oni’s turn to explore Captain Milky Way’s home.
As Oni was admiring the strange, red landscape, something very unexpected happened. A shimmering figure appeared on the horizon – a unicorn with a sparkly purple mane and a silver horn that gleamed in the sunlight.
“Whoa! A unicorn on Mars?” Oni gasped. “I didn’t know unicorns lived here!”
Before Oni could say another word, the unicorn galloped straight toward him, opened its mouth super wide, and – GULP! – swallowed Oni in one big bite!
Suddenly, everything was dark. Oni felt himself sliding down, down, down.
“Hello?” Oni called out, his voice echoing strangely. “Where am I?”
Oni clicked on the flashlight attached to his astronaut helmet. The light revealed pink walls that moved in and out, almost like they were… breathing.
“I think I’m inside the unicorn’s tummy!” Oni realized, feeling very confused. One minute he had been exploring Mars, and the next minute he was inside a unicorn!
Just as Oni was wondering what to do, he spotted something moving in the distance. He shined his light toward it and was surprised to see a familiar face.
“Captain Milky Way!” Oni called out. “Is that you?”
The astronaut cow turned around, her space helmet gleaming in Oni’s flashlight beam.
“Oni Pepperoni!” Captain Milky Way mooed happily. “What a surprise to see you here!”
“I was just visiting Mars when this unicorn swallowed me,” Oni explained. “But what are you doing inside a unicorn’s tummy?” “Oh, we’re helping Scout the Unicorn,” Captain Milky Way said. “He has a terrible tummy ache.”
Oni looked around and noticed several other cows in astronaut suits. He recognized them as the crew members from Captain Milky Way’s spaceship that he had helped repair in a previous adventure.
“Would you like to see our dairy farm after we help Scout feel better?” asked Captain Milky Way.
“Yes, please!” Oni said excitedly. He had heard about the famous Mars dairy farm where the astronaut cows made the most delicious space treats in the solar system.
Captain Milky Way introduced Oni to the other cows. “These aren’t just astronaut cows,” she explained. “They’re also doctors! We’re checking why Scout has such a bad tummy ache.”
The cow doctors were using their stethoscopes to listen to the unicorn’s stomach and gently pressing their hooves against the tummy walls.
“Hmm,” said one cow doctor with a thoughtful expression. “I think I hear something moving around in here – oh! It must be you, Oni!”
“We need to get you out,” said Captain Milky Way. “And we need to help Scout feel better too.”
The cow doctors huddled together, whispering their ideas. Finally, they seemed to agree on a plan.
“Scout needs to roll over so we can give him a belly rub,” explained Captain Milky Way. “It might help get you out too, Oni.”
The cows called out to Scout, telling him to roll onto his back. Oni felt the whole world turning upside down as the unicorn rolled over. The cow doctors began to scratch Scout’s belly from the outside.
“Harder! Right in the middle!” Captain Milky Way called out to her friends.
The tickling must have worked, because suddenly Oni heard a rumbling sound. The unicorn started to giggle, then laugh, then laugh so hard that his whole body shook.
“Ha ha ha!” Scout’s laughter echoed all around Oni.
The laughter turned into a strange feeling, like Oni was being pushed upward through a tunnel. He realized he was moving up through the unicorn’s throat!
“What’s happening?” Oni wondered aloud.
And then – “HAAAA-TCHIIIII!” – Scout sneezed so powerfully that Oni shot out of the unicorn’s nose like a rocket! “Wheeee!” Oni zoomed through the Martian air, flying over a strange purple lake and heading straight for a mountain in the distance.
“This is amazing!” Oni shouted as he soared through the sky, his arms stretched out like an airplane.
He finally landed with a soft bounce on a green, grassy field – very different from the red, rocky Mars surface he had been exploring before.
“Welcome to the Mars Dairy Farm!” said Captain Milky Way as she and the other cows galloped up to Oni. Scout the Unicorn trotted behind them, looking much happier now that his tummy ache was gone.
“Sorry for swallowing you,” Scout said to Oni. “I thought you were a Mars rock candy! My tummy feels so much better now.”
“That’s okay,” Oni replied with a smile. “It was actually a pretty fun ride!”
Captain Milky Way gave Oni a tour of the dairy farm. There were fields of strange, glowing grass where the cows grazed, and a big barn painted with stars and moons.
“This is where we make our famous cosmic ice cream,” Captain Milky Way explained, leading Oni into a cool room filled with tubs of colorful, sparkling ice cream. “We also make Mars cheese and special cottage cheese that makes you bounce extra high!”
“Can I try some ice cream?” Oni asked, his eyes wide with excitement.
“Of course!” Captain Milky Way scooped up a big bowl of swirly purple and blue ice cream that sparkled like the night sky. “This is our Milky Way Swirl flavor.”
Just then, the barn door opened, and in walked more of Oni’s friends! There was Sparkle the Unicorn (who looked very similar to Scout but with a rainbow mane), Betty with her colorful butterfly costume, and even the Black Yeti who had helped the bunnies in a previous adventure.
“We heard there was an ice cream party!” Sparkle said, her horn glittering in the barn light.
“Everyone’s invited!” Captain Milky Way announced, scooping up bowls for all the new arrivals.
Soon, everyone was sitting in a circle, eating the most delicious cosmic ice cream they had ever tasted. It was cold and creamy like regular ice cream, but it also popped and fizzled in their mouths like tiny fireworks.
“This is the best ice cream in the whole universe,” Oni declared, his face covered in purple and blue smudges. They ate bowl after bowl of different flavors – Meteor Mint Chip, Rocket Raspberry Ripple, and Stardust Strawberry. They ate so much that their tummies grew round and their eyelids became heavy.
One by one, the friends curled up on soft piles of moon hay in the barn. Captain Milky Way covered each of them with a cozy space blanket that twinkled like stars.
“Good night, space friends,” yawned Oni, feeling happier than he’d ever felt before. “This was the best… Mars adventure… ever…”
And with that, Oni and all his friends fell fast asleep, dreaming of cosmic ice cream and adventures yet to come.