Reach Across youth group
7th February 2022
It was a bleak and miserable day as Merlin was coming back from her holiday with a nice tan, by the way. There was a stark contrast between the beach and sunny skies she left behind in Majorca.
She was excited to see her alien, Bob who had been staying with Rhea while she was away. Rhea lived in an orange wizard’s tower in Brandywell, beside the cemetery, that had bubbles coming out of its chimney. There used to be a wizard who lived there, who disappeared in mysterious circumstances. Merlin and Rhea were best friends despite Rhea’s often clumsy and careless acts. Merlin knocked excitedly on Rhea’s door.
Rhea meanwhile, was frantically thinking up excuses, terrified of whether her friend would find out that she had misplaced Merlin’s pet alien. She was frantically running around the kitchen, boiling the kettle for tea so that she could let Merlin down gently. Rhea couldn’t imagine how she could have lost Bob because of his giant googly eyes and his pale green skin.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Knock, knock, knock. Rhea stopped in her tracks and swiveled her head around like a deer in the headlights. She carefully tiptoed to the door as quietly as a mouse, as delicately as a ballerina. Everything seemed to stand still as her breath quickened and her heart trembled.
Merlin was bouncing on her toes anticipating seeing her pet, as the great black door opened. As an astronaut, she had met Bob on Mars and they locked eyes and immediately a bond was established. Merlin was surprised to see Rhea was a mess and looked like she hadn’t slept.
“Hello Merlin, how was your holiday?” Rhea whispered shakily.
“Where’s my alien?” enquired Merlin.
“The thing is,” said Rhea as she stepped back, “the front door is a tricky thing… and y’know what aliens are like...” She laughed nervously.
Merlin agreed, with a chuckle, “They’re terrible.”
“The locks are tricky, so…” Rhea averted her eyes and blocked her face, “the alien is gone.”
Merlin looked confused. “He’s not dead, is he?”
Rhea took a shaky breath as she gathered her wits to say her next words. “There has been a funny light in the sky the last few nights.”
Merlin’s eyes began to water. “BOB!!”
“Bob is no longer with us,” Rhea said, looking down.
“I trusted you with Bob,” said Merlin as she dropped to her knees.
Even though Merlin was in emotional turmoil, Rhea gained a dark twisted smile on her face…
