The Chronicles of Blue: Rule Seventeen 👽

Sleep Tight Stories - Bedtime Stories for Kids

Blue, an alien newcomer adjusting to life on Earth, spots a curious girl named Ada across the cafeteria and devises a silent code using lunc

Key takeaways

• Nonverbal communication can build meaningful connections even under strict rules.

Main topics

• Alien integration on Earth
• Nonverbal communication

Notable quotes

"She'd improved his encoding without being asked, was working on something he couldn't identify…"

Conclusion

Though uncertain of their future paths, Blue chooses to believe Ada's

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:01) My Speaker 1 (0:08) name is Ria. Welcome to Sleep Tight Stories. Blue Speaker 2 (0:25) is in the cafeteria with Red at the base, where they are going through orientation about their new lives on Earth. Blue sees a girl across the cafeteria and is curious about her and what she is doing. Speaker 2 (0:43) She is reading a book that looks like something Blue would like, and he would like to ask her about it. But they are not allowed to talk to each other until they have been cleared by their handlers. So they find a way to communicate without saying a word. The Chronicles of Blue, Rule 17. Speaker 2 (1:19) Blue stared at his plate, trying to decide if he dared, or if, like Red, he should escape to their small room without disturbing the rather capable-looking host in the cafeteria. She had muscles on top of her muscles, and even when she smiled, looked very serious. Speaker 2 (1:43) To the left of his plate were some rather plain-looking strips of what they called fries, which didn't make much sense. How is a verb a noun? English was a weird language to Blue, though he was much better at it than Red, who refused to watch the old Earth shows he watched. That was where Blue learned all the best English phrases, like gee whiz, holy smokes, and what in tarnation. He wasn't entirely sure what a tarnation was, but Earth people seemed to encounter them constantly. Speaker 2 (2:32) The strips of potato tasted okay, and Red had eaten hers before she snuck away. But those square-shaped blocks of something called nuggets were not very appetizing at all. Nothing natural would have the exact same irregular shape. Speaker 2 (2:54) Someone had worked pretty hard to make them look this way, which Blue found both funny and a little concerning. Like Earth people knew exactly what they were doing and had decided not to think about it too hard. Speaker 2 (3:11) When she was working through her fries, Red had asked the host what the odd-looking squares were. The host was cheerful about it. Earth children loved these. Very popular. Absolute favorite. Somewhere in there came the word chicken. Red took one bite and not another and left Blue alone at the table. To the top of the plate was a yellow liquid, called a sauce apparently. He dipped his finger in. Very sweet and very spicy. Two flavors he hadn't had much experience with. He took a nugget, the host said you do this, and dipped it before taking a bite. It made it acceptable. He ate three and pushed the tray away. Speaker 2 (4:13) As he waited for a reaction from his stomach, Blue looked around the cafeteria. It was largely empty considering its size. A couple of handlers and a few families at other tables, all carefully not talking to each other. A woman by the service counter with a clipboard. A water dispenser near the wall that dripped every 30 seconds. Blue had been counting. He didn't have a pad. The science books in the base common room were what the hosts called age-appropriate, which Blue had figured out meant written for someone who needed the diagrams explained slowly and with encouragement. Speaker 2 (5:04) He'd read the best one in ten minutes and found two errors in