Pop The Popcorn Dragon and the Popcorn Dragon Planet - Spaceship 230 - A Bedtime Story

0:05 Hey, hello, friends from across the nation and around the world. I'm Martin, and you are listening to Dad's Bedtime Stories, the podcast that takes listener ideas and turns them into bedtime stories tonight. Our idea comes from a Spotify comment from someone named Luna. It's actually a different Luna than when I did an idea for another Luna in a Spotify comment, I believe, But in this case, Luna wrote in to say that she thought I should have a popcorn dragon that finds a corn planet and then we turn it into a card. And I don't think I can make the card thing happen because I'm doing it in the Spaceship universe, But the rest of that I think we can bring to life. If you like the podcast, don't forget to rate it and re view it wherever

1:00 you're listening. It really helps other people find it, you know, share the podcast with a friend. If you want to support me financially, you can join me on Patreon. And if you just really like my stories, why not check out my other podcast, Dad's Anytime Stories over there. I'm kind of taking some of the stories have already done, finishing them up, polishing them up and you know, presenting them book by book, season by season. Right now, I'm just finishing up the very last chapter of the first Cards of Power novel over there. So there are already sixteen chapters available, and the seventeenth is coming this week.

1:48 Maybe you're going on a road trip, or you just want a sort of an audiobook style thing to listen to. You can check it out at Dad's Anytime Stories available anywhere get podcasts. I think the logo will look familiar, only kind of more blue when we wrap up Cards of Power. I believe I'm gonna go on to Wizardcraft two point zero and that'll start in a couple of weeks. Yeah, check it out. But now it's that time again. Time to get as comfy as you can in that bed, close your eyes and imagine yourself doing what the kid in the story does. You wake up inside your very own spaceship. But for some reason, it smells kind of well delicious. It smells buttery and salty, the kind of smell that makes your stomach immediately begin to groan well

2:56 in the way that it does when it wants food. Anyways, Uh, spaceship, you say, as you sit up out of bed, why does the ship smell like popcorn? That is an excellent question, Spaceship answers, I have taken the liberty to move to what I believe will be a very interesting planet, the popcorn dragon planet. You immediately run out of the bedroom area into the main part of the ship and over to the huge viewscreen at the front. You see that the ship has indeed entered the atmosphere of another planet, and you're currently dropping down below the clouds below well, golden clouds that look like they're made of butter or something like that. So you're telling me that this planet is actually full of popcorn dragons, not just that, Spaceship replies,

4:06 The clouds themselves are full of a mixture of butter and salt. They rain down regularly and season the popcorn popcorn that has been popped by a group of dragons popcorn dragons, for lack of a better explanation. You look out the window as you glide down through the golden clouds. As you get closer, you see fields of tall corn stretching in every direction. But it's not just ordinary corn.

4:45 Each stalk is taller than a tree, with giant golden cobs hanging from the sides. Some of the cobs are as big as a car would be on Earth. Flying above the fields are are dragons, big dragons, small dragons, yellow dragons, red dragons, and even dragons with shiny scales the color of melted butter. They swoop low over the fields, take deep breaths, and breathe careful streams of fire across the giant corn cobs. The corn bursts into enormous clouds of fluffy, white popcorn, floating up from the fields like warm snow. The dragons dive through it, laugh and snap up mouthfuls as they go. Spaceship lands in a soft field near the edge of the popcorn meadow. The door opens up and that warm buttery air smell rushes inside.

6:01 You step out and well, your boots immediately sink into popcorn up to your ankles. Changer jumps out beside you, turns into a full sized dog and immediately starts bouncing through the popcorn like it's the greatest snow drift ever invented. This, you say, might be one of the coolest planets we've ever visited, although I mean we visited a lot of cool planets. That's kind of hard to say. Just then, a large shadow passes overhead. You look up and see a huge dragon soaring above the field. He breathes fire across an enormous cob, and the whole thing explodes into popcorn.

6:54 The dragon cheers, and well, mother dragons cheer too well, except for one particularly sad looking dragon that you notice sitting alone beside a rocky hill. He's much smaller than the others, though still big enough that you could easily climb on his back and fly around. His scales are soft gold and yellow, with little patches that look almost like popcorn kernels themselves. His wings are folded sadly around him, and his tail just draws little circles in the popcorn.

7:37 He watches the other dragons popping corn, but he doesn't join them for some reason. You move towards him and decide to well talk, Hi, you say. The little dragon looks down at you. His eyes are big and shiny. Oh hello, he answers. I'm well a visitor here, you explain, and this is my dog changer. Oh what's your name?

8:15 My name is pop says the dragon. You look around at the popcorn fields. That is a very good name for a popcorn dragon. Pop sighs deeply. It should be, but I almost never get to make anything pop. You sit down in the popcorn beside the dragon Changer trots over and gently rests a chin on Pop's front. Paw, Oh, what do you mean? You ask? Pop looks out at the fields, and he gets sadder as he does one hear Love's popcorn, He explains, that's sort of our whole deal.

9:09 We grow the corn, we dry the kernels, we heat them just right, and then we breathe fire and make the most delicious popcorn in the galaxy. That sounds amazing, You say it is, Pop says, but there are so many dragons, and the bigger dragons always get to pop the corn first. They say they have stronger fire, or they're faster, or they can gather kernels or sweep the fields better than I can. Lowers his head. But I want to breathe fire on the corn. I want to hear it pop. I want to watch it puff up into fluffy white clouds. I want to feel like a real popcorn dragon. You look over at the other dragons.

10:26 They're not being mean exactly. They're just loud and excited and busy. That doesn't seem fair, you say. Pop gives a small shrug. There's only so much corn ready at one time. By the time I get close, someone else has already popped it. That's really sad. You say, well, what if you came with us? What do you mean?

11:03 Pop asks, Well, we travel to different planets all of the time. Maybe spaceship could find another planet with like a lot of corn, then you could pop as much as you wanted, as much as I wanted. Pop says, looking somewhat excited. Well, as long as spaceship can find some sort of corn planet or something like that, you suggest, that should be relatively easy, the voice of Spaceship says, coming from your watch, I have searched my database and found several possible planets. However, one stands out above the rest.

11:52 This particular planet grows corn naturally, and it seems to have clouds that are very similar to those on this planet, clouds that produce both butter and salt. It is only a short trip away, Seriously, Pop asks. Indeed, Spaceship says, let me reshape and accommodate for the larger need of space. Spaceship, sitting over in the distance, begins to grow, then it grows just a little bit larger. Your ship can grow, Pop asks, h yeah, it can pretty much turn itself into anything. Honestly, come on, let's go check things out. You.

12:51 Changer and Pop climb aboard. Inside Spaceship has made a huge dragon sized cushion the back of the main room. Pop curls up carefully, trying not to bump anything with his giant tail. Changer jumps onto the cushion beside him and turns into a tiny dragon with floppy dog ears. Spaceship lifts up off of the popcorn dragon planet and rises into the sky below you. The golden fields grow smaller and smaller, until the whole planet looks like a like a buttery marble floating in space. Spaceship points itself in the right direction and immediately enters super hyper drive, a form of travel that creates a sort of wormhole around the entire ship. You pass through space, set and accelerated rate, before eventually coming to a stop outside another planet.

14:05 From high up, the planet looks sort of green and gold. Ah. Here we are an almost uninhabited planet with naturally growing fields of corn. The kernels are large, dry, and highly popable. Additionally, as I said, this particular planet rains butter and salt regularly. It should make for some very delicious popcorn. Pop stands up and moves towards the view screen. How much corn is there, he asks. Spaceship zooms in on the planet.

14:52 Golden fields cover almost every single continent, a great deal of corn, possibly too much. Pop's mouth falls open. There's no such thing as too much popcorn, he says. Spaceship drops down through the atmosphere and below the beautiful golden clouds. The place is beautiful. The oceans look like they're made of butter themselves, and the land is gold and green.

15:34 Fields ripple across the continents like waves, and tall corn plants almost the size of the ones on the Popcorn Dragon Planet. Sway in the wind, Spaceship lands in the middle of a wide golden field. The door opens, and the smell of butter flows inside. Though it's a little different than the Popcorn Planet, it's missing that popped corn smell.

16:09 I believe this particular field has dried sufficiently and is ready for popping, Spaceship says. Pop steps out of the ship slowly. For a moment, he doesn't speak at all. He just stares. Corn stretches all the way to the horizon, and no gigantic dragon swoop overhead. No one pushes past him, No one says, wait your turn, or maybe next time.

16:44 Pop takes a step forward, then another, Then he turns back to you. Would you like a ride, he asks you. Grin definitely. You climb carefully onto Pop's back, settling between his warm, golden shoulders. Changer, who's still in the form of a dragon with little floppy ears, steps out beside you, ready to follow. Pop spreads his wings with a powerful leap.

17:22 He launches into the sky. The wind rushes past your face, the corn fields sweet below in waves of golden corn, and you try to hold on as tight as you can. For the first time since you meet him, Pop doesn't look sad. He looks free. He circles above the nearest field. Ready, He calls back to you, Ah, whenever you are, you show back. Pop takes a deep breath, Then he breathes fire.

18:03 A bright, careful stream of orange flame sweeps across the tops of the giant corn plants. For a second, nothing happens, and then Pop the whole field erupts. Kernels burst into fluffy white popcorn popping up from the plants in great rolling clouds. The sound fills the valley like fireworks or something like that. Popcorn tumbles into the air, soft and warm and wonderful. Pop laughs so loudly that it echoes off the hills. I did it, he cries, I made it pop. He really did. Pop dives through the popcorn cloud, and for a moment you're surrounded by warm, white, fluffy popcorn.

19:06 Popcorn bounces off of your arms, your legs, your shoulders, pop lands in the middle of the field. The popcorn is piled so high that when you slide off of his back, you sink right into it. You fall backwards into the popcorn and laugh. It's soft and warm and well, smells pretty good. The only issue is it's completely dry.

19:37 Well too bad. It's not raining right now, you say, I believe that should change momentarily, Spaceship says, from your watch, my meteorological assessment tells me that it is ripe for butter rain to start. In three two one. You feel a small drop against your skin. You take a sniff, and well, it smells like butter, butter and salt. Then you hear more and more drops until it's pouring for just a second around you, the rain stops just as quickly as it started, and you find yourself sitting in a field of perfectly seasoned butter salt popcorn. You reach into the pile, grab a handful, and take a bite.

20:46 This is perfect, you say. Pop takes a few bites as well. Um delicious. Plus, there's nothing like making your own popcorn from scratch. It tastes even better that way. Man. For the next few minutes, you Pop and Changer feast on as much popcorn as you possibly can. This this is the best popcorn I've ever had, you say. You spend the afternoon flying from field to field. Pop breathes fire again and again. Golden corn pops into white clouds of popcorn, and well, Pop finally feels satisfied. He finally feels like a real popcorn dragon. I wish I could stay here forever, he says. You sit beside him. Eh, I mean you could. It's not like you'd go hungry.

22:05 Pop's smile fades a bit. But I would miss my cave, he says. And my friends, even the bigger dragons, they are annoying, but they are still my family. That makes sense. You say. Pop looks down at the popcorn between his claws. I wish I could be in both places. Spaceship's voice comes out of your watch once again. I may have a solution, he says, A portal, uh portal. Yes, Spaceship answers, we can build a portal here and another one on your home planet, perhaps inside your cave. Then you would be able to travel here anytime you wish. Pop lifts his head whenever I want. Yes, Spaceship answers, Can we really do that? He asks, We do it all the time.

23:25 In fact, we normally leave portals anywhere we travel. I have already begun construction of one. Spaceship floats up in the air and over towards where you and Pop are sitting in a field surrounded by perfectly seasoned popcorn. Little helper bots begin to fly out of the back of the ship. Little helper bots carrying pieces of a portal.

23:55 They start to snap the portal together on a flat patch of ground nearby where you're currently sitting, and weld it together into pieces. After a very short time, Spaceship announces portal complete at least on this side. Now we must place the other portal on Pop's home planet. The ship hovers down towards you and Pop Popcorn flies in every direction. As the ship comes for a landing right in front of you, you and Pop climb aboard. He curls up on his giant dragon cushion as you sit down in the command chair. The ship flies up out through the atmosphere before jumping into super hyper drive once again.

24:53 After a short trip, the ship stops and you find yourself flying above the Popcorn dragon planet. It's nighttime where Pop lives now, and the fields glow softly under the moon. As you come down for a landing, that's my cave right there, Pop says, you land just outside it. The back hatch opens up and Pop leads the way inside.

25:29 It's cozy with smooth stone walls, piles of soft straw, and uh, well, a whole bunch of popcorn kind of everywhere. This is my home. Pop says, it's nice. Then spaceship begins sending helperbots inside. Helperbots carrying little pieces of the portal that well, space is recently three D printed. They snap them together into place, weld them up, and soon the portal hums to life with a bright blue glow that looks kind of like water. I am programming access now, Spaceship says. The portal will only open for Pop, for you and for any approved guests that Pop allows approved guests.

26:33 Pop asks, yes, that means you will be able to decide whether or not to share this new planet. You can tell your friends if you wish, or you can keep it to yourself. Pop looks at the portal for a long moment. He is quiet, Then he nods. I think I will keep it a secret for now, he says, not forever maybe, but for a little while. I want to know what it feels like to be a true popcorn dragon. Again. That sounds fair. Pop gently touches the portal frame with one claw and the blue light disappears. Well, you say, it's probably time that we should get out of here. Thank you, Pop says, thank you for showing me what it means to be a true popcorn dragon.

27:49 I hope to see you again. Pop curls up in the corner of his cave on a bed of straw and well, Popcorn, you wave goodbye and walk out of the place. Changer, still the shape and size of a small dragon with floppy ears, follows closely beside. You both climb back onto the spaceship. Changer curls up on the little cushion without his larger friend, and you lay down on the couch. The ship lifts up off of the ground, flies up through the butter salt clouds, and disappears into space.

28:38 You listen to the gentle hum of the ship. The lights dim around you. You place your head down on a pillow at the side of the couch, and you simply close your eyes. With each breath, you start to sink down into the couch, bit by bit, letting go of any tension in your arms, any tension in your legs. You release your shoulders, your neck, and even your face, and with each breath you sink down deeper into the couch and your mind begins to wander off to thoughts of new dreams, new adventures, and well new types of dragons to come. Good night everyone, M M M.

33:53 Never Union Sam in.

39:25 New yor.

40:53 More Union nom thing more game.

45:23 M M.

48:00 One one

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