Nothing Goes Right

Zorby’s antennae drooped as he sat cross-legged on a floating rock in the middle of his garden. Well, calling it a “garden” was generous—it was more of a bouncy jungle. The plants swayed this way and that, their bright colors and bubbly textures completely ignoring his attempts to make them sit still.

“Stop bouncing!” Zorby shouted at a particularly stubborn plant. The plant bounced even higher.

Zorby huffed, puffed out his cheeks, and turned to the sky. The stars twinkled cheerfully, as if mocking him. Why couldn’t they twinkle in a straight line? Or at least blink in the same rhythm! And don’t even get him started on the wind—it blew whichever way it wanted, making his antennae wobble.

“This planet is impossible,” he muttered, stomping his little green feet. “Everything should just listen to me for once!”

His neighbor, a tall, spindly alien named Gloop, wandered by with a watering can filled with glittering stardust. “Having trouble again, Zorby?” Gloop asked, barely hiding a chuckle.

“Trouble? This planet doesn’t do anything I want! The stars won’t twinkle right, the wind blows all wrong, and don’t even ask about the plants.” Zorby waved his arms dramatically, narrowly missing a bouncing flower.

Gloop raised an eyebrow and said with a laugh, “Maybe you need to move to

As-I-Say Planet,

where everything happens exactly as you want.”

Zorby froze. “What’s that?”

“It’s just a joke, Zorby,” Gloop said, shaking his head. But Zorby wasn’t listening. His eyes lit up.

“As-I-Say Planet…” Zorby whispered, a grin spreading across his face. “That’s it! That’s where I belong!”

Before Gloop could stop him, Zorby raced back to his little space pod. He packed a bag with essentials—his favorite snack pods, a shiny helmet, and his star map (even though he’d never read it properly). “Goodbye, annoying plants! Goodbye, bossy stars!” Zorby shouted as he climbed into his saucer.

The pod’s engine roared to life, and with a triumphant “Zooooom!” Zorby blasted off into space. “I’ll find you, As-I-Say Planet,” he declared. “And everything will finally go my way!”

Back in the garden, Gloop watered a bouncing plant and chuckled. “Poor Zorby,” he said. “He has no idea what he’s in for.”