Episode 1: The Big Green Ball
The stars stretched out forever, and through them drifted the cheeriest little ship in the whole galaxy — round, red, and plump, with a green leafy stem waving from its top. Inside sat Emil, his nose pressed to the round window, watching the universe slide gently by.
Bloop, bloop, sang the tomato-ship as it sailed through the glittering dark.
"Where shall we go today?" Emil wondered aloud. And just as he asked, something appeared on the horizon of space — something big, something round, something green.
"A planet!" Emil gasped. "And it looks just like a giant green ball!"
It was the most curious thing he had ever seen. Most planets were grey, or blue, or swirled with clouds. But this one glowed a soft, friendly green from pole to pole, perfectly smooth and round.
"We simply have to take a closer look," Emil decided, and he gave the little glowing button a press. Down, down, down went the tomato-ship, thrusters humming, until — fwoomp — it settled gently onto the surface.
And what a surprise awaited him! For when Emil stepped outside, he did not find rock or sand or ice. He found grass — soft, green, rolling grass that stretched in every direction as far as he could see.
"It's not a green ball at all," Emil laughed, wiggling his boots in the cozy turf. "It's one enormous lawn! That's why the planet looks so green from space!"
He was still giggling at the wonder of it when the grass beside him began to wiggle. Then it rustled. Then — pop! pop! pop! — up poked the smiling faces of little worms, blinking up at him with big, kind eyes.
Emil froze. The worms froze too. For a long moment, nobody moved.
Then the friendliest worm of all gave a happy wave. "A visitor!" it cheered. "A visitor from the stars!"
Soon Emil was surrounded by wriggling, beaming worms, all delighted to meet the small astronaut who had dropped out of the sky in a tomato. They were the gentlest creatures he had ever met.
"You must let us show you our home," said the friendly worm. "Our planet is far more than grass, you know. The real wonders are underneath."
Emil's heart thumped with excitement. "Underneath?"
"Come and see!" the worms chorused.
They led him bouncing across the lawn until they reached a great round hole in the grass, and out of it shone a soft, warm, golden light — glowing up from somewhere deep below.
The worms wriggled to the edge and looked back at Emil with sparkling eyes. "Down here," they said, "is the inside of our world."
Emil took a deep breath, grinned from ear to ear, and stepped toward the glowing hole.
And together, the little astronaut and his new worm friends began to climb down, down, down — into the heart of the big green planet.
To be continued in Episode 2...