Hosted by Dr. Pamela Gay.

A gentle fancy for the Christmas Season—an oft-told tale with a wistful twistful of Something that left the Earth with a wing and a prayer.

Earlier today, I had the stark realization that at the core of many Christmas stories is a core of sorrow or longing that must somehow be transformed into joy. Scrouge must learn charity. Ralphie longs for a bb gun and is betrayed by his joy. George is on the brink of suicide when his Guardian Angel intercedes. John McClane just needs to keep his wife alive (yes, Die Hard is a Christmas movie). Over and over, the holiday spirit can only enter on the wings of struggle.

This realization came to me as I looked for an old school (aka public domain) science fiction story to narrate for tomorrow's episode of 365 Days of Astronomy. The first story I came across (which I'll personally share tomorrow), was Arthur C Clarke's, "The Star" and it was too dark for that family-friendly podcast. Instead, I read "Second Landing," by Floyd Wallace. This story originally appeared in Amazing Science Fiction Stories.

Read it here: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/24958/pg24958-images.html

Written in 1960 by Floyd L. Wallace, this story is weirdly timeless and felt utterly necessary for this moment. Aliens learn of Earth from our broadcasts, and they fear we are on the verge of destroying ourselves with the bomb. To say more would be to reveal the plot.

I invite you to listen here and find hope in a world of too much darkness.

Merry Christmas.

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