Liz and the Orbitals

Liz? Is that you? I thought you died four years ago.

I'm alive, Dad. Not a ghost and not dead either. I'm in orbit, living with two men who are my fathers now.

Sirius and Remus? Your friends from school?

Yeah, but they're more than just my friends now. They saved me. And I saved them too. We're a family now.

But you've never been in space before, how could you be there?

I'll tell you later, but first, tell me, is Mom still dead or did she die again?

No, Liz, she's still alive. She's sick and doesn't have long to live though. But if you were here with us we would all be happy to see you and be a family again. Please come back home!

Sorry Dad, but I can't do that any more. I'm happy up here and I'm going to stay here with Remus and Sirius and the others that live here too. They're helping me grow up into a woman so I can be ready for when I get married someday.

Oh no Liz! You know it's dangerous for little girls your age to get married! And what about your education? Who will pay for that? You don't even have any money!

Well Dad, we don't need any money at all because we don't need to buy anything any more! Everything is free up here! The food and everything else is provided by machinery within our spacesuits whenever we need it. We do venture outside to plant items such as vegetables and flowers along the exterior of our base where heat shields are absent, allowing plants to receive sunlight. Additionally, we have a greenhouse built within one of the docking ports where we grow vegetables year-round and even maintain fishponds where fuel tanks once were. Since there's no rain up here, we must recycle fluids like tears, sweat, and urine for irrigation purposes. It's like having Mother Nature herself living with us!

Oh my God, Liz... I know this sounds crazy but it seems like these men might be taking advantage of you somehow. This isn't normal! When did all this start happening?

Well Dad, this occurred right after terrorists shot down your plane over Iraq four years ago...

What?! You're saying that was an intentional attack?! It wasn't just some accident?!

YES, DAD! THEY KNEW EXACTLY WHERE YOUR PLANE WAS AND SHOT YOU DOWN SO THEY COULD HAVE ME ALL TO THEMSELVES!!! Those terrorists are Remus and Sirius' fathers-in-law because they hate people who are different so much that they tried to kill them too, so they couldn't adopt me as their daughter!!

Oh my God... So why didn't those terrorists kill them as well? Why didn't they kill you too?!

[laughs] Oh, Dad, remember how devastating the terrorist attack on New York City was on 9/11? That same thing happened again at Ground Zero, but this time with an additional tower! It was horrible, and everyone died except for Remus and Sirius. They had just finished maintenance work on their spacecraft when their ship was struck by debris from the falling towers. Miraculously, they survived and managed to put one of their spacesuits back together. Venturing into space, they found six other people, including me, who were lost amid the chaos of the buildings collapsing, and rescued us. After floating through space for months, NASA finally found and brought us into orbit where we could live safely. Some other people who had been blown out of planes during wartime over Syria two years ago were also rescued and brought here. Now, there's a whole community of us living together up here, including families and children.

[crying] Oh, Liz... It certainly sounds remarkable... Are you sure your mothers know about all this? Do they know where you are? What about these men and their intentions?

[getting irritated] Of course, they do, Dad! They love Remus and Sirius just as much as I do now! Don't worry about Mom or her illness – everything is perfect for us up here now. In fact, since she started eating the vegetables grown in our greenhouse, she has been feeling much better! So please stop talking about her dying or getting sick! We believe that Jesus is blessing us with His infinite goodness from beyond the stars! [hangs up]

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