✦An original make-believe story
The Planet with Two Mornings
Ravi’s imaginary visit to a planet with two suns begins with a missed meeting. He learns to ask how his new friends tell the time.
A story to read together
The Planet with Two Mornings
Take your time. Let the story unfold.
Ravi drew a planet with two suns in Grandma’s story notebook. One sun was gold and the other pale pink. “Does everyone get two breakfasts?” Grandma asked. Ravi laughed and drew a little landing place beside a garden. In their make-believe adventure, he stepped off his paper spacecraft carrying a notebook and a very ordinary clock. He was sure the clock would help him understand everything that happened next.
The breakfast invitation
A friendly pebble-shaped being named Pella invited Ravi to breakfast at the round table. “Come at morning,” Pella said. Ravi looked at the gold sun rising above the hills and hurried over. The table was empty. He waited, checked his clock, and wondered whether the invitation had been a joke. Later, when the pink sun appeared over a different hill, Pella arrived with a bowl of blue fruit. “You are early,” she said. Ravi held up his clock. Pella looked interested rather than convinced.
Two uses for one word
Ravi explained what morning meant at home. Pella explained that her neighbours called the pink sunrise their gathering morning. The gold sunrise began a quieter working period. Their imaginary planet had its own habits, and Ravi had guessed instead of asking. Pella was learning too: she had not realised that her invitation could mean something different to a visitor. They sat beneath a striped awning and compared their ways of describing the day. Ravi drew both suns, leaving space for notes beside each one.
A signal they could share
For their next meeting, Ravi suggested using a clock number. Pella suggested naming a sun. They decided to add a signal that both could recognise: three small glowing stones beside the table meant the meal was ready. Ravi would not have to know every local word immediately, and Pella would not have to learn his whole clock before they could eat together. Their signal was useful for this meeting. They still asked questions when plans changed or someone new wanted to join.
The page with two suns
When the paper spacecraft returned to the notebook, Ravi drew the round table under its striped shade. He added three dots beside it. Grandma asked whether his clock had been useless. “No,” Ravi said. “It told me something I understood. It did not tell me what Pella meant.” He liked that difference. On the next page, he began planning another journey, this time with a question at the top of his drawing. Before deciding that something was late, strange, or wrong, he would ask how it worked for the people who lived there.
The end
After the final page
There is no single right answer. Invite young readers to notice, wonder and imagine.
Why did Ravi miss the meaning of the invitation?
What did Pella learn about being clear with a visitor?
Why were the glowing stones useful to both friends?
Make something: Invent a place with one unfamiliar custom. Draw a signal that could help a visitor, and write one question the visitor should ask.
