ALL NOVEL Loop 24 - A Ralth Tale
“We have a guest speaker today in the class. Most of you know him already, but for those who don’t, this is Ralth. Bug’s brother.” The capybaras broke into a loud applause, and several of them cheered as well.
“Yes, hello, everyone, it’s wonderful to meet those that I don’t already know. And thank you, Ethel, for extending me the opportunity to beguile your students with tales of my adventures.”
“What are you going to tell us today, Ralth?” One of the capybaras shouted.
“Today, I shall tell you all about the universal refugee train. You see, sometimes, before the Gryalth are able to completely extract all resources from a universe, it briefly becomes connected to an interdimensional system of rails. No one knows who built them or where they come from exactly, but on these rails travels an impossibly long series of train cars. They are pulled by a locomotive that runs on stars. While it passes through dying universes, all life it encounters are welcome aboard for as long as they would like to stay. Even the Grylath aren’t willing to interfere as every attempt has resulted in catastrophic consequences for them.”
“Have you ever ridden the train?” Bug interrupted.
“Ah, yes, long ago Camden and I boarded, but that is a long and rarely happy story that I am not yet prepared to tell.”