CHAPTER 1

A voice was heard in the distance, “Please, grant my wish. Give me a way to send a message to my father. I wish to tell him how much I miss him and how I have grown. I want to make him proud knowing I care for our family every day.”

It was Jacob, a young boy from a seaport village. He was an average-sized child for his age of thirteen. His red hair was messy and windblown. It was a chilly fall night, Jacob’s jacket collar was up around his ears, and his cold hands were nestled in his pockets. He had just finished up at the fishing docks where he cleans and repairs nets for local fishermen.

It had been a year since his father, a mariner, went to sea to support his family. Jacob, the eldest son, was entrusted with caring for his mother and younger brother. Each night after work, Jacob would speak with many of the returning sea merchants in the hopes of learning his father’s whereabouts or when he might return.

On the way home, Jacob stopped by the shoreline to gaze at the star-painted sky. Jacob noticed that tonight there was a magnificent constellation. As he gazed upon it, he wished for his father’s return. As if his words had been heard, a star twinkled as though it was winking at him. In amazement, Jacob watched the star zig-zag across the sky.

Suddenly it turned and began to descend. With a strange feeling that something wondrous was about to occur, Jacob stood perfectly still in a moment of overwhelming expectation.

The star seemed to be heading straight for him. As it approached, it became clear that it was not a star after all. As the glowing object moved closer, it started to take on a familiar shape. The star-lighted figure landed with a soft thud in front of him.

Shimmering just a few feet away from him, the object began to move. Jacob slowly approached the figure only to find it was a small green bottle with twiggy thin arms and legs.

The bottle had a round globe-like cork that looked like a spinning planet. As it stood up, Jacob saw two large friendly eyes. The little bottle then winked, and a warm goofy smile appeared on its face. Surprisingly, the bottle began to speak.

“Hello Jacob, I am Tobias Frogga”
said Tobias.

“You can talk!” Jacob exclaimed.

“Talk, dance, siiiiIIIIINNNNNGGGGGG!!!!” Tobias replied with a laugh. “I’ve come to fulfill your wish. My fellow messengers decided that I’m the man… well, the bottle for you. “How is this possible?” Jacob asked.

Tobias explained that he is part of an elite group of twelve messengers called The InterGalactic Messengers. Their mission is to unite people with messages of hope and inspiration. He told about Lady Josephine Boteilli, the first messenger born of original stardust during the creation of the Universe.

Tobias continued the story about himself and the other messengers. He went into detail about how they were created one by one with the help of Lady Josephine.

In the beginning formation of the Universe, certain stars had special magical powers. Since Lady Josephine was the first messenger, she was gifted with the ability to search out these stars and create additional messengers. She searched each unique star, one by one, over the millennium. Lady Josephine brought into being each of the eleven messengers as the stars formed and the galaxies settled into the Universe we know today.

“Although there is much more to this magical story, it will have to wait to be continued at another time,” Tobias stated as he paused for a moment. He popped off the globe-like cork on his head and pulled out a writing scroll and feather pen.

Tobias said, “It is now time for you to write a note to your father.” Jacob took a moment to write to his father.

Jacob thought deeply about what to write to his father. He sat on the shoreline and crafted the best message he could that expressed his feelings. There was a lot to put on this little sheet of scroll paper. His mind overflowed with words. Jacob’s heart soared with the idea of contacting his father through this little bottle, Tobias.

Jacob wished his father well and told him he was missed and loved. Then he asked him to return as soon as he could. He also told him not to worry, for everyone was well. Jacob signed his name with love. With the anticipation of connecting to his father, he handed the scroll to Tobias.

“Got it!” said Tobias as he rolled up the scroll, inserted the message, and then put the globe-like cork back into place. “Consider it delivered.

I’m sure your father will be very excited to hear from you.”

As Tobias was preparing to leave, Jacob pulled out a little treasure chest he had carved out of a piece of driftwood he found. Inside the little treasure chest was a small gold coin Jacob had saved from his earnings

“Could you also please give this to my father?” asked Jacob. “It is a birthday gift I had intended to give him upon his return.”

“Jacob, I’m an InterGalactic Messenger. It is my mission to carry out wishes for people in need,” Tobias proclaimed as he took the gift from Jacob. “Oh boy, look at the time! I better get going,” said Tobias.

Before leaving, Tobias handed Jacob a lantern. Tobias told Jacob that whenever he needs to send a message, just light the lantern and put it in his window. Tobias explained that the lantern was a beacon that would summon him or one of the other messengers.

Immediately after finishing his sentence, a beam of light from the starlit sky stretched to the edge of the shoreline.

Tobias stepped onto the glowing beam, then glided back into the evening sky.

CHAPTER 2

Far across the sea, a tired street vendor pushed a wooden cart through a tiny village on a remote island. “Oysters! Clams! Muscles! Nothing but the most delicious seafood here!” he called out. People stopped and purchased his fine seafood as they walked through the street market. It had been a very busy day, and he started on his way home. The vendor had been stranded on the island for quite some time. He was selling seafood to earn enough money to return to his family.

On his way down a dimly lit street, the vendor’s mind wandered to his missed loved ones. He wished he could get word to his family that he would be home soon.

As he turned the corner at the end of the alley, he saw a flash of light shine down where a small figure appeared.

The Street vendor stopped abruptly. He stood for a long moment rubbing his eyes and re-checking the object standing in the middle of the cobblestone alley. No matter how many times or how hard he rubbed his eyes, he still saw the short shimmering figure.

The large shadow cast by the small figure’s glow confirmed that it was an unusually shaped bottle, topped with a round spinning object.

The little bottle turned around to face the vendor. With wide eyes and a big smile, the bottle started moving towards him, doing a funny jiggy march or shuffle. The vendor finally decided that this animated bottle was actually real.

The bottle was bobbing his shoulders up and down. His arms hung down toward the ground, and his index fingers were pointed slightly in the direction he was walking. His feet moved with a slide as he progressed forward towards the vendor. With the soft echo of music from the street market, the shuffle looked like some kind of dance.

“Hi,” said the little bottle, “I am Tobias Frogga. You must be Jacob’s Father.” “Yes I… I am, my name is Ben,” answered the street vendor. Doing his odd little dance, Tobias moved closer to Ben and reached out his hand. Ben, with a short hesitation, reached out his hand as well.

Ben shook hands gently with Tobias, trying not to rattle him or his thin little arm. “Not to be rude, but you are a bottle,” stated Ben, still in a state of disbelief. Ben leaned back and sat on the edge of his vendor cart. “This is true, but I am more than a mere bottle. I am an InterGalactic Messenger, and I have a message for you from your son, Jacob,” said Tobias.

Ben was puzzled as to how this unique bottle person found him. Not long ago, Ben was a ship hand on a trading vessel called the Coral Reef. Ben had left his eldest son Jacob in charge at home. On a stormy night, the vessel was shipwrecked off the coast of this tiny Caribbean island. It was a cool night, the waters were calm, and the breeze was soft. The Captain assigned Ben and one other sea mate to the helm. Without warning, the wind started to blow with incredible force. Ben and his shipmate tried to pull down the billowing sails.

As Ben lowered the sails, the rope tangled around the mast. Suddenly there was a strong gust of wind. With a loud crack, the mast broke in half. It plummeted through the center of the ship’s hull. The mast made such a huge impact that pieces of the ship’s deck flew out into the dark water. The untimely fate of the ship was clear.

The Coral Reef was going down quickly. Upon the order from the Captain, they all abandoned the ship. Ben and his shipmates used the pieces of wreckage to make their way to shore. The ship sank with the belongings and earnings of the crew. As they watched the Coral Reef disappear into the darkness, so did the dreams of their rich return home. Instead, they were stranded on a remote island.

Most of the sailors were able to find work on other vessels. Since Ben took responsibility for the shipwreck, he could not find work onboard another ship. Ben needed money for sea fare and wanted to get home as quickly as possible. He was also willing to work hard wherever there was work. Ben got the idea to build a vendor cart with the pieces of the hull from the ship that washed up on the beach shoreline.

With the new cart, Ben could trade with the visiting ships and sell their seafood to earn his way. Unfortunately, the ships that traded on this island did not go directly to his home. Therefore, Ben could not get word back to his family about his whereabouts.

“How did you find me?” asked Ben. “Jacob would have told you I was a mariner on a merchant’s vessel.” “We have our intuitive ways and special talents,” Tobias said with a wink.

Tobias reached up and popped his cork. With the round cork spinning effortlessly on his finger, he retrieved the rolled-up scroll with his other hand and handed it to Ben.

With a dreamlike feeling of anticipation, Ben reached for the scroll. As if expecting to wake up at any moment, he unrolled the scroll with excitement.

He recognized the handwriting immediately. It could only be that of his son Jacob. Ben had been the one to teach his son to write. Jacob still wrote his letter “J” in his own way. No matter the effort to correct this, Jacob continued to write his name in his style.

As Ben read the scroll, his heart filled with warmth from hearing from his son. Ben’s gratitude for this little bottle grew because of the scroll it delivered to him. It renewed his strength to press on, get back to his family and begin with a fresh start.

“Could I send my family my love and tell them I am working to get back to them soon?” Ben asked. “I am just the man, err bottle, for such a job,” said Tobias, “But wait, I have a gift from your son.” Tobias handed Ben a little wooden chest. Ben took the treasure chest and looked inside. “What is this?” asked Ben as he held out a gold coin.

“Jacob saved this coin for your birthday, so… Happy Birthday!” answered Tobias.

Ben started to glow with enthusiasm. The coin would be enough to get him home with what he had saved, leaving just a little bit to spare. With that, Ben stood up and mimicked the bottle dance he had seen Tobias do when he arrived.

“So you wanted to send a message, did you?” asked Tobias with laughter as he witnessed the jiggy shuffle Ben imitated. “I sure do,” exclaimed Ben. “Sorry about the dance.” “Happens all the time,” Tobias replied with a broad smile.

Tobias whipped out a new scroll and a feather pen and handed them to Ben. Ben shrugged off the amazement of it all and accepted the reality that he was, in fact, articulating and dancing with a bottle. Ben sighed happily and finished writing his note. Quickly, Tobias took the scroll, placed it inside, and corked his top.

Tobias stared at Ben with a warm and inviting look on his green bottle face. He stood up straight and looked directly into Ben’s eyes. Ben felt a warm glow surround his heart. Tobias began to speak in a proud and regal manner. “Ben, you have been given a gift of hope. This gift will stay in your heart and never leave you. Wherever you find yourself in this world, try and pay forward the kindness you have received.

Do not leave the helpless without hope. Do not leave the lost without a guiding light. Safeguard your world and spread what I have made known to you. This is the mission of the InterGalactic Messengers.”

As Tobias finished his speech, he handed an insignia to Ben. Ben looked at the insignia; it was a comet blasting through the cosmos with the letters IGM centered and the words InterGalactic Messengers on top. On the back of the comet insignia were the words…

Be well, Have Gratitude, and Spread Goodwill

With one more little jiggy dance move, Tobias winked and was gone as quickly as he appeared.

Aboard a ship, a happy street vendor looked forward into the sea breeze. He dreamed of home, a son who helped get him there, and how he would continue spreading the messages of a funny little bottle named Tobias. Without realizing it, Ben shuffled down the deck doing the bottle dance.

He only noticed what he was doing when he sensed all eyes were upon him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone else start doing the unusual jiggy shuffle. This is when he felt his heart and soul warm with anticipation of seeing his family and friends. He then realized the power of the gift he was given down deep inside and how he would be able to share it with others.

The End

(or a new Beginning)