The Souvenir That Wouldn't Quit

The Souvenir That Wouldn't Quit

From A Bedtime Story by Matthew Mitchell

April 13, 2026 · 6 min · Season 2 · Episode 34

About this episode

In this episode, Matthew Mitchell narrates the story of Jax, a courier stranded in a vibrant intergalactic marketplace.

Visit the “A Bedtime Story” show website to submit your story ideas for a future episode! Welcome to A Bedtime Story. I'm Matthew Mitchell, and tonight's story is titled The Souvenir That Wouldn't Quit, Part 1 of this week's series: The Midnight Curfew for Intergalactic Tourists. Jax was not having a particularly successful Tuesday. He stood in the middle of the Starlight Bazaar, a sprawling marketplace built into the side of a massive, hollowed-out asteroid. Above him, the artificial atmosphere was tinted a deep purple, shimmering with the reflected lights of thousands of neon signs and the flickering engines of passing shuttles. The air smelled faintly of burnt copper and spicy street food, but definitely not like the fresh morning air of Earth. Jax missed Earth. He missed gravity that didn't occasionally hiccup, and he missed coffee that didn't move when you tried to drink it. He was a courier by trade, or at least he had been until his ship, the Rusty Bucket, had developed a personality disorder and decided that the propulsion system was merely a suggestion. Now, he was stranded on the asteroid until he could find a part that cost more than his entire education. He wandered…

People in this episode

Host: Matthew Mitchell

Topics covered

  • intergalactic tourism
  • space market
  • adventure
  • science fiction
  • family stories

Keywords

  • souvenir
  • intergalactic
  • tourists
  • space
  • marketplace
  • adventure
  • Jax
  • Rusty Bucket

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Rusty Bucket

Places: Starlight Bazaar, Earth

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