My name is Bakana. You can call me Becky if you’re nice.

I was born on 16 August 1977 in Alice Springs, New South Wales. My mother died in childbirth. I’m sorry, mum. My father left her before I was born. I don’t know who or where he is – or why he left. It makes me angry sometimes. My grandparents could’ve raised me, yet the Australian government thought otherwise.

I’ve travelled the world, but have always lived in Australia. I’ve a PhD in Astrophysics and run Parkes Observatory in New South Wales. I’m mapping the Oort cloud this morning for a pet project of mine. Shh… don’t tell anyone, mate.

I divorced my husband five years ago. He cheated on me. After I found out, I dragged our bedroom mattress into the front yard, and set it alight. The fire brigade wasn’t too happy about it. The flames were three meters high when they arrived. I might’ve used a bit too much gasoline… oops. The 200-dollar fine was so worth it.

I am unable to have children. Yet if I could wish for a son, it would’ve been Rudy. He’s 18 years old and lives in Jakarta. He’s a good kid – and smart. He’s also a pain in the ass.

My best friend might be an American named Darryl. Both he and I search the stars for a living, but my radiotelescope is bigger than his 🙂 He’s a lot smarter than some people give him credit for. Darryl makes an effort to learn things and understand people – I respect that. Life hasn’t been fair to him or his daughter. They’re good people who deserved better.

What the hell… something’s on The Dish. There shouldn’t be anything out there. Ugh…if that’s Rudy screwing around again I’m going to throttle that little shit.

My name is Darryl. Lots of people misspell it. I was born June 15th, 1980 in Danville, Virginia, USA.

My wife died sixteen months ago in an automobile accident. The mountain roads here in West Virginia are unforgiving. Linda missed a turn and hit a tree on the way back into town. There was a fresh pecan pie waiting for me on the passenger seat. She knew it was my favorite.

Our daughter was only eleven when her mom died. Isobel blamed me for a while. It took a while longer for me to stop blaming myself.

I’m an engineering manager at Green Bank Observatory. My crew and I are recommissioning an inactive radiotelescope. The old dish needs some love and a kick in the ass to get it running again. Yet recent funding cuts have made it hella difficult.

There’s been a push to rebuild the Arecibo dish in Puerto Rico. I want to be the new director in charge. I think the change of scenery would be good for us. However, it’s not looking good for me. They want someone who can think squarely inside the box. I don’t like boxes.

My best friend could be an Bakana in Australia, even though we’ve not met face-to-face. We’ve known each other for a few years. She helped me cope when Linda died. She didn’t have to do that.

Becky has the kind of smarts that seem to come naturally. Yet she still worked damn hard to get where she is. I respect that. While she’s doing well now, it wasn’t always that way. She went through a nasty divorce a few years ago. She’s shared a few other things with me about her past. I don’t know the whole story, but I get life wasn’t fair to her. She deserved better.

Well that’s interesting. Becky’s calling me now. What the hell is she doing at the Dish on a Saturday? If she tells me her dish is bigger than mine again, I’m going to block her.

Call me Isobel 🙂 I just finished reading Moby Dick in high school… can you guess? I was born May 8th, 2014.

I’m almost thirteen years old. My mom died in a car crash a year and a half ago. I still miss her. I blamed my dad for a while. I hope he forgot about that.

My father and I live in West Virginia. I don’t always like it here. I feel like I don’t belong sometimes.

My father often works late. He was at the observatory when mom died. She was driving back from town at night and went off the road. That’s why I blamed him.

Dad doesn’t have a lot of friends. He’s got some at work – Kyle, Veera, and Glenn. There’s also Becky, but she works at Parkes Observatory in Australia. We talk sometimes. She seems like a nice person. I like her.

Dad has been stressing about a job he really wants. It’s in Puerto Rico. Mom was born there. I think it would be fun to see a new place. I’m worried dad wants to move there only because mom wanted to. That would be sad, don’t you think?

Just got a text from dad. Looks like he’s working late again. I hope it’s important.

I’m Rudy. I was born 16 Juni 2008I’m almost thirteen years old. My mom died in a car crash a year and a half ago. I still miss her. I blamed my dad for a while. I hope he forgot about that.

My father and I live in West Virginia. I don’t always like it here. I feel like I don’t belong sometimes.

My father often works late. He was at the observatory when mom died. She was driving back from town at night and went off the road. That’s why I blamed him.

Dad doesn’t have many friends. He’s got some at work – Kyle, Veera, and Glenn. There’s also Becky, but she works at Parkes Observatory in Australia. We talk sometimes. She seems like a nice person. I like her.

Dad has been stressing about a job he really wants. It’s in Puerto Rico. Mom grew up there. I think it would be fun to see a new place. I’m worried dad wants to move there only because mom wanted to. That would be sad, don’t you think?

Just got a text from dad. He’s working late again.

My name is Jake. I was born on April 16th, 1988. I’m not having a good day.

Where do you go from being tired? It’s not exhausted – at least not for me. It’s a feeling of complete resignation. It’s knowing I’m a fucking loser and am going to stay that way.

I’m alone at work in the canteen trying not to cry in my expired blueberry yogurt. How the hell did I become so… irrelevant?

Some say it doesn’t matter where you’re from, but where you’re going. And I’m going nowhere.

For a long time I thought I was smart. Imagine that… despite a middling education in a shit school! I know better now. Knowing is half the battle, right? A lot of good that does when the war’s already over.

“Maybe success would be easier if I had been more curious, read more, learned more, hadn’t been so intellectually lazy – or just plain lazy. Some things you just can’t make up lost time on.

I am so frustrated cking n d it hurts. I’m an asterisk.

And my stomach hurts. Fucking yogurt.

Call me Isobel 🙂 I’m almost thirteen years old. My mom died in a car crash a year and a half ago. I still miss her. I blamed my dad for a while. I hope he forgot about that.

My father and I live in West Virginia. I don’t always like it here. I feel like I don’t belong sometimes.

My father often works late. He was at the observatory when mom died. She was driving back from town at night and went off the road. That’s why I blamed him.

Dad doesn’t have many friends. He’s got some at work – Kyle, Veera, and Glenn. There’s also Becky, but she works at Parkes Observatory in Australia. We talk sometimes. She seems like a nice person. I like her.

Dad has been stressing about a job he really wants. It’s in Puerto Rico. Mom grew up there. I think it would be fun to see a new place. I’m worried dad wants to move there only because mom wanted to. That would be sad, don’t you think?

Just got a text from dad. He’s working late again.

Call me Isobel 🙂 I’m almost thirteen years old. My mom died in a car crash a year and a half ago. I still miss her. I blamed my dad for a while. I hope he forgot about that.

My father and I live in West Virginia. I don’t always like it here. I feel like I don’t belong sometimes.

My father often works late. He was at the observatory when mom died. She was driving back from town at night and went off the road. That’s why I blamed him.

Dad doesn’t have many friends. He’s got some at work – Kyle, Veera, and Glenn. There’s also Becky, but she works at Parkes Observatory in Australia. We talk sometimes. She seems like a nice person. I like her.

Dad has been stressing about a job he really wants. It’s in Puerto Rico. Mom grew up there. I think it would be fun to see a new place. I’m worried dad wants to move there only because mom wanted to. That would be sad, don’t you think?

Just got a text from dad. He’s working late again.

Call me Isobel 🙂 I’m almost thirteen years old. My mom died in a car crash a year and a half ago. I still miss her. I blamed my dad for a while. I hope he forgot about that.

My father and I live in West Virginia. I don’t always like it here. I feel like I don’t belong sometimes.

My father often works late. He was at the observatory when mom died. She was driving back from town at night and went off the road. That’s why I blamed him.

Dad doesn’t have many friends. He’s got some at work – Kyle, Veera, and Glenn. There’s also Becky, but she works at Parkes Observatory in Australia. We talk sometimes. She seems like a nice person. I like her.

Dad has been stressing about a job he really wants. It’s in Puerto Rico. Mom grew up there. I think it would be fun to see a new place. I’m worried dad wants to move there only because mom wanted to. That would be sad, don’t you think?

Just got a text from dad. He’s working late again.