Stories from Among the Stars · Macmillan Audio

The House in the Cerulean Sea: 10

November 7, 2025·1 hr 5 min·5 clips

After a woman spits on a shop window at Talia, the 263-year-old gnome explains why a child who wasn't afraid of her represents more hope than the adult's hostility.

Merle doesn't move. Linus leans out of the van and tries to take charge, but his impatience immediately gives the children something to work with. Chauncey perks up at the talk of disaster. The van possibly going into the ocean sounds less frightening than fun, especially to Lucy and Chauncey. Zoe does not need to say anything. Her eyebrow does the job and leaves Linus with the ugly little fact that adult authority can set its own traps. He corrects himself, carefully, and still sounds brittle. This is patience performed under watch, not patience that comes easily. Then the episode ducks into the record store. Lucy arrives with that strange confidence of his, and for a little while the place seems to meet him where he is. J-Bone is easy with him. Their talk about the Big Bopper, Buddy Holly, the king, and Santo and Johnny lets Lucy sound briefly settled, almost like he has found the right room. Linus keeps his questions back. When Lucy mentions a real father who is not around, the story lets the shadow stay there instead of explaining it away. The store is warm, but not neat. J-Bone's resentment over becoming a personal injury attorney sits beside Lucy's blunt certainty that the record store is better. Talia is still unimpressed. At 263 years old, she finds Linus's hovering almost funny, though he cannot quite stop. Then the ending snaps colder. A classified message names Arthur Parnassus, the island, the old orphanage, and the cellar hidden in the garden. The key is waiting. The comic mess and tender errand end with Linus being pulled toward a truth already judged by someone else.

As heard by us

A warm chapter where curiosity and quiet menace share the same room.

Linus Baker spends the chapter trying to keep a ferry crossing, a van full of unusual children, and his own nerves from sliding out of hand. The comedy comes from how plainly the children read him, and the warmth comes from the way those exchanges build trust instead of…

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Why you'd press play

You want tenderness that keeps one hand on the latch.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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