Kim was having a really rotten day. She’d been in her second favourite lesson; ART! Everything went wrong from the moment she stepped through the door to the moment she left the classroom.

1. Whilst getting some paint, she managed to spill an entire pot of blue paint all over her top and skirt.
2. To make matters worse, she then slipped on the spilt paint and ended up falling onto the teacher’s lap. HOW EMBARRASING!!!
3. She then transferred most of the paint from her clothes onto the clothes of her teacher! DOUBLE EMBARRASING!!!

 

Unfortunately, her teacher was in a particularly bad mood (and was wearing an expensive pair of trousers) that day. So he sent Kim straight to the headmaster’s office.

“Never have I…”

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing!”

“…ring your parents…”

The headmaster went on and on and on and on like this forever… and just when she thought he’d finished, he decided to go on and on a bit more.

It was so boring!

He then said something that made Kim’s heart sink like a stone dropped into a bowl of melted, mouldy beans.

“You are banned from Rocket Pilot Class from now on!”

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

This was quite possibly the worst punishment in the history of the world EVER.

Kim absolutely loved Rocket Pilot Class. In her opinion there was no better lesson. She enjoyed the freedom of whooshing through space at top speed and exploring new and exciting planets and moons.

She had always secretly hoped to discover a brand new planet that she could name “Rainbow Planet”. Unfortunately it looked like she wouldn’t be making any discoveries any time soon.

It was the combination of all these things that made her do something that she would later regret…

Kim stormed out of the Headmaster’s office, determined to get home before the head had a chance to phone her mum…

On her way through the school playground, she spotted one of the school rockets.

The caretaker had been fixing its Satellite Navigation System (the one that keeps the rocket from getting lost). However, he hadn’t actually got round to repairing it properly as Ms Chapstick, the school nurse, required his help in extracting a reception boy from the anti gravity toilet flushing device.

She stomped towards the rocket, face scrunched up in a frightening mask of rage. She flung the rocket door open and jumped into the pilot’s seat.

She slammed her postcode into the Sat Nav and the rocket roared into life.

Up, up into the sky it blasted, slicing through the air like a knife through hot noodles.

Up, up it travelled, getting further and further away from school, from her home, from Planet Earth.

Up, up through the atmosphere, up where the air is clear…

The Earth was now a marble, floating in a black sea of unlit paint.

Within seconds the Earth had got even smaller until it vanished like a white rabbit from a magicians top hat.

It was around this time that Kim began to panic. Sweat broke over her like a tsunami…

Suddenly the Sat Nav on the rocket began to make an ear piercing screech. Instantly, Kim pushed a ginormous red button that was clearly labelled ‘DO NOT PUSH!’ Alarmed, Kim noticed that the rocket was going down faster and faster. A few moments later, the rocket began to fall down, down and down. Screaming like a baby not getting it’s own way, Kim was petrified and her stomach was in her mouth. Gripping for dear life, she held on to the plastic chair. BANG! From a distance, Kim peered out of the enormous window and saw an unknown planet. The planet looked unusual with gilded floppy trees and rainbow coloured dust. Although Kim knew nothing about space, she knew she was going somewhere strange! Had she discovered her ‘Rainbow Planet’? 

Meanwhile, back on earth, Kim’s head master talked to her parents.

“Kim had a few issues today, not only did she cover her teacher in paint but she stormed out and no one can find her!”

Kim’s parents sat there open mouthed.

Back in space, Kim put on her space suit and helmet and opened the door. She took a deep breath and got out of the rocket by pressing the ‘out’ button. Kim panicked but knew an adventure had begun! By this point, Kim’s hands and arms were sweaty and moist. Running as fast as a tornado, she tripped and hit her head on the floor. The next thing she knew, she was being carried by several aliens. Next Kim heard a strange noise, the aliens were speaking!! The aliens spoke in Gooble Abel Lang.

“Pechoo caca lo la?” Asked one alien.

Kim was stunned . “Where am I?” She looked around and gasped.  A huge red eye in the centre of a multi-coloured octopus type creature, was staring at her.  A sharp blade like a helicopter propeller, was attached to the top of its head. It spun around wildly. It sounded like the humming of her fridge at home, in the middle of the night. Were these the Octapelas she’d learnt about in her space history class with Mr Beatty, she wondered.  These aliens had once been humans but had been kidnapped by the Lazerons and taken to the Rainbow Planet. Luckily that meant they could speak English.

A long green and purple tentacle tapped her gently on the shoulder.  “Please will you be our leader and help us destroy the evil Lazerons?” asked the chief Octapela in a soft voice.

“But why me?” Kim was puzzled. “I’m not very strong or brave.”

“You are our only hope.  No one has landed on our planet for centuries. You must rescue us.”  The chief continued. “We will take you to our underground hide-out”.

The Octapelas took Kim gently by the arms and using their propellers flew across the rainbow-coloured craters.

“What’s the plan?” asked Kim.

“We’re going to crawl through a tunnel that we’ve made that goes under the Lazeron’s palace and attack the guards and destroy them.”

“But first would you like some food? asked the smallest Octapela. “All we have is some soup.”

Kim looked at the bowl of green slime and felt sick.  “No thanks, I’ve got something in my pocket.”

“Here, take one of the weapons we stole from the Lazerons.” said another Octapela.

Kim examined the gun.  It was black and shiny and looked like a hand with four red finger-like spikes with sharp, pointed nails at the end.

“The nails shoot out a poison that kills instantly” explained the Octapela chief.  “You look like you need to rest.” said another Octapela.

“Yes, I’m exhausted.” Kim lay down on the rainbow coloured floor and closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.

“Time to go,” whispered the chief, as he helped her to her feet.

Kim was nervous.  Her heart was pounding. But she knew she had to go. She put the Lazeron gun carefully in her pocket and followed the Octapelas  towards a locked door that led to the passage-way as they hovered above her.

“It’s really narrow and dark in here”. said Kim.

“Don’t worry, our eyes are luminous and light up in the dark.” said one of the Octopelas.

Silently Kim crawled along the passage-way and the Octopelas followed her.

“We are at the palace.” said the Octopelas.

“How will we get in?” asked Kim.

“Hold on to our tentacles and we will fly you up. Then we will use the spinners on our heads to drill a hole.”

Just as Kim crawled through the hole she spotted two Lazerons coming towards her.  They were bright green and scuttled around on their eight legs like monster spiders. A terrifying eye, in the middle of their bodies, shot out lazer beams. Kim could see arrow headed hands on every one of their eight legs, ready and waiting to shoot out sticky, deadly venom. At the end of each antenna there was a mini hole that fired out bullets.

She pulled out her nail gun and fired.

“Bulls eye!”  She shouted. Two Lazerons  lay dead on the ground.

She turned around and saw the Lazeron army coming towards her. “Oh no!”she yelled.

She started shooting but soon she had used up all her amo.

“AAAAAAhhhhh! I’ve been hit!” she screamed.

 She looked up and saw that she was surrounded by Lazerons. They dragged her to a pit full of deadly aliens, and threw her in.

 She could feel the pressure in her heart pumping quickly and loudly. She suddenly felt fear spreading all over herself. Trembling, Kim stood up and heard a faint hissing sound coming from the shadows of the surrounding, colossal, pit walls. Deadly aliens!

As cautious as a lioness hunting her prey, Kim slipped her hand into her pocket. She could feel her favourite pencils pricking her fingers. Fumbling even deeper into her back pocket, Kim grasped her pen knife from the camp she had been to the day before. Scraping the end of the pencils with the serrated blade she sharpened her pencils, crafting them into deadly weapons. Mini spears.

Kim took a deep breath, this would either work or end treacherously. She stabbed the deadly aliens straight through their precious eye with her transformed pencil. They screamed in agony and disintegrated, turning to a puddle of gloop (alien slime) on the muddy floor. Relieved, Kim sat down, “Now those terrifying aliens will be having a hard time in Tartarus!” she thought. However, she still had to escape this muddy pit.

Looking around her, Kim glimpsed two sticks in the corner of the pit. She picked them up and because the pit was so aged, there were holes in the walls. So, she got the two sticks and she forced them into the walls and started climbing up and out of the pit to freedom.

Kim suddenly thought about the Octapelas. What would happen to them? Where were they? How could she find them? She heard a Lazeron say “Ready! Aim! F…”  Luckily she still had the two pencils in her hand. There was a jewel in King Lazeron’s crown. She threw the deadly pencils at the crown just before the guns had been fired. The jewel (which kept the Octapelas from being human and the Lazerons alive) fell to the ground. Now that it was out of King Lazeron’s possession, the Octapelas grew smaller and smaller. They were turning back into humans. Meanwhile, the Lazerons were running about yelping with fear. They too were transforming, but into gloop.

 Luckily, one of the Octapela (who had just turned back to human form) was a crazy old engineer. He fixed the colossal rocket with Kim’s help, as she was good at puzzles. This time it was ultra upgraded.

They all clambered into the rocket. It was very crowded. They started the countdown…”Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one , blast off!” they cried with delight.

As they were soaring through space back towards earth, Kim spotted a bright, precious, golden, star, so, she opened the hatch and stared at it. As she climbed back into the cock pit, she caught a glimpse of  an Octapela resting his arm on a peculiar button labelled “Don’t push! Self Destruction of Earth”. Kim shouted “No! Stop!” but it was too late. Several meteorites were headed towards them. They swerved round them only to see the meteorites falling on earth. Earth was now demolished into hundreds of tiny pieces. “Oh no!” sobbed Kim, “What have we done?”

Distraught, they headed back towards Rainbow Planet because all of their friends and family must now be dead from the massive blast. Rainbow planet was the only safe place they knew. Together they built fifteen houses. One for Kim and fourteen for the other Octapela families.

 Every night, Kim looked up at the stars and wondered whether her mum and dad would ever come back for her. One night when she was looking up at the stars, she suddenly spotted a rocket headed towards Rainbow Planet. On the side of the rocket in big black letters was printed N.A.S.A. When the rocket arrived and the hatch opened, her mum, dad and teacher, Mr Beatty, floated out of it wearing their own, white as snow, space suits. They had left earth just in time in search of Kim and her stolen rocket!

 It must have been Kim’s destiny after all to spill paint all over her teacher and discover Rainbow Planet!

by Year 3 pupils from Stanley, Heathfield Junior, Sheen Mount and St. Edmund’s primary schools

Chapter 1

The dark and unfriendly tunnel seemed to go on forever. Max and Emily suddenly realised that two blinding headlamps were rushing towards them, their flashing beams cutting through the darkness. The inseparable pair looked at each other with sheer horror and immediately zoomed as fast as a lightning bolt trying to outrun the train which was now fast approaching. Nowhere to hide, there was nowhere to hide…

The rumble grew to a roar. At the moment of impact, the noise stopped abruptly. Although the silence was complete, there was a new, different sound, softly at first ‘bang, bang, boom!’ It was increasing as time went by. Max was trapped yelling for Emily because all of a sudden he found himself striking the side of the train. He was pinned down as his rucksack was viciously dragged under the train.

“So this is death, then,” he thought.

“Where are you?” shouted Emily in a frantic and desperate voice.

Max could not believe his eyes: he had been magically teleported to a field during World War 1. While he was trying to figure out where that time-travelling train had transported him to, a man in a smart and impressive uniform was giving out some instructions in a different language. He then heard a loud roar of an engine over his head.

Given that it was early morning, in March, before his eyes, some snowdrops…

Chapter 2

…drifted slowly down towards the battlefield.

Dark smoke clouds filled the air. People were shouting madly, pushing each other to move through the sticky mud. Max could see their grey helmets moving slowly towards him like turtles moving towards the sea. Soldiers dying and falling to the ground. Bodies everywhere! He rubbed his eyes because he thought it was a dream but it wasn’t. Suddenly Max heard an explosion and saw a plane dancing through the air. Machine guns began to fire hundreds of bullets. The pounding of the bullets sounded like the pounding of his heart. Max was terrified! He grabbed a gun and held it in a tight grip. Somehow it reassured him.
All of a sudden a plane swooped down towards Max, he could see that the pilot was dead. Quickly he tried to move but his legs were stuck in the hideous mud. Max knew that there was no escape so he covered his eyes and waited for death. Out of nowhere he saw a lightning bolt and felt himself being transported to another time and place.

 

Chapter 3

Max gasped as he realised he was no longer pinned by the plane. He was alive. Looking up from the ground Max eyed his surroundings. The jungle was thick. Vines hung from tree trunks and shrubbery covered the jungle floor. Max wiped his forehead with his sleeve. He was already overheating from the humidity.  An unfamiliar squawk filled Max’s ears. He looked into the sky and saw a bird like creature. Its wings looked like those belonging to a bat and its head was pointy like a lizard. Distracted by the bird like creature, Max did not notice the two legged animals scurrying at his feet, until one nipped at his big toe.

“Ouch” screamed Max as he automatically kicked the creature off his foot. The other creatures hissed and ran to safety in a bush close by.

“When did I lose my shoe” he thought. Then Max realised where he was. He had been teleported to prehistoric times. In the distance Max heard a scream. A human scream, a dinosaur? He ran towards the sound. The screams continued and got louder as Max kept running. Finally, he saw what was making the sound. It was Emily but she wasn’t alone.

Emily’s pace slowed as the two legged dinosaur continued to chase her through the jungle. Her legs ached from running. From the corner of her eye she saw him, Max. Relief filled Emily’s heart as she saw Max safe in a tree.

Grabbing a vine, Max flew into the air. With all his might he flung himself at the dinosaur. He stretched out his leg, tensed his muscles and imagined he was Wayne Rooney shooting the winning goal. He connected with the two- legged dinosaur’s head. Pain jolted through his leg as the unknown dinosaur roared with disgust. It fell, with a thud. Emily ran towards Max and hugged him, thanking him for saving her life.

“No need to thank me now” breathed Max, adrenalin still pumping through his veins. “We need to get out of here before it wakes up”.

Suddenly the ground began to shake, the trees began to rustle and then through the darkness of the jungle appeared….

 

Chapter 4

….a herd of animals including 20 huge horses, roaring lions and snapping salt water crocodiles! A mighty cloud of dust rose up around them and Emily could not see Max.

“Help! Max, where are you?!” screamed Emily. Suddenly, a sparkling strike of lightning came down from the sky, Emily knew it was too late – Max had been teleported to the vicious Tudor times. Would she ever see her friend again?

Max found himself in a dark, gloomy dungeon, all around him were cobwebs and skeletons hundreds of years old.

“I hope I don’t die here, will Emily ever find me and be able to save my life?” he thought.

Before he could answer his own question, he heard heavy footsteps on the dungeon stairs…a huge shadow emerged through the door and it looked as though the shadow held an axe in his hand.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” boomed the shadow.

“I am Max and I have been teleported here from the jungle, please d…d….d…don’t hurt me,” he trembled.

“I am Henry, the richest Tudor in the whole of England and I seek to find my despised, disgusting wife Anne Boleyn, she needs to be beheaded, she has too many other boyfriends!” replied Henry horridly.

“If you befriend me Henry, then I will help you to find your wife,” said Max.

“Alright then, you have until sunset to help me,” said Henry nodding his head.

“Perhaps you could help me find my friend Emily too? She was left behind in the jungle,” asked Max hesitantly.

“A fair deal,” replied Henry and they began to walk up the stairs.

Around him, Max could see golden statues and enormous walls rising up to an elegant ceiling. On the walls hung portraits of all the Kings and Queens that had lived at Henry’s palace in the past. Max darted his eyes around the room hoping to see either Anne Boleyn or a way of finding Emily. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the eyes of one of the statues move to look at him. He walked towards this statue and caught a glimpse of a shiny button on the back of its head. Max wondered if Henry had seen him but when he turned around he realised Henry was too distracted by a pile of precious gold that he was counting slowly and happily. He reached for the button, wondering what it might do…would it take him to his friend and grant his wish or place him in the face of danger yet again?

 

Chapter 5

He pressed the sparkling, ruby red button quickly and suddenly a passage came up.  Max followed the dark, gloomy passage with dirty, dusty cobwebs that looked very old.  He felt a massive force pulling him towards a castle.  Max walked around feeling confused and scared.  The castle was like a spooky pool of haunted creatures.  Looking around he saw his parents as ghosts.  Worried and scared, he ran into a huge wooden door pushing it open.  He looked into the huge bedroom and feeling tired, wanted to go sleep but there was no bed!  So he slept on the cold but shiny, marble floor.  As his head touched the floor he drifted off and had a nightmare about being turned into a ghost too.

When he woke up, he was in a different place yet again.  “Where am I?” shouted Max.  Max heard a scream…it was Emily.

“Help, help, help!” she bellowed.

“I’m coming for you,” answered Max. In his sleep Max had been teleported back to ancient Egypt.

Following Emily’s cries he stumbled across a grand staircase leading to the palace doors.  He pushed them open and rushed into the middle of the room.  It was full of shiny, precious sculptures.  At that moment he discovered a passageway which he thought would lead him to the dungeon.  As he made his way down the steep passageway Emily’s cries got louder.  At the end of the passage he could see that Emily was handcuffed to a skeleton.  Quickly, Max ran to Emily and tried to free her.  He pulled and he tugged but he still could not free her.  As he was moving he felt a metal key in the skeleton’s hand.  He tried it on Emily, and it worked!

As they paused to plan their escape, two blinding headlamps suddenly came rushing towards them from the far end of the dungeon.  Feeling frightened, they jumped onto the time travelling train, hoping that it would take them home.

With a whistle the train sped off and through the window they could see all the places they had been teleported to…the beautiful Egyptian palace, Henry’s Tudor castle, the thick green dinosaur jungle and the dark, muddy World War One battlefields.

Max and Emily wondered where the train would take them to next.

by Year 3 pupils from  Stanley, Heathfield Junior, Lowther, Holy Trinity and Bishop Perrin primary schools

It was a peaceful day in the Dorset countryside but as the breeze blew softly through the trees and the sun shone as brightly as a light bulb, something strange was happening. A telephone in the Dorset police station was ringing non-stop, another person had disappeared…

That very same day two families were just settling down for breakfast. Charlie and Rachel had come to stay with their Aunt Susan, Uncle Mark and their cousins Beth and Ted. They lived in a pretty, little cottage outside a village near the sea in Dorset. They were looking forward to a day on the beach collecting shells and fossils, splashing in the crystal clear sea and building sand castles. Speedily they cycled down the narrow, dusty lane to the seaside. Charlie and Rachel were arguing as usual, they were twins but did not get on at all! Suddenly their Aunt exclaimed,

“Stop fighting you two and look over there!”

“Wow! What’s that big beam of light?” gasped Uncle Mark.

“Maybe it’s an alien spaceship” laughed Charlie.

“I hope it comes and zaps you up.” teased Rachel.

“Come on lets get to the beach” shouted Ted impatiently, “I want an Ice cream!”

“You go on ahead, I might just go and check what’s making that light over there” replied Uncle Mark. “I’ll meet you at the beach later.”

Uncle Mark cycled quickly towards the mysterious light. The children all waved him off; little did they know they would not see him again for a very long time!

As Uncle Mark cycled carefully towards the blinding light he heard a bizarre sound. It was a sound he had never heard before. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a gigantic crater by the roadside. It was a least three times the size of a football pitch and it was SO deep you couldn’t even see where it ended.

“What’s that?” thought Uncle Mark to himself, as he slowed down to a virtual stop to take a peek.

Now Uncle Mark was an extremely inquisitive man, or as Aunt Susan would say, he was an extremely nosey man, so he got off his bike to take a closer look.

Cautiously, he approached the crater, making sure he didn’t disturb anything that was lurking inside. The strange sound he heard before was now getting louder and louder, and he could also smell an aroma of rotten eggs. “What a revolting stench!” Uncle Mark whispered to himself. “What on Earth could be inside?”.

Eventually, he reached the edge of the crater and slowly bent down. But before he could do anything else, a hand with skin as green as the leaves of a tree and claws as sharp as a pirate’s knife, grabbed his leg.

“AHHH, help me, save me!” hollered Uncle Mark in agony. However, unfortunately for Uncle Mark, there was no one there to hear his screams. As quick as a bolt of lightning, Uncle Mark had disappeared into the abyss.

Meanwhile, down on the beach, Charlie, Rachel, Ted and Beth were busily tucking into their delicious ice-creams and making sand castles, with the twins bickering as usual. “No, that’s not what I said!” argued Rachel. Charlie turned to roll his eyes and noticed that Aunt Susan seemed distracted. She looked worried and was clutching her phone tightly while looking into the distance. “Something’s wrong,” Charlie whispered, “Where’s Uncle Mark?”

“Don’t be so ridiculous!” snapped Rachel, although doubts began to fill her mind. The low sun was illuminating the evening sky, like a paint box of colour and the summer air that had once warmed their faces had now turned into a distinctive chilly breeze. ”Can we go home now?” begged Beth, rubbing her arms.

“Are you ok?” asked Charlie worried. Aunt Susan didn’t answer; she was still staring into the distance.

“Mum, it’s cold” whimpered Ted. Aunt Susan turned around and said “Let’s go home.” Oblivious to their questions, it was as if a light bulb had gone on.

They walked back through the sand, Charlie looked up at the beautiful evening sky. With heavy and hopeful hearts, they trudged through the dusty road and back to the cottage. Not wanting them to know, Aunt Susan gave them a quick supper and roared “Chop chop, up you go to your room!” But, none of them could sleep and instead chatted.

Intrigued, Charlie led them down the stairs followed by Beth, Ted and a reluctant Rachel.

“There’s been a lot of disappearance recently, a beam of light you say!” coughed the policeman.

“That’s it! A beam of light,” gasped Charlie and he remembered Uncle Mark going to see the beam of light. He hushed the gang upstairs. Cautiously, Charlie packed their bags with strong torches while the rest of the gang conjured up ideas. Beth whispered “When she’s washing up.”

“No” said Ted in a hushed voice, “We could pretend we’re going to the playground.” Then Charlie, who had overheard them all commanded “We’ll have to do it when she’s asleep.” With their plan agreed they waited.

When Aunt Susan fell asleep they tiptoed outside, not wanting to make a sound. They unlocked their bikes and set off to where the light had been.

“Follow me!” commanded Charlie, wanting to be head. Quickly, they cycled down the dusty, narrow road where they last saw Uncle Mark. “We are going to get in so much trouble because of you” nagged Rachel, scared.

“Look here!” roared Ted, tired of Rachel and Charlie’s constant bickering.

“What is that hole?” whispered Beth,

They locked their bikes and walked to the crater, there was Uncle Mark’s bike. They were so busy arguing that they did not notice a slim creature lurking behind them. It was green as lush grass and claws as sharp as knives. Just then, they heard a twig snap, their bodies froze. Charlie slowly turned his head to see the creature “Run!” screamed Charlie. They ran as fast as they could, but the creature threw a rope and caught them. “What do you want us for?” shouted Charlie, but the creature was too busy looking at the pitch black night sky.

The creature ignored them, slyly he dragged them to the crater and roughly shoved them to the bottom of the dirty, damp pit. The children felt petrified, lost and lonesome. Suddenly, they all shouted “leave us alone, you ugly, disgusting monster!”. The children wondered, what is this creature?

“How are we going to get out of here?” moaned Charlie.

“And where are we going to find Uncle Mark?” whispered Rachel, hoping the creature would not hear.

Out of nowhere an electric beam of light shone right into the children’s eyes. The creature jumped … the sun was coming up! Whilst this was happening, the children heard a quiet coughing noise coming from the corner of the pit. Ted and Beth recognised the sound … it was their father coughing out the dust of the pit from his echoing throat. Rachel had an idea, “maybe we could cough back, to let Uncle Mark know we are here?” she suggested. Charlie never liked his sister’s ideas, but Ted and Beth agreed with Rachel. Ted let out a little squeak, just loud enough for his dad to hear.

Uncle Mark turned around anxiously to face the children, “is that you Ted?” he croaked. Silently, he tiptoed across the broken bark of the crater, over to the children. The family were reunited, however they still didn’t know how to get out. There was also still the problem of the creature.

Meanwhile the creature was keeping an eye on the sun, for if he stayed in the light too long he would crumble into dust – that was his only weakness. The children noticed the green, slimy hand of the creature was beginning to disappear and break up in the sunlight.

“Wow, look at his hand, he mustn’t like the light, let’s keep him there, it might be our chance to escape …” murmured Ted in a low voice. As the creature started crumbling as the sun began to rise, Rachel was feeling tired and nervous, would they ever get out? And how long would it take for the creature to turn to dust?

At that moment, Beth suddenly remembered, “We have our house keys with us …. Why don’t we cut the ropes?” she suggested. Shaking with fear still, Uncle Mark reached deep into Ted’s pocket and found the sharp, shiny keys. Slowly, he cut and cut all the way through the tough rope so as to free the children.

Just then, the sun shone brighter than ever and the creature let out a cry of agony! The children watched in horror as the creature faded away.

“That was a terrifying experience …. Let’s get out of here as quick as we can!” the twins exclaimed. The children scrambled frantically and, whilst breathing heavily, made their way across the crater in an attempt to crawl out. Just then, the children were startled … “Did you hear that?” asked Charlie …. A clatter of sticks was heard above them … and then a claw appeared at the top of the crater …

by Year 3 pupils from Stanley, Heathfield Junior, Sheen Mount and Holy Trinity primary schools

Chapter 1

One blazing sunny day the blinding bright sun shone into Mr Maker’s cold, rickety workshop. As he was rocking in his cosy chair dreaming up his next invention, the floorboards creaked like a mouse squeaking loudly. The workshop looked like it had been shaken viciously by an earthquake as slabs of rotten wood had fallen from the roof and laid carelessly around. Everyone thought the unloved, lonely building had been abandoned, but this was where Mr Maker spent all of his precious time.

Although Mr Maker was no ordinary old man, he was magical. He made the impossible happen, but no one would ever have thought that to look at him. Mr Maker was easily recognisable from the way his eyes flashed out from his double thick lensed glasses making his eyes appear the size of a 2 pound coin. Also, his white hair stood up tall in a bunch at each side of his head, while a large circular shiny bald patch filled the middle. It looked like he had been electrocuted over and over again.

Suddenly he yelled excitedly, “At last I’ve got the best idea ever! I’m going to make a time travelling machine.” Mr Maker catapulted out of his chair as his heart pounded like a bouncing ball. But little did he know that two children were lurking suspiciously outside…

 

Chapter 2

Charlie and Ellie were curious 10 years old and always sought adventure and mystery, so when they happened upon the crazy inventor and the trashed, dusty and derelict abode, their bodies tingled with delight. They were on cloud nine!

Maturely, they decide to wait for the mad inventor to create his interesting invention before they reveal themselves, which would be too risky if they wanted to find out about his creation.

From outside the door, they watched intently as his creation grew and grew.

Sparks were flying like fireworks on bonfire night and the children’s ears were filled with bangs and clangs, whizzes and whooshes, which were as loud as a fierce lion’s roar. Smouldering metal filled the air which choked the curious kids who could not cough for fear of being exposed.

At that moment, wise and normally obedient Ellie, checked her watch and to her surprise, she was ten minutes late for her curfew. She nudged Charlie to signal to him it was time to go so that they would not get in trouble. Stubborn Charlie was reluctant to leave this powerful, creepy and brilliant find! But he knew, he would return tomorrow to spy on the creation that was unfolding before him.

So they returned the following day and more of the same happened.

After 4 days of the same routine, which seemed like an eternity, the children could not believe what lay before their eyes. When they opened the creaky door that led to the amazing inventing room, they were astonished and dumbfounded.

 

Chapter 3

Charlie and Ellie cautiously tiptoed though the slightly open door but they did not see what they expected to see. Mr Maker was not there. Before them lay a wonderful machine with green sparks flying from the back and lots of buttons that had been placed carefully on the front control panel. On closer inspection they saw that there appeared to be dates painted onto the buttons. It was at that point that they realised it was a time machine!

 Ellie’s heart was beating very quickly. It was the best and most magical machine she ever saw. Charlie felt his heart beating too, but even faster than Ellie’s. Their curious nature drove them to start pressing as many buttons as they could. Suddenly, they felt themselves shaking and being pulled towards the pod inside the machine. It was at that point that Mr Maker, who was having a nap, awoke to the commotion and rushed towards the machine to stop what was happening, but it was too late. Events were in motion and there was no way to stop them. There was no time for Mr Maker to explain why. He grabbed Ellie and Charlie and pulled them into the pod. The pod began to shake and shudder. Ellie was scared.

As they were transporting, My Maker seemed angry.

“What were you doing in my workshop?” he said angrily.

“We just wanted to take a look,” whimpered Ellie. Charlie was too petrified to speak.

“The machine wasn’t finished!” yelled Mr Maker. “Do you realise what you kids have done? The machine needs one last part in order for the time controls to work. I was having difficulty finding it as it’s not so easy to buy a ruby in the shops these days! What did you press on the control panel?”

“We don’t know,” said Charlie as he began to cry.

This was bad. They had no way of knowing where they would arrive and they would not be able to get back to the right time unless they found a ruby. Suddenly, there was a jolt and everything went silent.

As they opened the door to the time machine they were hit with a tremendous heat. They were in the desert. Carefully they stepped through the door and out into the hot sand. Things didn’t look right. The buildings looked different and people were walking around in strange clothes. Some of the people were wearing strange makeup and, by the looks of their clothes, they seemed rich. Ellie was deep in thought as if she was trying to work something out. All of a sudden, something that Ellie had learnt at school just came to mind.

“I think we are in Ancient Egypt,” she whispered…

 

Chapter 4

In the distance they saw lots of sandy coloured pyramids.  At first, Charlie thought it looked like a poor country.  However, Ellie hoped there would be riches in Egypt, then they might find the ruby they so desperately needed.   This got her thinking.  They needed help. 

Immediately they found the nearest person so they could ask for information.  Mr Maker politely enquired, “Excuse me, do you know where we can find a ruby?”

“Oh yes.  You will find it in the tallest pyramid.  Follow me,” the wise, wrinkled man replied.  As it was so far to travel, they borrowed some fat, short tempered, old camels to ride on.  While they were riding, time zoomed by.

Eventually, they arrived at the colossal pyramid.  Unfortunately, the camel collapsed because he was so exhausted.  Cautiously they entered the pyramid.  The door slammed shut!  Thankfully, they had some matches and lit them.  Carefully they tiptoed through the dark creepy pyramid.  It was as dark as the night sky.  Despite being scared, they took a step forward but Ellie shouted, “Stop! I think I see a booby trap here!” Mr Maker halted so quickly that he lost his balance and dropped into a snake infested pit.  Hiss! He was bitten! He squealed in pain, “Help me!”  Ellie and Charlie were so shocked that they fell back onto a secret button that catapulted Mr Maker to safety.

Ahead of them, they spotted two tunnels with hieroglyphics above the entrances.  While they were deciding which way to go, Charlie caught a glimpse of a shiny, sparkling red light coming from the left tunnel.  “Let’s go this way,” he whispered excitedly.  Nervously, they crawled to the end of the miniscule tunnel and entered a giant treasure chamber.  Instantly they went silent because they saw two terrifying mummies guarding the precious ruby.  Bravely, they pushed the mummies aside, grabbed the ruby and sprinted towards the exit.

As soon as they reached the final tunnel, the pyramid started to shake.  “This ruby must be cursed,” bellowed Mr Maker.   Trembling he fell to the ground.  “Oh no! The snakes poison must be starting to take effect,” cried Ellie nervously.    Just at that moment, the wise, wrinkled man appeared and helped to drag Mr Maker back onto one of the remaining camels.  In a flash they were back to where the time machine had been.

However, it had disappeared…

Chapter 5

Charlie suddenly felt the ruby vibrating in his hand, when he looked down it was glowing. “Look the ruby. It’s glowing!” whispered Ellie.

Suddenly they felt the sand moving beneath their feet. Small whirlwinds whisked the sand around uncovering some mysterious stone steps in front of them. Scarab beetles scuttled out from cracks everywhere. The wise old man stepped back and shivered. Slowly he said “Don’t go down there, it might be a trap.”

But the ruby was drawing them down and before they realised it they were helping Mr Maker down the sandy steps towards a huge carved doorway. Scared but strong they crept down the stairs whilst the scarab beetles chased each other around. “Yikes, this place gives me the creeps!” shivered Ellie “What do you think we’ll find in here?”

“Don’t worry, the ruby will guide us,” said Charlie trying to sound brave.

In front of them they saw a dusty door covered in hieroglyphics, a huge Horus eye was in the middle with a dark hole in the centre. Charlie lifted the ruby and placed it gently into the eye. With a loud creak the door slowly opened revealing a tomb full of treasure. As they looked around they saw wooden chariots, golden statues and a huge sarcophagus. “Wow, this is amazing!” cried Ellie.

“Fantastic!” admired Mr Maker “But we need to find the time machine, it could be in here.”

Beneath the dusty wood was a faint light that was flickering on and off. Charlie cautiously bent down and blew the sand away. It was one of the buttons from the time machine. Ellie gasped “The time machine, it must be nearby! Hang on Mr Maker we’ll be going home soon”

As they started to carefully move the Egyptian relics to one side they heard a scrapping sound, someone let out a long, low sigh and behind them they saw the lid of the sarcophagus move!

They all turned and gasped  “Quick work together now! We’ve woken the mummies!”

They moved faster until the great time machine stood before them. It looked so modern amongst the old objects.

“Everyone inside!” urged Charlie as he pulled open the door and started fumbling for the ruby. One look at the mummy who was beginning to creak his way towards them and they all ran into the time machine and shut the door behind them.

Leaning on Ellie’s shoulder Mr Maker pressed the ruby into the machine and carefully put in the date to return home. As they were being transported the children held on tight to one another crossing both their fingers. The machine shuddered and spun as it whisked them back home.

“What an adventure Ellie, I can’t wait to tell my teacher about it!”

by Year 3 pupils from Stanley, Heathfield Junior, Lowther, St Edmund’s and The Russell primary schools