Chapter One
It was Tuesday afternoon in the summer holidays. Raining. The clock ticked loudly. Lena sat at her desk and sighed. She was bored of the same old thing day in and day out. She stared out of the window, at least she tried to, the blinds were closed.
“This is boring” she stated matter of factly.
“Why don’t you go outside?” suggested mum.
“No way! It’s pouring” Lena exclaimed.
“We used to play out in all weather when I was your age” said mum.
“Mum really? We don’t play!” Lena rolled her eyes and turned back to her computer. The room darkened slightly and the rain got heavier. Lena loaded up a game and started to play. She’d already completed it three times already. She tapped her foot impatiently and sighed again, staring vacantly at the screen. Mum had gone off to do some cleaning, Lena didn’t even notice, she continued to play her game not even thinking about what she was doing.
“I’m still bored” she said out loud to nobody in particular. Click, click, click, went her fingers on the mouse pad. “Yawn” she said to herself, and then clicked some more.
“Whoosh” went the weird noise from somewhere behind her.
“Mum?” Lena called out anxiously, afraid to turn around.
“Whoosh swoosh” went the noise again, getting louder and faster. Lena could see a bright white light out of the corner of her eye and could feel a warmth spread across her back.
“Muuum?” she tried again, her voice cracking slightly. Mum didn’t answer. Slowly, slowly, slowly, Lena turned around, and there, in the middle of the living room floor, was a vibrant swirling mess of colours.
“What on Earth is that?” Lena asked the room.
“Woof” said Mia, who had just wandered in from the back garden. Slowly and carefully Lena edged her way around the whirlpool of colours until she reached Mia on the other side. They both glanced at each other and then looked back at smoky mess in the middle of the room. Mia let out a small whine.
“Don’t worry,” Lena said as she patted her gently on the head, “I’ll protect you.” She leaned ever so slightly closer to the smoke and then jumped back suddenly as it expanded towards her.
“Whoosh swoosh, whoosh swoosh, whoosh swoosh,” came the noise from within, faster and faster, louder and louder as the cloud of smoke grew and grew until it almost filled the whole of the living room. Lena and Mia stood against back, pressing themselves up against the wall. A few minutes passed, the only sounds the tick of the clock and the low whimpering of the little black dog.
“I think it’s stopped growing?” Lena suggested tentatively. The smoky mass remained still, silent, almost as if it were waiting. Lena and Mia watched it closely in wonderment. Lena reached her hand carefully out towards it, it felt like nothing and everything at the same time. Lena took a huge deep breath as Mia let out another whine.
“Oh well, what the heck” said Lena, “this day can’t get any worse” and she jumped into the whirlpool, followed closely by Mia, who didn’t want to miss out on the excitement.
“Did you shout me?” asked mum as she walked back into the living room just in time to see Mia’s tail disappear in a cloud of colourful smoke.
“Oh,” said mum, “that’s odd, I was certain I heard Lena shout”, and she walked back into the kitchen.