Monday, May 25, 2020

There and back again: A chapter book by Pranav

The gist:  Brian, Ria went back in time to gather objects of power to make a resurrection potion and used that potion to help the allies win World War II. 
   

Index:
1.   At the beginning of time
2.   Oh my gods
3.   Hunting eggs
4.   Spells of glory
5.   Mayan ulama
6.   Thieving thieves
7.   Clashing thrashing
8.   Home sweet home

Chapter 1: At the beginning of time

Brian & Ria never forgot the 30 days in 1985 when they set out to make a popcorn machine and ended up saving the world. It was a hot summer night on the 17th of August; they were bored and could not sleep. Brian was a tall, funny 12-year-old boy with blue hair and his sister Ria was a polite, serious 10-year-old girl with brown hair. They decided to make a popcorn machine. When they were about to finish, Brian’s walkman broke scattering the wires into the machine. “Eeeearghhhhhhh”, shouted Brian when it exploded like a firecracker, turning it into a time machine! They realized that it was a time machine when they pressed the button, and it sucked them in. They pressed the button again to get back to the present. They asked their parents for permission to go back in time if they wanted to. Their parents consented but warned that the kids had to be cautious.

They decided to go to the age of the Gods and find a resurrection potion to help the allies win World war II faster. They started saving their money to buy the resources needed to survive alone: food, water, binoculars, camera, scissors, electronic devices, notebooks, pens, & pencils. Soon they had enough to buy most of the resources that they needed. Their parents bought the rest. They tried to go back in time again, but the machine did not take them back in time. Instead, it took them to the future.

At first, they did not realize where they were until they saw new amazing gadgets. Since they did not want to stay there for long, they pressed the button again to go back to the present. When their parents questioned them, they spilled the beans. They were rebuked for being hare-brained. Brian & Ria pleaded for one last chance. Their parents agreed with a warning they would not be allowed to use the time machine ever again if they were careless. They were delighted that they got permission again.

Chapter 2: Oh my Gods!

After a day, they decided to go to the era of the gods to start brewing the potion. When they pressed the button they went to the era of the gods. There they searched for mount Olympus to ask Zeus for the resurrection potion. They traveled for days facing many breathtaking adventures before finally sighting Mount Olympus. When they were in front of Mount Olympus, they had to face an enormous dragon that breathed fire. They hurled their spears at the dragon, but to the dragon, it felt like they were hurling cushions. They were awestruck. They realized that it had a vulnerable spot on its head because it had flinched in pain when Brian had hurled one of the spears. They killed it by throwing their daggers at the weak spot. They climbed over its dead body to enter mount Olympus.

They searched for Zeus in the corridor but he was nowhere to be seen. Zeus was not even in the back garden or the washroom. But they heard a noise behind them. When they looked around they saw Zeus was towering on top of them. “Why are you trespassing on Mount Olympus?”, he growled. They said, “We are not trespassing but have come here to ask a favor of you”, said Ria. “What is the favor?”, Zeus growled. “Will you give us a resurrection potion?”, said Ria. Zeus hesitantly agreed to give them his precious potion. He warned them that it could not do the complete resurrection. He revealed the secret ingredients they would need to complete the potion. Zeus was angry that they were asking for the potion and that they were trespassing on Mount Olympus. 

To pacify him, they gave him a nice memento in return for the potion. After thanking Zeus profusely, they left Mount Olympus to go out in search of the Trident of Poseidon. They were going peacefully when the heavens opened up suddenly raining cats & dogs. They were swept up by a mighty wave that nearly overturned the ship. This caught them by surprise, but they figured out that they might be facing the wrath of Poseidon. Brian yelled into a microphone, “We have come to ask you for your trident as you can always make a new one.” Poseiden came swooping down from the sea & threw his trident onto the deck of the ship. Brian & Ria only saw the trident but did not see Poseidon. They were ecstatic because they got the trident effortlessly, & they sailed off to the east immediately.


Hunting Eggs

Brian was infuriated with himself when he pressed the button unintentionally landing them slap bang in the middle of a T-Rex vs velociraptor deathmatch. The T-Rex had tried to steal the velociraptor’s eggs. The velociraptors were blocking the T-Rex from their eggs which were precisely the second item of power. They tried to sneak into the velociraptor's nest to get a few eggs, but one velociraptor saw them. It was about to scream when the T-Rex chomped its head off. 

The second time, they snuck in from behind to steal 6 velociraptor eggs. The leaden eggs had to be carried one by one. They were covered with fungi and muck which made them as slippery as an eel. It took them 5 minutes to recover from the effort of hauling just 2 eggs. After 40 minutes of back-breaking work, as they were about to steal the 6th egg, their luck ran out. The velociraptors blocked the way to the time machine. They were so petrified that they dropped the sixth egg on the towering leg of a brontosaurus that loomed over them.

They struggled up the tail by holding their hands for support all the way to the ears by the time the velociraptors surrounded them. The brontosaurus merely strode over the velociraptors putting Brian & Ria out of their reach. To their consternation, they realized that the T-Rex was now in hot pursuit. After urging the Brontosaurus to drop them behind a tree, they thanked it. Retracing their steps back to the time machine, they escaped by pressing the button.

Spells of Glory

When they looked around they were surprised. They believed they would be back in the ship but no, they were in Ancient Egypt. They felt that they were getting scorched to the skin. They tried to drink some water, but that was also hot. They looked for a guest house, but the only one that they could see was a dilapidated one on the edge of the horizon. They also had to cross a river on the way by swimming through the muddy water. When they reached the building, they searched for a washroom to have a bath inside. The washroom was opulent: the handle was golden, the toilet seats were golden and the doorknobs were studded with diamonds. After they had a bath, they looked for a room to stay in. They found a splendid room where they decided to stay for a few days.

The next morning, they decided to look around the city. They had bought a book called 'The book of the dead' which contained the spells needed for the potion. They thought they might be able to see the pyramids of Giza. They returned back to the guesthouse to ask the location of the pyramids. The directions seemed straight-forward enough. They ran to the spot. True to the directions, the half-built pyramids were there right in front of them. They watched the people build it for some time before heading back to the guest house.

On their way back they were walking close to a bush when they heard a noise. They walked on thinking it was just a rat, but they heard it again. This time it was much louder. They turned to investigate. One glance behind the bush was enough to make them beat a hasty retreat. They recognized Septilion the God of War because they had seen a picture of him in one of their books. Brian & Ria were able to distract Septillion with the redolent smell of the food in the guest house. They took their belongings from the guest house into their quest for the next item of power.

Chapter 5: Mayan Ulama      

Brian & Ria found themselves in the Mayan civilization. They knew that they were in that era because they recognized it from a picture in 'The book of the dead'. They decided to camp in a shady spot & search for the two objects of power in the morning. Before searching, they decided that they would watch the prisoners of the war play the ball game Ulama. When they reached, they had to buy tickets to watch. This was difficult because they had to use sign language, but they managed it in the end. The game was a lot of fun to watch, but to the prisoners it was just torture because they had to hit the hard ball with only their elbows, knees & hips. 

After that, they remembered that the rubber ball was the first item of power from the Mayan civilization. They had to search in several stores to find an Ulama ball. They had nearly lost hope for finding it. When they finally reached the store, they had to pay ten llama horns for the ball. They tried to bargain but the shopkeeper did not budge. Next, they had to buy the second item of power which was a Mayan portrait. They did not have to search for long because the shop right next to them had the exact portrait they needed. After buying the portraits, they needed a calendar to see when they should go to get the last item of power.

Before long they realized that they could not read the Mayan calendar which meant they had to go find a person who would help them read the Mayan calendar. They went on the streets looking for a volunteer, but nobody accepted on the pretext that they were busy. Only one man agreed to help them. They led him to their camp where he first asked for a cup of water. He showed them how to read the Mayan calendar. It was surprisingly easy to learn. They gave him a few tins of chocolates in gratitude & went to look for the last item of power in the Muslim rule era in India.

Chapter 6: Thieving thieves

When they reached the Muslim era, they went to the court of Akbar to ask for permission to stay in the country. On the way, they met a large-hearted Englishman. They asked him if he could take them to the court of Akbar on his bicycle. The Englishman readily agreed to take them to the court of Akbar. They bid farewell to the man before going inside the court. It was a relief to get inside the court from the hot sun. They did not know where the throne was, but when they looked around, they saw a majestic court before them. 

When Akbar saw them, he immediately greeted them. He politely asked them why they had come to his court. They could not reply immediately as they were stunned by Akbar’s charming greeting. They said they had come to ask for permission to live in the country. Akbar agreed immediately & asked them if they needed any food or water. They said they did not need anything. They left the court praising king Akbar. They decided that the next day they would go to a shop to buy the item of power which was a shining golden bracelet.

The next day, they set off on their journey to look for the shop which had the object. They had to walk ten miles before seeing a chain of shops. There, they went one by one to each of the shops to see which one had it. At the seventh shop, they saw the golden bracelet. They went inside but they realized that the bracelet cost more money than they had with them. They tried to ask the shopkeeper for a discount but the shopkeeper was unyielding. In the end, they gave each other an I-know-you-don’t-want-to -do-this-but-we-have-to look. Ria had to cause a distraction to let Brian smuggle the bracelet into his pocket. Now that they had all the items of power, they went to the era of World War II to brew the potion.

Clashing thrashing

When they entered the era of world war II in the year 1942, they immediately set to work on making the resurrection potion. They had to buy an enormous mixer to make the potion. The golden bracelet was too hard for it to be mixed. They first had to grind it before putting it in the mixer. Once mixed, they boiled the mixture. Several green & blue colored gases issued from the container. When it finished brewing, they experimented on a dead goat. They waited with bated breath for the goat to stir. After a heart-stopping 5 minutes, the goat stotted up looking for some grass. They were thrilled that the potion worked & was quick to make. 

They had to go to twenty-two countries in Europe over 10 days to find the Allied bases that were fighting against the Germans. Learning from their history lessons, they picked the crucial moments in the war to give the potion to the Allies. The Allies thanked them effusively. Brian & Ria suggested that they should give the potion to the best soldiers after they died in order to win the war faster. They went to the era of the gods again to thank the god Zeus for teaching them how to make the resurrection potion.

They went to the era of the Mayan civilization to thank the magnanimous man for helping them read the Mayan calendar. When they returned to the World War II era, the Allies had already won the war using the potion. They glanced inside the potion container to see that a little bit of the potion was left. They decided to revive Isaac Newton. People delighted that the famous scientist had come back to life. Finally, they returned back to the present era.

Home Sweet Home

When they reached, they told their parents about all their adventures. Parents exclaimed, “Wow!” and suggested that Brian and Ria should write a book about all the adventures that they had had. Their parents believed that book would make a lot of money. Brian and Ria had to rack their brains to get every detail in the book. It took them a week to remember the details followed by another week to write the book. When they published the book, it became an instant bestseller. On the first day, a hundred copies were sold. The second day, a thousand copies were sold. They made a lot of money on the second day. It was an exhilarating and exhausting experience for them.

That day, Brian and Ria hit the sack early, for they were very tired. When they woke up in the morning and went to have breakfast, they saw many presents on the dining table. They asked their parents why there were presents on the dining table. Their parents were surprised and exclaimed, “Don't you remember it is Brian’s birthday?” They actually did not remember because they had lost track of time on the voyage. They had been out for 30 days without realizing it. Their parents told them it was September the 16th. They cut the cake. They celebrated the rest of the day by playing the Mario game.

At night, Brian opened all his presents. In the first one, there was a letter. The letter was from his cousin Jack. He said that he had read the book many times & liked it so much that it had become his favorite book. He asked them if they could write a few more books. Most of the presents were toys. The next day they met Jack and told him that they were going out to a restaurant to eat their lunch because there was nothing left to eat in the house. But instead of going to a restaurant, they surprised him by taking him to Imagica.

P.S: Guess what, the book that Brian & Ria wrote is the book that you have just finished reading!


Written by: Pranav Mekaraj
Edited by: Aanchal Agrawal


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