Time Travel for Zazu: A chapter book by Rishit Garg

Time travel for Zazu virus

Written by Rishit Garg

Edited by Aanchal Agrawal

Chapter 1: The start of an adventure

There was an urgent need for a cure. The cure needed, was for the deadly zazu virus. Two teenaged brothers, Jack and John, thought that they could find the cure. They were studying in grade 9 and were the toppers of their class. They thought of themselves to be very famous scientists who were working towards finding a cure of a newly spread epidemic. The zazu virus had killed many, and was still spreading. The idea came to them because their grandfather had gotten the zazu virus. He was the only family member they had who was alive.

He was also the only earning member of the family. Their mother had died in a car crash and left them with their father when they were really little. Recently, their father died due to the zazu virus itself. The boys did not want to lose their beloved grandfather in the same way, so they decided to use their scientific studies to save him. Little did they know they were going to make a breakthrough in science. Their grandfather was already hospitalized and to save him they needed to find the cure fast. They finally decided to make a machine. The machine they thought of could cure any person suffering from the zazu virus if the person were to sit on it. During the making of the formulas of the machine, Jack went wrong and typed a letter wrong in the code which entirely changed the machine. They realized it, but it was too late. The input was already given and the processing had started- 1%.............2% and so on. After the processing was completed, they went near the machine to see what they had made by mistake. It looked like a pod.

They checked the buttons, the processors and all the items it was made of. They couldn’t get to know what it was. It wasn’t anything they had ever made because then they would know immediately. They checked it in all the books they had. Then John found a time machine book and looked at all its models. The pod was one of them! They couldn’t believe what they saw. “Jack, you are a genius!”, exclaimed John. John remembered that in the mythological era there were a lot of cures in the Ayurveda. They packed their essentials and went inside the pod. Jack set the era to when god was creating earth and pressed the ‘on’ button. The motor started whirring, the surroundings started blurring and in no time the pod disappeared into thin air. They were traveling through time!

Chapter 2: A leap into magic

There were clouds everywhere. The air was filled with magic and goodness. The machine had made them go to the mythological era of the gods and goddesses in mere 5 seconds. The moment they stepped out of the pod, they felt the rush of cold air blowing on their faces and hands. They couldn’t feel it inside the pod because the pod had temperature control. In no time, they had goosebumps all over their body. They realized that they had one big problem- how would they present themselves. They decided they would solve this problem later. Then somehow with chattering teeth and shivers between their sentences, they reached the house of the god of medicines, Dhanvantri. They knocked on the door. Dhanvantri was meditating. Dhanvantri’s servant, Savitri, opened the door.

As soon as she saw the boys she started screaming, “Aaaaaah aaaaah! Demons have come to kill us. We will all die.” Dhanvantari’s meditation was disturbed by all the sound. He started walking towards the door and asked, “What is the commotion all about?” He said, “Come on, Savitri, they are two little boys! How can they possibly be demons! They don’t even have weapons.” Savitri shouted, “But master, look at the clothes they are wearing!” Dhanvantri said calmly, “They might be humans.” John and Jack were baffled by this conversation and realized that they would have to talk in Sanskrit to make Dhanvantri understand what they were trying to say. Now both the brothers had paid attention to all the other subjects but Sanskrit. So, they stammered and stuttered between the words and also added some English words. In the end, Dhanvantri understood that they wanted the ayurvedic book. He gave the book and they started to look for the cure and found it.

It was written that to make the cure they would need six different ingredients from six different eras. They wrote all the ingredients in a book. Dhanvantri peeped in what they were looking for, and told them that they would find the first ingredient, that was a flower, on the peak of Mt. Kailash. When he found out that they had a time machine, he offered to help make some changes in their time machine, so that it would take them to the required eras automatically. By the time they scaled Mt. Kailash and picked the flower from there, Dhanvantri had made the changes. They got back down and thanked him profusely. Then they put the flower in their suitcase and went back in the pod. Jack switched on the machine and they disappeared again flying into another era altogether.

Chapter3: Making new friends

When John and Jack looked outside, it was completely white, and there were snowflakes everywhere. There were glaciers, snow caps, everything one could imagine that was cold. They realized that they had reached the Ice age. Luckily, they were studying about Ice age in school. Jack had also brought his textbook thinking that he might be able to study a little bit in this adventure. He took it out and read it aloud, “The last Ice age that occurred on the earth was 11,000 years ago and was called 'The Great Ice age’. During that time, a third of the Earth was covered with ice, and temperatures would drop down to -80 degrees. It rained really scarcely.” John checked the outside temperature in the machine. It was -10 degrees. This was a pretty warm day for the natives.

But for Jack and John it was freezing. They wouldn’t survive even a minute in this cold weather without a jacket or any warm clothing. John, who was really good at observing, spotted an entrance for a cave nearby. He suggested that they would make a run for it, so they wouldn't have to be in the cold weather outside. They reached the end of the cave and slept because they were tired, and it was really warm in there. When they woke up, they saw a weird creature staring at them. They got startled. Jack quickly opened his textbook and searched what this animal was. They found it was a Woolly Mammoth. Again Jack read aloud, “It was a mammal of the ice age that was covered in fur and had long tusks for fighting and other purposes. It had small ears that minimized frostbite.” By the time he finished reading, John was examining the tusk of the mammoth and had already become friends with it. Jack showed it the picture Dhanvantri gave of the second ingredient which was an ancient ice block. The woolly mammoth immediately put them on its back where it was warm and started walking to the place they would find the 2^nd ingredient.

On the way, Jack started feeling sleepy and lost his balance. He fell off the back of the mammoth into an ice river. John got terrified and immediately signaled the mammoth to stop. He took Jack on his shoulders who was completely frozen and both of them were on the back of the mammoth again. Then John melted all the ice with a hairdryer that he had packed thinking he might be able to take a bath in the adventure ride. By the time Jack recovered, they had reached the place. There was a cave lion that was protecting the ice block. The mammoth scared the lion away, and the path was then free. The brothers jumped off the back of the woolly mammoth and patted it as a token of appreciation. They then took the ice block and put it in their suitcase. They also found out that it had a special property of not melting. The mammoth then took them to the pod. They waved goodbye to the friendly mammoth and promised to see it again. Again they took off flying to another era.

Chapter 4: A misunderstanding

When the pod reached a safe landing, the brothers stepped out of the pod. John observed the surroundings carefully. There were lush green forests and good agricultural land. The temperature was normal and there was a sign made of wood. It said something in Mayanese language. John went back in the machine. He took the translator button and pressed it. The machine started speaking, “Welcome to Mayan”. John pressed the button of ‘more information’ and the machine spoke again, “The Mayan civilization was established in 400 BCE. The natives shared common culture and religions.” John went out again. They went toward one of the houses and knocked on the door. A girl opened the door, and when she saw the clothes of the boys, she called her father. 

When her father came, he mistook the boys for intruders and started chasing them to hit them. Soon a crowd gathered. Jack and John had to run really fast to outrun them, but they were not good at running. They hid behind some bushes. The Mayans tried to find them, but they had hidden pretty nicely. The Mayans gave up the search. Jack told John that the only way to find the ingredient was to kidnap the ruler of this district and then threaten the civilians to find the ingredients. So, that is what they did. At midnight they quietly crept up to the ruler’s royal room. They placed a napkin which was soaked in an anesthetic over his nose. The rules fainted. They carried the ruler to the plain ground. When morning came all the Mayans were shocked to see their ruler held captive by the same intruders they had chased the previous day. Jack showed them the picture of the 3^rd ingredient which was a unique crop only grown in the Mayan civilization. Jack communicated with hand signals and told them to give that crop or he would kill their ruler. They understood what he was trying to say.

They also replied back with hand signals. They told that they had been at war with another district and had consumed all of these crops. They couldn’t give them the crops and started crying. John understood that they were pleading to release their ruler. Both of them felt sad but what else could they do. Just then, the ruler was slowly regaining consciousness. He heard the conversation quietly. He got up and told the civilians something in the Mayanese language. As soon as they heard what he said, their faces brightened up. They quickly went to his vault and took out the same crop but this one was shining. They gave it to Jack and John and told them that this crop wouldn't rot for days. John and Jack thanked them, took the crop and released the ruler. But as soon as they released him, all the faces turned angry again, and they started the chase again. Jack shoved the crop into the suitcase and they both made a run for the pod. They reached just in time, and as they disappeared they could see the Mayans stared at them in astonishment.

 Chapter 5: Becoming a Pharaoh

The pod came to a stop. The boys looked around. There was nothing they could see except sand and dirt. It felt like they had stopped in a desert and in the middle of nowhere. Jack checked the temperature. It was a whopping 48 degrees out there. John spotted a huge pyramid a few miles away. They had reached the Egyptian civilization. The brothers thought about their experience with the Mayans and how angry they got. They didn’t want to face the Egyptians in the same way as well. Jack quickly went through the buttons and pressed the one that said ‘change appearance’. As soon as he pressed the button, something happened in the pod. For two seconds, everything blacked out. After that, when they saw themselves, they got shocked. They couldn’t recognize themselves in the outfit which also had automated air conditioning inside. 

They took a book of the Egyptian language, stepped out of the pod and started walking towards the pyramids. As they neared the pyramids they spotted some houses near it. They knocked on the door. A man opened it and as soon as he saw the boys, he bowed down to them. The boys were surprised by this behavior, so they went to another house. The same thing happened there as well. After some more door-knocks, they found out that they were being treated like Pharaohs. Perhaps, the real king had gone out and they looked like him so the locals misunderstood them- one as a king and one as the queen maybe. Suddenly a sound was heard. The enemy kingdom was coming to attack them thinking that their king had gone out. But when they saw the boys, the confident face of the enemy’s king turned into a frightened one. He stopped and then retreated. The boys assumed this kingdom to be a strong one. 

Jack remembered the magic ingredient and showed the picture to the natives. The natives pretty much understood that their majesty wanted the ingredient. The ingredient was a handful of sand that was supposed to be very ancient and was found only in this kingdom. The natives seemed to not know where it was but since their king and queen wanted it, they started searching for it frantically. The search went on for days but they still couldn’t find it. Jack and John stayed inside one of the pyramids during this time. Then one fine day, one of the men found the sand and gave it to John and Jack. Both of them thanked all the natives. To John and Jack, it seemed like ordinary sand, but since the natives knew about the sand, they thought it might be magic. Jack poured it in the suitcase and at night when everyone was sleeping, the boys crept out of the pyramid and reached the pod. Jack started the pod but its whirring sound woke up all the natives, and they came out to see what was happening. They were left with jaws hanging as they saw their so-called king and queen disappeared right in front of their eyes   

 Chapter 6: A big mistake

When the pod landed, John and Jack saw a lot of people there which was unusual because in the previous eras which they had been to, they didn’t see many people. It was almost like a modern street with shops and people going from shop to shop to buy stuff. It was a normal temperature so the boys stepped outside. The people didn’t care about the clothes the boys were wearing but the clothes that the other people were wearing were of the olden times. So the boys assumed that they were still under the rule of some king. John went to a shopkeeper and asked which kingdom they were in and who their ruler was. The shopkeeper didn’t understand what they said. The brothers realized that they had to speak in Hindi, which they were pretty good at, to make the shopkeeper understand. They asked the same question in Hindi and the shopkeeper  replied that they were in the Mughal kingdom and their ruler was the great Akbar.

It was Jack’s dream to meet Akbar. He was so happy that he started dancing. John asked a passerby the directions to the palace but the passerby didn’t know it. They started walking, hoping to meet someone who would know the directions to the palace. Suddenly, John noticed that Jack didn’t have the suitcase containing the magic ingredients. Jack got scared and felt that he might have put it down when he started dancing and then forgot to pick it up. They rushed to the old shop and asked the shopkeeper about the suitcase. He said that he saw a man who examined a bag kind of thing kept on the ground and was talking to himself about going to the palace and showing it to Akbar. Now, they really needed someone to show them the directions to the palace. They asked the shopkeeper if he knew the directions, and he did! They thanked the shopkeeper and ran as fast as they could to the palace. They saw the man with the suitcase on the way and told him that it was theirs. The man did not agree and started fighting, so they went to the court to resolve the problem.

They told Akbar in Hindi, “Your Majesty, we had forgotten a bag of ours in a shop. This man took it and came to you with it. The bag we are talking about is in his hands.” The man said that it was his. Then Birbal came up with a solution and told that whoever told the contents of the bag, would be the owner of the bag. The man did not know but the boys did, so they told what was in it to Birbal. They also showed the bag to Birbal privately. Birbal told the man to give the boys the bag and asked them the story behind it. They explained to Birbal and Akbar how they wanted the magic ingredient. Akbar told the boys that the magic ingredient was a prized possession, but when he got to know that their grandfather was in trouble, he gave it to them immediately. It was a piece of chocolate! The boys thanked Akbar for his huge sacrifice and walked back to their pod. Then they disappeared into the world of time travel again.

Chapter 7: A sushi party

The pod landed in a meeting room. There was a heated discussion going on, so the people in the meeting didn’t notice John and Jack. To John and Jack, they looked like the military people and of the olden times. Then, with a lot of courage, John said hi to them. Everyone turned their heads and looked at them. Shocked, they asked how they came in there. Jack told them that they were from the future and had landed in the room because of a time machine. Hirohito, the emperor of Japan thought that he could make use of them. He introduced himself and his fellow colleagues. He said that the Americans had stopped their territorial expansion and had threatened to stop their supply of oil if they expanded. Jack said, “Wait a minute, is this related to World War 2?”

Hirohito said yes. He also said that they needed their help in making the blueprint of an airplane that they would use in the World War. The boys had no choice but to agree. So, for three hours continuously, they worked hard to make the blueprint. In the end, when it was finished they showed it to Hirohito. He liked it a lot. He liked it so much that he invited the boys to a sushi party that was getting hosted in his house. The boys got so excited that they forgot about the magic ingredients. They agreed happily. They set their time machine for Hirohito’s house and got there even before he could leave the meeting. There they met Hirohito’s wife and told her that they were invited to the party and were waiting for Hirohito. She asked them if they would like some sushi till Hirohito came. They hesitantly agreed for one sushi each. When she gave them the sushi, John noticed something shining in it. Maybe it was the magic ingredient! He opened up the sushi and saw the magic ingredient. It was some kind of shining rice. He quickly told Jack that they had found the ingredient and that they could go now.

But just as they crept to the front door Hirohito came. He asked them where they were going. John told him that they were looking around. Then Jack whispered to John that anyways they had got the ingredient. Maybe they could just attend the party and then go. It would be fun, too. John agreed. They had fun at the party, met a few of Hirohito’s relatives and also made some friends who liked science. They told Hirohito that they had to leave because there was some urgent work that they had to do. They bid farewell to Hirohito and headed for their pod. When they got inside Jack told John that they had got all the six ingredients and also their grandfather would be waiting for them, so they should head back home. John agreed. Jack set the time to ‘present’ and they flew off again to their home sweet home.

Chapter 8: An amazing dream

When they got back home after the 7 days of time-traveling, they went to their lab again. They were really tired but they had to make the cure fast, or else their grandfather wouldn’t survive. Jack quickly took a bowl from the kitchen which was their grandfather’s favorite bowl. In that, he used to make the batter of all his cakes and the doughs of all his cookies. Quickly, they poured out all the ingredients and put them in the bowl one by one. They put it in the order that Dhanvantri had told them: flower from the god’s place, ice block from Ice Age, sand from ancient Egypt, rice from World War II, crop from the Mayans, and the chocolate from Akbar. They started mixing it. The ice started to melt, the rice, crop, and flower got crushed, the chocolate mixed with the other items and the sand surprisingly got dissolved. The solution started changing its color, starting from brown to red to pink to white to green to yellow and ultimately back to brown. It was like water but brown. 

Dhanvantri had told them to keep it undisturbed overnight. It was night there. So, Jack and John went to their beds to get some sleep as both of them knew that they had a big day the next day. Jack woke up first and woke John up. They both were really excited to see their cure. It had turned to a bright blue color. Now it really looked like water. They gave a sip to their grandfather. He felt better immediately. Seeing this, the boys had an idea. They thought that they would turn the solution into gas and construct the plane they had made in the blueprint. Then they would be able to spray the entire world with the cure and save it from the zazu virus. They immediately got to work. First, they made the solution into the gas by using some formula and this time Jack made sure that he got it right. Then they made the plane with metal alloys and then also spray painted it. Both the boys loved art. They named that airplane after their grandfather.

Then they filled the airplane with the gas. They took off with the airplane and released the cure into every street, hospital, and house. After some time, everyone got cured and wondered who cured them. The president, who also had the zazu virus, got to know that John and Jack were the people who had saved the world. He organized an award ceremony for them. He awarded them. John gave a speech. But during the speech, someone was interrupting him by saying, “Pssst… John …. John, wake up.”

All of a sudden everything blacked out and John saw an angry teacher staring at him. Then he remembered; he had slept in his history class. He got sent to detention that day.

When John got home, he told Jack the entire dream. Jack was astonished to know this time-traveling dream of John’s.