Amazing Adventures in Time

Ed Goodwin

Description

'Suzy and Connie's Amazing Adventures in Time' is an imaginative, funny, entertaining and completely mind-boggling story for young people. Will Dad's latest invention turn out to be the Christmas gift Suzy and Connie long for?Dad dreams of becoming a famous scientist after creating a time machine. Unfortunately his children show a distinct lack of interest, while Mum constantly points out flaws in his brilliant plans. Will several fantastic trips into the past and the future convince his family, or will all his materials end up at the local tip?

Sujets

• Children's

Informations

• Publié par: Distributed by eBookpartnership
• Date de parution: 01 octobre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781839785191
• Langue: English

Extrait

Amazing Adventures in Time
Ed Goodwin


Amazing Adventures in Time
Published by The Conrad Press in the United Kingdom 2021
Tel: [phone] www.theconradpress.com 
[e-mail]
ISBN 9781839785191
Copyright © Ed Goodwin, 2022
The moral right of Ed Goodwin to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved.
Typesetting and Cover Design by: Charlotte Mouncey, www.bookstyle.co.uk Using illustrations from istockphoto.com and Freepik
The Conrad Press logo was designed by Maria Priestley.


Chapter 1
The mystery gift
It was the last week at school before the Christmas holiday. Suzy and Connie were preparing for their class Nativity plays. Both had been given rather disappointing roles.
Connie was fourth shepherd, whilst her elder sister Suzy was one of the donkeys. Still, they were excited to be acting their parts in front of their parents.
Even more exciting, Dad had told the girls that they would have a very special Christmas present. Whatever it was, he had been working on it in the garage, and no one else had been allowed in there for the last few weeks. Every night they could hear the sound of banging, sawing, and chopping, as well as the occasional exclamation from Dad, which Mum said was swearing and words that Suzy and Connie mustn’t repeat.
Mum had pressed Dad to tell her what it was he was building, but now that Christmas was so near she thought she would have a final attempt. After Dad had finished in the garage one evening she started asking questions.
‘What is it that you’re building?’ she asked.
‘I’ve said before, it will spoil the surprise if I tell you,’ replied Dad.
‘I just want to avoid any disasters. Like the mechanical chicken you made for Connie’s birthday. I could have told you it was too realistic.’
‘Well how was I to know next door’s dog was would bite its head off?’
‘Maybe not, but I would have made you make it more like a toy. Poor Connie still hasn’t recovered.’
Other people would have been put off by such an experience, but Dad was more determined than most.
‘Anyway, it isn’t an animal this time,’ he said.
‘So, what is it?’
‘I want to test it before I tell you, but I promise to let you know before I hand it to the girls.’
It sounded a bit strange to Mum that Dad was going to test something first. That wasn’t his usual style. At least she would have the chance of stopping any accidents before the girls received whatever it was.
So Dad continued to work on his surprise, as Christmas got closer and closer.


Chapter 2
The Time Machine
It was Christmas Eve, and Dad was beginning to worry. His present still wasn’t complete, and its special function hadn’t worked in any of its tests. It was time to tell Mum about it, and he knew she wouldn’t be happy.
So after the children had finished their tea and gone into the living room, he whispered to Mum that he needed to talk to her about the present. Mum indicated that they should go into the hall.
‘OK,’ she said, ‘tell me about it.’
Dad thought how he could present the idea, without Mum blowing her top.
‘You know I was testing it,’ he said.
‘Ye-es,’ said Mum.
‘Well it isn’t quite working yet. In fact, it isn’t working at all.’
‘What isn’t working?’
‘It’s a time machine, and it won’t go back in time.’
‘What!’ exploded Mum, ‘You said a time machine?’
‘Actually, it won’t go forward in time either,’ said Dad, thinking it was better to get all the bad news out of the way.
‘Didn’t you think it was a bit ambitious, stupid even, to try to build a time machine?’
‘Great inventors are always ridiculed,’ said Dad. ‘I just needed a bit more time.’
‘Like a hundred years,’ said Mum. ‘What are we going to do? The shops have sold all the best toys now.’
‘Well actually I’ve got an idea,’ said Dad.
‘Really,’ replied Mum, ‘It had better be a good one.’
‘Just come into the living room and watch.’
Mum followed him into the living room, where the girls were watching the TV showing a snowman floating across the sky.
‘Suzy,’ Dad said.
Suzy didn’t respond.
‘Suzy!’ he shouted.
‘Yes,’ replied Suzy still watching the TV.
‘If you could go back in time where would you like to go?’
Suzy, even if she had been concentrating on what he had said, would have had trouble understanding what ‘back in time’ meant.
Dad realised he would have to take the drastic step of turning the television off.
‘Hey!’ shouted Suzy and Connie.
‘Just listen for two minutes,’ Dad said.
‘If you could go back to a day in the past, like for example when Robin Hood was alive, which day would you choose?’
Suzy thought for only a few seconds. ’I’d like to go back to my last birthday party,’ she said.
‘OK,’ said Dad.
He switched the TV back on.
‘That’s it then,’ he said to Mum.
‘That’s what?’ replied Mum.
‘I’ll make the machine go back to her birthday.’
‘I thought you said it didn’t work.’
‘Ah, but they don’t know that. Tonight, while they’re both asleep, we’ll redecorate the house just like it was on her birthday.’
‘And what about all the children who were here then?’
‘I’ll think about that.’
Mum could think of lots of problems with Dad’s idea and decided she would use the whiteboard to work out a plan, she had found that this was the best way of making Dad ‘think about that’.
‘And what would you have done if she had said she wanted to go back to Robin Hood’s time?’ she asked.
‘I’d have thought about that as well,’ said Dad.
Mum just sighed.
‘We’ll discuss this again when they’re in bed,’ she said.


Chapter 3
Problems
It was eight o’clock. The children were in bed but not asleep, talking to each other about the presents they would get tomorrow.
Downstairs Mum and Dad were drinking a cup of tea, sitting in front of the whiteboard that Mum had propped up against the TV.
Mum went through the items she had listed.
‘Problem number one.’
‘Let me stop you there,’ said Dad. ‘It’s a bit negative to call everything a problem.’
‘Well, I could call them objections,’ said Mum.
‘That’s not what I meant,’ said Dad. ‘You should just call them points for discussion.’
Mum muttered something that Dad couldn’t quite catch, then rubbed out the word ‘Problem’ replacing it with ‘Points for Discussion’.
‘Right, former problem, now point for discussion one,’ she said.
Dad bit his tongue and let Mum continue.
‘How to get all Suzy’s friends to come over at the same time on Christmas Day.’
‘Yes, that’s a bit tricky.’
‘More like impossible,’ said Mum.
‘OK let’s move to point for discussion two,’ said Dad. ‘How to collect all the birthday presents and rewrap them all. That’s not a problem at all, we could sneak up into the girls’ bedroom and bring all the toys down, as well as collect the ones in the living room and outside. ‘
‘And have we got any birthday wrapping paper in the house?’ asked Mum.
‘Er no.’
‘And we haven’t got the original packaging either,’ Mum continued.
‘They won’t be too bothered about that, will they?’
‘And some of the toys don’t work anymore.’
‘I suppose so,’ Dad admitted. ‘What’s point for discussion number three?’
‘What are we going to do with all the Christmas decorations and presents?’ Mum said.
‘We can cover the tree with a sheet, and you haven’t wrapped up all the Christmas presents yet anyway, you could do that after the birthday party,’ said Dad, who was beginning to see his plans unravelling.
‘I suppose you’re going to say you’re not going to want to wrap up the presents on Christmas Day itself,’ he added.
‘No I’m not, and the girls will want their Christmas presents first thing on Christmas Day, not after pretending it’s Suzy’s birthday again,’ said Mum.
‘OK, OK I’m going to think of another plan,’ said Dad.
Nothing more was said as Mum and Dad started wrapping up the presents for Christmas day. Overnight Dad couldn’t get to sleep thinking what to do, but then it suddenly came to him. The solution was so simple.
Immediately he fell asleep, only to be woken up a few hours later by Suzy and Connie jumping on the bed shouting ‘Happy Christmas!’


Chapter 4
In the garage
Christmas Day started like any normal Christmas Day. Suzy and Connie were too excited to have breakfast and went straight to the Christmas tree to unwrap their presents. There were of course a few arguments about which present was Suzy’s and which was Connie’s. Eventually everything was unwrapped with paper scattered everywhere.
‘Where’s our special present?’ asked Connie. ‘You told us there would be a special present, where is it, where?’
‘I’ll just go and check,’ said Dad who gave Mum the look that meant let’s go in the kitchen and talk. Dad took a deep breath then started.
‘I know there were a few problems.’
‘Points for discussion,’ interrupted Mum.
‘There were a few problems with the points for discussion about making today seem like Suzy’s birthday, but there’s nothing wrong with doing it on a different day. So, I can give them the time machine today and explain that we can’t really use it to go back in time for a couple of weeks.’
‘Well it won’t be much of a present then,’ said Mum.
‘You haven’t seen it yet,’ said Dad. ‘It’s still rather wonderful.’
‘If you say so,’ said Mum.
They walked back into the living room.
‘Follow me,’ said Dad. ‘The special present’s in the garage.’
Suzy and Connie skipped along excitedly, out through the front door, onto the drive. Dad opened the garage door and they all walked in. There was the usual junk that Dad collected, bicycle parts, boxes of screws, tools, an old set of golf clubs, tins of paint, two step ladders and