by Susan Pease
Quickly, she slipped on her socks and buckled up her sandals. She grabbed her bag and dashed back to the road. Melissa was walking along with a nervous expression on her face.
‘Hi Jo, how are you feeling, ready for the end-of-term tests?’
Jo glanced at Melissa.
‘Yes, I’ve been in the bush, just needed time to dream up an essay for the English exam. I’ve decided to write an essay that will change the way people think of our world. It’ll be a type of instruction book directing people in the right way into saving our environment. Maybe I’ll turn a few heads and make people sit up and realise that our precious planet is dying and we need to save it now.’
‘Don’t tell me that you’ve turned into a tree-hugging hippy. Typical, you’re just like your aunt and you’re starting to talk like her. She’s decided to stay at your place for quite a while I hear, heaven help us all. Mum says she is quite kooky, so be careful, people will think you’re strange.’
Jo looked at Melissa with an expression that read, ‘What was the point’. Then an idea jolted her.
Melissa could be a challenge; however, with extra knowledge she could also be taught how to save the planet. Jo knew how Melissa loved to eat; if she thought the food production would be affected she would be first on board for saving the environment. If the grass died the cows would have nothing to eat, if they had nothing to eat there would be no milk. If there was no milk, heavens there would be no chocolate paddle pops. Oh gosh! What a disaster.
‘Never mind Jo, when everybody thinks you’ve gone loopy, I will still be your best friend. Wish I had your wonderful sense of storytelling,’ exclaimed Melissa.
‘Don’t be silly Melissa, last year you managed to get an A for all your trouble. Thanks for the encouragement though, I need all the help I can get,’ answered Jo.
‘That may be so but I’ve been up all night and I still haven’t come up with anything brilliant. Don’t suppose you have any ideas, maybe you could put me out of my misery. Mum says that when I get into the classroom it will all come to me. I need a miracle to get through the essay exam.’
Jo smiled at Melissa and offered some advice.
‘I will tell you one thing, it’s better to write something you know a little about, especially when under exam pressure,’ instructed Jo.
Jo and Melissa walked towards school chatting about this and that. Jo felt sure that this time, with her vivid imagination, she would achieve a fabulous A. She thought that she had dreamed up a corker of an idea by the Corkuparipple Creek. There was no way she was going to divulge it to Melissa. Yes, it would be a great adventure story. Not too scary, full of interesting characters to delight any reader. Best of all, it sort of had an important message. When they sauntered through the school gate, Melissa noticed that Jo was wearing an apron and that a green bottle was sticking out of her school bag top flap.
‘What’s that all about?’ she enquired.
Jo looked down, what on earth was Melissa talking about, and then it hit her. For a second Jo’s world stopped, she felt faint. The bottom had dropped out of her stomach, and her head began to throb.
‘What’s wrong Jo, exam nerves finally getting to you? Don’t worry because you are brilliant at essays! Let’s hurry, we don’t want to be late for class.’
Jo just stood there, stunned; frozen in time. What was going on? A green bottle and an apron? The only thought that came to her was the phrase, what the … !
PART II
WORLDS APART
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE: What On Earth!
CHAPTER TWO: Tea For Two More
CHAPTER THREE: The Daoi-Sith (Dark Elves)
CHAPTER FOUR: Panic In Australia
CHAPTER FIVE: Trouble Under The Earth
CHAPTER SIX: Back In Scotland
CHAPTER SEVEN: Way Down Under
CHAPTER EIGHT: Give Up Or Not
CHAPTER NINE: The Bunyip’s Footprint
SCOTTISH GLOSSARY
CHAPTER ONE
What On Earth!
The school classroom was hot and intimidating as the children filed into their seats.
The old weatherboard walls with their regulation colour of yucky green paint seemed to close in, suffocating them with anxiety.
It was ten o’clock on Monday morning and the beginning of summer.
The temperature outside had reached about thirty degrees in the shade and the small pathetic school fans battled to cool the room down.
Mr Heathmont, the English teacher, was eager to get started with the essay exam, the students, not so eager.
When two of the class troublemakers walked into the room, the silence was broken by their smart talk and lack of manners. Mr Heathmont soon sorted them out with a stare of disapproval.
Water bottles were placed in the corner of each desk and instructions given on when and how to go to the bathroom. In other words, go now or forever hold it in.
Girls were separated from the boys as teasing was not an option. Everybody knew that it had been a huge problem in the past. The teachers were taking no chances of it being repeated. There had been too many parents complaining to the headmaster last year. It all had something to do with the boys intimidating the girls for the right answers.
The students were allotted new pens; all awaited the dreaded paper.
Jo was of course ready and possibly more willing to demonstrate her exceptional talent as an author. Melissa, on the other hand, was dreaming of the chocolate paddle pops she would reward herself with after the deed was done.
This exam contributed to most of their yearly score and the students knew that English was one of the most important subjects to pass. Without it, there was no chance to move on to the next year level and that would be highly embarrassing.
Nobody wanted to stay down while his or her friends went up a grade, the ribbing would be intolerable. Everybody knew how angry one’s parents would be if a big fat F were on the report card. So it was basically, suck up the situation and do your best.
Last year, a boy had to stay down and he was in a class with younger kids which was not much fun. Some horrid kids made his life hell, teasing him and all that bad sort of stuff. He got his own back in the end; his parents apparently hit the roof and demanded he be returned to his original class.
Then there was another kid. He was a pest and during the exam, he cut off one of the plaits that belonged to the girl sitting in the front row! That caused such a rumpus in the exam; he was expelled and sent to boarding school.
Mr Heathmont eyed over the class making adjustments with the seating as he noticed that a few of the students were whispering and mucking around. He didn’t want another commotion like last year – that would have been the last straw.
Jo was in Year Four at the local Corkuparipple State School, you would have thought she was about to enter high school. The stress was unbelievable because all the children were keen to move on to the next two senior years in primary school. Years five and six brought a sense of accomplishment and authority.
When they all reached the higher classes they would be able to boss around the younger year levels. That’s just what big kids do.
Of course they didn’t even stop to think that when they went to high school, they would be the youngest and most likely be the ones being bossed around.
Jo often thought about karma and knew not to be a bully. The primary school teachers had decided to call all the revision tests, “exams” and that made everything feel so urgent and important. I guess they were trying to get the children ready for high school and all of the terminology that came along with that next step in two years’ time. It’s funny how the word “exam” can bring on heaps of anxiety. Simple revision tests didn’t seem so final or scary.
Jo was determined to do well because she was the star student and this was her “thing”. Everybody looked up to her and it was expected. The pressure was on and the heat was too, in more ways than one. Still, it was going to be brilliant.
Meanwhile, Melissa had snapped out of her trance and began to panic.
‘Psst, Jo what the heck do I write about? I’m stressing out big time because I still have no idea! Mum said it would come to me but it really hasn’t’.
Melissa’s panicked emotion was short-lived as a smile came across her face when Jo told her to write about shopping.
Jo took a deep breath, it was about to start, good luck to everyone.
Two pieces of A4 paper were placed onto Jo’s school desk.
How many trees did they have to cut down for these? thought Jo.
The morning had been an injection of shock, and the thought of putting pen to paper didn’t appeal. It was something she just had to do in the name of education and all that compulsory stuff. She closed her eyes and tried to get into the Zen of things, positive mind and positive results. Her essay had been well dreamt up so she had thought; now reality flooded into her being making her feel very uneasy.
Stop it Joanne Elizabeth Parker, calm down, breathe deeply and get a grip. What on earth am I getting all edgy about?
As she leaned over her desk, the room filled up with the aroma of sweaty school socks and smelly armpits. You could say it was an indication of the student’s nerves. Jo just hoped that nobody farted as there would be no escape and the boys were disgusting enough to have farting competitions at the most inappropriate times.
Jo looked up to watch Melissa busily writing, her hand moving at one hundred miles an hour. It was ten thirty am and Jo had wasted thirty minutes. The only sound that could be heard was coming from the clock hanging on the wall. It’s amazing how something so ordinary can become overpowering during times of duress. As the tick tock got louder, Jo’s mind went blank.
What, for goodness sake was I going to write about, something to do with saving the environment?
Anxiety started to move in; she knew lots of things to say, how could she write them down?
Mr Heathmont noticed that his star essay writer was having a moment. He looked at his watch to see how much longer he should give Jo before approaching her to find out what was wrong. The room swirled around in Jo’s head and before long she felt unattached to her human form. There was a sudden knock under her seat and she was jolted back to attention.
‘Oh gosh, I better get a wriggle on,’ panicked Jo.
Amazingly, the adventure she thought she had dreamt by the creek plummeted into her mind. The ruled lines were being filled by Jo’s pen doing laps with her creative juices being squeezed to their utmost limit. Memories, dreams and feelings washed the pages with such urgency. Bang went the bottom of her chair, thump, bump and with that, the last paragraph containing her conclusion jotted onto the page. Jo finished her essay without questioning why her desk and chair had been thumping and bumping. She was so engrossed in her work that the roof could have blown off without her even blinking.
‘Put your pens down and wait for me to collect the papers. Hopefully we will have a collection of fantastic essays; I will enjoy marking them over the weekend,’ announced Mr Heathmont.
‘The weekend! That means I’ll stress all week over the results. That sucks,’ mumbled Jo.
The class was dismissed and the children rushed out of the classroom. Melissa, looking very pleased with herself, walked over to Jo.
‘Think I’ve nailed it Jo, just couldn’t stop writing. It’s funny because I came into class with no idea and ended up with heaps.’
That would be right, she was writing so fast it’s probably going to be a new bestselling novel. Hang on, what does she mean “heaps of ideas”? I gave her the only idea, that’s just typical, thought Jo grumpily.
‘Let’s get some fresh air and some food, I’m starving,’ said Melissa.
‘You can tell me about the apron and the green bottle now. Is it some kind of herbal tonic or drink that your kooky Aunt Pepper has made?’
Jo looked stunned; she had forgotten that Melissa had seen the bottle and apron, remembering at the time that she too had been startled by their existence.
As she left the classroom, a giggle came from under her chair. Then Jo thought she heard a faint voice, a familiar voice.
‘Smelly girls get themselves into lots of situations. Let’s see how she can get out of this one.’
Shaking her head and poking her fingers into her ears Jo turned, walked back and looked under her seat. Curled up into a small ball was a very cheeky little Slurp-it-Downs. Realising her so-called dream had started to become reality and all the memories of her adventure were about to haunt her, she jumped up, hitting her head on the edge of the desk.
‘Oh bother and damn it!’ yelled Jo in pain.
‘What on earth is wrong with you and why are you poking your ears? Have you an earache?’ asked Melissa.
‘You’re acting very strange today, just relax, the exam’s over. Come on, I’m starving.’
Immediately Jo told Melissa that she had lost her pen and to go on while she took a few moments to look for it. Melissa was keen to line up at the tuck shop and raced out the room. Jo was relieved that Melissa hadn’t offered to help her; she could now attend to the problem of Eiki. The young Slurp-it-Downs had heard on the grapevine that Jo was confused and had thought she had dreamt everything up while meditating next to the river. She decided to leave the village without anybody knowing and put Jo straight. Eiki wanted Jo to know that everything had happened, and that it hadn’t been a dream. Eiki was upset and felt she was losing her best friend; she needed to fix up the situation fast. To Eiki’s surprise, when Jo saw her she didn’t take fright and seemed to be calm and altogether okay with the situation.
‘Hi Eiki, what are you doing under my chair?’ asked Jo.
‘So you know who I am do you? Not going to freak out and pretend I don’t exist?’ replied Eiki.
‘Why would I do that? I know you exist because I’m talking to you. It’s become very clear that my sort of dream was in fact not a dream at all. So give me a break and stop accusing me of being unreasonable about the situation. Yes, I must admit that for a moment it felt unreal. I have now come to accept that life is sort of surreal anyhow. I’m ready to continue with the journey, whatever it may be.’
Eiki looked at Jo. She was beginning to sound just like her aunt. She hoped that Jo would not find herself a soapbox and start lecturing her on the way it should be; just like her aunt was inclined to do.
‘Do you think you can travel us out of the school and into the village Eiki? I need to talk to Aunt Pepper; it’s a matter of great urgency!’
Eiki stared at Jo in disbelief. Had she got it wrong? Was Jo really okay?
‘I can travel ok but I’m not sure if I have the power to travel you as well.’
‘Please give it a try Eiki, it’s very important and I don’t suppose anybody will miss me if I leave.’
‘What about your friend, she’s waiting for you at the food shop and you know how nosey she is?’ asked Eiki.
‘Melissa loves food and anyway she also loves to gossip, so she’ll be chatting to anybody who’ll listen. And Mr Heathmont is leaving the school for a teacher’s conference, so the relieving teacher won’t even know if I’m there or not. Please Eiki be a sport, you can have me home before anybody finds out.’
With a plea like that Eiki decided to give Jo her wish, after all, she was her best friend and she looked so worried about something. Eiki was only young so to try and travel two beings could prove to be tricky. She closed her eyes and started the familiar chant. Eventually things started to go out of focus. Jo could see rainbow colours swirling around her body, and then there seemed a huge wave of some kind of energy force. Jo yelled out for Eiki who was travelling at the same violent speed. Upward they travelled with strong breezes whistling through their ears. Clouds passed them by throwin
g unusual shadows of bright colours that shimmered and changed shape. Absolutely terrified, Jo yelled for help but there was nothing anybody could do; they seemed to be travelling into a different dimension. Eiki could see Jo travelling beside her and managed to grab her hand. Together they tumbled and fell out of the sky. They spiralled downwards, turning and slipping into wave after wave of soft colourful clouds until suddenly crashing onto a bed of green clover.
‘Eiki – what the … !’ exclaimed Jo.
‘Don’t know what’s gone wrong, maybe I’ve tried too hard and we have ended up in some sort of time warp.’
Jo looked worried and she wondered if they would be able to get back but the thought of trying again scared her even more. Eiki sat there biting her fur, which was matted with grass and clover from the landing.
‘How come I’m in a terrible mess and you’re alright? Typical, smelly girls get out of this uncomfortable situation because they have no fur, it’s not fair.’
‘Stop complaining, look I have grass and clover in my hair. It’s just as annoying but I’m not complaining. Grass and clover in your fur is the last thing we need to worry about’, said Jo tetchily.
‘Well, I’m itchy and you know I have allergies, what if I break out in a rash?’
‘Oh well, if you do, nobody will see the blasted rash because it’ll be under your fur,’ yelled Jo getting extremely agitated.
‘That’s not at all the right attitude and you would see it because I know you will and that’s a Slurp-it-Downs fact.’
‘Oh for heaven’s sake let’s get off this stupid subject; we’ll worry about it if it happens, ok?’
‘That’s typical! I bring up a problem and you don’t care because it’s not you who could have an itchy problem.’
‘Knock it off! Do you think we should take a rest from travelling and have a good look around?’ suggested Jo trying to change the subject. Eiki was a shade of green; she was so spooked by the mishap that she looked like she was going to cry.
‘I don’t know if I have the courage to travel us again, I wish I knew where we are. I just want my mum and dad, I’m scared.’