by Terry Nation
The little man glanced up from his desk.
“Ah, there you are, you horrid little beast. I’ve been expecting you.”
He walked down the wall towards them.
“I think I have perfected the transmission beam that will return you from whence you came. And good riddance to bad rubbish, I say. Now come along. No time to waste, you nasty child.”
He directed Rebecca to step into the centre of a large, metal hoop. It hovered in mid-air without support of any kind.
“I want to say goodbye to my friends,” Rebecca said.
“No time for that, you gruesome little worm,” the man snapped. “Get inside.”
He gave Rebecca a shove. He pressed some buttons, and machinery began to whirr. A special counter started to tick off the seconds.
Ten…Nine…Eight…
“Are you sure it will work?” called Rebecca.
“Not at all sure. I’ve not had time to test it.”
Seven…Six…
“Goodbye, Rebecca,” called Grisby, Kovak and Captain ‘K’.
They raised their arms to wave.
Five…four…
Rebecca began to cry. It was sad leaving her friends. She waved.
Three…Two…
They all stared. Rebecca seemed to be fading. Becoming invisible.
One…Zero.
There was a puff of smoke. Rebecca had completely disappeared.
“Will she be home by now?” asked Grisby sadly.
The little man shrugged. “Who can say,” he replied. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”
There was a whirling curling swirling furling hurling feeling. Rebecca’s head was spinning. Then it was over. She staggered a bit, feeling rather dizzy. She opened her eyes quickly and looked around…and then she started to smile.
Rebecca hopes that one day she’ll meet her three friends again. And, as you know, if you wish for something hard enough…It’s bound to come true.
Rebecca
Grisby
Captain ‘K’
Kovak
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
TERRY NATION is the creator of the world famous Daleks, the arch enemy of television’s Doctor Who. Born in South Wales, he started his professional career as a stand-up comedian. However, although audiences liked his jokes, they didn’t much like the way he told them; so he became a scriptwriter instead. In all, he wrote more than 200 radio shows for some of Britain’s leading comics, including Harry Worth, Eric Sykes and Frankie Howerd, before turning to television. The change of medium brought about a change of style, and before long Terry Nation had become one of this country’s most prolific writers of television drama. Among his long list of credits are the internationally successful series, ‘The Saint,’ ‘The Avengers’ and ‘The Persuaders’ and the recent BBC Television series, ‘Survivors’—based on his novel of the same name. He has also written and produced a number of feature films.
Terry Nation lives with his wife and two young children in the country. Rebecca’s World is his first full length children’s book.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
LARRY LEARMONTH is a new illustrator of outstanding talent. Although he has illustrated a variety of children’s subjects including posters, Rebecca’s World is his first children’s book. His work, which includes a number of brilliant portrait studies, has appeared in magazines throughout the world.