The Adventure of a Lifetime (9 page)

“Betty! Are you crying again? Come on. How do we close it?” Amber yelled over a sudden wind.

“I don't know!” Betty screamed.

He was getting closer. He was about to step on the ledge where Betty and Amber stood.

And then he was here.

Amber pulled out another dagger. Did she have a collection or something? Betty shook her head to clear her questions, instead choosing to focus on Doctor Sly.

Then Betty saw his face: crooked nose, wrinkled skin, chapped lips. Large forehead, brown eyes, and a determination that matched Betty's.

He wasn't a villain.

“Grandpa?” Betty screamed.

“Betty?” Doctor Sly replied.

“Grandpa, it's me!” Betty screamed. All these years, she had thought he was dead. What was he doing here?

“Wait, did you just say ‘Grandpa'?” Amber screamed. “He's your grandpa? This whole time, you were siding with Doctor Sly? I thought you were my friend!”

“Betty,” he said. “I'm not evil. I just wanted to get to the portal so I could get home. Trust me.”

“The portal takes you home?” Betty asked. “We can both go home!” Betty started walking toward her grandpa.

The wind died down.

“Betty, he's not your grandpa,” Amber said.

“What? He looks exactly like him.”

“Well, he's not.” Amber rushed to him and pulled up his pant leg. There it was. The scar.

“What?” Betty yelled, confused.

“He was your grandpa. But the thing is, when he came to my world, he changed. Why do you think he didn't just ask to be let into the portal? If he wants to go home so badly, why is he so sneaky about it? He has changed. I know you still love him, but bringing him back into your world will cause destruction. He has ultimate knowledge of two worlds, and now he wants to dominate.”

“C'mon. You don't believe her, right?” Grandpa asked, his voice turning angry.

“My grandpa died,” Betty said quietly, so softly that the raging wind obscured most of her words. “I went to his funeral. And after what I've been through, I believe Amber too.” But her grandpa was there, alive. This couldn't be true.

“My theory is that he was originally good. But he had no place to go here. So the villains took him in, brainwashed him, taught him to be bad, and branded him. That kind of stuff happens here.”

“Can he ever come back to my world?” Betty asked.

“We'll train him to be good, and then maybe he can come back. You okay with that?” Amber asked Betty's grandpa.

“Yes. I promise you, I will never try to hurt you. I—I just want to go home to my family.” His voice cracked, and Betty almost laughed. How would she explain to her mom and dad that her dead grandpa would be coming home soon?

“As for you,” Amber said, looking at Betty, “go in the portal and go home.”

“You think I can get home?”

“Yeah,” Amber assured her.

“And you'll send Grandpa as soon as he's ready?” Betty asked. The word felt weird on her tongue—she hadn't said “Grandpa” in so long.

“You can count on it.”

Betty looked at the portal, ready to go back home. When she opened her eyes, though, another surprise lay in front of her. Mrs. Shumpridge's face was shining through the Jello-like surface of the portal.

“Mrs. Shumpridge?” Betty asked. She wasn't even confused or scared anymore—if her dead grandpa could be alive, then her teacher could be looking at her through a portal. Right?

“Betty, you probably have many questions. I will answer. One, the reason you got the book early is because I'm…” she sighed, “Lana Mungo. I created this world, and I send ultimate
Amber
fans here for a taste of adventure. Two, Mrs. Asdern got this book when she was younger. We were best friends, but she doesn't remember me. She was an ultimate adventure fan, so I gave her this first manuscript when I was ten. That's why she's able to come here. And then over the year of having you as my student, I realized that you loved the series too. So I sent you as well.”

Betty didn't have time for this. She wanted to get home, to the future—wait, was that true? If she stepped through the Portal of the Future and got home, then her home was the future of Amber's world. That meant Amber's world was Betty's past, just like her dead grandpa had been her past when he died.

Betty's thoughts became more and more muddled as she kept thinking of the logic behind all of this. She shook her head. She didn't have time for deep thinking, and was quick to say to her former teacher, “Thank you, but can I go back home now?”

“Of course. Just step into the portal,” Mrs. Shumpridge said. Even she knew that Betty was eager to return home. After looking at Amber-world one last time, Betty stared at the colorful portal and knew it was time to go home.

“Betty, wait. I have to tell you something.” Amber put a hand on Betty's shoulder and Betty prepared herself for yet another shocking surprise. “Thank you. This was the most fun adventure I've ever been on.”

Betty smiled and gave Amber a very tight hug.

“Okay, okay, that's enough of that.” Amber shrugged off Betty's hug but continued to smile.

Then Betty put one foot into the portal, looked at her grandpa and her new friend, and went home.

Betty landed on her bed with a thud. Her eyes took in the familiar sight of her room. It was still night. Had it only been a dream? But on her nightstand she saw the book,
Amber's Big Adventure
, sitting there, emitting that eerie glow once again. It had been real—it must've been real.

Well, anyway, Betty liked the fact that it was still nighttime, since her parents wouldn't be asking her where she'd been. But now, she couldn't go to sleep. She hugged every piece of furniture in her room and then got a notebook. In one corner of her room there was a rarely used desk. This evening, Betty used it. She sat down on the chair and got a pencil with a stubby tip. She turned on the desk light and titled the next blank page “Things I Learned From my Journey.”

1. I need to learn how to swim.

2. I need to not leave books open on my nightstand, lest I get sucked into them.

3. I shouldn't underestimate the power of books.

4. Arlyers are confusing objects.

5. People like Mona are mean.

6. Alligator jelly isn't very tasty.

7. Rock climbing skills can come in handy.

Betty sat back in her chair. It was a fun adventure—she had to admit that—but she didn't want to do it again. Betty walked over to
Amber's Big Adventure
, looked at the cover, which had a picture of the Roaring Rapids, and then pulled over the chair from the desk. Holding the book, Betty climbed onto the chair and tucked the book on the bookshelf above her. Then, realizing that she was actually pretty exhausted, she climbed into bed, keeping Amber's clothes on. Would she remember all this tomorrow? Betty slowly descended into dreamless sleep.

Indeed she did. She woke up half-asleep and groggy-eyed. When she looked down at herself, all the scratches and scrapes she had gotten from her journey were gone. Amber's clothes and shoes were gone. When she went into the kitchen, the smell of blueberry pancakes greeted her. Betty's mom stood there flipping pancakes. Betty rushed over and hugged her, happiness flooding her face.

“Whoa! I get a morning hug? Is this because summer vacation is here?” Betty's mom asked, surprised.

“Uh, yeah…that's the reason,” Betty said, even though it totally wasn't.

“Did you have a good night's sleep?” Betty's mom asked.

“Uh…yeah, I did,” Betty said. And then she added “I had a really cool dream.” Betty knew this wasn't true, but she felt she needed to tell somebody about her encounter with Amber.

“What was it about?” Betty's mom asked.

Betty told her all about it. She told her mom about the arlyers, the obstacles, Doctor Sly, and even about the Portal to the Future. Betty's mom was amazed when she was done.

“Oh, and Mom, can I take swimming lessons?” Betty asked.

“Wow, that dream must have really affected you, didn't it?” Betty's mom asked, smiling.

“Yeah, it did,” Betty said, smiling. “It really did.”

“Good job.”

“Thanks.” Betty's grandpa said. “The plastic surgery helped a lot.”

“She thought you were actually her grandpa. It's good we killed him when he got here and used plastic surgery on your face.”

“I did look a lot like the old bat.”

“You sure did. Now, when Amber takes you in for training, pretend you're a good person again. She'll let you through the portal, you'll get that tool, and dominate the whole entire race. They'll all be calling our names! They'll be bowing down to us!”

Doctor Mant started climbing down the mountain, and Doctor Sly smiled on the ledge. The portal had closed when Betty went through, and soon he would go too.

The only thing?

“Who said anything about ‘our'? I'm the only one they'll be bowing down to.”

Doctor Sly cackled. They didn't know what was coming.

At all.

The Adventure of a Lifetime
has certainly been a work in progress for a while—the first draft was written when I was eight years old. Now, five years later, it has been bettered into my first publication due to so many people who I can't thank enough.

Make-A-Wish Foundation
®
of Illinois, thank you so much. I was only nine years old when Patti and Cindy, volunteers at Make-A-Wish, offered to fulfill my greatest dream: to become a published author. Over the years, they have helped me immensely by finding a publisher and encouraging my writing to make it what it is today. They are two wonderful ladies who I was very lucky to meet, and even today we keep in touch.

I would also like to thank Sourcebooks as a whole. I remember every tiny detail of the day I first went to your office. It was honestly a dream come true. Todd Stocke showed me around and talked about a book I never imagined would ever make it this far when I wrote it—I was an eight-year-old with nothing more than a vivid imagination. Thank you to Kelly Barrales-Saylor and Steve Geck, my editors, for offering me suggestions and opening my mind to concepts of the story I hadn't even thought about.

Last but not least, I want to thank my family for encouraging me on my book. I don't think I could've made it here without you guys, especially my mom and dad, who stuck with me through thick and thin and never passed up on their offer to proof my writing, no matter what they were doing at the moment. I truly owe you more than a few measly sentences can offer. I love you!

It was a chain of events that brought me where I am today. It was an experience I'll never forget.

And even the author admits that mere words will never express my gratitude.

Ravina Thakkar is a thirteen-year-old who lives in Plainfield, Illinois. When she's not writing, she's either hanging out with friends or reading. She first started writing as a hobby in first grade, and it later developed into a dream to become a published author. Working on her novel over the past few years has definitely been her “adventure of a lifetime.” This is her first book.