Out of This World

Contents

Acknowledgement

Chapter 1

A Mystery Unfolds

Chapter 2

So Much to Tell

Chapter 3

The Bait is Taken

Chapter 4

Facing the Consequences

Chapter 5

Best friends

Chapter 6

D-Day

Chapter 7

A Turn of Events

Chapter 8

The Big Move

Chapter 9

The fun begins

Chapter 10

Another Challenge!

Chapter 11

Big Day Out

Chapter 12

Life’s full of Surprises!

Chapter 13

A Cool Touch

Chapter 14

A Curious Path

Chapter 15

The Perfect Hideaway

Chapter 16

A Magical Discovery

Chapter 17

The Final Challenge

Chapter 18

Another Dimension

Chapter 19

Back to Reality… (well, almost!)

Chapter 20

A Night to Remember

Chapter 21

All Is Revealed

Epilogue

Post Script

In loving memory of Bill.

Acknowledgement

Special thanks to Hayden Dewar for bringing

this story to life with his amazing illustrations.

You can visit Hayden at his website:

haydendewar.com

Some of this story is fact and some of it is fiction,

some of it came true well after it was written.

Each page contains some magic and every word is blessed;

those who understand these powers will soon become the best

at whatever in life they imagine or dare to create or dream,

for anything is possible if you can just believe…

Chapter 1

A Mystery Unfolds

Billy and Ruby lived in a sprawling, old white weatherboard house in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. Luckily and most importantly on this particular occasion, they also had a generous back-yard with lots of space to play, because this day, you see, was Billy’s twelfth birthday and his party was well underway.

The weather was just perfect, with blue skies and warm sunshine—a beautiful spring day. Squeals of laughter and children’s voices filled the air and mingled effortlessly with the sweet scent of budding jasmine and freshly-mown grass, topped naturally with the appetising aroma of sausages and hamburgers sizzling away on the barbeque, to create a heady atmosphere of fun and excitement…

C’mon, Billy… please let me have a turn. Ruby looked at her brother beseechingly. You’ve used my camera heaps… and my printer… and my mobile… and… Ruby paused for a breath while she mentally compiled a list of all the things of hers that she knew her brother just helped himself to. Not that she minded really; he always took reasonable care of her things—unless he decided to pull something apart completely, just to see how it worked. He’d always had a very inquisitive mind it seemed and from an early age displayed a tendency towards this curious behaviour, having experimented on almost every mechanical device in the house by now.

Mum and Dad often spoke of how they had to worry constantly when he was smaller that he’d cause himself an injury so they went to great lengths to keep more dangerous things out of his reach. Nowadays, Ruby could spot the warning signs and had learned to hide certain things in her room for safe keeping. Anyway, Ruby tried to remind herself to be patient and not to forget that it was Billy’s special day after all.

But jeez, you’ve got so much good stuff, she mumbled under her breath.

Among the many presents he’d gotten a new digital camera and had already taken dozens of photos of his favourite cousin, Joey and of his best friends, Jack and Yohan. His friend Timmy was also there and he was busy kicking a small football back and forth to Billy’s younger cousin, Ben, who was only four years old but loved being around the older boys. Ben was dressed as Leonardo, one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

At the moment he seemed obsessed with them and went everywhere in his costume. He even insisted on pizza for every meal, much to his mum’s dismay. Ben was having a ball at the party and a lot of the time was running around with half-eaten pizza in one hand and his sword in the other, yelling Cowa-bunga and Pizza dude’s got thirty seconds!

He certainly made the photos seem all the more fun. So too did the twins, Adrian and Matt, who were identical in every way—same height, same brown hair: Matt just had a slightly thinner face. The thing was, they got mixed up by grownups all the time, which was useful on occasion as they were full of tricks and often up to mischief. They’d deliberately dressed identically today (a thing they’d normally never do on weekends: it was bad enough being in the same school uniform all week!) and were having a great time copying each other and completely confusing all the adults.

The boys had all congregated around the cubby house, where they were all busily examining an impressive-looking version of Optimus Prime. It was a huge metal robot with a royal blue face, red shoulders and lighter blue forearms and legs—just like he was in the movie and naturally they each thought that they knew how to transform him the quickest. There was also the fearsome Megatron, leader of the Decepticons. Billy was a bit over the Transformers really but these were special. They were first generation originals from the ‘80’s in perfect condition and were now collectors’ items. They had belonged to his older cousins back in the day and had been handed down to him. They were something to treasure.

Billy had in fact grown tired of taking photos by this stage and was now eager to demonstrate his skill at transforming Optimus Prime. He was more than ready to show his mates how it was done so he finally handed the camera over to a grateful Ruby without hesitation.

Just be careful, Rubes. If you wreck it, you’re gone! Billy warned her sternly as an after-thought and she knew to take him seriously. As her bigger brother, he’d shown his capacity to out-muscle her many times before and she well knew his policy of an eye for an eye. If she broke his camera, he’d certainly break hers and take particular delight in pulling it apart piece by piece.

I’ll be extra-careful, Bill. I promise. I just have to take some photos too. Plus then you’ll be in ’em, she added thoughtfully. Ruby was ten years old (nearly eleven as she kept reminding everyone), only sixteen months younger than her brother and was always trying to keep up. Of course, she had her own pink camera and even a printer to develop her own photos but she’d much rather use Billy’s new camera instead. It was better than hers with a nice big viewfinder and a really good zoom lens.

Ruby immediately aimed the camera at the action, homing in on the noisy group of boys. Billy had already transformed Optimus Prime into a huge semi-trailer and had that gleam in his eye that she recognised so well—the obvious pleasure that such accomplishment brought him.

More than meets the eye! Billy exclaimed jokingly to his friends and then he immediately reached for the equally impressive Megatron, with his shiny black metal gleaming in the sunlight.

You won’t believe this one. It actually transforms into a realistic Walther P-38 with the stock and barrel extensions and a scope. You can’t even get these anymore. This is an original. He knowingly informed his friends, who looked on in awe.

If only he was like this all the time, she said to herself with a sigh. Then eager to capture the moment, she called to them all. Hey, Bill, Joey, Jack, everyone… look at the camera and smile.

The pre-occupied, chattering boys took no notice of Ruby whatsoever. Billy, encircled completely by his friends, was still soaking up all the attention.

Yeah and my other cousin Clay, who’s like six feet, six inches and so tall, well he had all of the original Power Rangers in perfect condition from when he was young but he’s spewing ’cos his mum, that’s my Auntie Sue, well she gave ’em all away! The boys all began nodding their heads in sympathy, knowing the pain felt at the loss of such treasured possessions.

Okay, you lot. Look at me. Her patience was wearing thin. Oh, c’mon guys. Look up pleeeease! yelled Ruby as she steadied herself to focus on the reluctant boys. She couldn’t quite get a clear shot though because there was a bright light above Billy’s head. She waved them across to the right.

Don’t be a pain, Ruby. Just take it! We’re busy. Billy answered, slightly fed up with the whole photo thing now. The boys had been in and taken more than enough photos for one day as far as they were concerned.

Oh, please! She begged and directed them instead over towards the trampoline, with only grass underfoot and trees behind. There should be no reflections to worry about this time, she reasoned to herself.

But sure enough, as she looked in the viewfinder again, there it was, as bold as ever, a bright circle of light, hovering just above Billy’s head. She instinctively turned to look at the sun behind her but it had gone behind a cloud.

What the… ? she muttered out loud.

Hurry up, Ruby. I’ll give you to the count of ‘ten’ to take it or we’re outta here… One… Two… Three… Four… Billy clearly meant business.

Okay, Okay… Smile.

With that the boys all yelled out silly things like Cheese…, Sex… and Salada biscuits… and then all laughed, somewhat hysterically, at their own jokes.

Ruby rolled her eyes in disgust. You’re all pathetic. Go back to your toys, boys.

With that, Ruby happily went off and took some lovely shots of her girl cousins and friends instead. She got Bonnie, Chloe and four-year-old Kellie-Ann in a great shot with her dogs Coco, the big, old chocolate brown Labrador and Jezza, the somewhat smaller Maltese-Shihtzu cross. He was cute and fluffy and loved to have his tummy rubbed. Kellie-Ann was carrying Jezza around in her arms like a rag-doll. The dog seemed perfectly happy with this arrangement. Ruby knew that he would just love all the attention.

She was then sure to take a couple of photos of her best friends, Stephanie, Angelica and Lulu. Steff was probably her first best friend at the moment; with Jelly, (that was Angelica’s nick-name) maybe second best and Lulu third. It was hard to say really because they were all pretty close, come to think of it. Steff was lucky—she was very spoilt and seemed to have so much compared to Ruby. She was actually a bit naughty at times (like she’d do graffiti on things, which the others would never do!) but she was fun and a bit exciting.

Jelly was smaller, with wavy, brown hair and just so easy going. While Lulu, who was Chinese, had beautiful, long silky, black hair and was quiet mostly but then when she did have something to say, she’d talk loudly and very fast. Ruby thought that Lulu was just shy and nervous and got a bit self-conscious. Ruby was thrilled to have been allowed to have her friends come along and she was pleased to see that they were all having a great time. It had made her day.

It seemed that all too soon the party was coming to an end and suddenly her mum, Deb called everyone to attention. Ruby heard loud groans of disappointment coming from the boys but to no avail.

Okay, kids, we’ve got some parents here to pick up… Deb’s eyes scanned the scene and then she pointed to Adrian and Matt… and Lulu. Time to go home, I’m afraid. Don’t worry, all the other parents are on their way too.

Come and get a piece of birthday cake and a bag of lollies to take with you. Thank-you all for coming today. Billy, Rubes… come and see your friends off please. C’mon Ruby, that’s enough photos for today.

Deb signalled that it was time to wind things up but Ruby didn’t mind, she was pretty tired really. So was Billy for that matter and he couldn’t wait to start sorting out all his new stuff and setting it up in his room.

Later that evening, with everyone gone and all the cleaning up done, the house seemed back to normal. Billy had safely retired to his sacred domain and promptly told his sister to stay out.

Didn’t take you long to get back to your old self, she mumbled as she headed to the refuge of her own room—then she remembered her photos. Ruby instantly decided to print out a couple of photos from the party.

Well, you just stay out of my room too! She said loudly and deliberately, feeling quite pleased with herself, knowing that she had something special to do as well. Besides that, her cousin Madison, who was now fifteen years old, had given Ruby a whole bag full of clothes and shoes that she’d outgrown—she still had all those to sort through.

Ruby loved dressing up and putting on make-up and she absolutely adored shoes. She especially liked getting things from Maddie because they were always a bit more fashionable. Ruby couldn’t wait to be a teenager herself. Still, she’d leave the clothes for later, Ruby decided. For the moment, she’d rather print out a couple of photos from the party. Billy had taken heaps himself but she was really only interested in the ones that she’d taken—naturally, they were the shots that she printed off first. Ruby knew that she’d only be able to do about eight photos tonight. She was running a bit low on ink and photo paper again and there was no way that Mum could afford more this week, after throwing the party and all.

She carefully selected her chosen few. She did include a shot of Billy blowing out the candles on his birthday cake and then one with Mum and Ruby when he opened his main present, which was an X-Box 360.

Billy was punching the air, saying Yes, yes, yes! which looked pretty funny in the photo. Even though she hadn’t taken these two, she liked them a lot. Then there were the three photos of Ruby’s friends and the one of her cousins playing with the dogs. Another shot of her cousin, Maddie and Auntie Sue stuffing into some birthday cake (both posing especially for the photo to make it look funny) and finally there were the two shots of the boys—one in front of the cubbyhouse, which Ruby had thought over-exposed originally and there was the one of them by the trampoline.

The weird thing was that in the four photos that included Billy and only those four, the glowing light was there above Billy’s head. The light was barely noticeable in the first two, just a faint round translucent shape but in the two later images it took on a definite brightness and looked like a little ball of light.

Ruby knew she was onto something. She really needed to develop more of the other shots but that was out of the question for now.

Who should I tell first? She wondered to herself, knowing that both Billy and her parents would tell her that it was just a reflection and take no notice but her instincts told her that this was something more special and mysterious than that somehow. Ruby loved mysteries and solving problems so this wonderful, mysterious golden light was to become her new project. She thought it best to keep it a secret for now though. She took the four photos and popped them in the camphorwood chest on her bedside table then carefully locked its special brass lock with the oddly-shaped brass slot-key and put the key back in its hiding spot in the drawer under her bed.

Her camphorwood chest was only ever used for matters of extreme secrecy so that was where she kept her diary for safe-keeping. There was no way that she’d ever want Billy or his friends or even her friends for that matter, reading her diary. Not that she ever said anything really bad, mind you, but there were times when she had things on her mind and it helped her to write it down.

Like stuff about Mum and Dad separating or that time that one of the nastier girls at school, Mila, who is a bit of a drama queen and a real trouble-maker at the best of times, told Amy and Louise that Ruby and Steff weren’t their friends anymore but that wasn’t true at all and nearly caused a real problem. Luckily, Rubes had been able to smooth things over.

Anyway, she suddenly had the urge to make a note in her diary now. It had been good, she wrote, to see Billy happy today. He’d almost seemed like his old self, probably too much so, she reflected, because as usual he didn’t want her touching any of his new stuff. It was lucky that he’d finally let her have a go of the camera actually. She knew it was a trade-off really. He’d expect something in return for sure. Damn it.

At least Billy was sort of okay on the weekends, she noted. He just hated life during the week. He hated everything to do with school these days, just everything. He never wanted to go and every morning he’d have a million excuses to stay home.

Ruby on the other hand, just loved school. She loved her teacher, her friends, decorating her school work, reading, writing stories, even doing homework was okay. Unlike Billy, who was placid, with more of a strong, solid build, Ruby had a fine, delicate, slender frame and seemed as light as a feather and was a constant bundle of energy. She loved doing cartwheels and dancing and had trouble sitting still for long. Actually, she had trouble even keeping quiet for long as her parents and teachers repeatedly reminded her—she was a bit of a chatterbox. Her mouth would constantly race ahead of her thoughts. She was apparently a bit like her Auntie Ann in that way, it seemed. That’s why she had the diary now because Annie had explained to her that she and Ruby were born storytellers and the best solution was simply to begin to write those thoughts down—that creative energy simply needed expression. And so that’s what she’d done ever since, especially when she’d been really excited about something and no-one wanted to listen. Besides, it made her feel so much better and she loved knowing that she had some secret knowledge that no-one else had.

Now of course, she may have the most amazing secret of all time to write about. She couldn’t believe her luck and wondered where this discovery would lead. Would she be able to find out more about this magical ball of light? Would she ever see it again? She found herself becoming tired now and decided to call it a night and get ready for bed.

She drifted off to sleep with her mind filled with images of herself walking along a lime-green path through a strange forest of purple trees and bright blue bushes with the most incredible pink sky overhead. All the while, she was aware of feeling blissfully happy and being guided along by lots of brightly glowing spheres hovering around just like fairies do. That night, she had the best sleep ever.

Chapter 2

So Much to Tell

The next morning saw both Billy and Ruby head off to school very enthusiastically. Now this is more like it! said their mum, Deb, with a grateful sigh of relief. They were both still quite excited about yesterday’s party and couldn’t wait to see their friends to go over it all again in graphic detail. Billy had two extra surprises after everyone had gone home and he was dying to tell Jack and Johan. First of all, his other older cousin, Rex had left him a big sports bag that was packed full of the boxed sets of Dragon Ball Z DVD’s—the entire series.

Are you kidding? Do I want it? The complete series—you betcha! said a very happy Billy, adding, Hey, Dad, it’s lucky we kept that old DVD player. Have we still got the leads for it? Can you set it up in my room, please Dad?

Hang on, Bill. I’ve got one more surprise for you, replied his dad, who also happened to be named Bill. He was often referred to as ‘Big Bill’ by everyone nowadays so as to avoid confusion.

"I’d already got this present for you before your mum told me about the X-Box. I almost put it away for Christmas but then I thought to myself… Aaah, what the heck. And so I’m going to let you have it now but on the proviso that you’ll work really hard at school for the rest of the year,