Winifred
Ben and I are sitting on the bench exhausted from picking up trash. Not the best thing to be doing on a hot day like this, I think it’s at least 30 degrees outside.
“Maybe I should have made you kiss the frog, then it might turn into a prince and you’ll have at least one friend,” says Ben.
“I don’t see you hanging out with anyone,” I say.
“At least I have books!,” he says.
“Oh yeah, what kind of books?”
“Books that can take me anywhere, without people like you!”
He starts to walk away and I yell after him, “Get Real!”
Last subject at school is History, we are doing something on Greek Mythology but I’m not really concentrating. I look up to the clock, it’s quarter past 3. 15 agonising minutes to go. Suddenly, Ben comes running through the door like there’s no tomorrow, there’s something weird about him, I got to admit.
“You’re late!, “ says Mr. Nickel.
“Sorry, I didn’t know the time,” Says Ben.
How could he not know the time, there is a giant clock on the front of the school building. There is something weird in his hair, I think it’s a feather or something. Strange. I wonder what he’s been up to? He has a book tucked under his arm but before I can see it he puts it in his bag.
The Bell rings and when I leave the room I stay next to the door and wait for Ben to come out.
“Hi Ben, interesting entrance there,” I say.
“What was that book you had under your arm?”
He looks up with a weird grin, like he knows something he’s not telling me and starts to walk away. I follow him but he starts running.
“Wait up!” I yell, almost out of breath.
He turns a corner and ..... disappears? There is no one there. How could he just disappear like that? I call out his name a few times but no response. I see a book lying on the ground, it looks quite old. I pick it up carefully because it looks like it might break any second. I look around to see if someone dropped but still no one there, maybe it’s Ben’s book! When I look at the book I see something very strange. I am in the book!
Ok, this is freaky. How did I get in this book? I have a look at the caption written at the bottom of the picture and it says, ‘One fair maiden, from across time, will save a life and bring back what was mine.’ I tell myself it’s not talking about me, but I find myself believing it.
“Snap out of it,” I say as I click my fingers in front of my face.
I put it back down on the ground and try to walk away but I can’t, it’s like I’m being pulled towards it. Well, if I can’t go, it will have to come with me. When I pick up the book there is a strange flashing light. I can’t see and I feel like I’m falling. I fall who knows where with a big thud and I black out.
Ben
I lead Winifred to the nearest bench. She looks exhausted and the way she’s looking at me, I should have made her kiss the frog and I say so too. She starts arguing with me and I’m starting to think she hates me so I walk away. I know one thing that will cheer me up! I open my book and find the page with Winifred’s picture on it. The way to get in is to touch the picture and it transports you, I found that out the hard way.
Once I’m in I go find my friend John. He said he would show me a rare bird that he captured the other day. Today it’s beautiful here, the weather is always just right. One thing about the animals is that they are a tiny, tiny bit different to our world. Some animals like snakes for example, they don’t hiss they squawk and birds don’t squawk they hiss. Other than that it’s just the same as any old fairytale village with a big castle and a great landscape behind guarding the kingdom.
I see something move in the distance and i recognise it straight away. I wave to John as he flies on the giant hawk, he swoops down towards the house and lands with a certain amount of control.
"Greetings Benjamin, how are you on this fine morning?" he asks me.
I reply, "I needed to get away for awhile, so I came here." John has dark hair that sweeps across his face and light greyish eyes and wears a sort of hunting outfit with a crossbow in his hand and arrows attached to his back. Meanwhile, I'm talking to John when a little bird with bright green feathers snatch's my book from my satchel and flies away.
"NO!" I yell running after it, "Come back!"
Too late, he has already dumped it in his nest in a tree somewhere by now. I groan in frustration.
"Don't worry, jump on Griff with me and we can get it," explains John. I didn't think of that.
After about half an hour we find the book in a small nest.
"Thanks so much, John."
"Hey, No Problems."
“Oh no, I’m late for history, boost me up?,” I say.
“Sure thing,” says John. I jump off the back of the bird and grab on to the tree’s branch. I pick up my book and head back to the real world.
“You’re late!” says Mr. Nickel.
Obviously I wasn’t going to tell him what really happened so I said I didn’t know the time. When I sit down I stuff the book in my backpack before anyone see’s and focus on my favourite subject. The bell rings and as I walk out the door, Winifred stops me.
“Hi Ben, interesting entrance there. What was that book you had under your arm?” she says.
Oh no, she noticed it! I suddenly had an idea and I turn away and walk straight ahead.
“Wait up!” she yells.
Yes, she is following, better speed up the pace. I turn a corner and open my book, put it on the ground and touch the pages.

I slowly wake up and the first person I see is a girl around my age. She is saying something to me but I can’t understand yet. I turn around and see Ben in the doorway. So, it was Ben’s book then. I wave my hand to him slightly and I think he notices because he comes over.
“How are you?” He says. I can hear!
“Where are we?” I say.
“We are in Galicia,” says Ben. He pulls me out of bed.
“Come on, we have much to do!” He leads me out the room and to the door.
“Thank you!” I yell to the girl, I don’t even know her name. When we go out the door I am amazed at what I see. A beautiful horizon, forests everywhere and a big castle in the distance. What I wouldn’t give to live there.
“Where...are...we...going?” I say, out of breath.
“I need to show you something,” says Ben.
In the sky I notice something really different. One side has dark clouds and the other has white. Another thing I noticed is that we are headed towards the dark side.
“Don’t tell me we are going over there,” I say.
“This is your destiny, did you even read the book?” he says.
“Why is it my destiny?”
“It just is, ok? Anyway, the picture in the book is exactly like you.”
“That doesn’t prove anything!”
He doesn’t say anything but his expression gives it away. I’ll describe his look in one word: Frustrated. His eyebrows are scrunched up and his mouth is the same. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be doing so I ask a question to pass the time,
“So, how did you know about this book in the first place?”
“It’s been in my family for years, when I first saw it I thought big deal and old book. I didn’t think much about it and then at school we had a project and we had to find something old you own and tell us about it,” said Ben. “When I brought it to school I was reading it when you walked past and I looked back down and saw that picture. I was like, what? This is weird and when I got home I studied it cover to cover for more info, but nothing. Then suddenly I was waking up in a forest with a bruise the size of a football field. Oh, here we are!” Ben exclaims.
Wherever we are I do not like it.
Ben
Winifred comes crashing down and I see she is unconscious . I pick her up gently and take her to John’s sister Maeve. Hopefully they have first aid here, what am I thinking? They wouldn’t have first aid it’s the 15thcentury. Maybe they can just give her a remedy of crushed leaves or whatever, anything that will work quick, we don’t have much time, Maeve’s rushing out thinking the worst has happened as usual and leads me to a room that looks like it hasn’t been lived in for at least 1000 years. What? I’m in a bad mood, ok?
John and Maeve are the only ones who know about the book. They are taking a great risk just talking to me.
“It’s hard to believe, all this about.....teckology was it?’” says John.
I explain for the 4th time today that its technology, not teckology.
“You are from the future? That is the most preposterous thing I have ever heard of!” he says.
I hear Maeve talking, Winifred must be awake. I walk to the door and peek in. She turns her head towards me, moves her hand slowly and gives me a half wave.
“How are you?” I say.
“Where are we?” I tell her we are in Galicia and pull her out of bed before she has time to be lazy. She says thanks to Maeve as we run outside.
“Where.....are...we....going?”says Winifred.
I don’t want to scare her too much yet so I just say, “I need to show you something.”
I look up to the sky while we run, oh no, the storm is spreading already!
“Don’t tell me we are going over there,” she says.
She said it, not me. “This is your destiny, did you even read the book?”
Come on, she had plenty of time to read it before she got inside.
“Why is it my destiny?” I’m getting frustrated now!
“It just is, ok? Anyway, the picture in the book is exactly like you.” The personality isn’t though.
“That doesn’t prove anything!” she says.
“So, how did you know about the book in the first place?” I don’t know if I should to tell her or not but I decide to anyway.
“Oh, here we are!” I say as we arrived at the East side of Galicia.
If I know one thing for sure, Winifred’s going to be the best thing that ever happened to this place.