JAM and their Space Adventures
By Jessica Taurins

Index
Chapter 1: The Movie
Chapter 2: The Arcade
Chapter 3: The Arcade Part Two
Chapter 4: The Spaceship
Chapter 5: Aunt Lulu, The Space Explorer
Chapter 6: Last Day

Chapter One: The Movie

'Hey Jacinta,' my friend Monica said one Sunday. 'Let's go to the movies to see Alien Invasion. It sounds really cool.'

'Okay,' I replied. 'I'll be over at six. Can we have a sleepover until Friday too?'

'Great idea, I'll ask my mum,' Monica said. 'I'm sure she won't mind considering we're on holidays.'

'Hey, can I come too?' Anastacia asked.

'Just a moment,' Monica said. 'She says that both of you can come!' We all squealed like crazy.

'I'll call my mum,' I said.

'So will I,' Anastacia added. We both called our mums in turn and they both said of course.

I'd better slow down. I'm Jacinta Masse. Monica and Anastacia are my best friends. We call ourselves JAM. JAM stands for Jacinta, Anastacia and Monica. Do you like it? We think it sounds snazzy.

Our theme song is:
We are red
We are white
We are dynamite
JAM is dynamite
Don't mess with dynamite
*Clap Clap*

I find our song quite cool. Don't you?

I have dark brown eyes and long straight hair. Monica has the same dark brown eyes but her hair is quite bushy. Anastacia also has the same dark brown eyes but her hair looks black and it is also quite bushy. We are all eleven years old and in grade six.

Now let's get back to the story.

It was quarter to six and I was at Monica's house waiting for Anastacia to get there. I had already put my stuff inside. Just as we were about to leave Anastacia's car pulled up and she ran out of it.

'Hi� guys� sorry� I'm� late� There� was� a� big�'

'Say no more Anastacia,' I said, 'we already heard about the accident.' By then she had regained her breath

'Bye Dad!' she yelled.' So guys, let's get going to this movie, Alien Invasion,'

'Just a minute,' Monica said. 'Put your stuff inside, then we'll go.' Anastacia put her stuff inside then we hopped into Monica's car and her sister drove us off to the movies.

'Bye girls,' Monica's sister said when we pulled up in front of the cinema. 'Make sure that you go to the seat right outside the theatre when the movie is over. By the way you can call me Julie, okay?'

'Yes, Julie,' we chorused as we got out of the car.

'Okay, have a good time,' she said, then she sped off in the car. We walked into the movies, bought ourselves tickets and snacks then went off to movie theatre number nine. We looked around the outside a bit before going in.

'These are amazing statues of aliens,' Monica said. 'They look like they could just spring to life.'

'Yeah,' Anastacia and I murmured. Then we walked inside the theatre. I sat there slurping away at my Frozen Coke while we watched the credits, then the movie started. Just as it started we heard a cracking noise outside. We thought it was just the cleaner because it was kind of late. Then we heard heavy footsteps pounding into the theatre.

'Shh,' we hissed. 'We're trying to watch the movie.' Then we heard a scream and we whipped around. We saw one of the statues from outside beaming itself into the movie with a struggling woman in its grip.

'Wow, there are some excellent special effects in this movie,' Monica said.

'I don't think they are special effects. I think they're real!' Anastacia stammered.' We all screamed so loud that the alien looked down and he beamed us up too.

We screamed so loudly, the alien had to put his hands over our mouths. We kicked and thrashed but nothing worked. He beamed us straight into the movie. When he put us down we stopped screaming and we looked around. We saw the movie playing around us.

'We're part of the movie now,' I stammered.

'What do you think will happen to us when the movie ends if we can't get ourselves out? Anyone?' Monica asked, trembling. Just as she said that we saw a small girl being tied up by one of those nasty aliens.

'Hey! Let her go!' Anastacia yelled at the alien. It took no notice of her. 'I said, let her go!' she screamed. The alien dropped the little girl and she lay there, crumpled up and crying. The alien came forward to take Anastacia instead. Anastacia screamed so loudly that two other aliens came to take Monica and I too.

We all screamed and then the aliens put some sleeping powder in our open mouths. Monica and Anastacia both fall asleep instantly. I didn't get much so I only felt a bit drowsy.

The aliens plodded over to a giant building. It was in ruins and a real mess. Once inside I discovered that it was a lab. The aliens were going to experiment on us! I got really scared but I still pretended to be asleep. Suddenly I felt the cold table beneath me. My arms and legs were being strapped in and I could hear metal clanking. I opened my eyes and saw a needle above me and an alien holding a knife I started screaming and kicking.

Anastacia and Monica woke up and they looked at me with wide eyes. Then they looked up and they started acting like me. Luckily my arms were strapped to my side because I could just reach my pocketknife that was inside my right pocket. I started to saw away at the strap. It came apart quite easily and I managed to get my other wrist and legs free. I jumped off the table and kicked one of the aliens hard. He stumbled backwards and crashed into the other aliens. They all tumbled with a thump to the floor. My friends were cheering me on and I used my pocketknife to cut them loose.

We quickly ran out of the lab and we realised through a haze of panic that the planet we were on was Pluto. This Pluto was so small (after all it was just a movie set) that we were able to navigate it in no time. We found a trap door and went through it. We found that it led us out of the movie and into a room.

'Guys, we're in the projecting room of the theatre,' I said.

'Yea!' Anastacia and Monica screamed happily. We went to sit outside on the seat. When Julie came to drive us back to Monica's house we told her that she'd never guess what we did at the movies.

'Oh, yeah,' she replied. 'Try me,'

'Okay,' Monica said. She told her what we'd done and she nearly had a car crash.

'Oh my gosh, you are so lucky that you got to do that.'

'What?!' we all said and our jaws dropped open. 'We could have been killed!'

'No, you couldn't have. I forgot that because today was the final showing, they would have some excellent special effects where four people would be 'taken' into the movie and they would have an experience of what it was like to be in a movie. Who was the other person?'

'A young lady,' I said with a little shiver. 'She was kicking and screaming.'

'Ah, then it was probably real,' Julie said with a strange look in her eye. 'When they do this with movies, its always a space movie, there are always four people, they always find a trap door to get out of and the fourth person is always a young boy. The boy looks like he's been knocked out.'

'How do you know all of that, sis?' Monica asked.

'I heard it from a friend of mine who absolutely loves alien movies and she has been to the ending of all of them. She's been 'taken' into heaps of movies.'

'Do you know where the trap door leads to?' Anastacia asked sweetly.

'Yes, it's the projection room of the theatre,' Julie replied. 'Why?'

'That's where we were taken,' Anastacia said. 'So it must only have been an effect.'

'Well, maybe it was the fake 'taking'. I think the lady is the replacement for the boy. Yeah, that makes sense. My friend said that once there was a different person being taken and she sounded just like your description.'

'I understand you now. It probably was a fake 'taking'. I'm sorry for worrying you,' I said quietly.

'It's okay Jacinta, you didn't know and you panicked. The first time I went with my friend I panicked too. But when she told me it was just a fake I calmed down. I really love fake 'takings'. I wish I had come.'

'Sis,' Monica said.

'What, Monica?' Julie asked.

'I believe that if you check the newspaper, there is another showing of the movie tomorrow. Why don't you go?'

'Okay. I'll go while you guys are at the arcade.'

When we got home we had warmed up macaroni and cheese for dinner. Then we went to Monica's room and we slipped into our sleeping bags. We chatted about the movie until it was past three in the morning, then one by one; we dropped off to sleep.

Chapter Two: The Arcade

'It was really cool at the movies yesterday,' Monica said through a yawn.

'Yeah,' Anastacia and I agreed.

'What's for breakfast Mrs Lanskii?' I asked

'Bacon and eggs,' she replied.

'Yum, I love bacon and eggs.'

We had a delicious breakfast then went to fight over who got to use the bathroom first.

'Could you fight a little quieter?' Mrs Lanskii asked.

'Okay,' we replied. To make it easier we all went in at the same time and brushed our teeth together. We were getting ready to go to the virtual reality arcade that had recently opened up in our town. Julie was going to take us then she was going to go to the movies.

'Bye Julie,' we chorused as we rushed out of the car.

'I'll be back to pick you up after the movie, okay?'

'Okay Julie,' we chorused again. We ran into the arcade. It was dark and empty. Then we noticed one other child playing the virtual reality game, Return to the Planet Narbol.

'Um, excuse me,' Monica called out tentatively. 'Is there anyone�'

'Yes, my customers,' said an eerie voice from the darkness.'What would you like to play? Return to the Planet Narbol or Deep Sea Experiences?'

'Um, could we play Return to the Planet Narbol, please?' Anastacia asked.

'Of course you can,' said the voice. A strange looking lady had appeared out of the darkness. She was wearing a multi-coloured shawl over her shoulders and a long skirt made up of the same colours. She wore big golden earrings and the top of her long dark hair was covered by a bandana. She looked just like a Gypsy. 'Just put on your virtual reality gear, drop your two dollars into the slot and off you go. Now do you want to play as a group or as individuals?'

'A group please,' I said smiling. Her voice didn't sound so eerie any more.

'Yes, alright then, that will make it much easier for you,' she replied. We walked over to the group seat for the game we wanted to play and we did just what the lady told us to do. The game started.

'Hey this is kind of cool guys,' Anastacia cried. 'It feels like we really are on this spaceship. Look! A laser just dropped into my hand. This is such a cool game.'

We started to explore the ship when suddenly we were attacked by some mutated humans. They grabbed their laser guns and started shooting at us.

'Ow!' I yelled grabbing my leg. 'These lasers really hurt! They feel so real! I think I want to stop playing this game now.'

'We agree,' said Monica and Anastacia in small voices.

We frantically pulled off our head gear and looked around us with wide eyes. We were still in the game!

The mutants had started to shoot at us again. We picked up the lasers that we'd dropped when we took off our head gear and started shooting back.

Soon enough every one of the mutants were down on the ground. Some of them looked dead but others were crawling away.

Suddenly, an ugly looking blue alien beamed up through the metal floor of the spaceship. He was wearing a full body metal suit.

'Hello, young Earthlings,' he said in a deep, booming voice. 'I am the King of the Ekkians. Bow down to me.'

'Hello,' I said and curtsied. My voice was trembling. 'We would like to get out of this game but we don't know how. Can you help us?'

'Yes I can help you but you have to help me,' the King said with a sly grin. 'To get out of the game you must defeat a dark purple tiger. This tiger has been terrorising my planet for years. It is very strong and fast but if you do not accept the challenge of defeating it then you will be killed.'

Monica, Anastacia and I exchanged glances. We knew we would have to do what he said.

'Okay, ' Monica said in a brave voice, 'but before we go, I'd like to know one thing. Why can't you kill the tiger?'

'That is very simple, my little Earthlings. The tiger has grown immune to our advanced technologies. It can only be killed by a race of people who have not yet seen the end of the 21^st century.'

'Oh,' said Monica with a weird look in her eye. 'How many of our race have been tricked into helping you?'

'Many. Many,' the alien King said with a cruel laugh. 'But none have ever returned. Perhaps you will be the first.'

'Okay, we'll help you,' I said. I knew we didn't have a choice. 'Can you transport us to its home?'

'Yes,' he replied with a wave of his hand.

Suddenly the metal floor beneath us slid open and we found ourselves spinning around in circles. Soon after we tumbled with a thump onto a desert plain. There was black sand as far as we could see. We stood up and I dusted myself off.

'Where are we? ' I stammered.

Monica and Anastacia shrugged.

Suddenly there was a low growl off to our left. We spun around and saw a huge purple tiger getting ready to pounce. We joined hands and started to run but the tiger was right behind us.

'I have an idea,' Anastacia yelled. 'If we throw sand in its eyes we can stall it until we think of a way to beat it.'

'Great idea Anastacia,' I yelled.

We stopped in our tracks picking up handfuls of sand then threw it into the oncoming eyes of the tiger.

'Bullseye!' we shouted as the tiger ran around in agony. We threw so much sand into its eyes that we blinded it.

'I have another idea,' I said, panting. 'The tiger's blind, right?'

'Yeah,' the girls said wondering what I had in mind.

'Well, what if I jump onto its back and ride it around the desert. I might be too heavy for it. It might die.'

'Great idea Jacinta. Try it out,' Anastacia replied.

The tiger was running around in circles pawing at its eyes. I quickly jumped onto its back and kicked it in the ribs. He ran around blindly and I stayed on its back for a long time but it didn't die. I turned around and could barely see my friends in the distance but in front of me I suddenly saw something that looked like a brick wall. Very strange, I thought. A brick wall in a desert. Oh well I'll use it to my advantage. I ran the tiger into it and its skull smashed. Its brain was squashed and it died.

Chapter Three: The Arcade Part Two

As soon as the tiger had taken its last breath we were transported back to the alien ship. We landed in a heap at the alien's feet.

'Well, done,' it said in its deep voice. 'You have rid us of that tiger.'

'We were pleased to help,' I said standing up. 'Now please let us go home.'

'Yes, we want to go home,' Monica said in a teary voice. Monica and Anastacia were still slumped on the floor.

'What?' the alien asked, grinning. 'I can't let you go just now. Especially since you have proven yourselves to be such worthy warriors.'

'But you said if we kill the tiger you would let us go,' Anastacia said getting to her feet.

'Yes, I did. But I did not expect you to succeed. Now that you have, I have another task for you. There are two other troublesome tigers that roam my planet. These too must be exterminated before I allow you to leave.'

Monica, Anastacia and I looked into each other's eyes and once again knew that we did not have a choice.

'Okay,' I said. 'Transport us to their homes.'

'Don�t you want to know what kind of tigers you're up against?' the alien King asked with a laugh.

Yes, we nodded.

'Then I will tell you. These two tigers have also been terrorising parts of my planet for many years now. They are pink and bright blue in colour and are much, much stronger than your friend, the purple tiger. To show you my good will, I will give you a bottle full of water for your journey. Use it well.'

Like the first time, the alien waved his arm and the metal floor beneath us slid open. We found ourselves spinning around in nothingness before we landed with a thump on bright golden sand.

I looked into the distance. The sand was so bright it hurt my eyes. I picked some of it up and looked at it closely. 'Do you think this is real gold,' I asked my friends. They were staring at it too.

'It looks like it,' Anastacia said. She was stuffing the golden sand into her pockets.

We scrambled round trying to scoop up as much sand as we could. I hoped the tigers were far away. Little did I know that, while we were filling our pockets with sand, one of the tigers was getting close. Suddenly I heard a growl then I saw a pink blur out of the corner of my eye. The pink blur was running right towards Monica.

'Monica,' I yelled. 'Watch out!'

But it was too late. The pink tiger had flung Monica into the air. She landed on the sand with a thud and was still.

Anastacia and I screamed and ran towards our friend. Our screams scared the tiger away enough for us to drag Monica to safety.

'Monica! Monica! Are you alright,' I cried.

Anastacia poured some water on her face. 'Wake up,' she said.

Monica was out cold. I could see the tiger coming back. I was so angry that I stood up and flung the water bottle at it. The bottle hit its head heavily and the tiger collapsed to the ground. As it fell three bright red rubies flew out of its pink fur and landed right at my feet. I bent over to pick them up and suddenly found myself flying through the air. I landed on my back. I was winded but otherwise okay. I began to sit up. I could hear Anastacia shout my name. Suddenly I saw what had hit me. It was the light blue tiger and it was coming right for me. I saw Anastacia pick up the water bottle. She threw it at the tiger but she missed. The tiger turned around and was now heading for Anastacia. I remembered how I had hurt the purple tiger and quickly got to my feet. I ran to the tiger and jumped on its back. I kicked it in the ribs and we were off. I could hear Anastacia shouting my name. Suddenly the purple tiger stopped and I was thrown off his back. I landed on my back again but this time I was in pain. I knew that the tiger was coming straight for me and there was nothing I could do. I remembered the sand in my pockets. I managed to get some sand out of my pocket with my right hand. I rolled over onto my side and threw it at the tiger. Some got into its eyes but it didn't flinch. The tiger was getting closer and I began to scream at it. It looked at me and I saw tears in its eyes.

'Why did you kill my friend?' it said.

I couldn't believe what I'd heard. I started to pull myself to my feet. It hurt but I had to know if I was hearing things. 'What did you say?' I said.

'She was only protecting our land,' the tiger said. 'Why did you kill her.'

So I told the tiger about the alien King and what he had made us do. I also told the story about our battle with the purple tiger.

'Yes. The Purple Tiger was once our friend. He was banished many years ago to the land of the Black Sand. As for the alien King, he and his people are our enemy. They want us dead so that they can rob this land of its riches. We are the protectors of this land.'

'I'm very sorry that we killed your friend,' I said feeling sad. 'The alien King gave us no choice. Now it looks as though we won't be getting home.'

'I can help you,' the tiger said. 'But I need your and your friends help in return.'

We walked back to Monica and Anastacia. Monica had woken up and was looking around in a strange way.

'Where am I?' she said.

'You are in the Land of the Golden Sand. Welcome,' said the Tiger.

'A talking tiger,' she said shaking her head. 'What's next?'

'How do you want us to help you?' I asked.

'We must retrieve the three rubies and hold them in a straight line over my friend's heart. I hope we are not to late.'

Monica, Anastacia and I found the rubies and held them over the pink tiger's heart. A red beam shot out of each ruby making a straight line. The pink tiger twitched and came back to life.

Suddenly a vortex appeared.

'Go in peace,' said the tigers.

We were sucked into the vortex and the next thing we knew we were sitting on the grass outside the arcade. Our pockets were still full of sand. I got some out and looked at it. It was ordinary beach sand. We looked at each other and laughed. There was something else in my pocket. When I got it out it sparkled red in the sunshine.

Pretty soon we saw Julie pull up.

'How was the arcade?' she asked when we got into the car.

'Oh, nothing special, 'I said. 'How was the movie? Did you get 'taken'?'

'Yeah, it was the same as last time. The boy was there. I don�t know where your girl comes into it.'

'That's weird,' said Monica. 'But then we're used to weird things happening to us. Aren't we?'

Chapter Four: The Spaceship

The next day we woke up and started chatting about our adventures at the arcade.

'I hope those tigers are all right,' I said to my friends. I was worried about them now that I knew the truth.

They both nodded.

'Girls, breakfast!' We heard Mrs Lanskii call from the kitchen.

'Be right there, mum.'

We started to munch on our breakfast.

'Where did you get this cereal from, mum?' Monica asked.

'It's of my own creations,' Mrs Lanskii replied. 'Do you like it?'

'Sort of, ' Monica said still chewing. 'Just a minute, is this toffee I taste?'

'Yes, yes it is,'

'Mum I love you. This tastes great,'

'I agree,' Anastacia and I murmured.

'I'll make up a batch for you to take home,' Mrs Lanskii said.

'You don't have to go to all that trouble just for us,' Anastacia and I said.

'Oh, yes I�'

'Hi dad,' Monique cut in.

'Hi honey. Hi girls,' Mr Lanskii said. He was holding a newspaper. 'They're advertising a Sci-Fi competition in the paper,' he said. 'The object is to build something futuristic. What do you think, girls? Are you game?'

'Thanks Dad. Sounds like a fun thing to do. Come on Anastacia and Jacinta, let's get rolling.'

We went outside into Mr. Lanskii's garage.

'I'm sure Dad will let us use whatever we need,' Monica said looking through some draws of her father's workbench.

'What are we going to make?' Anastacia asked.

'I know,' I said. I'd found two pieces of rusty old metal leaning against the back wall of the garage. 'A space ship!'

'Great idea,' said my friends.

We hammered the metal into oval shapes. When we'd finished Mr. Lanskii helped us solder them together. Our space ship was starting to take shape. It was almost as tall as Mr. Lanskii. We needed to cut a hole in the top for the hatch. Mr. Lanskii used a special saw and soon the job was done.

'What about seats?' Monica said.

We looked around and found some old crates full of paint tins and jars of nails. We emptied them and I climbed into the spaceship through the hatch. Monica stood on a stool and handed the crates down to me. I glued the crates to the metal floor with some quick drying, heavy-duty glue.

Anastacia was busy painting JAM on the outside of our space ship.

Monica asked her dad to cut a small window into the front of the space ship. We glued some strong clear plastic over the square hole. We found some markers and drew the control panel on the metal in front of the seats. I found an old joystick controller and glued it to the floor between two of the seats.

Monica, Anastacia and I climbed into the space ship. It was a bit wobbly but we managed to sit down on the crates.

'This is great,' I said. I still had the bright red ruby in my pocket. I took it out and stuck it on the control panel we had drawn with a piece of Monica's chewing gum. 'For luck,' I said.

Suddenly, the space ship started to rock. There was a loud rumble from somewhere inside and then we heard a whooshing sound. The next thing we knew we were hurtling through the roof of the garage and heading straight up.

'We're blasting off into space!' I cried

'The ship seems to be flying itself,' Monica said.

'No, it�s the red ruby,' I said. 'It must have some special powers.'

Our spaceship sped around asteroids and past planets. It was dark in the spaceship but we could see outside because of the light of the stars.

'We're landing,' I said after I could feel the spaceship slowing down. It landed with a sharp jolt on the surface of a planet.

We looked through the plastic window with wide eyes.

'I can't be sure, but I think this is Uranus,' Anastacia said.

'What do we do now?' Monica asked.

'I think we should get out and explore,' I said.

One by one we stood on the crates and pulled ourselves out of the hatch.

We had no trouble walking around the planet. The ground felt squishy under our feet and it was still dark so we couldn't see very far ahead of us.

'Hey, is that a head poking up from that crater?' I whispered.

'I think so,' Monica whispered back. 'But it looks weird.'

We watched as the strange creature jumped out of the crater. It was short , had big, bulgy eyes and glowed with a red light. Pretty soon these strange glowing aliens surrounded us.

'Hello, we are Uranians,' we heard one of them say in a mechanical voice. 'We are pleased to meet you.'

I felt Monica and Anastacia tremble next to me. There was something weird about these aliens. They were trying to be friendly but I wasn't so sure.

'Please, don't be afraid of us,' we heard the mechanical voice say. 'We are friendly.'

Suddenly a smaller alien appeared before us. It was a baby sucking its thumb. 'Oh, isn't he cute?' Monica said. She was walking towards it with her arms outstretched.

'Yes, he is,' Anastacia said. She was following Monica.

I felt myself being attracted to the baby Uranian like a magnet. It led us to a strange looking building with a sign that said Earthling Observatory. Translated, that said: Earthling Observatory. But we didn't know that then. The baby lead us into the building then the heavy doors slid closed behind us. There were other aliens inside the building. They were dressed in white coats. Suddenly the baby alien disappeared and I came back to my senses. I saw Monica and Anastacia blink their eyes in a rapid way as if they were coming out of a trance.

'Why have you brought us here?' I asked.

'To observe you, of course,' a voice said menacingly. 'If you do not stay then we will kill you.'

I looked around and saw the sharp look in the alien's eyes. They were serious.

'Of course, we'll stay,' Monica said.

'You bet,' I said. 'We'd love to help you.

Anastacia threw us both a look but she knew it was the only way that we would get out safely.

The aliens poked and prodded us. They took our blood and analysed it. They gave us strange medicine to drink and then they took our blood pressure. They made us eat strange food and then they weighed us.

'I'm getting tired of this,' Anastacia said sadly. 'I want to go home.'

'I know how you feel,' I said. 'But we have to find out what they want.'

One day, after the aliens had done as many experiments on us that they could think of, most of them left through the heavy sliding doors. There were only four aliens left to guard us. These aliens seemed sad.

'We have not been successful,' one of them said shaking his head.

'What do you mean?' Monica asked.

'We thought you could help us.'

'Help you?' I asked. 'You threatened to kill us.

'It was the only way you would help us. We know about your ways.'

'You're wrong,' Anastacia said. 'We would have helped you if you had asked.'

'What did you want help with?' I asked.

'We are looking for a way to prolong our life. Ever since our glowing heart was stolen from us, we die at a younger and younger age.'

'Glowing heart?' I asked thinking. 'I think I know where you can find it.'

'Where?' a voice said. It did not sound menacing any more.

'You have to take us back to our spaceship,' I said.

We left the building and the aliens lead us to our spaceship. It was still in the same spot that we had landed. Anastacia and Monica boosted me up to the open hatch. I picked the red ruby off the control panel, climbed on a crate and pulled myself out of the hatch.

'Is this what you're looking for?' I asked. The red ruby had started to glow like the aliens.

'It is the glowing heart,' a voice said. 'We are saved.'

'How can we ever thank you?' another voice said.

'That's easy,' Monica said. 'Help us to get home.'

'The red ruby, I mean, the glowing heart got us here,' I said. 'What's going to help us get home.'

'Do not worry, my friends. We will help you.'

Suddenly, we were surrounded by aliens again but this time I knew they were there to help us.

'Friends, please board your vessel.'

We got into the spaceship and I closed the hatch. We all sat down on the crates. We could see the aliens out of the window. They had all joined hands and their eyes were closed. Suddenly I could hear a strange, musical humming. The spaceship was lifting off! I could hear voices saying thank you over and over again. I looked at my friends and I knew they could hear it too. We passed by planets and asteroids and pretty soon we could see Earth. The next thing I knew we were landing in Mr. Lanskii's garage. We scrambled out of the spaceship. Nothing had changed. Mrs. Lanskii's voice was getting closer. She was calling us for lunch. We went outside. Mr. Lanskii was in the garden.

'Hello, girls,' he said. 'The wind must have blown that off.' He was pointing at the roof.

'Yeah, right dad,' Monica said.

I smiled at Monica and Anastacia and we went inside for lunch.

Chapter Five: Aunt Lulu, The Space Explorer

'Do you think the tigers stole the glowing heart from the Uranians?' Monica asked. We'd been talking about our last adventure all morning.

'I don't think so,' I said. 'I think they were guarding it until it could be returned to its rightful owner.'

'Makes sense,' Anastacia said. 'But why did the King of the Ekkians want it so badly?

'That's easy,' I said. 'He wanted to stay alive for as long as he could.'

Just then Mrs. Lanskii came into the room. 'Monica, Aunt Lulu has just called. She wants you to come and visit today. She has invited Jacinta and Anastacia as well.'

'Sounds like fun,' I said.

'It will be,' Monica said. 'Aunt Lulu is great. She lives in the country now but she used to be a famous space explorer. Didn't she, mum?'

'Yes,' Mrs Lanskii said with a strange look in her eye. 'Anyway, you'd better get a move on if you're going to get there today.'

We said good bye to Mrs Lanskii at the bus stop. We boarded the bus and before we knew it we were surrounded by green fields, horses and cows.

'You'll love Aunt Lulu,' Monica said. 'She tells the greatest stories.'

Aunt Lulu picked us up at the Quilley Town bus stop. She was tall and slim with white hair that was tied back in a bun. She was wearing jeans with long boots and a shirt. Anastacia and I looked at each other and smiled. We liked her.

'Come on, Aunt Lulu, tell us a story. Please,' Monica said the moment we arrived at Aunt Lulu's house.

'Okay,' Aunt Lulu said with a smile. 'Let's go into the garden. I'll tell you a story while we are in space.'

'Where?' Anastacia said.

'In space, dear,' Aunt Lulu said. 'Come on.'

We followed her into the garden. 'Wow,' we gasped. We were looking at a huge spaceship.

'That wasn't here the last time I visited,' Monica said.

'That's right, dear. It was away for repairs,' Aunt Lulu said. 'I was attacked by some Ekkians the last time I was out and they messed it up pretty badly. But its fixed now, so come on, lets go.'

'Ekkians?' I asked looking at my friends.

'Yes,' Aunt Lulu said. She opened the hatch on the bottom of the spaceship and we followed her in. 'I've got a bone to pick with their leader. He left me to die out there.'

'Are you talking about the King of the Ekkians?' Monica asked.

'Yes, dear,' Aunt Lulu nodded. She was pushing buttons on the control panel and I could feel the spaceship rumble around me. Suddenly it took off and before I knew it we had left the Earth behind us. 'How do you know him?'

So we told Aunt Lulu all about him capturing us and making us fight the tigers. We told her about finding the purple, pink and light blue tigers. We told her about the golden sand and the bright red rubies.

'You've got quite a few stories of your own, haven't you?' Aunt Lulu said when we had finished. She was laughing. 'Here I was thinking that I was the only space explorer in the family,' she said to Monica.

Suddenly there was a loud boom. The spaceship rocked around and we fell out of our seats. I looked up from the floor and saw that part of the control panel was on fire. Aunt Lulu was spraying it with a fire extinguisher. 'Hold on, girls,' she yelled. 'They're coming back.'

'Who is coming back?' Monica yelled. She was holding on to the legs of her seat.

'The King and his mutants,' Aunt Lulu yelled back.

Just then another loud boom rocked the spaceship. Aunt Lulu crashed to the floor. I managed to crawl over to her but she was unconscious. Monica and Anastacia were crawling over too.

'Aunt Lulu's hurt,' I said. 'We have to do something.'

Monica was pulling herself back onto her seat. 'Look out,' she cried. 'The Ekkians are back.'

Another boom rocked the spaceship. This time we weren't holding on to anything and we were thrown across the floor. My shoulder hit the wall. Monica was lying on the floor next to Aunt Lulu and Anastacia was lying under the control panel. Neither Aunt Lulu nor my friends were moving. I crawled back to my seat just in time to see the Ekkians' spaceship coming at us again. I pushed all the buttons on the control panel that I could but nothing happened. The Ekkians' spaceship was getting closer and there was nothing I could do to protect us. Suddenly I caught sight of another spaceship behind the Ekkians. It was coming straight at us as well. I started pushing buttons again when suddenly there was a loud explosion and the Ekkians' spaceship exploded into tiny bits of metal. The other spaceship was still coming towards us. Suddenly it slowed down and I saw faces that I recognised. It was the Uranians.

'Hello friend,' a voice said. The Uranians were waving. Suddenly a long piece of metal with a thing that looked like a suction cup came out of a hole in their spaceship. I heard a metal clank as it hit our spaceship. The Uranians were dragging us through space. I went to check on my friends and Aunt Lulu. Monica and Anastacia were starting to sit up. They were rubbing their heads. Aunt Lulu was all right as well. She stood up and wobbled over to the control panel.

'It looks like the ship will need to be repaired again,' she said looking around. 'What happened to the Ekkians?'

I told her how we were saved by the Uranians and that they were pulling us home.

'If I can repair the landing gear, we should be able to make the rest of the way on our own,' Aunt Lulu said. 'The Uranians can only go so far into our atmosphere.'

Pretty soon, we were released by the Uranians. Luckily, Aunt Lulu had repaired the landing gear and control panel enough to get us back into her garden.

'Looks like the ship needs to go back in for repairs,' Aunt Lulu said with a laugh. We were walking back across Aunt Lulu's garden. 'Come on girls, let's go inside for some milk and doughnuts. I think we deserve it.'

'Didn't I tell you she was great,' Monica said to Anastacia and I.

'Yes,' I said. 'And she tells the greatest stories.'

Chapter Six: Last Day

'This is our last day together,' Monica said glumly. We were sitting around the kitchen table eating Mrs. Lanskii's special cereal.

'Cheer up, girls,' Mrs. Lanskii said. 'You've had lots of fun this week. And besides, there's always next time.'

'You're right, mum. We have.'

Mrs. Lanskii was getting her shopping bags ready. 'Girls, I'm going to the shops now. I'll be back in about an hour then I'll be ready to take Jacinta and Anastacia home,' Mrs Lanskii said.

We headed off into Monica's bedroom and Anastacia and I started packing our cases. 'Aunt Lulu is amazing,' Anastacia said. She was stuffing some clothes into her bag. 'Yesterday was great.'

'I know. It's really been an amazing week,' Monica said. 'What about that spooky arcade game. Hey, you know, we should go back.'

'No way,' I said with a shiver. 'Although, if we hadn't been captured by the King of the Ekkians we would never have been able to return the glowing heart to the Uranians.'

'I know,' Anastacia said. 'I'm glad we were able to help them.'

'And they helped us out of a big jam,' I said looking at my friends. 'Jam, get it?'

'Yeah, we get it,' Monica and Anastacia said laughing.

'I've loved this whole week,' Monica said. She was sitting on her bed and she was starting to sound glum again.

'You know,' I said. 'We should start to plan our next holidays.'

'Great idea,' Anastacia said.

'Where do you want to start,' Monica said. She got a pad and pen from her desk.

'Well, how about you guys come and stay with me,' I said. 'Did I tell you that my grand father has got his own time machine?'

THE END!