INTRODUCTION.
OVER HERE... IT'S ME!
Look
up in the sky. It's a bird. It's a plane. It's…
Hey, I was just kidding. I'm over here. It's me.
Junior Chronicles. AKA, The BetterWorld Kid.
No. I'm not flying at the moment, but of course,
I could if I wanted to. It's no biggie. I can leap
tall buildings in a quarter of a bound. And speeding
locomotives - I'm faster than the fastest superfast
souped-up-spacecraft.
And why not. I've got powers. I don't know what
you call powers greater than 'super powers' but
that's the kind I've got. But you know all that
about me, The BetterWorld Kid, already, so…
Huh. Oh, you don't know. Really?
The BetterWorld Kid. Doesn't ring a bell? Okay.
You know about my awesome superpower, though, right?
I'm just the world's biggest daydreamer. Thank you
very much.
And… not just the WORLD'S biggest daydreamer. The
biggest daydreamer in the universe!
Eh… not just in the UNIVERSE, but in all of time
and space in this and every other dimensional universe.
Ring a bell yet?
No? Really! You don't get out much, I guess.
I've been the Number One Agent for the Trans-Universal-BetterWorld
Council since the Fifth Grade. That was ages ago!
I'm 13 already. Well, almost. I've been on hundreds
of cases. Solved the global climate crisis. Ended
world hunger. Fixed the global financial crisis.
Cured every disease. Brought world peace. Ring a
bell yet?
Nothing?
Oh. Oops. I guess that was a different universe,
come to think of it. Yours probably still has a
couple of those problems left to tackle. That's
why you're looking at me kind of strange. Okay.
Hmm. Now that I take a look around, looks like you've
still got quite a few problems here that need taking
care of.
Yikes. There's so much to be done here … Wonder
what assignment I've daydreamed myself into now.
Hang on a sec. Just going to sit back and get a
little comfortable, so I can daydream a line to
the old Trans-Universal-BetterWorld Council and
find out what my mission's going to be this time.
Okay, here goes. Making contact. Calling the Trans-Universal
BetterWorld Council. Calling the BetterWorld Council…
Whoa! Did you hear that? What was that crashing
sound?!!!.
Oh, it's nothing. Just my family and friends making
a crash landing in our Yodel Bus. Either Dad's driving,
or else I daydreamed them here a little too enthusiastically.
Uh oh. Judging by the looks they're all giving me,
looks like it was my bad. But, what else is new.
Just the price you've got to pay when you're a major
daydreamer, like me. Not that there is any other
daydreamer like me. Or ever will be or…
"Junior,
what are you doing here?"
That's my Mom.
"I'll
be right there, Guys." Mom would rather I didn't
daydream so much on account of every time I do,
we all end up yodeling to a different time, space
or other dimensional universe. Well, I do anyway.
They usually have to pack up the Yodel Bus and come
looking for me.
And they usually arrive practically at the end of
one of my awesome adventures. After I've righted
some terrible wrong of course.
Although sometimes, I must admit, I do end up needing
their help. Just a little.
Or at times like this, they get daydreamed into
the beginning of my adventure by yours truly. Accidentally,
of course.
But any way you slice it, they're usually not so
happy that they have to pick up their lives and
start all over again sometime or someplace else.
Cause once I yodel us, there's no going back.
"Junior,
who are you talking to?"
That's my Dad. He's a big daydreamer, too. He's
had all kinds of daydreaming adventures, once upon
a time. Or so he says. Supposedly they're all chronicled
in a five-book trilogy. But since I'm not allowed
to read anything that isn't G or PG-rated, they
haven't let me read any of his Chronicles.
"I'm
talking to the Readers, Dad."
"Oooh.
Are we in another adventure? Yippee. Hey Guys, we're
in another Junior Chronicles chronicle."
"Yippee…"
"Yappee…"
"Yahooie…"
Oy. That's my family and friends and their families.
My Mom and Dad. You met them.
My big sister Ellie.
My best friends Artie & Merle. Artie's parents Barney
and Betty.
Merle's parents, Mike and Annie.
Flora, our amazing black-belted housekeeper-slash-fortune
teller.
And of course Sly and Muffy. Muffy's our family
cat. She's the smartest in our little group. Speaks
eighteen languages fluently. And man can she knit
a yarn ball! Sly's her husband, a sunglassed motorcycle-riding
Cool Cat. That Dude can hotwire anything.
And their kitten, that's Six-Pack. He has a tendency
to bounce himself into six kittens when he gets
excited. Like he's doing now that he knows we're
in for an adventure.
"And
what about us?"
Oh, sorry, Little Shadow. I didn't see you, there.
You were standing in the shadows. Yeah, so last
but not least, Little Shadow and his parents Shadow
and Shadowette.
Shadow's parents are supposedly amalgamations of
the primary essence of my Dad and Merle's Mom.
Don't worry. I have no idea what that means, either.
Just another one of the crazy stories they tell
us are from my Dad's Chronicles. I don't even bother
asking anymore, and I'd advise you to do the same.
I just know that Little Shadow's one of my best
friends, and that's all that really matters.
So, there you have it. The cast for my new adventure.
So, what am I doing here in your universe? There
are so many things that aren't right here. I have
no idea where to begin.
"LUCKY
FOR YOU, I'M HERE!"
Did you hear that, too?
Uggh. I was afraid so. It's an annoying snail who's
holding a book that I'm pretty sure has this very
Chronicle in it. And he's making red notations in
it with his antennae. While he rolls his eyes at
me.
He does this in all of our other chronicled adventures,
too. He always insists he's my 'Editor.' He's a
snail. But what do I know. I'm just the BetterWorld
Kid.
HANG ON THERE, JUNIOR. WHAT'S ALL THIS YOU SAID
ABOUT ENDING WORLD HUNGER AND BRINGING WORLD PEACE,
AND WHO DID YOU SAY MADE YOU THE BETTERWORLD KID?
"Um.
Isn't it in your book, there?"
"I
DON'T SEE IT, JUNIOR. I'M FAIRLY CERTAIN THAT IT
WASN'T IN ANY OF THE OTHER CHRONICLES YOU'VE CHRONICLED.
NOT ANY OF THE EARLY BOOKS YOU DID WITH THAT WEIRD
ALIEN KID, PEACE DUDE. NOT IN 'THE DREAM ACADEMY.'
NOT IN 'THE BETTERWORLD SHOW,' 'KING OF THE UNIVERSE'
OR EVEN 'PEACE WIZARD' WHICH COMES OUT NEXT FALL.
"Um.
Wasn't it in between the…"
IT WASN'T IN ANY OF THE FIVE CHRONICLES IN YOUR
CRAZY DAD'S TRILOGY. OR IN ANY OF THE FOOD CHANNEL
CHRONICLES YOUR MOM CHRONICLED. OR YOUR SISTER'S
CHRONICLE, 'REALITY CHECK.' OR FLORA'S BLOG. OR…
Okay, I get it! But honest it really happened. The
Trans-Universal BetterWorld Council really did make
me their Number One Agent assigned to right all
the wrongs of all time, space and every other dimensional
universe.
You see, it all started when I was minding my own
business trying to do my math homework, and this
really strong daydream started coming on…
OH BOY. I'VE GOT A MAJOR HEADACHE COMING ON. HOLD
ON A SECOND JUNIOR. SAVE IT FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER.
THAT'S MORE THAN ENOUGH FOR THIS ONE….OY VAY. THIS
IS ONLY THE INTRODUCTION…
BUT, HMMM, NOW THAT YOU MENTION IT, THESE NEXT CHAPTERS
ARE STARTING TO TAKE SHAPE. AND THEY DO LOOK KIND
OF INTERESTING. WOW. EXCITING EVEN. I THINK I'M
GOING TO LIKE EDITING THIS BOOK AFTER ALL!
OKAY, TAKE IT AWAY, JUNIOR…
1. DAYDREAMING WITH MY PEEPS
Okay, so I was having this awesome daydream with
my favorite daydream buddies. Me and Mahatma, Martin,
and Teresa were skateboarding on this new course
I'd daydreamed up.
You know, the one where we push off down the side
of that prehistoric volcano, do some radical loops
under and over and through the legs of a roaring
T-Rex and hang one over a medieval castle's firey
mote with arrows flying all around us, and catch
a ride off the back of warp-speeding-drag racing
souped-up spacecrafts.
It was so totally cool and Teresa really showed
us a move or two at the end with some inverted cross-over-loops…she's
a tiny lady but she can practically fly…
Oh, sorry, anyway, it was an awesome daydream and
we were chilling with ice cold drinks while we watched
the playback together on the 200 foot plasma screen
I'd daydreamed us up.
You know, the usual stuff me and my peeps like to
do.
Anyway, I was trying to enjoy the moment, but I've
got this daydreaming problem, as you probably know
by now. And I couldn't help daydreaming during that
awesome daydreaming moment.
Problem was, my daydream strayed back to stuff in
my real life. Stuff I'd learned in class that day
that made me think I like to daydream a lot because
the world isn't in that great a shape. You know,
pollution and wars and famines and global climate
change kind of stuff…
Errrg… Naturally I snapped myself out of that daydream
as soon as I realized where my thoughts had strayed.
But my friends couldn't help notice the tear that
clung to my eyelash. And they made me spill the
beans.
"I
don't know. Sometimes I just wonder where it's all
going. You know if there's a point to it all…" I
sighed.
"I
just feel like I want to do something to make it
better. But I don't know what I can do. And it's
crazy… sometimes I have this strange feeling that
there's some secret plan going on behind the scenes…
Like there's some secret society working throughout
time to make the future brighter… Eh… I'm sorry,
I know it sounds crazy…"
To be perfectly honest, I expected them to cheer
me up with some inspiring words of wisdom. They
always know just what to say.
Like I was sure Martin was going to say, "Everyone
can be great, because everyone can serve…"
And Teresa was going to say something like, "It's
not how much you do but how much love you put in
the doing."
And Mahatma - he's got a million things he says,
but his old standby "Be the change you wish to see
in the world," always picks me up.
But when I looked over at my daydream buddies I
saw that they were speechless, with their mouths
hanging open. And their eyes were practically bugging
out of their heads.
Teresa blinked, stood on her tippie-toes and whispered
into Mahatma's ear, who tippie-toe-leaned up to
Martin's ear. They all nodded together.
"Junior,"
Teresa said looking up into my eyes, "there's something
you should know…"
Whoa. They told me there really was exactly what
I'd imagined going on!
They were part of this secret society of BetterWorld
Agents, who were helping humanity evolve into a
kinder, gentler, more peaceful human race.
And they thought it would be a good time to meet
the Trans-Universal BetterWorld Council, because
they wanted to recommend me to become one of their
agents.
I don't have to tell you, I felt like I was ten
feet tall. This really was some kind of wonderful
daydream.
That's what I was thinking when all the bad guys
I'd ever heard of, from history, and books, comics,
movies and TV, started popping up out of the ground
like weeds. They sure were nasty and mean looking.
And they were all heading straight for us.
"Quick,"
Martin shouted. Jump on the Peace Train.
"Eh,
what Peace Train?" I started to gasp, when I noticed
the shiny silver train right next to us that was
starting to pull away.
And standing in the open doorway with their hands
reaching out towards us were none other than Johnny,
Abraham, Cèsar and Eleanor, some more of my favorite
daydream buddies.
Mahatma, Teresa, Martin and I started running alongside
the train and reached up to our friends' outstretched
hands.
"Jump!"
Mahatma called and we did. We made it inside just
in time as the hordes of bad guys had reached us.
...to
be continued...
Not
yet illustrated.
© 2009 Robert Alan
The People For Peace Project
PforPeace@aol.com
