Free The Amphiblets by Helen Oghenegweke Page A

and personal items.
    ‘How strange! I don’t remember packing my things,’ he thought.
    It’s unnerving to wake up in an unfamiliar place with no idea how you have arrived there. The fact that he hadn’t woken or stirred on the journey puzzled him.
    Although he was a little unsettled, the excitement of being somewhere new soon overcame his nerves. At the window, he opened the curtain a fraction. Not a cloud could be seen in the endless blue sky and a carpet of green grass stretched in every direction. A border of majestic trees surrounded a massive garden.
    ‘It’s better than Professor Kyle’s garden,’ Will thought in awe.
    His garden at home was tiny compared to this; this one must be at least a hundred times bigger. It was awesome and Will wished his brothers were with him to share the experience. Stone statues and flowerpots were positioned around the garden and something glistening at the edge of the lawn indicated there was a stream.
    In the centre of the garden there were three chairs; two of them were occupied. He smiled.
    ‘Riley and Ed are here!’ he said aloud, dressing quickly to join them.
    Outside his room was a long passageway lined with magnificent paintings framed in gold. At the end of the corridor there was a window. Beneath his feet, a thick patterned rug covered the wooden floor. Since the passage to the left led only to a dead end, Will turned right, passing countless doors and calling, ‘Hello!’ in case someone was near. But no one replied.
    He came to a wide staircase with an oak bannister. Will did what came most naturally to him. Smiling mischievously, he swung his leg over and held on tight as he slid all the way to the bottom, passing an extensive arched window of multi-coloured stained glass, which created sparkling patterns of the floor.
    He slid off the end and breathed in deeply. It was peaceful here. Apart from his breath there was little else to hear. This was nothing like his previous home where there was always some background noise: voices, coughing, sneezing, laughing, the hum of the computer or the annoying ticking of a clock.
    He stood in a spacious hall where there was a huge door opposite him; above him hung a sparkling chandelier. A polished table to his left had an old-fashioned telephone placed on top of it. There was also a door leading off to the right and another to the left.
    ‘Hello! Is anyone there?’
    There was no answer so he called again.
    To his surprise, an enormous beast came bounding into the hallway from the doorway to his left. Having never seen such an animal before, Will yelled and ran in the opposite direction – through the door on his right, which he slammed as soon as he made it to the other side. There was a loud thud against the door as the animal collided with it. An immediate whimper was followed by a loud frustrated bark.
    Will turned the key and breathed a sigh of relief. He was now in a room filled with antique furniture and rugs, and he felt as though he had stepped back in time. A grand oil painting was positioned above the mantelpiece and depicted a man kneeling beside an animal similar to the one he had moments ago encountered. It had a long pink tongue dangling from its mouth. The man wore sunglasses and gloves.
    Will made a face. The animal was on friendly terms with the man, yet the one he had narrowly avoided had wanted to tear him to pieces!
    Resting on the mantelpiece was a black and white drawing of a young lad with a long fringe that covered his eyes. He wore old-fashioned clothes. Next to the boy stood an elderly man, thin and tall. Will took a step closer. His heart missed a beat. He stared at it for a long while.
    There was no mistaking the man – it was his father, Professor Snipes. Then, noticing the date at the bottom of the drawing, Will frowned – it read 1780. His father didn’t appear to be a day older. In fact, he looked the same age now. It couldn’t be his father. That would be impossible!
    Since the animal