The Boy Who Made the World Disappear

Stories are often about a good person who does a Bad Thing, and this is no exception.

The hero of our story is Harrison, and I do mean ‘hero’. Because, before we begin, I want to make one thing clear: Harrison had a huge heart.

He cared about the rainforest, regularly brought his mother breakfast in bed and always shared his toys with his younger sister, Lana (despite the fact that she would often break them, lose them, or try to flush them down the loo). Harrison was kind to other children at school, even Hector Broom, who was a bit of a bully and once pushed Harrison over on purpose and then told their teacher, Miss Balogun, that it was an accident.

And Harrison was honest. If he broke a vase – for example, by accidentally knocking it off the shelf while pretending to be Bear Grylls – he would own up. He never stole from shops or cheated in Monopoly or snuck into the circus without paying. He tried every new food three times without complaint, always held a grown-up’s hand when crossing the road and sometimes even folded his clothes at night instead of just chucking them on the floor.

Sometimes.

So, I hear you ask, if Harrison was so good, what Bad Thing could he possibly have done?

Well, you see, as kind and honest and good and big-hearted as he was, Harrison had a BIG flaw. He couldn’t control his temper.

Most of the time, he was very well-behaved. But once in a while something would really annoy him. And then . . . well, then, he would Kick Off.

‘Euuurrgghhhhh!’ Harrison would groan, in pure frustration. His head would lower, like a bull about to charge. His cheeks would redden, his brow would furrow, his eyes would narrow and he would clamp his jaws so tight it was a wonder he didn’t snap a tooth.

‘Code Red!’ his father would cry, using his parents’ nickname for Harrison’s rages.

‘DON’T SAY THAT!’ Harrison would yell.

‘Yes, definitely a Code Red,’ his mother would agree, moving breakable objects to safety.

‘AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHH!’ Harrison would shout. ‘I HATE IT WHEN YOU SAY THAT!’

From that point, there was very little anyone could do to calm Harrison down until he wore himself out.

‘EEUUURRRGH!’ he might exclaim, as he threw himself on the floor, kicking his legs, so that he went round and round in circles like a breakdancer.

‘WHY WON’T ANYONE LISTEN TO ME??!!’ he might bawl, as he ran off into the undergrowth, punching the bushes in fury.

‘I WANT A DIFFERENT FAMILY!!’ he might roar, as he slammed the door to his room and barricaded it with every single one of his toys.

Now, usually Harrison’s rages happened not because he was really cross, but because he was worried about something, which meant that most of the time, the grown-ups around him – his parents, for example, or his teachers – sort of understood. They’d wait out Harrison’s meltdowns, then try to find out what he was really worried about so they could help him fix it. Then everything would go back to normal.

This story is not about one of those times. It begins at a birthday party, and . . . well, I think I’d better just get started. Settle yourself down, because it’s a bit of a rollercoaster, and as you shall see, it changed Harrison’s life for ever.

Harrison had been anxious about Hector Broom’s birthday party for weeks.

Hector Broom was one of Harrison’s least favourite people. He was one of the biggest children in Harrison’s class, and always picking on him. For example, if Harrison made up a game in the playground, Hector would ask to join and then change the rules so Harrison couldn’t play. Or, if they were playing football, he would trip Harrison up or push him off the ball.

But by far the worst thing was Hector’s elastic band.

It was the perfect weapon: quick to use and easy to hide. When you were least expecting it, you’d feel the sharp sting of the elastic on your arm or your neck or your leg, and the next minute you’d be rolling around in pain.

Just the thought of having to go to Hector’s party put Harrison on edge. But the whole class was going, and Harrison didn’t want to be left out when everyone was talking about the party on Monday, so he had no choice.

The only thing that made going to Hector Broom’s birthday remotely bearable was the theme: space. Because Harrison loved anything to do with stars and planets. Plus, Hector had been bragging all week that his parents had booked a real life astronaut as the entertainment. The astronaut’s name was Shelley. She was staying with her grandmother, the school lollipop lady, for a special visit, so the Brooms had booked her immediately for their precious son’s party.

Harrison couldn’t wait to meet her. After all, she had actually been to space!

The party started happily enough. There were space decorations all over the village hall and Hector’s mother and father had ordered a big birthday cake topped with a silver spaceship crashing into a red planet, next to a green alien with four eyes.

Everyone had come in fancy dress. Harrison was a spaceman, Persephone Brinkwater was an alien, Charlie Nwosu had come as a shooting star, Marcus Down as a rocket and Carl Ng was a man from Mission Control. Katie Broad was an angel, but no one said anything, even though angels aren’t the sort of thing you see in space.

Hector Broom had, predictably, chosen to dress as the Sun, because he wanted to come as the most important thing in our solar system.

Once the guests had arrived, Hector’s parents ushered all the children to the centre of the room, and soon everyone was sitting on cushions on the floor, waiting impatiently for the main event.

Harrison could feel his excitement growing as the moment he would meet a real life astronaut grew closer.

Then a menacing voice whispered in his ear: ‘Just wait until my parents are gone, I’m going to get you.’ Harrison turned to see Hector Broom, flexing his dreaded elastic band, an evil glint in his eye. ‘And when we start the games you’d better watch out!’

Harrison gulped. Perhaps he should have stayed at home after all.

The lights dimmed and a voice called out, ‘Lift-off in T minus

All the children began to join in.

Hector’s mother and father backed off towards the door. Harrison felt all his muscles go tense. Once they had gone, who was going to protect him from Hector?

‘Ignition! BLAST OFF!’ yelled a woman, bursting out of the kitchen door.

She had bright pink hair and was wearing the most brilliant outfit, just like the ones the astronauts wear on the International Space Station. Despite his nerves, Harrison was really impressed.

‘Hello, children! I’m Shelley, we’re going to have so much fun together! Now, who wants to go up into space with me?’ she asked, looking around.

‘Me, me, me!’ everyone shouted.

Hector’s parents smiled at one another and closed the door. As soon as they had gone, Hector flashed Harrison an evil grin.

‘Not me!’ blurted Harrison.

‘Excuse me?’ asked Shelley, staring at Harrison in surprise.

‘I want to go home!’ Harrison cried, his panic at being pinged by Hector’s elastic band growing.

‘But, Harrison,’ said Marcus Down, ‘you love space.’

‘No, I don’t!’ shouted Harrison. ‘It’s boring!’

Of course he didn’t mean that at all, he was just scared of Hector. But Shelley didn’t know that.

‘Space isn’t boring,’ she replied firmly, with a frown. ‘In fact, you have no idea how lucky you are. When I was a little girl, I would have loved to go to a party like this.’ She turned away from Harrison and addressed everyone else. ‘Okay, children, lie down and close your eyes.’

Everyone did as they were told and, trying to ignore his worries, Harrison did the same.

With his eyes shut, he heard Shelley drawing the curtains and turning off the lights. There was a click, followed by a humming sound . . .

‘Open your eyes!’ Shelley instructed.

Harrison did, and suddenly