This morning started like any other for Aurora. She smacked her alarm clock several times even though it had stopped sirening the first time she had hit it. Grudgingly, she flopped out of bed and pulled on her baggy jeans, sage green turtleneck, pale pink sweater vest with several strawberries and shoved some gold rings onto her fingers.As she was detangling her strawberry blonde hair and adding her little hair clips, she remembered that she had to finish her assignment from the night before.

Thosaigh an mhaidin seo cosúil le maidin ar bith eile do Aurora.  Bhuail sí a clog aláraim cúpla uair, cé gur stad sé an chéad uair.  Thit sí ina cnap amach as an leaba in éadan a tola. Tharraing sí uirthi a brístí géine máilíneacha, muineál turtair glas, veist bharr bándearg le sutha talún agus bhrúigh sí a fáinní órga ar a méara.

Nuair a bhí sí ag baint na snaidhmeanna as a cuid gruaige fhionnrua, agus í ag cur clipeanna beaga inti, chuimhnigh sí go raibh obair bhaile le críochnú aici. 

 She tied her laces in a loose knot, snatched her heavy school bag from the wooden floor and ran out the door to go meet Dylan, her best friend of course.

“OI RORY! OVER HERE”. Dylan Brown could be seen waving aggressively at his best friend as she made her way to the bus stop. Aurora got a strong whiff of the smoke coming from the bus’s rusty exhaust. 

Cheangail sí a cuid iallacha i snaidhm scaoilte, tharraing sí chuici a mála scoile go gasta ón urlár adhmaid agus rith sí amach an doras le bualadh lena dlúthchara, Dylan.

‘OI RORY! TAR ANSEO!!’. Bhí Dylan Brown le feiceáil ag croitheadh a láimhe go hionsaitheach lena dhlúthchara agus í ag déanamh a bealach chuig stad an bhus.  Fuair Aurora boladh lofa ón sceithphíopa a bhí lán meirge.

“Hullo Dylan”, she said groggily as she fixed her hair in the bus window’s reflection. Aurora turned to look down at Dylan. “Did you get shorter?” she said as she pretended to survey his height with a badly acted face. 

“Ngreugh” grunted Dylan as he pushed her hand off his head. They boarded the bus swiftly and made their way to the back left.

‘Hullo Dylan’ arsa sí go tuirsiúil, ag cur dóigh ar a cuid gruaige i scáil fhuinneog an bhus.  Thiontaigh sí thart le hamharc síos ar Dylan. ‘Ar éirígh tusa níos lú?’ a chuir sí ceist. Lig sí uirthi féin go raibh sí ag meas a hairde go bréagach. ‘Ngreugh’ arsa Dylan agus é ag brú a lámh dá chloigeann.  Chuaigh an bheirt ar an bhus go gasta agus shuigh siad sa chúl ar chlé. 

The first three classes went smoothly. Then came break. Aurora and Dylan sat down in Ms. Anderson’s vacant classroom. As the pair snacked and swapped, a sneeze came over Aurora and she suddenly found herself in the maths classroom two corridors down. “What the?!?!”. This was not the graphic design room

D’imigh an chéad trí rang go maith, ansin tháinig am lóin.  Shuigh Aurora agus Dylan síos i seomra Ms. Anderson.  Bhí an bheirt ag ithe le chéile nuair a thosaigh Aurora ag sraothartach agus nuair a d’oscail sí a súile, thug sí faoi deara go raibh sí sa rang mata a bhí dhá sheomra síos an halla.  Bhí sí rud beag fríd a chéile.  Ní hea seo an seomra ealaíne!

Aurora raced down the corridors, ignoring signs demanding '“No running in the corridors!” and disgruntled faces as she shoved past to return to Dylan. If you were in Ms Anderson’s graphic designs classroom at 11:17am, you would have seen Dylan Brown wearing a bewildered expression, making hand gestures to a chair while gawking at a redheaded, 6’3 girl in the doorway. She made her way to  said chair and sat down cautiously, as if it would explode with one wrong move. They discussed what had just happened over the remainder of lunch.

 Rith Aurora síos an halla agus í ag déanamh neamh-iontas do na comharthaí a dúirt nach raibh cead rith sa halla agus chuir sí isteach ar go leor daoine ar a bealach síos an halla mar ní raibh sí iontach cúramach agus ní raibh sí ag amharc cá raibh sí ag dul.  

Dá mbeifeá i seomra ealaíne Ms Anderson ag seacht mbomaite dhéag i ndiaidh a haon déag, tchífeá Dylan Brown agus é ag meabhrú ag iarraidh déanamh amach caidé a bhí ag dul ar aghaidh, ag pointeáil ar chathaoir agus ag stánadh ar ghirseach sé throithe agus trí orlaí ar airde ag an bhealach isteach. Rinne sí a bealach go dtí an chathaoir, agus shuigh sí síos go cúramach, amhail is go bpléascfadh sé le bogadh mícheart amháin. Phléigh siad cad a tharla fá choinne an t-am a bhí fágtha acu don lón.

The two pals had come to a conclusion, teleportation. “It couldn’t be anything else! Sneeze, poof, gone two corridors down without moving a muscle.” Dylan was certain about this. Aurora wasn't so sure. Aurora pondered over the idea of being able to teleport; would she use it for good or bad?  She mused at this idea for a little longer.  It had only been a one off thing after all. 

Tháinig an bheirt chairde ar an tuairim céanna - teileapórtáil. ‘Ní fhéadfadh sé gur rud ar bith eile a bhí ann! Sraoth, púf, ar shiúl dhá dhorchla síos gan matán a bhogadh.’ Bhí Dylan cinnte faoi seo. Ní raibh Aurora chomh cinnte céanna. Smaoinigh Aurora ar choincheap  na teileapórtálá; an úsáidfeadh sí é chun maitheasa nó olcais? Rinne sí a cuid machnaimh ar smaoineamh na teileapórtálá ach iontas aon-uaire a bhí ann ag deireadh an lae.

They strolled down the hallway, fashionably late for class. As they reached their destination, they passed Ms Montgomery, who was collecting parent or guardian permission forms for their trip to Sweden. She peered over her triangular spectacles at Dylan and Aurora, scolding them for being late and tutted. 

Shiúil siad síos an pasáiste go fadálach, go faiseanta mall don rang. Nuair a bhain siad a gceann scríbe amach chuaigh siad thart le Ms Montgomery, a bhí ag bailiú foirmeacha ceadaithe na dtuismitheoirí don turas go dtí an tSualainn. D’amharc sí go fáilí thar a cuid spéaclaí triantánacha ar Dylan agus Aurora, ag tabhairt amach go raibh siad mall “Seo! Seo!”

“Old Trudy hasn’t had a laugh since the 1700s” Dylan muttered as he slumped himself into a chair alongside Aurora, who had a fit of silent laughter as Mr Milligan marked them in the register. As Ms Montgomery was shutting the door, she reminded the class that the trip would take place in a week’s time. 

“Ní raibh gaire mar is ceart ag seanTrudy ó na 1700í” a dúirt Dylan faoina anáil agus é ag titim ina chnap sa chathaoir in aice le Aurora. Bhuail taom gáire tostach Aurora nuair a chláraigh Mr Milligan iad. Nuair a bhí Ms Montgomery ag druidim an dorais chuir sí i gcuimhne don rang go mbeadh an turas ag tarlú i gceann seachtaine.

A week passed. Aurora had teleported several times by this stage, less willingly than desired if she was being honest.  

Theileaportáil Aurora cúpla uair fán am a raibh an tseachtain istigh, in eadán a tola leis an fhírinne a dhéanamh.

Aurora and Dylan lingered around the airport with the rest of their class waiting to board their flight. The boarding of the plane went swimmingly and there was a buzz of excitement amongst the seats. Dylan had his neck pillow adjusted into the nape of his neck and poked at Aurora, who already had her favourite book at the ready, ‘Lord of the Flies’ by William Golding, a classic.

Mhoilligh Aurora agus Dylan san aerfort lena gcomhscoláirí ag fanacht le dhul ar an eitleán. Chuaigh siad ar bord an eitleán gan stró agus bhí monabhar scleondair le mothú  idir na cathaoireacha. Bhí cúisín muinéil ag Dylan agusthug sé sonc do Aurora. Bhí an leabhar is fearr le Aurora réidh le léamh sa láimh aici, ‘Rí na gCuileog’, William Golding,an t-údar: saothar claisiceach.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened during the flight to bleak and rocky Sweden. Unless you want to count when Jacob Greene got stuck in the bathroom and the airhostess had to unjam the door for him. It was quite the spectacle.  They arrived in the Swedish airport not long after the Jacob incident. 

Níor tharla rud ar bith aisteach i rith na héitilte go dtí an tSualainn fhuar chlochach, ach amháin nuair a fuair Jacob Greene greamaithe sa leithreas agus bhí ar an aeróstach é a ligint amach. Bhí sé iontach greannmhar. Thuirling siad in aerfort na Sualainne tamall beag ina dhiaidh sin.

Let’s fast forward to the part where they  visit the Swedish History Museum, shall we ? Aurora and her classmates arrived in the early afternoon, the day after landing in Stockholm. Half of the class were actually interested in the artifacts, and carefully observed the masterpieces, while the other half joked and laughed. Mr. Thomas and Ms. O’Malley had to shush them multiple times.