THE JIGGLEWIND CHRONICLES E-Book

Connie Glass-Enczmann

• Herausgeber: BoD - Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 116

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2026

Beschreibung

When London taxi driver Gary Jigglewind picks up the mysterious Mrs. Doodey and her telepathic puppy, he expects a normal fare to the airport. Instead, he is magnetically whisked to the North Pole - the REAL North Pole that exists in all times simultaneously - and thrust into an adventure that will reveal he is his own time-traveling ancestor! Meanwhile, his genius sons Sid and Les have built a time machine from arcade parts and a microwave. When their attempt to rescue Dad goes spectacularly wrong, landing them in 1545 with Henry VIII demanding Wi-Fi and Spaghetti, it triggers a chain of temporal chaos.

Leseprobe

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental.

To all readers who crave adventure stories and wonder about the unknown.To my husband Peter, our daughter and her family, and all our friends worldwide.

Imagination should be used, not to escape reality but to create it.Colin Wilson

CONTENTS

1. MR. JIGGLEWIND ON THE MAGNETIC TRACK TO THE NORTH POLE

2. MR. MIX’s SPECTACULAR EXPLOSION

3. THE SECRET OF THE CRYSTAL IGLOOS

4. LITTLE YELLOW GETS DANGEROUS

5. WRONG CENTURY, WRONG PROBLEM

6. TIME LOOPS, TUDOR TROUBLES, AND TELEPATHIC TEENAGERS

7. PROFESSOR DR. QUANTUM

8. WHEN PAST & FUTURE COLLIDES (And a Chicken Gets Involved)

9. The PARADOX OF THE PASTA SAUCE

10. LITTLE BLUE AND THE SEA MONSTER’S AGENDA

11. MRS. DOODEY’S UNDER WATER AGENDA

12. THE ESCAPE

13. WHEN TENTACLES ATTACK (And Taxis Time Travel)

14. BACK HOME (Until Time Stops Again)

About the Author

Also by Connie Glass-Enczmann

Also by Connie Glass-Enczmann

Also by Connie Glass-Enczmann

Also by Connie Glass-Enczmann

Also by Connie Glass-Enczmann

Also by Connie Glass-Enczmann

Also by Connie Glass-Enczmann

Also by Connie Glass-Enczmann

Also by Connie Glass-Enczmann

CHAPTER 1 MR. JIGGLEWIND ON THE MAGNETIC TRACK TO THE NORTH POLE

THE MOST UNUSUAL TAXI RIDE, and this was just the beginning!

Gary Jigglewind had been a taxi driver for fifteen years, and he thought he'd heard every strange request imaginable. He'd driven scientists carrying bubbling beakers, and even a lady with seven parrots. BUT NOTHING—ABSOLUTELY NOTHING—could have prepared him for what happened on that sweltering Tuesday afternoon at the airport.

The heat shimmered off the tarmac like dancing ghosts, and Gary’s taxi—Speedo, as he called her— sat purring at the pickup zone. He thought about his boys, Sid and Les, who were probably in the garage right now, working on their latest electrical experiment. Luckily, they’d inherited their mother Dawn’s brilliant mind, not her clumsiness, and their father’s stubbornness—a dangerous combination when it came to science projects!

That's when she appeared.

The woman materialized at his window as if she'd stepped out of thin air, though Gary could have sworn the pickup zone had been empty just seconds before. She wore a peculiar purple coat despite the heat, and her hair was piled high in an impossible tower of brown curls that defied gravity.

Behind her, a mountain of mismatched suitcases teetered precariously—some leather, some plastic, one that appeared to be made entirely of feathers. But strangest of all was the shepherd puppy at her feet, who sat perfectly still and watched Gary with eyes that seemed far too intelligent for a dog.

Without quite knowing why, Gary felt a shiver run down his spine. But business was business, and he was Gary Jigglewind—the most reliable taxi driver at the airport. He hopped out, his belly jiggling slightly, and began wrestling the bizarre collection of luggage into the boot. The feathered suitcase tickled his arms, and one of the cases felt oddly cold, as if it contained ice.

Ever the gentleman, Gary held the door open. The woman swept into the backseat with the grace of royalty, and the puppy hopped in beside her, sitting upright like a tiny, furry person.

"Where are we heading today, ma'am?" Gary asked, settling into the driver's seat and adjusting his rearview mirror.

"I'm Mrs. Doodey," she announced, as if that explained everything. She gestured to the puppy with a gloved hand.

"This is Noodles. He's my navigator."

The dog's tail didn't wag. Instead, Noodles tilted his head and seemed to nod at Gary.

"Gary Jigglewind, at your service!" Gary replied, trying to shake off his unease. "Where would you like to go today, Mrs. Doodey?"

"The North Pole," she said matter-of-factly.

Gary's foot slipped off the brake pedal.

"I'm sorry, did you say the North Pole?"

"Precisely! And we're already running late."

She tapped an impossibly complicated watch on her wrist that seemed to have at least twelve hands, all pointing in different directions.

"Mrs. Doodey," Gary began carefully, using the same patient voice he used when Les tried to convince him that homework was scientifically proven to be unnecessary.

"I think there's been a misunderstanding. The North Pole is... well, it's at the top of the world. You'd need to take an airplane. Several airplanes, actually. And probably a dog sled for the last bit."

"Nonsense!" Mrs. Doodey waved her hand dismissively.

"I specifically chose you, Mr. Jigglewind. Your taxi will do just fine."

"But we'd have to drive through countries! And oceans! It's impossible!"

At the word 'impossible,' Noodles bared his teeth —not in a threatening way, but almost as if he were smiling. Gary's hands grew sweaty on the steering wheel.

"Tell you what," Gary said, thinking quickly. "We'll need to stop for petrol first. Can't go anywhere without fuel, North Pole or not."

"Very well," Mrs. Doodey agreed.

"But no funny business, Mr. Jigglewind. Noodles has an excellent sense for trickery."

At the petrol station, Gary's mind raced as he filled the tank. Maybe he could call the police? Or Dawn? But what would he say? 'Help, I have a customer who wants to go to the North Pole'? They'd think he'd gone mad.

Mrs. Doodey had gotten out and placed a laptop on the bonnet of the taxi. The computer's screen glowed with an unusual blue light, displaying maps that Gary had never seen before—maps that showed roads where no roads should exist.

"Look here, Mr. Jigglewind," she called, pointing at the screen. "This is our route."

Gary peered at the screen. A glowing line stretched from their current location, arcing impossibly through the air, across an ocean, and landing directly at the North Pole.

"That's... that's a flight path," he stammered.

"Is it?" Mrs. Doodey asked innocently. Then, quick as lightning, she pulled a purse from thin air and bopped him on the head with it. It felt like being hit with a pillow filled with snowballs.

"Why do you think I chose you specifically, Gary Jigglewind? Your sons aren't the only ones in your family with a destiny."

Before Gary could ask what she meant about his sons, Mrs. Doodey and Noodles were back in the car. Bewildered and slightly dizzy from the purse-bopping, Gary got behind the wheel. He'd drive back to the airport, he decided. Let security sort this out.

But the moment he pressed the accelerator, something extraordinary happened.

The taxi lurched forward—not toward the airport, but in the opposite direction. The speedometer spun wildly, showing impossible numbers. The world outside the windows blurred into streaks of color. Gary's hands were frozen to the steering wheel, which had begun to glow with a soft golden light.

"What's happening?!" Gary shouted over a sound like wind chimes mixed with jet engines.

"We're taking the magnetic track, of course!" Mrs. Doodey replied calmly, pulling knitting needles from her purse. The yarn she was working with sparkled like starlight. "It's been there all along. Most people just can't see it. But your taxi can, Mr. Jigglewind. I knew it the moment I saw Speedo.”

Gary wanted to ask how she knew his taxi's nickname, but they were suddenly airborne.

The car soared over landscapes that shifted and changed—one moment they were above a desert, the next over a purple forest, then skimming across an ocean that reflected two moons in its surface.

"Six hundred kilometers and counting!" Mrs. Doodey announced cheerfully. Noodles barked once —a sound that somehow conveyed amusement.

The taxi began to descend, and Gary squeezed his eyes shut, certain they were about to crash into an icy wasteland. Instead, they landed with a gentle bump, the car rolling a few times before coming to rest. When Gary finally opened his eyes, his jaw dropped.

They weren't on ice at all, but on a massive rock platform floating in an Arctic sea. In the distance, Gary could see structures that looked like igloos, if igloos were made of crystallized aurora borealis.

"Welcome to the real North Pole, Mr. Jigglewind," Mrs. Doodey said, already climbing out of the taxi.

"The one they don't put on regular maps."

"But... but..." Gary sputtered, his mind struggling to process what he was seeing.

"Better get your coat on," Mrs. Doodey advised, pulling an enormous fur coat and a pair of boots from one of her suitcases and tossing it to him.

"We have work to do. You see, Mr. Jigglewind, your sons' experiments have caught the attention of some very important people. And by people, I mean... well, you'll see soon enough."

A figure emerged from behind the platform—a man wrapped in white furs with eyes as blue as glacier ice. When he saw the taxi, his eyes widened in amazement, and he let out a shout in a language Gary didn't recognize. Then, without warning, he dove off the platform into a boat below.

"Don't mind him," Mrs. Doodey said, watching the man paddle frantically away.

"The locals aren't used to taxi arrivals. Now, shall we discuss why we really brought you here? It has everything to do with Sid and Les, and the Castle School in the Multiverse."

Gary's heart skipped a beat. "The Castle School? The Multiverse? My boys are at home, working on their science project!"

Mrs. Doodey and Noodles exchanged a look that seemed to say, “Oh, he doesn't know yet.”

"Mr. Jigglewind," Mrs. Doodey said gently, "I think it's time you learned the truth about your sons' experiments. They haven't just been building potato batteries and volcano models. They've been doing something far more extraordinary. And dangerous. And that's why we need your help."

As the Arctic wind whipped around them and the aurora borealis buildings pulsed with mysterious light, Gary Jigglewind realized his ordinary taxi driver life had just taken the most extraordinary detour imaginable. And somehow, he knew there was no turning back.

Little did Gary know that at that very moment, his sons Sid and Les were about to make a discovery that would change everything—and he would need their help more than ever before.

CHAPTER 2 MR. MIX’S SPECTACULAR EXPLOSION

WHILE THEIR FATHER was busy getting himself magnificently lost at the North Pole (not that Sid and Les had a clue), the brothers sat in chemistry class watching Mr. Mix work his dubious magic. The mad scientist—sorry, teacher—was frantically pouring chemicals together like he was mixing a wizard's potion. The beaker bubbled and fizzed, flashing red, then blue, then a rather alarming shade of green.

"BEHOLD, students!" Mr. Mix bellowed dramatically, his wild white hair shooting up in every direction like he'd been struck by lightning. Twice.

"If you follow my EXACT technique, you shall witness scientific BRILLIANCE!"

"Uh, what exactly are we supposed to witness?" Sid whispered.

Les shrugged. "No idea. But I'm getting bad vibes."

"OBSERVE AND BE AMAZED!" Mr. Mix cackled, adding one more mysterious liquid to his concoction.

BOOOOOOM!

The beaker exploded in a spectacular fireball of smoke and sparks.

"SWEET MERCURY!" Mr. Mix shrieked, running in panicked circles like a confused chicken. Thick purple smoke billowed everywhere, filling the classroom faster than you could say "fire hazard."

Students screamed and dove under tables like they were in an action movie. Someone yelled, "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!"

Sid and Les peeked out from their hiding spot and started cackling. "Dude, he totally mixed the wrong chemicals!" Sid wheezed.

"Classic Mr. Mix!" Les howled with laughter.

Fire alarms screeched. Sprinklers erupted. Complete and utter chaos.

Mrs. Knocks burst through the door with a megaphone that made her sound like a robot.

"EVACUATE! EVACUATE! Chemistry is CANCELLED!

Next lesson Thursday—IF we still have a classroom! Everyone to the rainwater pipe! We're sliding back to Earth! SINGLE FILE! NO PUSHING! And Johnson—STOP TAKING SELFIES!"

Once safely back in the schoolyard, Sid and Les sprinted to the parking lot where their pride and joy awaited them.

Little Yellow.

Their magnificent, and absolutely not street-legal, invention vehicle gleamed in the sunlight. Bright yellow as a banana, shaped like a stubby rocket, with only two seats crammed inside. But here's where it got cool: the wheels could retract so it could zoom across water like a speedboat. They'd rigged up propulsion systems that would make a jet ski jealous. The dashboard looked like a spaceship control panel—all flashing lights and switches. And the smokestack on top! Pure genius. When Mr. Mix secretly poured his failed experiments into it (which he definitely wasn't supposed to do), Little Yellow would shoot out rainbow-colored smoke and go SUPER fast.

Half their classmates thought it was the coolest thing ever. The other half were green with envy and kept trying to copy their design (badly).

"Hey Les," Sid said, climbing into the driver's seat. "Little Yellow can tear up the road and slice through water like a boss, but we still can't fly. What if we strap on a jet engine? Maybe add a timer so we don't accidentally launch ourselves into space?"

"YES. Garage. NOW."

They fired up Little Yellow, which rumbled to life with a satisfying VROOOOM, and rocketed toward home.

What they couldn't possibly know was that in approximately 24 hours, they'd be blasting off on the craziest rescue mission of their lives. Their father, the legendary taxi driver Gary Jigglewind, had managed to get himself spectacularly stranded at the North Pole.

And honestly? That was totally their Dad.

CHAPTER 3 THE SECRET OF THE CRYSTAL IGLOOS

THE CRYSTAL IGLOOS pulsed with their own heartbeat of light. Blues deeper than ocean trenches, purples that tasted like thunder (yes, tasted— somehow Gary could taste the colors here), and a shade of silver that made him remember every happy moment of his childhood all at once.