1 A paper present

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Chapter 1 A paper present Sarah opened the door of her favorite stationery shop. It was just around the corner from her home in Amman, the capital city of Jordan. "Hi, Mr. Khalil," she said to the owner. "Hi, Sarah," he replied. "Have you filled another notebook already? I don't know where you get all your story ideas from!" Sarah laughed. "I've been reading poems called haiku, which are from Japan. They're three lines long and very beautiful. I want to try writing some myself, so I need a new notebook." "Have fun choosing one," said Mr. Khalil. He went back to stacking a shelf with pens and pencils.

The notebooks were displayed on the back wall of the shop. Sarah hurried over and looked at the shelves of colorful covers. Should I pick a plain one, or a notebook with a pattern on the front? she wondered. And would plain paper or lined paper be best? Sarah loved starting a new notebook. Writing stories and poems was her favorite thing in the world—besides traveling back in time... That was Sarah's secret. She belonged to an organization called the Timekeepers, whose task was to keep history on track. They had members from different parts of the world, but they also had an enemy. His name was DeLay, and he liked nothing better than messing up history.

Sarah spotted a notebook with pink blossoms on the cover. That's like Japanese cherry blossoms, she thought with delight. It would be ideal for haiku! As she reached for the notebook, the shop fell silent. Sarah glanced over her shoulder. The other customers looked as if they were playing freeze dance. A woman was frozen in the act of showing her child a coloring book. A man was bent over a low shelf, where he'd been leafing through greeting cards. Mr. Khalil had knocked over a can of pencils, but the pencils were frozen in mid- tumble. Sarah grinned. She knew just what this meant— time had stood still! Sarah looked at the special watch on her wrist. Sure enough, the hands were spinning backward. A brand new mission was waiting for the Timekeepers!

She flipped open the front of her watch and pressed one of the buttons inside. Bright light in every color of the rainbow swirled around her and she felt herself lifting off

the ground. The notebooks, pens, cards, Mr. Khalil, and the customers all disappeared from view. Sarah knew time would stand still while she was away, and no one would ever know she had gone. As the swirling, whirling colors faded, Sarah's feet touched a hard floor and she found herself in a familiar place—the History Hub. This was the HQ of the Timekeepers, and it was just like a museum, crammed full of fascinating objects from throughout history. "Sarah here!" she announced, looking at a big clock on the wall. Its little red door swung open and a bright-eyed bird with a gray and white striped chest hopped out. "Cuckoo!" the bird squawked. "Hi, Tempo," said Sarah. "Good to see you." Tempo always traveled to the past with the Timekeepers, helping them on their missions.