#7 - No Place Like Home

William stared at his ceiling, counting the glow-in-the-dark stars he'd stuck up there last summer. His dad had promised to help but ended up working late again. So Mum helped instead, though she had to keep running off to check on baby Sophie.

"It's not fair," he muttered, pulling his doona up to his chin. "Nobody has time for me anymore."

Even tonight, Mum had been too busy feeding Sophie to make his usual bedtime toast with Vegemite. And Dad had missed his third football game in a row. William felt like he was becoming invisible in his own home.

As he drifted off to sleep, a tear rolled down his cheek. "I wish I could go somewhere where people would notice me..."

The next morning, William woke up to something very strange tickling his face. It wasn't his soft pillow – it was *sand*!

He sat up with a jolt. Instead of his bedroom walls covered in football posters, he was surrounded by endless golden dunes that rippled like waves in the morning light. A group of camels were slurping noisily from a watering hole surrounded by palm trees, their long eyelashes batting lazily in the desert breeze. In the distance, enormous pyramids pierced the sky, their limestone surfaces gleaming like gold in the sunrise.

"Strewth!" William exclaimed, using his favourite word from his Australian dictionary. "I'm in Egypt!"

The sun blazed overhead like a giant spotlight, and the wind whipped sand into his pyjamas. A camel looked his way and made a sound that seemed suspiciously like a laugh. William called him Bruce because he had the same grumpy expression as his next-door neighbour.

He spent the day exploring the desert oasis, watching colourful birds dart between the palm trees and listening to the wind whisper secrets across the dunes. A friendly desert fox with enormous ears joined him for a while, sitting beside him as he shared stories about home. But by nightfall, he was sunburned, thirsty, and desperately missing his mum's cooking – even her burnt toast would be better than nothing.

The next morning, William found himself somewhere completely different. His teeth chattered as he opened his eyes to discover he was perched on an iceberg! Penguins waddled past, giving him curious looks, while enormous elephant seals lounged nearby like giant grey sausages with whiskers. The ice beneath him was so blue that it looked like someone had frozen the sky.

"C-c-crikey!" he stammered, hugging himself for warmth. Snow started falling, making him wish he had his football team's warm jacket. The snowflakes were as big as Sophie's hair bows, dancing through the air like tiny ballerinas before settling on his nose.

A particularly friendly penguin waddled over and offered him a fish. "Er, no thanks, mate," William said politely. "I'm more of a Weet-Bix kind of guy." The penguin seemed to shrug before sliding on its belly across the ice, leaving a perfect trail behind it like a tiny toboggan run.

William spent the day learning to waddle like his new penguin friends, though he wasn't nearly as graceful. He watched in awe as orcas breached the icy waters, their black and white bodies gleaming in the pale Antarctic sun. That night, as he huddled between two surprisingly accommodating elephant seals for warmth, he thought about Sophie's baby giggles and how Dad always messed up his hair when he was proud of him.

The third morning brought yet another surprise. William woke to a symphony of exotic bird calls and the humid air of a rainforest. Colourful parrots swooped overhead, their feathers painting red, blue, and green streaks across the canopy. Somewhere nearby, a monkey was having what sounded like a very dramatic conversation with itself.

"At least it's warmer than Antarctica," William muttered, picking a leaf from his hair. Butterflies the size of dinner plates fluttered past, their wings shimmering like stained glass in the dappled sunlight that filtered through the leaves.

He spent hours exploring the forest floor, discovering tiny poison dart frogs that reminded him of the lollies his mum sometimes bought him from the corner store. Giant flowers bloomed everywhere he looked, some bigger than his head and smelling sweeter than his sister's baby shampoo. But as he watched a family of monkeys swinging through the trees together, his heart ached. The baby monkey reminded him of Sophie, always reaching for things she shouldn't.

That night, lying in a makeshift bed of leaves, with the forest humming its nighttime lullaby, William realised something important. Sure, his family was busy, and things weren't perfect, but they were *his* family. He missed his mum's gentle hugs, even when they were interrupted by Sophie's crying. He missed his dad's terrible jokes, even if he only heard them late at night. He even missed Sophie's sticky fingers grabbing at his homework.

"I want to go home," he whispered to the stars peeking through the canopy. "I really, really want to go home."

The next morning, William opened his eyes to the familiar sight of his glow-in-the-dark stars. He was back in his own bed!

"William! William!" His mum's worried voice came from downstairs. "Where are you, sweetheart?"

He rushed downstairs to find his parents in their pyjamas, looking frantic. His dad was on the phone, and his mum was holding Sophie, who was wearing her onesie inside out.

"I'm here!" William called out.

His parents spun around, and suddenly, he was wrapped in the biggest group hug of his life, with Sophie squealing happily in the middle.

"We went to check on you this morning, and you weren't in your bed!" his mum explained, tears in her eyes. "We've been searching everywhere!"

"I had the strangest adventure," William began, then told them everything about his three-day journey.

His parents exchanged confused looks – to them, he'd only been missing for an hour. But they listened to every word of his story.

That evening, William helped his mum make toast for everyone while Sophie watched from her high chair, throwing cheerios with surprising accuracy. His dad came home early, still in his work suit, and announced he'd rearranged his schedule to make it to all future football games.

As William bit into his slightly burnt Vegemite toast (made just the way he liked it), he smiled. The pyramids had been amazing, the penguins were funny, and the rainforest was incredible – but nothing could beat being home with his family.

Even if home sometimes included being hit in the head with flying cheerios from his baby sister.