The First Chapter of a novel-or at least a novella- I hope!

I was doing an English task for a Creative Writing where you had to write the first chapter of a story.

This is 970 words long(I know, it's completely off the limit) and, well, it's awesome!

Btw, It may seem weird at first, but you should read it to the end, I hope you'll like it, too!

“Are you certain that you want to go?” The old man asked for the umpteenth time. “You may not be able to be transported into the present.” He added gently.

“Yeah, Yeah, Of course I’m sure; I’ve told you that before!” Ali said; half excited to have his dreams come true and half annoyed at the old man’s constant warnings.

Ali was an eleven year old boy who loved to read science fiction novels. He was thrilled by tales that involved leaping through time into the future or past. He was curious to know whether time machines existed or not and how they worked if they did exist. Fascinated by the idea of traveling through time, Ali developed a strange wish to be transported into the future. His parents were very puzzled and worried about this odd desire of his, but Ali failed to understand that it was quite impossible, and even so the idea would be really creepy. All in vain, Ali continues to wish to travel into time one day.

One day, Ali meets an old scientist, who had invented a time machine. He had kept it to himself until now when Ali shares with him his desire. The old man tells him about his eccentric invention and Ali begs to let him use it.

“Please, please, PLEASE let me!” Ali pleaded.

“I am not yet sure how it will work, and I surely can’t take such a big risk.” The old man replied firmly.

“Oh why can’t you?” Ali said, trying his best to persuade him. “Your invention won’t be of any use unless someone tries it.” He added.

The old man was a wise and sensible person, and he was not to be easily convinced by Ali’s coaxing, but he finally gave in.

“All right!” he said crossly. “You’re a nuisance, really. But if you so greatly want to do that, well then you can!”

Ali, although slightly scared of the old man’s wild temper, was too delighted for words.

“Oh, really?” he asked softly. “Thank you!”

“Come on, I’ll show you the machine.” The old man said. His anger seemed to have cooled down a bit. He led Ali through a labyrinth of corridors to the studio where he worked on his inventions. He switched on the lights, and they stepped in.

The tiled floor was strewn with wires of different lengths, screwdrivers and other technical-looking tools. In the centre stood a large, fluorescently-colored, machine.

“And this,” said the old man proudly, “Is my time machine.”

Ali stared agape. It was a big box-like thing which had a door. On one side was a windscreen, and Ali could tell that underneath it was a panel of controls and gears facing a seat.

“You want to try it out? Let me tell you how it all works.” The old man said in an unexpectedly kind tone, as he settled down on a revolving chair that stood in one corner of the room.

Ali eagerly followed him. He could find nowhere to sit so he sat down on the floor. He gazed intently at the old man.

“You can travel through this machine,” he began, “to up to five centuries into the future or the past, whichever you want.  All you have to do is to enter the date, and the year into which you want to be transported to, and the time. Then the machine will began vibrating violently and then it will take you to the year you have entered.” He finished.

Ali nodded solemnly.

“And remember these three things: Firstly, to travel back to the present you will have to remember today’s date, which is 2^nd March, 2016, which you will need to enter into the machine the same way as you will now. The machine will then transport you safely to my house, to this room, to be exact.  Secondly, you will find your time machine the same spot where you left it-in the future, I mean. Thirdly, Remember, this whole concept of time travelling is not a joke, I therefore warn you to play with it. And whatever you do, you will be responsible for your own actions.”

Ali nodded once again.

“Now, you can embark on your adventure to the future.” The old man said with a smile.

 They both stood up and opened the time machine’s door. Ali jumped in, sat down on the seat and then tied the safety belt securely.  The old man slid a slider which said ‘PAST’, to ‘FUTURE’.  Ali entered the date; ‘2^nd March, 2116’. Then he bid the old man goodbye.

“Goodbye and thank you!” Ali shouted over the whirring of the machine.

“You’re welcome.” He replied kindly. “And remember, the MACHINE CAN TAKE YOU ANYWHERE…” his voice was drained by the loud noises of the machine, which seemed to be increasing every moment.

Ali nodded. He could feel a knot in his stomach which seemed to be getting tighter every passing second. He felt like vomiting. His head was throbbing madly. The deafening whirring of the machine made it all worse. He shut his eyes tightly.

Then a countdown began…

…TEN…………

…NINE…

…EIGHT…

…SEVEN…

…SIX…

…FIVE…

…FOUR…

…THREE….

…TWO….

…ONE….

……….BLAST OFF!!!!!!

Ali squeezed his eyes even more tightly. The machine was whirring so madly he could not think anything…..

And then....BUMP!!!

Ali sat up. He opened his eyes.  He blinked. He blinked again. He wondered where he was. It did not seem at all like the future world. He turned his head around to see his bed. In front of him was a bookshelf. He squinted. Didn’t the bookshelf seem like his own? And the titles…they seemed somewhat familiar to him….

 And then he realized…

…Drat! Ali muttered to himself. It was all a dream!!!

Or was it? He couldn’t make out.

I am really pleased with this chapter, and confident too, that I might be able to write a novel sometime, so I think I will be writing the rest of the novel soon. If you want to read it, keep tuned on, I suppose I might be able to post a next chapter by the end of May.

Note: Any feedback, constructive criticism, or comments will be expected.

 Thank You.