Basia and Franek find a glowing portal hidden under their carpet. It hums, sparkles, and seems to call them closer, but something is moving inside it.
Basia loved jumping on the big, bright carpet in her room. She jumped on it with her little brother, Franek, whenever they could. It was soft and bouncy, and the red and yellow shapes on it looked like a game.
One sunny Saturday morning, when the room smelled of strawberry oatmeal, Basia stopped in the middle of a hop. Something shiny flickered under her feet.
She bent down. In the centre of the carpet, a tiny silver circle was glowing.
"Franek! Come here!" she called.
Franek hurried in and skidded to a stop beside her. The silver circle twinkled once, then grew bigger. The carpet lifted at the edges with a soft rustle, as if a secret was waking up underneath it.
A swirl of coloured light turned and shivered below them. It looked like a tunnel made of rainbow fog.
"It’s a portal," Franek whispered.
From somewhere inside came a faint laugh, then a chiming sound, like tiny bells. A green leaf poked out from the glowing hole, and gold sparks drifted upward like fireflies.
Basia sat very still on the floor. "Where do you think it goes?"
"I don’t know," said Franek. He leaned closer. "But I think it knows we’re here."
The light pulsed once, twice, as if it was breathing.
Then, from deep inside the tunnel, something started to move toward them.