Pola and Staś find a strange old clock in their room, and when they press its green button, their world spins away into a place that feels much older than home.
Pola and Staś liked to play together in their room, where teddy bears sat on the bed, books leaned in little piles, and bright blocks waited in a box by the wall.
One afternoon, while the trees hummed softly outside the window, Pola froze. From the far corner came a sound that did not belong there at all.
Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
They turned together. On a small table that had not been there before stood an old clock with a shining golden hand. It was tall and round, with tiny scratches on its dark case, as if it had travelled a very long way.
Staś stepped closer and lifted one finger. The moment he touched the clock, it trembled. The face flashed with a thousand colours. Pola spotted a little green button on the side, bright as a leaf after rain.
She looked at her brother. "Shall we press it together?"
"Yes," whispered Staś.
They pressed it at the same time.
At once, a fizzing tickle ran through their feet. The air twirled. The room blurred into ribbons of light, and the tick-tock grew louder and louder until everything went silent.
Then, all at once, the children stood in a meadow they had never seen before. Huge daisies grew instead of grass, and beetles with shining wings sang from the petals. Far away rose a castle so old and grand it looked as if it had stepped out of a picture book.
"Where are we?" Pola breathed.
"I think... somewhere else," said Staś, grinning, though his eyes were wide.
Behind them, the tick-tock started again.
They spun around. The clock lay on a soft carpet of flowers, and its golden hand was spinning faster and faster, as if it wanted to run away without them.
Then, from the castle, a trumpet blared.
The huge door swung open.
A figure in a shining cloak stepped out and raised one hand to them.