Are you ready for an adventure? 

Your morning has started like any other morning you have had before. Your alarm has gone off, and you’re still half asleep. You drag yourself out of bed and begin your morning routine. However, this morning will not be like any morning you have had before. You walk into your kitchen to get breakfast, and there is a strange light. Still bleary-eyed, you don’t notice it at first. Your brain assumes it’s the early morning sun pouring through the kitchen window. It’s the warmth you first notice. The light doesn’t quite reach the ceiling, nor does it quite reach the floor. Most people wouldn’t see this light, but you are different; you are a daydreamer and a mischief-maker. You have an open heart and open mind, and your natural curiosity draws you towards the glowing light. You can’t resist going for a closer look. This light is a doorway, a magical portal that transports you to the Isle of Neverwas.

Travelling through the portal to the Isle of Neverwas is a unique experience for each person and is difficult to describe. I will do my best. The doorway you have discovered in your kitchen has a particular glow; it looks cosy and inviting, and it feels warm. The best way I can describe it is it feels like the sensation of sunlight filtered through your closed eyelids on a sunny day, with a hint of a breeze dancing across the bare skin of your face and arms.

You never quite reach the light, somehow, as you approach it; just reaching the edges, you are transported. Later, you will remember something else. The moment you stepped towards the glow, you were filled with a beautiful, fuzzy feeling of contentment, a wondrous moment of joy, making your spirit feel lighter. 

When Travelling Ava first travelled through the portal, she described that happy feeling. It was a memory of spending the day at the beach with friends, eating fish and chips. The warmth of the air touching her face and the smell of salty sea air. One of her favourite smells and one of her happiest memories. What is your happiest moment, dearest daydreamer? Take a deep breath and keep hold of that feeling for as long as possible.

You are no longer in your kitchen. In the blink of an eye, you have arrived on the Isle of Neverwas, grateful that you have at least remembered to put your slippers on this morning. It can be disorienting the first time you travel through a magical portal. Let’s take a moment to get our bearings. It’s okay, there is a tall standing stone just over to your left. Let’s lean against that for a moment. Can you feel the cool, rough surface? This will help you. I promise. 

Where you arrive on the island will depend on where you have entered the portal. Sometimes it is tiny, but as it grows a little bit bigger, animals and people might find themselves transported by accident. We are not sure of the exact science; the portal doesn’t transport everyone to the island that comes into contact with it. Even though there are many mysteries yet to be answered, we do know that the portal is always connected somewhere to the UK. Sometimes, but not often, it grows large enough for entire buildings to be carried to the island.

We don’t know if other countries have their own magical doorways that take people to alternative islands. Maybe they do, we don’t know yet. Sometimes the islander will see a ship or a boat off in the distance, out at sea. The Science Institute is busy researching the portal and is trying to identify patterns. For example, when someone arrives on Bubble Beach, have they always entered the Portal from Tenby? Just in case you are wondering, Tenby is a harbour town in South West Wales. 

That is a lot of information. Are you okay? You are in luck, my fellow traveller, you have arrived on the island in the same spot as Travelling Ava. I have the directions to the nearest bus stop.

Let’s close our eyes for a moment. Take a deep breath. You are in the middle of a field with lush green grass beneath your feet, damp with morning dew. You can feel the cold, wet sensation of the water droplets being absorbed by your slippers. Give your toes a wiggle. Can you smell the rich, damp earth and the sweet grass? It is a warm morning. When you are ready, open your eyes slowly and cast your gaze around you. Do you think that cloud looks a bit like a frog? The big fluffy one? Look at that beautiful blue sky. Take another slow, deep breath. 

It is time for us to start exploring if you are ready for an adventure. You can always go back through the portal, finish your breakfast, and go about your day as if nothing happened. I knew you were an adventurer. Let’s get going.

When Travelling Ava first arrived in this field, she wasn’t sure which direction to walk. There are no signposts to indicate our location. Ava pulled a piece of paper and a pencil from her explorer bag and started to make a little map. We are using her directions to get us to the bus stop. I know you can’t see the road from here, but trust me, it is there. To ensure you are going in the right direction, the mountains should be behind you, and the line of ancient oak trees should be to your right as you start walking. Don’t worry that you are wearing your pyjamas and slippers, the islanders have seen stranger sights.

The Isle of Neverwas is a magical place. You will find magical folks like fairies, trolls, and gnomes living on the island. I know there is nothing necessarily special about that. They exist in your world, too. However, you don’t normally find them in the queue at the post office or driving a bus; this is a common sight on the Isle of Neverwas. Do not be surprised if you find yourself in conversation with a rabbit or a hedgehog. That is another thing that makes the island extraordinary.

It is not just people and animals that find their way to the island, but objects too. This is something else that the Science Institute is studying; Lost and Found Exchanges keep detailed records of objects found on the island. The island has a Lost and Found Exchange in every town and village. Fairies work hard to return the items they have found to their original owners. Two items they stopped returning to their homes are forks and odd socks. Nobody knows why so many forks and odd socks appear on the island.

Sometimes the portal appears regularly in the same place. Astride the Fairy has returned the same keys to a house in Cartmel 17 times. It has a distinctive keychain, a neon pink pompom. This was added after the fourth time they appeared on the island, presumably so they would be harder to lose. Astride keeps returning them to the tray on the bookcase rather than the hook on the wall. They will not take the hint. Astride has considered leaving a note, but she is not sure if that would be helpful. They probably think they have a ghost. Maybe they do. The family living in the house in Cartmel might have taken the hint. They do put the keys on the little tray on the bookshelf, and it is a ghost that keeps hanging them on the hook by the door. Astride only knows one ghost, who is called Dotty. Dotty likes to play pranks. Moving keys around is something Dotty would do.

We are almost at the road, just a little further to walk.

Nobody can explain why so many socks find their way to the island. Why are they not in pairs? It is a mystery worth investigating. The islanders have had to get creative over the years. The socks are a feature of the island’s craftwork. The sewing guild created a spectacular collection of costumes for the harvest festival last year. The costumes are even featured in an exhibition. This year, the sewing guild has decided to move on from costumes. Partly because they might not be able to improve on last year’s spectacular, but also to keep life interesting. Their new project is using the found socks to create intricate tapestries of the towns and villages on the island.

Forks are a different story. Originally, they were used as forks; they would find the odd knife or spoon. All the found forks get collected, and when they have enough,  they are made into other things. The metal smelted down. Now and again, it will be turned into jewellery or a wind chime. Don’t be surprised as we explore the island if you see a few odd socks, forks, and other random objects. We are almost there. I do like this walk, it is peaceful here in the countryside.

Can you see the road? If you look to your left, you will see a stile we can use to climb over the fence. We have another couple of minutes before the bus arrives. We need to cross the road. Don’t forget to look left and right and left again. There isn’t a lot of traffic on the roads, but you still need to be careful. The bus stop sign looks like something out of the 1950s; it probably is. The bus is a real treat; it is a 1959 Bristol Lodekka, a cream and green double-decker. Can you hear that distant rumble? That is the bus, quick, now we don’t want to miss it. We are going to Slumber-on-Sea. Don’t worry that you haven’t got any money with you. Our bus driver is a troll called Stan. Let him know that you are a friend of Travelling Ava, and then you can take your seat. Who will you sit next to? Izzy the Tree Sprite or Little Mouse? We are going to Slumber-on-Sea. Rest for a while, our next stop will be lively.

Thank you for joining me on the Isle of Neverwas. Until we meet again. Take care, my beautiful daydreamers and mischief-makers.