Chapter 1: The Beginning CHAPTER 1 THE BEGINNING

··· THURSDAY ···
It was a sunny afternoon, and Tim’s backyard presented ideal conditions for making history—iguana-ball-fetching history, that is. Tim was holding Dr. Curtis (Tito’s pet iguana) while Tito crumpled a sheet of foil.

“I think this is my best work yet,” said Tito, revealing the shiny foil ball triumphantly.

“Awesome,” said Tim, holding his breath with anticipation. This was it. If they broke a world record, he would stop being the odd kid who always worried and become one of the cool kids! Tim smiled, daydreaming. He could already see the headline in the school paper: FOURTH GRADER BECOMES INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED IGUANA TRAINER. “Let’s do it!”





Tim placed Dr. Curtis on the ground and felt a light breeze blow his spiky hair. Immediately, doubts started to trickle into his mind.

What if this wasn’t the right time?

Should they wait for the wind to die down?

And come to think of it, wasn’t the grass a tad too tall?

And did Dr. Curtis look a bit sick today? His skin was greener than usual.

Tim was worrying—he always did, but this time it didn’t matter. It was too late.

“Dr. Curtis, fetch!” yelled Tito, throwing the crumpled ball with all his might.

The lizard shot like a wobbly green rocket in the direction of the ball, but suddenly there was a flash of light and… POOF, the ball vanished in midair. The iguana looked up, confused.

And then POP. Where the ball had disappeared, a round and spiky object the size of a human hamster ball appeared out of nowhere. It hovered in the air for a few seconds before landing gently on the grass.



“¡Recórcholis! ¿Qué es eso? Is that a meteorite?” asked Tito, scratching his head.

“I… I don’t think so…,” said Tim, his face turning white as he took a step back. “It looks like… It looks like… A NUCULAR BOMB!”

But they were both wrong. Completely wrong. Incredibly and absolutely wrong. Because suddenly a hatch opened, and a mysterious character emerged from the giant spiky ball. It was green. It had short arms; a long, thick tail; and a big smile with even bigger teeth. The creature waved toward Dr. Curtis.

“Good morning, sir!” said the newcomer to the iguana. “My name is Oskar. How are you doing today?”



Dr. Curtis blinked twice and then darted back toward Tim and Tito, and hid behind Tim’s shaky legs.

“Oh, I see!” said Oskar. “Those must be your mammalian pets!”

“Hey! Who are you calling a mammalian?” yelled Tito. “Come and say that to my face!”

Tim grabbed Tito’s arm, mostly to stop him from challenging the creature but also because Tim felt sure he would faint. “Be careful, Tito. We have no idea what this thing is. It might be an alien!”

“Wait. No way! Your pets can speak?” said Oskar, still talking to the iguana. “That’s so cool! I have to check them out.”

The strange newcomer raced toward the two friends. Tito didn’t look one bit scared; he stood still, as cool as ever. But Tim was freaking out, his teeth chattering with fear. “Wh-wh-what are you doing?” he whispered, as Oskar started his inspection.



Oskar poked their bellies, smelled their armpits, and—much to Tim’s horror—finished the examination by staring at Tim’s hair. “Interesting.… Are you some sort of oversized hedgehog?”

Tito burst into laughter. “No, we are human kids,” he explained. “I’m Tito. This is Dr. Curtis, MY pet iguana. And Mr. Hedgehog Hair is my very best friend, Tim.”

Tim was too frightened to be offended. “And… wh-wh-what about you? Are you p-p-part of an alien invasion?”

“Alien? Me?” said Oskar. “Of course not! I’m a friendly time-traveling T. rex. Nice to meet you all!”

Tim felt his jaw drop. A TIME-TRAVELING T. REX? That was just too much. His gaze met Tito’s; he was out of words.

“Maybe I should tell you my story,” suggested Oskar.