My name is Kai Venture, and I have a really big secret.

Please don’t tell my parents.

They would probably freak out.

Can you keep my secret?

Okay, here goes: I have a time machine!

I know it sounds crazy, but it all started years ago when I was just a baby.

One day, Ma and Pa told me that I was going to have my first adventure.

They said we were going to the beach, and to get there, we were going to ride on an airplane.

Let’s be honest, I had no idea what that meant.

But they seemed excited about it, so I figured it must be something pretty cool.

As they were preparing for this adventure, they opened a door to a magical place I never knew existed.

It was…a closet!

I know that probably doesn’t sound very exciting to you, but to a little guy, there were all kinds of crazy things in there.

There were a few things that looked like giant boxes on wheels.

Obviously, I now know from my adventures that they were suitcases.

There was something I thought looked like a strange-shaped blanket that maybe had some sort of furry animal attached to it.

Turns out, that was Ma’s coat for trips to cold places like Canada and Switzerland.

Man, I could still snuggle with that thing.

Then there was something tall and thin in the corner.

Pa called it a “tripod.”

I haven’t seen it again since, so I have to assume that Tripod is an alien who was also exploring this wondrous place called the closet.

See? Like I said, all kinds of crazy things.

When Pa pulled out one of the suitcases to start packing, I knew what I had to do.

I was going in.

I crawled into the closet and took a look around.

I thought I saw Tripod move, but then something else caught my eye.

In the very back of the closet, one of the suitcases was standing slightly open.

It seemed to be glowing on the inside.

I was pretty sure that the one Pa had pulled out wasn’t glowing.

So I did what any adventurous lad would do: I made my way back there and crawled inside the suitcase.

Sure enough, there were a bunch of lights that were glowing.

I saw a bunch of letters and numbers that didn’t mean anything to me and a ball hovering in the air.

Now that got my attention.

Hey, what little boy doesn’t like a good ball?

I reached for it, and it was warm.

Now, I’m not exactly proud of what I did next, but, in my defense, I was a baby at the time.

I tried to put the ball in my mouth.

Then, ttttssssszzzziiiinnnngggg!

Suddenly, the air felt different, and I would swear it even smelled different.

I crawled out of the suitcase.

I wasn’t in the closet anymore, I was on a beach.

Of course, I didn’t know it was a beach at the time since my first trip to the beach was still a few days away.

But there I was.

I ran my hand over the soft sand, then I scooped up a handful.

I may have also tried to put that in my mouth.

(Baby, remember?!)

After I discovered that it did not taste very good, I decided to explore.

I crawled over a big mound of sand, but I wasn’t quite sure what I was looking at.

Then I noticed that there was a man sitting in the sand near me.

He was dressed kind of funny.

He had on long pants and a heavy, scratchy-looking coat (nothing like Ma’s!).

He had a scarf wrapped around his neck and a strange, flat hat on his head.

And he looked as surprised to see me as I was to see him.

He said, “Hey little fella. Where did you come from?”

Just then I was distracted by a shout from down the beach.

The man also looked in the direction of the noise.

He said, “You probably won’t remember this, but I think you’re about to witness history. Do you see those two men standing over there? Their names are Orville and Wilbur. They are attempting to be the first men to fly.”

It took a minute for me to understand what he was saying.

Fly?

I looked at the big thing the men were standing next to.

If I squinted, it sort of looked like one of my toy airplanes, but not quite.

Where were the seats?

Where were the walls for that matter?

This thing was just a frame.

Just then one of the men climbed on the frame and lay down on his stomach in the middle of it.

That didn’t seem safe.

The man next to me said, “That’s the Flyer. Wilbur tried to get ‘er off the ground earlier. Now Orville’s going to try.”

Soon, it became very noisy, and the big thing started to move.

The man he had called Wilbur began to run alongside.

Much to my surprise, the thing actually lifted off the ground.

It may have been just a few seconds, but it seems like longer when you are holding your breath.

I was definitely holding my breath, and I think the man next to me was too.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how long it was.

Flyer flew, and it was amazing.

The man and I just sat there for a few more minutes after it was over.

Then he stood up and said, “I should probably get you back to your parents.”

I started to crawl back across the sand.

When the suitcase came into view, the man looked at it and said, “Well isn’t that strange?”

It was still glowing.

I crawled back inside, saw the ball and, well, you can probably guess what I did.

Ttttssssszzzziiiinnnngggg!

I was back in the closet again.

If the man thought a glowing suitcase in the middle of the sand was strange, I wonder what he thought when it disappeared!

I was crawling out of the closet – keeping one eye on Tripod – when I heard Ma say, “There you are!”

She picked me up and said, “Are you ready for your first flight?”

Boy, was I ever.

And that was the beginning of my adventures.