Lucy was bored. Rain ran down the windows like a thousand rivers rushing to the sea. Every game that she and her brother began ended with someone storming off in a huff. Whisper this quietly, but Lucy and Tom were almost looking forward to going to school the next day.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Dad was peeling carrots. He winced at the muffled shouting from the next room and turned up the volume on the radio. He was peeling carrots, but really he was trying to listen to the cricket and ignore his noisy children. He sighed and reached for another carrot.

The fighting and yelling in the living room grew louder and louder. Lucy and Tom could only agree on one thing: arguing. Lucy was extremely good at it, but her older brother could match her. She went out of her way to annoy Tom, and succeeded every time. Then Tom looked for new ways to pick fights with his sister. He was equally successful.

Their faces were screwed up in anger over who was cheating and who was winning. Lucy slapped the board game across the floor in a flurry of rage. At that very instant, the kitchen door burst open.

‘Will you two please stop arguing!’ shouted Dad over the din.

‘But he…’ began Lucy.

‘But she…’ shouted Tom.

Dad knew a hopeless mission when he saw one, so he shook his head in defeat, retreated to the kitchen, and stuck a carrot in each ear to block out the noise.

Lucy and Tom marched off to their bedrooms, slamming the doors behind them.

Lucy threw herself on the bed and buried her face in her pillow.

‘Arggggghhhhhh!’ she howled in frustration.

But shouting into a pillow was not very satisfying, and she soon realised she’d forgotten why they’d been arguing. She rolled over, looked up at the ceiling and sighed.

‘I’m bored,’ Lucy said to herself. That was the real problem.

‘And going crazy by talking to yourself,’ she replied.

‘Yes, that is a bit weird.’

She smiled and asked herself, ‘How can I make my life more exciting?’

She rummaged for a notebook and pen among the piles of clothes, toys and books on the floor. Then she started writing ideas.

- Become a rock star on reality TV.

- Be a celebrity.

- Go viral.

- Live on a tropical island.

Lucy chewed her pen and looked at the list. A life of loud music, late nights and loads of parties sounded epic. But she couldn’t play the guitar and had to admit she wasn’t quite rock star-ready. Most of her classmates dreamed of being a celebrity or going viral. But what did celebrities actually do all day? She had no idea.

‘What about a tropical island?’ she wondered. ‘Warm sunshine and miles away from Tom…’

Rain pattered on the window and made the idea of relaxing under a palm tree and sipping from a coconut extra appealing.

Lucy thought a little more. She would love to visit one, but she didn’t know how to get to a tropical island. What would she do all day, except go swimming? Might it even be a bit boring? Also, even though her family was irritating her today, she didn’t want to live without them forever. And who’d cook her tea?

She’d never admit this, but Lucy knew life at home was easy. She did, of course, roll her eyes whenever she was asked to put her dirty socks in the washing basket, rather than just dropping them on the floor for some magic fairy to deal with. For added effect, she occasionally threw in a grumpy, ‘Why do I have to do everything?!’

But she appreciated that her parents helped her a lot, and even Tom was usually fun to hang out with. She needed a better idea.

Her eyes scanned the room until she noticed the world map on the wall. She liked looking at it and wondering what life was like for kids in other countries. What did their bedrooms look like? What did they eat for school dinners? What were all the wild places like?

‘Aha!’ exclaimed Lucy, adding another item to her list.

- Become a rock star on reality TV.

- Be a celebrity.

- Go viral.

- Live on a tropical island.

- Go on an adventure!

She could have a big adventure like Tom had already done. Why should he have all the fun? The idea made her do a little bounce of excitement on the bed. But what sort of adventure?

Once again, Lucy looked around for inspiration. Even she had to admit that her room was a total mess. But then she spotted her school bag and, with a sinking feeling, remembered she hadn’t done her homework. She groaned, rolled over and unzipped the bag. She’d better not risk the old ‘dog ate my homework’ dodge again this week. Adventure would have to wait.