The year: 1986. The time: 6:00 AM. All
wrong. How did I get here? Such a big city. Lost. Trapped. In New York
City. In 1986. No. What happened? What went wrong? My newspaper--time
machine--lacks any sort of flaw. What--oh, no. My newspaper. Where did I put
it? Why do I not have it with me? No. This comic book... where did it come
from? The Black Freighter. Looks interesting. But my newspaper. Oh, no. I must have dropped it in the
vortex. Who knows where it ended up? Anywhere. Any time. Anyone could find it.
Or maybe--maybe it landed here somewhere. Someone might have found it. Should
not look out of place here. A newspaper stand. Yes, I will sit here. And read
this comic book. And wait. The newspaper
holds my key back to 1954. Back to my lab. I hope it does not fall into the
wrong hands...
***
My hands shake with the strain of carrying my
almost-fifteen-pound English binder into school from the senior lot. My backpack must weigh thirty pounds today,
too. I wince as I notice the fiery pink
glimmer of sunrise from the east side of the school. Too early. Why does Ms. Serensky insist on having us
here at 6:00 in the morning for an extra study session? Unnecessary. As I approach the school, I notice a
newspaper lying haphazardly on the ground.
I pick it up and take a look.
Just as I open the front page, I hear a distinctive snort of laughter
behind me. Ms. Serensky snuck up on me.
“Aww, Vicki, look at you! Taking the newspaper
into school! How uncharacteristically… nice
of you!”
This unexpected social contact catches me off
guard, so I flush and scurry off into the school and English classroom as
quickly as my burdensome backpack and binder will allow. I struggle to find my seat in the empty
classroom, so I plop myself down on the end and cringe as my backpack cracks
the cold tile floor as I drop it.
Oops. Bored already without Ms.
Serensky’s intimidating yet reassuring presence, I notice the newspaper still
sitting on top of my binder. Curiously,
I open it. As I notice the date—1986?—I gape,
open-mouthed, at the vortex swirling around me, casting me out of my seat and
up and up and—
***
The year: 1986.
