Julia
My mom, my dad, Jamie, Sierra and I drove for awhile in silence, each of us absorbed in our own thoughts. I wondered where we were going, but something stopped me from asking my parents. I could tell my friends were feeling weird sitting in the car with my unfamiliar parents. It was then I realized how little my parents were in my life. Stupid science took up their whole life. Sierra's mother was much more like a mother to me than my own mother. It's sad now that I think about it. I'll have to talk to my mom about it. Later. I really will. Maybe . . .
Thinking about my parents, I drifted off to sleep like I always did on long car rides.
My eyes flickered open. "W-what? Where a-am a-I?" I thought aloud. I sat up, trying to get my bearings. I was in the middle of a street. It was deserted and half covered by weeds. I looked up and saw the sky was not blue, but an ugly greenish-grey. Looking at the grass surrounding the road, wait, was it grass at all? It was all just weeds! Or really long, dead grass. The air around me was cloudy and as I tried to stand up it was as if I couldn't move, it was so thick. I could hardly breathe. I coughed. Then I saw a creature coming at me. It was nothing like I'd ever seen before. It was huge and deformed. I barely got to look at it before it was a few yards away from me. I screamed and tried to move, but my feet seemed glued to the uneven ground. So I just helplessly screamed my head off for help.
I woke up, panting. Thank goodness, it was just a dream! "Jules, you okay?" Sierra asked me.
"Uh, y-yea, I just had a bad dream," I responded. I was trying to sound casual, but I don't think I succeeded. Something about that dream left me feeling uneasy. It was a different feeling than a regular nightmare. It was so . . . real. But it couldn't be real. I was asleep. Wasn't I? Yeah, I was.
Sierra looked skeptical, but she didn't say anything more on the subject. To break the awkward silence in the limousine, I asked my mom, "Um, Mom . . . Where are we going?"
"To our lab to see the time machine, of course!" she responded gladly.
"Oh. Will Allison and Alexandra also be there?" I asked.
"No. It's just a sneak peak for you three. You'll actually be going in three days, on Saturday."
"We'll be going? What about you and Dad?"
"We'll be staying behind to get you back in case anything goes wrong," Mom said casually. That's not exactly a subject to be casual on. Was there a good chance something would go wrong? I hoped not. I wanted to ask Mom that, but I held my tongue. I really have to learn to speak up.
Sierra
The limousine pulled up to a giant building. Julia's parents' lab. 'Wow. That's big,' I thought. It took me a moment to realize my mouth was hanging a little open. Oops! I shut it quickly, hoping nobody would notice.
Suddenly I remembered I needed to call my mom, she was probably flipping out that I wasn't there! She was picking me up. Oops. I said, "Um, Jules, I forgot to call my mom, she's probably having a heart attack right about now, so can I use your phone? Mine is at home."
"Sure," Julia said, handing me her pink phone.
I dialed my mother's cell phone number and told her what happened. Thank goodness she wasn't mad. I told her I'd have a ride home and I'd see her later. I hung up the phone and handed it back to Julia. "Thanks," I said. Then I answered the unspoken question, "She actually wasn't mad."
"Cool," Julia replied. "So, Mom, do we get to see the time machine or what?"
"Follow us," her mother responded.
She and Julia's father led us into the large black building. I hesitated for a moment before entering; something about it was forbidding. We took an elevator to the third floor of the modern building, then we were led into a huge room. My mouth dropped open at all the contraptions.
I said, "Wow." But that was an understatement. The lab was amazing!
"And this," Julia's mother said, leading us to a huge machine, "is the time machine."
Jamie
The machine was amazing. Its base was about a foot high; it was silver and covered in dozens of buttons. There was a silver ring about 6 feet high and one foot thick standing on top of the base. The machine was off, so there was nothing in the ring, I just saw the other side of the laboratory. It looked impressive.
"Wow, Mom, you and Dad made this?" Julia sounded impressed.
"Yes. With plenty of research and time," Dr. James replied.
"Nice job," Julia said. Then she added under her breath, "So much time I barely ever see you." I don't think her parents heard, but Sierra and I did. I didn't say anything, though.
"Wow, Mr. . . . um . . . Dr. James, it's really impressive. How does it work?" I asked.
Julia's father started to talk about a bunch of science things I couldn't comprehend. I didn't want to interrupt him, but fortunately Julia interrupted for me. "Dad, I think Jay meant how do you turn it on and stuff like that."
"Oh. Of course. Well, you just flip this switch," he gestured to a black switch, "Then you type in the date you want to go to using the touch screen -- Two digit day, two digit month, and four digit year -- And after you hit the return button you just step through the ring where a gas will have shown up and you're in the future. or past, depending on the date."
"Sounds cool. I can't wait to try it out it on Saturday,"I said.
"Yeah," Julia agreed. Sierra nodded her head.
"Want to take it for a quick test run?" Julia's mother asked.
"Are you kidding? Yeah!" Julia exclaimed.
"When do you want to go to?" Dr. James asked.
"Um, 3010! A thousand years from now."
"Ok." Julia's father flipped the switch, punched in the date 17/02/2010, hit return, and the machine came to life. The ring was filled with a swirling purple gas. It looked so cool.
"We just walk through?" I asked.
"Yes. Go ahead you three. You get back the same way you go. It'll move there with you, but I have a controller to bring you back just in case," explained Julia's mother.
The three of us joined hands and squeezed through the portal into the future.
