Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2021 11:11:01 +0800 From: Tallahassee Wilson Subject: A Timeline Away 3 (Young Friends) (Science Fiction) Upload schedule is a bit messed up right now and hopefully, I can finish this story ASAP. Also, don't forget to donate to nifty. Donate:http://donate.nifty.org/ ------------------------------ There I was, still in the middle of the wormhole. I was holding my breath since there's no air there. I saw fragments of the past. There's the Renaissance, 1960's and the Dark Ages. I was amused just by looking at them. The other end of the wormhole suggested I was en route to the year 2005, 160 years from now. I braced myself for impact and it teleported me in top of a weird building.....Fuck! I'm gonna crash! I ended up on a...yuck! Why does this smells like shit?! I was on a weird building, made of a weird material. I heard some animal noises but I'm a bit confused. Animals are kept in South America and you were not allowed to own one. Oh yeah, time travel. You were permitted to own animals. I...shit! I can't stand up! I was gonna yell when I heard someone. "H-hey! Who's there! I got a gun....a-and I'm not afraid to use it! C-come out!" The voice said. It belongs to a boy, maybe my age. Gun? Oh shoot! He'll kill me! I struggled to move but he already found me. He laughed at me and said: "Oh, sorry. I thought you were a fox or a burglar. Anyways, that was quite a fall. Especially because you fell unto the pile of fresh manure. Man, you smell! Here, I'll help you up." He said as he grabbed my hand and lifted me up. I thanked him and asked where am I. "Uh, isn't it obvious. You trampled on our barn." He said. Barn? Like those houses where they store animals? I'm in the past! Oh my gosh! I coughed a lot since I was adjusting to their air here. "Uh, where, I mean when exactly am I?" I asked to clarify if I was in 2005. "When?! When? Jeesh, people always forget what date is it today. Okay, it's November 23rd of 2005. As you see, everyone's raving about the black friday sale, and pappa went to town and participate." He said. Yes! Time travel was a success! I got out and the view......whoa. There were trees, sunshine, birds chirping and the misty fog. It was paradise! There were plants everywhere! "Um, yeah. Outdoors. They're beautiful, aren't they? So where did you come from and how the fuck did you fell from the roof?!" He said as my eyes were stuck on the sun. Fuck, it hurts! "Uh, 2165 actually. I came here because we were chased by guards. Anyways, have you seen a boy, our age and wears the same uniform as I am wearing?" I asked him and his face was confused. "Oh, you're one of the runaways from the mental health institution! Yeah, no worries. Pappa always said that we should treat strangers nicely and trust me, you're not the first one to run away and take some refuge here." He said. Mental health? Is he saying that I'm insane?! "No, I'm from 2165! Have you not seen a wormhole or so? Have you seen someone here? About 5'3 tall, black hair and also green eyes. Scrawny and also clumsy." I asked. I was worried about Phil. What if he got to the Triassic period?! The Dark Ages?! He can't survive there! "Oh, so you ran away with your friend. Umm, no actually. Anyways, you smell bad. Let's get you cleaned up. I like you already and I feel that we'll be great friends." He said as he takes me by the hand and grabs me. I explained to him how we got here while we were walking back to his house. "Wow, you're really a great writer. Maybe you could write your fantasies down and make a sci fi book or so. Pappa always say that you guys were smart and also special." He said as we got to an ugly building. Wow, this building is really bad. Not gonna lie, our house was way better. "This is your house?" I asked. I kept silent about how I think of their house because I don't want to hurt his feelings. "Yep. A family heirloom. My great grandpa built it in 1937. This house is really sturdy and holds tons of secrets. We had this crazy basement that used to be an old wine cellar and you're lucky enough since there's wine here!" He said as I was mesmerized about their house. It was small but it was enough to support a family of 8 or so. I never tasted wine because only people who have a Nobel peace prize gets a bottle of wine. There were only 68 bottles of wine left since grapes were extinct. He grabbed me to their small shower. It had a tub, which was alien to me. I've read about it that people would bathe in tubs but in 2165, we had a literal shower room. The ceiling was filled with holes for the water and the lights was on the ground. "Um, quick question, why are you helping me? Wait, you're trying to sell me aren't you?!" I asked. Well, I learned some experience. If Dad has a client that needs me, he always does something good to me like make me hot chocolate or buy me new clothes. "Um, yeah. Okay, see you might have some relatives that can give us money if we turn you back in. Yeah, it's a bit small. Anyways, tell me more about "2165",.... what's your name again?" He asked. He did the " sign on the fingers when he said 2165 so it means he doesn't fully believe me yet. "Stanley." I said. Oh, so that's why he wanted to help me. They're trying to sell runaways back to their relatives. It's like they need some ransom or some sort. "Carlton. My friends call me Carl or Tony. You can choose which one you prefer. I like them both." He said as he shook my hand and we both smiled. He was acting really friendly but maybe I should stop talking about 2165 or else he'll turn me in that mental institute that he said. I was a bit embarrassed about taking my clothes in front of him, even though I do it all the time! I don't know why, but I blushed! "Oh, yeah. Sorry. I'll leave you to it. There's clean towels here, okay. If you're dry enough, I have some spare clothes upstairs! Pappa will be happy to see you." He said. I don't know why but he's really nice and it's really welcoming. I took a shower and dried myself up. There was a glass of wine on the table but before I had a taste, I went upstairs. I knocked on the door and Carl opened it. "Oh, Stan. Here. Anyways, welcome to my room. Not the best one, but this is my safe place of slumber." He said. It was a bit messy, and smelly but it's more organized compared to my room. We chatted about my life in 2165, but I changed some of the details. I told him everything. My parents, Amity, Phil and did not mention about OXCorp or else he'll think I'm criminally insane. I also did not tell him about my "job" back at that hellish timeline. "Oh....yeah, you need to leave since your family is from that mental institute, meaning you don't have any relatives here. You tricked me! I was gonna offer you some century aged wine!" He said as he pushed me out of his room. I looked out the window and saw the guards from OXCorp, opening a portal. That's my ticket outta here! But, do I really need to go back there? If I go back, they'll come and find me and worse... they'll lock all of us up! I need to find Phil. He's the only one that installed the resources from that time machine to his GC chip. Wait, he can help me! If I make him believe that I'm really from 2165, he'll stop thinking I'm nuts and maybe help me find Phil! I gotta make Carl see that portal. "Uh, there's something on the window, Carl." I said as he fell for it and saw the guards, coming out of the portal. His face was frozen in shock. He closed the windows and locked the door. "Okay....that wasn't real! You drugged me, right?!" He said as he grabbed my shoulders. "I'm telling you! I'm really from 2165! Those guys are out to get me and I need your help. They can't know I'm here or else they'll kill me, okay? I need to hide in plain sight. I'm a fugitive!" I explained to him as he tried to piece the puzzles and eventually believes me. "So, I was right all along! Time travel was real! The other kids say that I'm weird but they were wrong! Time travel is actually possible." He said as he was mesmerized about my GC chip. The guards quickly got to their appropriate clothing for this timeline as we remembered their faces. "Anyways, Stanley you're in big trouble. You broke the fabric of space time and there are major consequences. I've read lot of books regarding time travel and they say to never approach anyone who is a timeline away from you. Well, you broke that rule and now those guys are after you. I kinda wanna bail but, I'll help you! For the first time in my boring life, something interesting happened! You see, maybe we could help each other out. You need a place to hide and stay while I'm writer's block and can't find a good inspiration." He said. He told me he needed a good inspiration for a plot and he thinks that the year 2165 was a good thing to focus. A lot of people may believe that it's fiction, but that's bound to happen. We agreed about it and shook hands on it. He took his typewriter and asked me tons of questions. He asked how was life there, about the cooling effect and so on, so on. He wrote every single word my mouth gave until his dad came home. "Okay, play it cool, okay. Pappa must not know that you're not from here. Just pretend you're my new classmate back at school and you want to have a sleepover with me." He said as we got downstairs and greeted his dad. He introduced me as his new friend from school and we were gonna work on a project. His dad seemed okay with it and gave me a glass of their wine. It was really tasty and it has a distinct bittersweet and sour taste to it. Carl told me to help him set up the table when someone knocked on the door. We immediately knew that those were the guards and he grabs a hat and a pair of spectacles. His dad opened the door and he said it was okay since I had my disguise on. They greeted Carl's dad and said if they found anyone here, snooping around and his dad said no. I was feeling a bit scared but they looked at us normally and felt a bit better. They got out and we proceeded. That was a close call. We had dinner and it was vegetables. I never tried them since I only ate corned beef and sometimes have moldy bread. As always, vegetables were only for rich people. They served us....soup. I read about this in a culinary book. It's a delicious concoction, made with vegetables or meat. "Eat up, kids. You got school tomorrow." His dad smiled warmly at us. Wow, this tastes a bit....weird but It's food and I never had one of these! Come to think of it, If Phil came here first, there's a probability that he may have went to school in this timeline. He loves going to school to learn new things. Maybe I can find him there! I helped them clean the tables and washed the plates. I was their guest, but It's kinda rude to just watch them do it. After cleaning, his dad made us watch TV. Back in 2165, we had holographic screens that don't need any glass or metal. It looks really weird and it was alien to me. His dad fell asleep on the couch as the 2 of us turned off the TV and got to Carl's bedroom. I'm kinda nervous about asking him if I can go to their school, but there's a big chance I can find Phil there. The only problem is that I do not exist in this timeline and I have no records about living here. "You know, if you're willing you could come to school with me tomorrow. I'm sure you'll learn lots of stuff here in this timeline of ours. Don't worry, I'll help you find your friend." He said as I was amazed on how the moon was really nice to look at. I fell asleep on the window, thinking about my family. Will they be okay? Most importantly, will I be okay? I hope so. Maybe I could give this timeline a try. I'm finally free from that burden and hopefully, I can start a new life here. The stars look bright tonight. I just remembered that this timeline doesn't support any high powered spacecraft which bummed me out. My mom used to say that there's a nexus between me, the stars and time. If that nexus is correct, that means all of us, living in a complicated multiverse are connected and intertwined with one another. Tomorrow is gonna be a new day. --------------- TO BE CONTINUED...