Time......... (Part 1)

Peter tightened the last screw on the machine and stood up, heaving a long sigh. "That ought to do it, Frank!"
"I hope so! We've spent nine months on this thing!" Frank exclaimed. "It should work."
"If I got that chemistry equation straightened out correctly, than I'm sure it will work!" Peter said. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, and grinned at his friend. His green-gray eyes twinkled as he said, "Should we try it out now?"
"I don't know," Frank said slowly. "Are you sure it won't blow-up again?"
"Well, there's always a chance that it might, but I think we'll be okay."
"Think?" Frank stared at him in disbelief.
"Well, yeah! I mean how many other time machines have been built in all of history?"
"Like, hardly any," Frank admitted.
"None, you mean! Therefore, who knows if it actually will work?"
"You, apparently did. Otherwise you wouldn't have been so insistent that we build this thing."
"Well, I don't actually know if it would work, but I thought we have a fat chance. And I think we still have that chance. The question is, can someone survive traveling in time?"
"Yeah. In the books and things they do," Frank said.
Peter didn't reply; he was washing his greasy hands in the sink. He grab a water bottle and started climbing into the machine.
"Well, Frank? You coming along?"
"Sure, I'll come," Frank sighed. He followed his friend inside. "What will our mom's say when they find us gone?"
"It depends, do you actually leave, or does it only fell like it?"
"Oh, don't worry about it! Start 'er up," Frank said impatiently.
"Okay, seat belts!" Peter said. He strapped his on. "Should we go to the past or the future?"
"Um, will we still be alive in the future?" Frank asked suddenly.
"Great Scot! I never thought of that! In books they always are, so maybe we'll be safe."
"I sure hope so," Frank said uncertainly.
Peter jerked the lever forward. A whizz and a pop, and then....

CRASH!

"Wh-what happened?" It was Frank who spoke first.
"I've no clue! Whatever it was- holy smokes! The engines smoking! We got to get out of here fast!" Peter snapped off his seat belt, and unlocked the security latch on the door. He jumped out on the flat, reddish ground. He was closely followed by Frank.
"Where are we?" Frank exclaimed.
"Presumably in the future," Peter said. He picked up some of the reddish soil and sifted it through his fingers.
"We're still alive," Frank said slowly.
"Yes. But it's so quiet here!" Peter replied. "So quiet that it makes one want to whisper."
"Yes...." Frank's voice trailed off.
"What's that in the distance?" Peter said suddenly. He threw the soil away and rubbed his hands together.
"I don't know!" Frank said. It was a dust cloud, huge and menacing. It made a rumbling sound, almost like thunder, but more like the roar of an ocean. And it was coming closer!
"I don't like the look of that," Peter said backing away.
"Me neither! Let's go home!" Frank said frantically. He ran over to the machine. "Peter, it's...."
"I know. It's still smoking."
"Did it survive the time glitch?"
"It should have! It's got to have, or else-" Peter didn't finish saying what. He was running over to the machine, opening the compartment in which the engine was located. A cloud of smoke drove him back coughing.
"This is what happens when I listen to you!" Frank yelled. "You always get me stuck in trouble!"
"Hush!" Peter said. "That cloud's getting closer! maybe it'll pass us by if it doesn't know we're here. There's a big mountain there, or a rock cliff, or something. It might do for shelter."
"You mean.... The engine's broken?"
"Broken? Oh, yes. It'll never work again. Let's hope these people know how to fix time machines," Peter's voice was calm, but his heart was racing. All high school boys get into trouble one way or another. And Peter was one of those that seemed to have an endless store of mischief; always in trouble, he was, but he had always managed to get out of it in the end. This time, however, was there a way?
Peter grabbed Frank's hand and started running for the cliff. They reached it, out of breathe, and started scurrying up the jagged rock. Frank slipped suddenly and fell a short distance into a kind of crevice.
"Hey, Peter! Get down here! There's a crack in it, and I can see that dust cloud through it!"
"Coming!" Peter lowered himself down carefully, and swung in, next to his friend. They peered through the crack, and tried catching their breath.
"Peter," Frank said suddenly. "Is this even earth?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean couldn't it be a different planet?"
"Our machine wasn't built for traveling through space, though."
"No, but that reddish dust-stuff. That wasn't in your garage, was it?"
"No, but-"
"And there wasn't any rock formation either, was there?"
"No, but it could have arisen over many years," Peter said.
"How many years have we traveled then?" Frank asked with awe.
"I haven't a clue!"
"Have we already lived and died, have years fly by, and are just ghosts, spirits, you know, looking at the present?"
"I'm not a ghost!" Peter said decidedly. "I don't feel like one."
"No, but how do you know what a ghost feels like? They might feel absolutely natural, but not be to other people, you know?"
"Yes, I guess so," Peter gulped hard. "I'm not sure we should have built that machine after all, at least, not until we found out more about it."
"Yes," Frank said softly.
"Memories!" Peter said suddenly. "Can you remember lying on your deathbed?"
"No, can you?"
"No. Can ghosts remember things?"
"I don't know." Both boys were solemn as they once more looked through the crack in the stone.
"It's almost here! What is it?" Frank cried. Peter remained silent. After all what could he say?

Copyright - 9/11/2008 - Curious Cognitive Content (CCC)
Please do not reproduce without permission from the author(ess).