A Trip Through Time

Chapter 1

"Hey, you want to come over?" Jasper asked into the phone, flipping through channels on his TV. He was home alone, and he was bored. "We can watch the Lion King again."

"Sure, I don't have anything else to do. My parents don't come back from their trip until Friday," Dylan replied. "I'll be over in like ten minutes."

"Okay. See you soon. Bye," Jasper said.

"Bye," Dylan said as she got up and grabbed her keys.

She got in her car and turned the ignition. As she drove through the moonlit streets of uptown New York, she wondered how much more she would get to do this after she and Jasper graduated at the end of the year. Shaking off the heavy thoughts, she turned into his driveway and got out of the car. She climbed the stairs to his apartment and knocked, and the door opened a fraction of an inch.

"Password?" Jasper's voice came through the door as she looked at his one visible blue eye.

Dylan took a deep breath. "Hakuna Matata!" she yelled. Jasper opened the door.

"What a wonderful phrase." he continued. "Come on in. I'll get blankets, you make some popcorn."

She walked in and dropped her coat on the floor. She went into the kitchen and opened the cabinets for some popcorn. The popcorn was on the top shelf, and no amount of jumping could help her reach it.

Jasper heard thuds on the floor from where he was getting blankets from the closet. He went and dropped them on the couch, then went into the kitchen where Dylan was still hopping for the popcorn. He reached above her and grabbed the popcorn with a laugh, then patted her on the head.

"Sometimes I forget how short you are," he said. She humphed. For the longest time, she had been taller. But in seventh grade, her growing had slowed down, and soon after, Jasper had a growth spurt. Now he was almost seven inches taller than her, and it was a source of exasperation on her end.

"Five four is not that short!" she exclaimed.

He snorted. "Tell that to the popcorn." She shoved him toward the microwave and snatched the popcorn.

When everything was ready, they grabbed the popcorn and jumped on the couch. They watched the movie and sang along at every musical number. Their friendship was strengthened over more than ten years, and they were going to enjoy every moment they had before they split for college.

****

As the credits rolled, Jasper groaned and leaned back into the couch.

"What is it, drama queen?" Dylan asked, eating the last of the popcorn.

"I told my mom I would untangle the cords behind the TV," he said with a sigh.

"So?" Dylan asked.

"It's bad. Really bad," Jasper looked pleadingly at her.

"Yes, I'll help. Besides, how bad can it be?"

They got up and walked over to the TV and turned the stand before sliding it forward.

"Well. You weren't kidding. That's bad."

Behind the TV was a mess of wires, some unplugged, some just floating around, others with the metal exposed.

"So where do we start?" Jasper asked.

****

Jasper and Dylan were almost done with the wires. As Dylan plugged the last cord in, her hand touched a bit of exposed wire that hadn't been taped yet, and she got the shock of a lifetime.

"Ah!" she cried as she fell back.

Jasper dropped the cords he'd been holding and caught her as she fell. She was still for a few moments, and Jasper set her gently on the ground and gently smacked her face.

"Dylan? Dylan, are you okay? Please be okay. Oh, god, please be okay," he said. Dylan slowly opened her eyes.

"I'm okay. Where are we?" she asked.

"What do you mean? We're at my--" he trailed off as he looked around.