NINE TIME MACHINES: Do you want to undo your entire life on planet earth?

CHAPTER 1: There are beings that lie in waiting

Sometimes you have to find the courage to detach from a dying world and let your mind soar to random new places, just cast a spell on yourself and sink below this linear existence we call home. That was Lily's solution to all problems. Drop everything and run!

That's why I'm lying here wrapped in mud and plastic, smothered by towels, putting my claustrophobia to the test. I want to visit other worlds, as many as it will take to keep me away from Leer Island and its deafening realities. But the reflection of water bouncing against this cave's walls is beating a silent drum that is in tune with my frequency. So maybe I'll just stay here and let myself go in its reassuring arms. Oh, if only I could be here, there and everywhere. That would solve all my problems. I close my eyes and allow my thoughts to drift further.

Perhaps, if time machines were real Lily would still be here; my mother too. Or maybe I could grab Molly and take her to a future where she would be safe. What would you do if time machines were real? If one could snatch you away from a rotten place? Molly's nightmare is very real; so real that it has penetrated a graveyard protected by barbed wire and overgrown bushes. It has shaken even me awake to the point where I feel as though my own mother has died all over again.

I can still see happy feet running to Freedom Corner, oblivious that my world was collapsing. I'm almost there again as though it's yesterday. Too bad I cannot move or I'd turn my back on this memory. I would dig it out of my mind the way I wish I can cut through the plastic wrapping and scratch my life away. What is it about trying to remain absolutely still? Your nose itches, then your chin, your arms, legs and hair. But it's a welcomed intrusion this one; anything to keep me safe from that wicked place.

Is Molly going to make it? Will she find comfort with her new friends or continue on defenseless in a timeless war? The mere thought of it makes even me cringe. Those people are as evil as they come, the types that switch masks out to suit the moment, just to make their family seem real. For goodness sake, doesn't Molly have other relatives? I know how things are but surely better can be done. Why did her mother have to die? Couldn't she have waited four more years so Molly could stand a real chance? Like the one I got? Well, maybe not me. I'll certainly never be anyone's poster child as an example of survival. Oh, please just let time machines be real! I want to save Molly from that filthy destiny. And me; I want to save myself, face my own darkness, ask the shadow what it wants. Surely, we can't all just drop everything and run.

Sometimes we have to let the darkness cover us, be our beacon along treacherous paths meant to prevent our seeds from bursting forth. Then we can push our way up to the true sun and finally blossom the way we were meant to. Inhale. Exhale. I want to breathe again. Inhale. Exhale. I want to feel again. Inhale. Exhale. I want to become Mary-the-Great.