Missing Pages

Chapter 19: Truth Hurts

The machine landed on a flat surface with a great amount of force.

Attempting to recover from the crash landing, I stood up and shook my head. I felt sickly, and I knew a long lasting headache was coming on.

I looked through the window to see where I had landed. There were bumper cars, an enormous ferris wheel, and little red and white canvas tents containing various prizes. It was a carnival.

Everything seemed to be going well until I heard the footsteps of a young boy.

He was squirming as he pulled at the door knob with all of his might. I quickly held down on the 'door close' button.

He sighed before finally giving up. "MOMMY!" he screamed, "THE PORTA-POTTY WON'T OPEN AND I'M GONNA PEE ON MYSELF!"

She quickly walked over to him, receiving a couple of strange looks from passerby for her son's strange behavior.

"Quiet down. It's most likely out of order," she told him. I was glad when I saw her lead him to another one.

I sat down in one of the chairs. I was glad that they didn't find this thing to be anything more than a public restroom. I thought about how nasty it would be traveling in a toilet stall. Shuddering, I dismissed the thought.

I needed to figure out how to get back home, and stop Nina while I was at it. I decided to search for a how-to video on this machine and its functions.

A holographic image was displayed in front of me when I clicked a playback button. It showed a picture of my grandmother smiling.

"Hello. I am Maya Stone, and I am here to tell you the basic instructions on how to control this time machine. On your left is a panel of buttons. They may seem complex, but they actually aren't. You can press the "era" button to select a year, date, and time period to travel to. There are several specific decades and places with individual buttons to make it a bit easier. Please be aware that you must be very specific about the time and location you want to visit for the best results."

"Once you have selected where you want to go, take a seat and buckle up in one of the provided seats to travel safe and comfortably. Please be aware that changing the past has a major effect on the future as well as you. Never visit an era or place that contains your younger/older self if you want to remain unharmed, and alive."

That last sentence made me worried.

"Please try to avoid being reckless and trapping yourself in the past or future. If someone were to discover this machine, and steal it, leaving you in the destination of your choice, you'd most likely be stuck in that place for your entire life. If no one comes to rescue you, you'll be out of luck. Be safe, and have a nice trip!" said my holographic grandmother before the screen disappeared.

I followed her instructions carefully and pressed the "era" button. I was sure to buckle up before deciding on my destination.

Feeling adventurous, I decided on pressing the (?) question mark button.

After the machine stopped, I peeked out the window. It revealed the area to be located in an old production center. By old, I meant the people recording in it seemed to be dressed like the 60's or 70's.

"CUT!" yelled a man I presumed to be the director. "You've got to take this role seriously if you want the public to find this believable!"

A tired looking man walked off of the moon designed set, including an Apollo 11 spacecraft. When the man got closer to the director I gasped in shock. It was Neil Armstrong; the first man on the moon!

"I'm trying, I truly am," he replied, "but it is quite difficult to act like I'm in a zero-gravity environment on this hot suit with no air conditioning."

"Hey! Add a couple more ruffles to the flag over there to make it realistic," commanded the director. "You have five minutes, Armstrong, and then it's back to work for you. You're supposed to be landing on the moon today."

I couldn't believe it. Those conspiracy theories were right...the first moon landing was a hoax. If mankind hadn't landed on the moon in 1969, then when did we really accomplish this goal?

One of the federal agents that was also a security guard noticed the machine's presence and pointed directly towards me saying, "What's that?"

I pressed the first button I could find and hightailed my butt out of there. I didn't want to cause a ripple in history, or get caught up in some serious trouble with the government.

To my dismay I had landed right on a group of angry tigers' lunch. They had a very short temper, so they all began charging at me.

The only thing separating me from the ferocity of the animals was the thin, metal barrier of the machine. Newfound dents began to appear beside me, and the contraption shook every time the beasts collided with the time machine.

"I just wanna go home!" I screeched before noticing that I was beginning to float in the air. I guessed that the software understood my definition of "home" because I was sent right back to a familiar shed.

I was breathing heavily from my near death experience in the jungle, and the idea of a very unfaithful government.

I wasn't left to myself for very long, because soon after, the door to the mechanism was opened to reveal a very angry woman.