𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚃𝚒𝚖𝚎 [Book One]

2: Well... at least we are alive

The light eventually fades and we land in the middle of a street in a place I do not recognise. It is also a lot cooler than it was back home- and the clothes people are wearing are hugely different to ours. Thankfully, Florry is unharmed and safely in my arms, though she looks just as confused as I feel.

My mind is going at a hundred miles per hour. What just happened? Where are we? And where is the marble? I look around to try and decipher where we are, but only see a few people staring at us with bug-eyed looks. I feel a bit offended, but then again, we did just appear out of nowhere...

And then I realise why they are staring at us: we are in the middle of a road and a car is speeding towards us at the speed of light. With a yell of shock, I pull Florry tightly towards me and throw myself onto the pavement and the car narrowly misses us by an inch.

I sit on the ground for a moment, my brain still in the shock of just escaping death. A few passers-by offer us sympathetic glances, while others give us dirty looks and carry on with their everyday lives. 

Rude. 

Hoisting Florry higher on my hip, I stand up on slightly shaking knees and look at said girl. "Are you okay?"

She nods. "Yup. Okay."

I walk over to a man sitting on a bench and reading a newspaper article. He has kind-looking grey eyes, greying hair and pale, slightly wrinkled skin. Perhaps he could help me. If not, I would just find another person. Simple as that. 

I cough and say in my politest voice (who knows what the people here are like), "Umm, excuse me. sir, but where are we currently? I am just a little lost and I should be returning soon."

He looks at me, then at Florry and smiles warmly. "We're in Birmigham, son. And why on earth would your parents leave you with that little girl out here?"

I pause, trying to think of a valid excuse. "Well, we were close to them a couple of moment ago, and now we are here. By the way, I am currently writing a diary and I need to know the exact date. I have lost track of the days, so could you please tell me?" 

I know it sounds stupid but right now, it is the only thing I can think of. Also, Birmigham is where we live back home, so perhaps these are different dates? Unlikely, but it is still a possibility.

Thankfully, the man does not seem fazed. "It is Friday the 6th of June, 2019. Now, son, you really should be trying to find your parents. Bye!" And with that, he goes back to reading his newspaper as if nothing ever happened.

"Thank you." I mutter and walk away, my mind reeling. If what he said is true, then we have been somehow transported back in time by exactly fourty-one years. I bump into a few people as I walk, and they all give me the same disgusted look, exactly like the one Mrs Fordes gives me.

After a while, I collpase onto a nearby bench and set Florry beside me. As soon as I set her down, it is like she only just realises where we are and begins to cry, burying her head into my side. "Where's mommy? Luke, I wanna go home, Luuuuuke!" she bawls and I stroke her soft hair, trying in vain to soothe her. 

After a while, Florry's sobs subside and she curls into my lap and falls asleep. As I run my fingers through her wavy hair, I ponder what to do. Stay here and see what happens? Or try to find a way out of the past and into the present, where we both belong?

Out of nowhere, I hear a voice next to me. "Nice weather, isn't it? Who are you? I haven't seen you around here before."

I spin around in alarm.  A girl around my age is sitting next to me. She has pale blond wavy hair that rests on her shoulders, wide eyes somewhere between amber and hazel and a friendly smile stretched across her tanned face. She is wearing a purple t-shirt with a picture of a horse on it and a blue, slightly crumpled skirt with battered trainers.