Someday We'll Be Together

Chapter 21- Memory Loss

When Max opened his eyes, Roger was next to him. However, the dog had stopped chasing the butterfly, which was nowhere to be seen. Moreover, it was raining. Max was still in the school's backyard, but Roger's kennel and bowls were gone. Most importantly, Tyler was gone.
Max picked up the camera and looked at the current date and time. It was the afternoon of Sunday, November 2, 2008. He stood up and tried to take a picture of Roger, who was busy shaking off the rain, but the camera wouldn't work.
"Come on, not this again."
Max picked up little Roger to keep him from getting wet and, carrying the camera, entered the school through the back door. Since it was a Sunday afternoon, the school was completely empty. If the walls hadn't been renovated and some classrooms hadn't been moved, Max could easily have thought he was back in 1983.

As he walked quickly down the hallway, he tripped over a protrusion on the floor and grabbed the edge of a locker to avoid falling, causing the camera to fly out of his hand and hit the ground.
Max immediately picked up the camera and checked it for damage. As he straightened up, he realized he was next to the cabinet with the basketball trophies. The 1983 cup he had held with his own hands was there. Next to it was a team photo taken in 1983. Max couldn't see himself, his father, or Kyle in it because they hadn't made it to the photo shoot.
However, in the photo taken after they won the cup, his father was in the front holding the trophy. Max saw himself standing next to a boy in the back.
"Wow," he said to himself. "What am I doing here?"
At that moment, someone passing by called out to him. "Max?"
Max turned around and saw a boy coming from basketball practice. But he didn't know who he was. Maybe this was his closest friend in this universe, and Max didn't even recognize him. "What are you doing here?" Max asked the boy he assumed was his friend.
Jim looked at Max strangely.
"It's Sunday. There's basketball practice as usual."
"Basketball practice on Sundays?"
"Max, no school does this, but your dad values our practice, so we have it every Sunday."
"Dad must be the basketball coach," Max muttered to himself.
"Did you say something?"
"Oh, no, uh..."
"Your dad said you weren't staying for practice because you weren't feeling well. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at home?"
"Oh, of course. I was just on my way home. Uh... Lena forgot her book at school, so I came to get it," Max lied.
The boy patted Roger's head in Max's hands.
"With a puppy?"
"Well... I saw this puppy on a missing poster on my way here. It looks just like him, so I'm planning to return him to his home."
The boy nodded.
"Got it. Good luck."
"Thanks."
As the boy walked away, Max called out to him again.
"Hey!"
The boy stopped and turned back to Max.
"Uh... could I possibly see my dad?"
"Sure, if you want, come with me. They're in the gym."
Max nodded and quickened his pace to catch up with his friend. When they arrived at the gym, Max saw his father giving instructions to the team.
"Dad!"
As his father turned to him and the boy beside him, Max set Roger on the spectator seats and ran to hug his father.
"Thank God, Dad, you're alive," Max said, only loud enough for himself to hear.
Michelangelo was surprised by the sudden hug.
"Is everything okay, Max?"
Max smiled and nodded.
"Yes, everything's fine."
"Fiona didn't tell me you were well enough to come."
"Oh, uh... I don't think I can play today. I just came to get Lena's books."
His father nodded. Max went back to get Roger and returned to his father's side.
"Who's this?" his father asked, petting the puppy's head and reading the name on the collar. "Roger? He seems familiar to me."
Max suddenly remembered that his father might recognize the puppy.
"Oh, actually... I just found this puppy by the roadside. He looks just like the dog on a lost poster I saw."
"Ah, I see. Then make sure to return him to his owner on your way home. But you're soaked. We don't want you to get more sick. There's an umbrella by the door. Take it with you."
Max smiled.
"Thank you, Dad. For everything you did."
"No problem, son. Take care."
Max waved to his teammates who waved back and walked out the door.
But there was a problem. Max didn't know where he lived. As he walked, the streets, shop names, park, town hall, basketball court... none of them were as Max remembered. There wasn't a single trace of the terrible alternative 2008. As Max walked aimlessly, another boy he didn't know greeted him. Max stopped the boy.
"Uh... would you mind walking me home?"