Leonardo[in editing]

Chapter 7

I opened my eyes and then all of a sudden, I was surrounded by a strange area.

Where on earth am I?

I slowly stool up, brushing off my... skirt? Last time I checked, I was wearing pants before I left. It never mentioned anything about my outfits changing based on my time-era. 

That was when I noticed that not only had my surroundings changed, but also my outfit.

I was wearing a dress. The "skirt" part was pure black. The top of it rose just above my belly button, and fell down in waves to the bottom of my knees, covering them completely. The top part of the dress was a dark green color, about half sleeved and had black polka dots on it. I kind of liked the dress, it was really cute. Further investigating my new outfit, I noticed that I had black wedges on, and my backpack turned into a grey knapsack. 

My naturally straight hair had given itself wave curls, while two strands on either side of my head were pinned back.

I spun a little bit, watching as the dress lifted itself up and flowed outward, and then halted to a still point as I ceased to move. 

Once I stopped, I looked up at the slightly clouded sky and smiled. 

***

Eventually I found myself a park, and plopped my bottom right on a wooden bench that sat in front of a fairly large oak tree. Curious, I pulled my knapsack around my shoulder and had a look inside. Even some of my stuff I originally packed had been replaced.

Instead of my granola bars and cheez-its, I had a container full of fresh fruit. It contained strawberries, cantaloupe, grapes, and pineapple. My Gatorade was replaced with a bottle of water. I guess the Time Gods want me to be eating more healthy. I stuck the container back inside my sack, and continued rummaging. Eventually I found red lipstick, perfume, a wallet of what looked like a ton of cash, and a picture...

I pulled the picture out carefully, admiring it with a soft look, brushing my finger over one particular person.

Grandpa.

Immediately I felt my eyes water, but I swallowed them back and continued looking. It was a picture of him and me together, when he took me to a park when I was say... 7? I flipped the paper over in curiosity, to yet again find another note, or a piece of paper taped to it that folded down quite long.

Dear Jackie,

Hello my gorgeous granddaughter. I'm happy to find you found this. Now knowing that you made it here safely, I have a few more things to tell you about time travel.

For starters, anyone you meet or talk to will remember everything as soon as you head back to your normal time period, as will you. This can cause conflict, so be careful. However, you do have control over this.

When you head back, the time machine will ask you if you want the memories of your existence erased. You can choose a certain person to forget you as long as you know their name; or you can choose to erase yourself from everyone you had met. Use this wisely, there is no undo button for this one.

There is of course, a twist. When you return to your time period, if you talked to anyone that would still be alive in 2015, they will suddenly know of you, dependent upon how strong the bond you made with that person was.