Ever heard of Bacchus Marsh?
It's a small suburb a few kilometres west of Melton. Nothing much happens there.
At least nothing interesting.
But for Nate and Dorian Dawes, that was all about to change.
Nate's 11 years old and has lived in Bacchus Marsh his whole life.
Dorian is 13 years and was adopted when he was five.
They both go to Bacchus Marsh Primary, and life is pretty much normal for them.
Now we all know what's going to happen, don't we?
They are both going to find something extraordinary that will change their lives forever.
Because that's how stories go, right?
The two were just walking home from school, all the way to the train station (not to far).
Dorian was talking, as he usually does. He's very talkative.
That afternoon, he was talking about time travel.
"If you could go back in time and kill your grandfather, lots of people think that you change the future and you won't exist, meaning you don't kill him, meaning you do exist, and keeps repeating on and on and on..."
He was interrupted by his quiet brother, "Like someone I know! He keeps talking nerdy talk all the time!"
That shut Dorian up. "Sorry," he said, "I was rambling on again, wasn't I."
Dorian hasn't really felt that he was part of Nate's family.
Of course, he wasn't but he still wished that he could fit in.
Nate doesn't really like talking to people that much. He feels that if he stays away from everyone, he can't look stupid or let them down.
They finally arrived at the station, and Dorian was still making failing attempts to spring up a conversation, saying a sentence and then pausing, waiting for Nate to answer.
"I wonder what the future will be like. May be they'll make everything smaller. Like, they've made Bluetooth and mobile phones, with touchscreens! I wonder if they'll make everything with touch--"
His brother cut him off again, "Why do you say stuff and expect me to be interested in any of it?"
That shut Dorian up again. "Sorry," he said, "I'll just stop talking."
The train announcer came on.
The train arriving on Platform 2 is the Ballarat train, stopping all stations.
That was their train. But they had no idea that they wouldn't be getting onto that train.
"Excuse me, you two." a voice said from behind their seat. They both turned their heads to see an elderly security woman standing behind them. "Would you two come with me please?"
"Why?" Nate asked.
"Don't ask questions, just come with me." she said back at him.
They followed her into a room which had "Staff Only" written on the door.
She then told them both to sit down at the table in the middle of the room.
"Where did you two go on Wednesday afternoon?" she asked them.
Nate and Dorian both looked at each other. "We walked from school to the train station," Dorian said, "Then took the train to Gordon station as we always do."
