The Thyme Travelers

Chapter Eight: The Time Machine (And No, Now That it's Reality it Doesn't Sound Weird)

When Zach pulled away, we stood in silence (Yes, he kissed me on the lips). I thought about what just happened, not quite back on earth yet. Really, all I was thinking was, 'Holy Lord, Holy Lord, Holy Lord.' Finally Zach cleared his throat.

"Um, uh..." And that was all he could muster.

"Whoa," I said, then yelled at myself (in my head) for sounding so stupid. Zach nodded.

"Um, the... the time machine," Zach said, regaining his thoughts.

"Yeah!" I suddenly remembered. I felt so freaking stupid. How could I have been sidetracked from science? I mean, science was the only reason we were here!

The sky had been gray when I got here, so it didn't surprise me when I heard raindrops on the tin roof of the classroom. They fell softly at first, and then rained faster and faster until it sounded like a storm. I walked over to the machine, feeling more alert than ever, not because there was someone I disliked nearby, but because I didn't want the person who I liked to see me all red.

"So, um, here it goes," I murmured, not looking up at Zach. I turned on the monitor, it made the 'ahh' sound that Macs make, and another big zap went from one end of the ring to the other. I stayed put, making sure the monitor didn't go to sleep again. Suddenly, the screen lit up blue and then gave me a menu. Then I sensed Zach crouch down on the floor behind me, studying the screen.

"Chose time zone," I read aloud. I turned to Zach. "Is it just asking us to enter the date for the computer?" I asked. Zach went to the back of the room and got out his backpack from behind some chairs and pulled out a keyboard. Okay. He brought it back over to the monitor and hooked it up. He entered today's date (One that I was never going to forget).

"The day we made a time machine," said Zach proudly.

"Enter destination," I read from the screen. "What does that mean?" I asked. Zach looked at me, his green eyes seeming to search through my soul.

"I think it's asking where we want to travel to," he said, the corner of his lips turning up.

"Well, shouldn't we test it first?" I asked. "I mean, we don't know what the effects of time travelling could do to us."

"Easy." Zach went back to his backpack and drew out... a lab rat. I wasn't grossed out; don't worry. I like rats.

"This is Sputnik. I borrowed him from the science lab." He gave me a sheepish grin. Then he tied a little string to the poor creature and stroked his little head.

"So where to?" I asked. Zach thought.

"Let's keep it simple. How about ten minutes ago?" I thought about it and then typed in the time, place, and date on the computer. Suddenly a bright flash came from the ring. I stood up to see it and what I saw astounded me.

You know those little bubble wands that we played with and blew bubbles with when we were younger? Well, that's kind of what the time machine looked like, only there was this black tunnel, and at the other end of the tunnel there was... the classroom, and two familiar figures working on the time machine. I saw a head of blue hair... me.

"Zach, come look at this," I said. He came and stood behind me. I could see us working on the machine, making the conductor and encasing the wires. Zach was concentrating on the image, but I could tell he wasn't looking at himself. "Let's send Sputnik," I said quickly. Without a word, Zach held one end of the string as he tossed the poor creature through the ring. The rat didn't seem to notice the tunnel; he just appeared at the other end. He seemed okay, you know, no damage or anything. He ran around the walls of the room before he came back to us. We practically yanked him back towards us through the ring. I quickly picked up Sputnik and examined him.