Reality
by: Seven of Nine


“Jack!”

Jack rushed over to Kid Blink, who had Dutchy draped over his shoulder. Stripe and Marty came rushing in behind him, and Marty looked very scared.

“What happened?” Jack demanded.

“Da Delancys got ‘im. Dey whacked his head wit a board an’ ‘e hasn’t woken up since.”

Blink heaved Dutchy off his shoulder and put him on his bunk. Jack looked at Dutchy then turned to Mush.

“Mush, I want you ta get da doctor. If Dutchy doesn’t wake up when ‘e gets ‘ere it might be serious.”

Mush nodded and rushed down the stairs. Marty stood by her brother’s bunk and squeezed his hand.

“I’m right here, Travis. If you can hear me, please wake up.”

Dutchy didn’t move. Fifteen minutes later, Mush came with the doctor right behind him. He rushed over to Dutchy and checked him out. He seemed puzzled as he checked Dutchy, then he turned around with the only conclusion he had for them.

“Well, he is fine, but I can’t understand why he won’t wake up. I believe that he’s having a dream, and it might be one that he’s doesn’t want to wake up from yet. If he doesn’t wake up tomorrow morning I want you to call me again.”

The doctor turned toward the door, and Marty went back to her brother’s bunk.

“Travis, if you are dreaming, please wake up. I’m worried.”

She could see that his eyes darting around under his eyelids, so she knew that he wasn’t going to wake up for a while.

* * *


“Travis?”

Dutchy opened his eyes and saw Marty standing over him, but she looked very different. Her long, strawberry-blonde hair was now cut short and tinted blonde. She had earrings going all the way up her ears, and she was wearing strange clothes. But that wasn’t all that surprised him. He still had his glasses on, but he looked around and found himself in a strange room with even stranger looking instruments all around him.

“Marty? What happened? Where am I? What happened to you?”

For the first time, he noticed Kid Blink behind her, and he was also different. He was wearing the same style of clothes as Marty, his eye patch was gone, and he was wearing a strange, blue hat with a big red “C” on it.

“Calm down, Travis. Yes, it’s me, Marty, and you were hit by a car.”

Dutchy looked confused. “What’s a car?” he asked.

Marty turned to the door and talked with a doctor behind Blink. Dutchy could hear him say, “We think that he might’ve had a dream that wiped out his real memory. Now, he just might have the memory of his dream, and not of his real life.”

Dutchy was still confused. When Marty turned back to Dutchy she smiled.

“Travis, can you remember what year it is?”

Dutchy nodded. “Yeah, 1899.”

Marty looked very surprised and turned to Kid Blink with worry. She turned back to Dutchy and tried another question.

“Travis, this isn’t 1899, it’s 1998.”

Dutchy lurched out of the hospital bed. “What do you mean it’s 1998? I’m supposed to be in 1899 at a lodging house and working as a newsie!”

Marty turned to Kid Blink again. She talked with him a little bit, then turned back to Dutchy.

“Travis, the doctor’s gonna release you in a few hours. When he does, we’re gonna try to refresh your memory. Okay?”

“If it’ll put my mind straight.”

Marty smiled, told him good-bye and left his room with Blink right behind her. Dutchy leaned back on his bed. 1998? He asked himself, how did that happen, and what am I going to do? He quit asking questions he couldn’t answer and waited for the doctor to come by and check on him.

* * *


Five hours later, Marty and Kid Blink returned, and Marty was holding a paper bag in her hands.

“Hello, Travis. Are you ready to leave?”

Dutchy nodded. “More than ready.”

Marty tossed him the bag in her hands. “Here’s some of your clothes. I’m sure you don’t want to leave here in the hospital gown.”

She and Kid Blink left, and Dutchy pulled the clothes out. There was a pair of pants, but they were blue and sort of rough. He pulled them on, then he pulled out the shirt. It was black with a picture of a dog holding a box on it, and it said, “Here, lizard, lizard, lizard…” Dutchy was even more confused, but he slipped it on anyway.

Next, he found a pair of shoes, and it didn’t surprise him that they different. He pulled some socks on, then the strange shoes. There was one more thing in the paper bag. It was a hat like Blink’s, but it was red and it had a big “49” on it. He pulled it on, and when he was finished, he walked out of his room and walked down the hall to the waiting room.

Everything looked different, and he was beginning to believe that he was in 1998. When he made it to the waiting room, he found Marty, Blink and a nurse with a chair of some sort with wheels on the bottom.

“Have a seat, young man.” the nurse commanded.

Dutchy shrugged but sat down anyway. The nurse pushed the chair and it began to move. Now, he knew he was in the future, but he couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to all his other friends. He could only hope to find them. The nurse wheeled him out of the hospital. The first thing Dutchy noticed were the cars. They were so cool, but he had no idea what they were.

“Hey Marty, what are those?” he asked, pointing to a Toyota Tacoma in front.

“Those are cars. You got hit by one the other day.”

“Ouch.” Dutchy said.

He looked at all the cars as they passed them. The nurse finally stopped in front of a blue car that looked like an older model of cars because he didn’t see very many of them in the lot. Marty pulled some keys out and stuck one in a lock on the car.

She opened the front door and told Dutchy to get in. He got up and sat down in it. It was amazing, and when Marty shut the door he didn’t want to get out. One of the back doors opened and Blink sat down in the back seat.

“Hey Travis, I have a question. Was I in that dream you had?”

Dutchy looked behind him. “Yeah, but that dream seemed so real to me. It was almost like I was living an entire lifetime in just a matter of days.”

Blink nodded. “Boy, I wish I could do that. I think you’re pretty lucky, except that you lost your memory and all.”

Marty opened her door and got in. She pulled her keys out and stuck another one in a keyhole next to a strange-looking wheel. She looked at Dutchy.

“Travis, you need to put on your safety belt.”

She reached over and pulled two straps and buckled them together. “I could get a ticket if you weren’t wearing one.”

Dutchy’s eyes lit up. “Why wouldn’t you want a ticket?”

“Cuz nowadays they mean you get warnings and you hafta pay a fine.”

“So, where are we going?”

“We’re going to In-and-Out Burger. It’s you’re favorite restaurant.”

Dutchy looked out the window of the car. Everything was rushing by so fast that he could hardly keep his eyes on one thing without it going by a second later. Then, without warning, something blared in the car that made him cover his ears.

“Marty, what’s that sound?” he shouted.

“It’s just music.” Marty answered, and she turned to volume down. Dutchy moved his hands away from his ears. He listened, and it was much different than the music he had heard in 1899. He looked out the window again and saw two people wave to them. Before they went by, he noticed that they looked like Pie Eater and Kitten.

“Oh, they’re back from their honeymoon.” Marty said.

Dutchy turned to Marty. “Who’s back from their honeymoon?” he asked.

“Andrew and Rachel. Oh, we’re here.”

The car slowed down a little bit. Dutchy looked out the window and saw a building with a big arrow on in that said, “In-and-Out Burger.” Marty pulled into a parking space and unbuckled her seatbelt. Dutchy tried to unbuckle his, but Marty did it instead. He got out of the car and followed Marty and Blink into the restaurant. When he walked in, there was a pleasant aroma of something that he had never smelled before.

“Hey Marty!” someone shouted.

Dutchy knew that voice. He turned and saw two young men sitting at a table wearing blue-gray suits covered in black splotches. He looked closely at the first one. He was wearing a hat like Blink’s, but it was turned backwards. He had dark brown hair and brown eyes. It looked like Bumlets, but there was a name embroidered on his suit, and it said, “Max.” The other young man had brown hair and eyes, and he looked a great deal like Specs, but he didn’t have any glasses, he had an earring in his left ear and he had the name “Tim” embroidered on his suit. Max had put his burger down and was waving to him.

“Hi guys!” he shouted.

Marty shoved Dutchy and Blink forward. “I’ll get your food, you can go talk to them.”

Blink walked over to them and Dutchy followed. “Hey Max, Tim. Taking a break?”

Max nodded. “Yep. He told us to take an hour-long break today.”

“That’s cool. Oh, by the way, Travis’s been released from the hospital, as you can see.”

Max grinned. “Hey, Travis. How’re ya doin’?”

Dutchy forced a smile. “I’m fine, I just had this dream that seemed to wipe away my memory, so I’m afraid I know you guys as someone else.”

“Huh?” Tim asked.

“The doctor said that he had a dream that wiped him memory out. He had a dream that he lived a life in 1899.” Blink explained.

“1899? That’s amazing. Why don’t ya tell us about it?” Max asked.

Dutchy cleared his throat. “Well, a part of the dream I was a newsie in the newsie strike of 1899.”

“The newsie strike? Wow! This I gotta hear!” Tim exclaimed.

Dutchy explained what it was during that time. The guys began to laugh as he told them about the rally before the police came.

“You should’ve seen Blink here. He was hanging off the balcony, shouting, ‘I always lands on my feet!’! It was so funny!”

“Travis, I’m Steven, remember?” Blink said.

“Sorry, Steven. In my dream you were named ‘Kid Blink’.”

Steven (Blink) nodded, then Marty came by with their food. “Here you are Travis. I got you’re favorite meal, a double-double with only cheese and onions, large fries and a large Mountain Dew.”

Dutchy looked at the food on the tray in front of him. He picked up the burger and took a big bite out of it. It tasted so good that he wanted another burger. He finished his burger and started to munch on his fries.

“Now I know why this is my favorite meal.” He said to himself.

Tim stood up and wiped some crumbs off his suit. “Hey, Max, I’m headin’ back to the station. I’ll see ya later.”

Max put his soda down. “Okay, I’ll see ya there.”

Tim nodded and left. When he disappeared Max turned to Dutchy.

“Hey Travis, ya wanna come with me to the station? I can show ya what I does fer a living.”

Dutchy swallowed his soda and nodded. “Sure, but what do you do?”

Max chuckled. “I repair cars. Ya know, yesterday some goyl came in with a ’67 Corvette. Oh man, I had so much fun fixin’ that puppy that I was sad when it had to go!”

Dutchy finished his soda and munched on his last fry. “What color was it?” he asked.

“Black, but I was still upset when I had ta let it go. Hey, I gotta get goin’. You comin’, Travis?”

Dutchy looked over at Marty. She nodded. Dutchy turned back to Max and nodded.

“Sounds like fun.”

Max pulled a set of keys out of his pocket. “Okay, let’s go.”

Marty stood up. “Hey Max, please have Travis back in about two hours. We’ll meet you at JC Pennys. Is that okay with you?”

Max nodded. “Sure. Well, see ya then!”

Dutchy followed Max out of the restaurant. Max pulled out a little black thing on his keys and pressed a button on it. All of the sudden, a big, red truck’s lights blinked. Max walked over to the truck and opened the door.

Dutchy went to the other side and opened the door. It was much different from Marty’s car, but he got in anyway. He buckled his seatbelt and watched Max as he drove the car out of the parking lot.

“Do ya wanna listen to a CD?” he asked.

“Uh, what’s a CD?” Dutchy wondered.

“It’s a disk that plays a certain type of music. Do you remember who your favorite singer is?”

Dutchy shook his head. Max reached down and pulled out a CD. “You’re favorite singer is Selena. Remember how much you cried when she was killed?”

Dutchy took the CD and looked at it. “This was my favorite singer? And she died?”

Max nodded. “Yep. You wanna listen to it?”

Dutchy raised his shoulders. “Fine with me.”

Max opened the case up and pulled a shiny, round thing a plugged it into his CD player. Dutchy listened as Selena’s voice rang out of the speakers at his feet. He nodded when he discovered how talented this woman was. After two songs, the truck finally slowed down and Max pulled into a parking lot.

“This is our stop.” He said.

Dutchy unbuckled his seat belt and opened his door. He stepped out and looked around. He saw lots of other cars, and he saw the repair facility, but then he saw something that he wasn’t expecting to see. Specs. He was standing just a short distance away, but he wasn’t moving and he was staring right at Dutchy.

“Specs?” he wondered out loud.

The second he said his name, Specs began to fade. Dutchy watched in surprise as the image of his friend slowly faded. When he was gone, Dutchy turned to Max, who wasn’t looking in Dutchy’s direction.

“Hey Max, did you just see that?”

The next second, there was a loud ‘boom’, and the repair facility exploded, knocking Dutchy and Max off their feet. When Dutchy sat up, all that was left of the facility was smoke and rubble. When Max sat up, his face became filled with terror.

“Tim!” he shouted, then he got up and ran towards what was left of the facility. Dutchy ran after him, then he remembered that Tim was like a modern-day Specs to him. It confused him, but he continued to run to the smoky ruins of the facility.

* * *


Two hours later, Dutchy and Max were at the police station; both of them were still shaken up from the explosion. But all Dutchy could think about was the image of Specs and how he faded just seconds before Tim was killed. It confused him so much that he felt like he was going crazy.

Max was taking it really hard on himself because Tim was his best friend. The police had already questioned them, and Marty came in just a few minutes after they stopped questioning them. Marty rushed over to Dutchy and gave him a big hug.

“Travis, are you okay?”

Dutchy nodded. “I’m still a little shaken up, but I’m fine.”

Marty nodded then turned to Max. “Max, are you okay?”

Max looked up at her. He was very upset, but he nodded. “I’m fine, but I shouldn’t have let him go so quickly. If he would’ve stayed he would still be alive.”

Marty put her arm around him. “Maybe you should go home and tell Ellie about this. I’m sure she’ll have a hearty meal for you when you get back.”

Max nodded and stood up. “Yeah. If she’s heard about the explosion she’s probably worried about me.”

Marty led them out to her car. Dutchy rode up front again, but still all he could think about was the explosion. He was still extremely confused about Specs’ image. He tried to forget about it when he saw another image. This one was one in the car; it was someone who he hadn’t seen yet. It was Boots.

He stared at the image, who seemed to be going with the car, and the image began to fade. Dutchy then knew what was going on. Ever since he was brought into the real world, the friends he had in his dream were in trouble and needed him to help them. He then saw a group of thugs bullying two black kids. He looked back at Boots’ image. It was almost completely faded out.

“Marty, stop the car, and don’t ask why!” he shouted.

Marty stopped, then Dutchy unbuckled and ran out of the car down towards the alley. Suddenly, he heard a gunshot, and he noticed that the image of Boots was no longer there. He saw the group of thugs running out of the alley, and as they passed him, Dutchy noticed a tattoo on one of their arms. It looked like a black spider with only four legs.

Remembering Boots, he rushed into the alley and saw a girl kneeling beside a boy, who was lying on the ground. Dutchy rushed over to them.

“What happened?” he asked the girl.

The girl looked at Dutchy. There were tears in her eyes and she was crying hard.

“He’s dead.” The girl said.

Dutchy looked at the boy. Sure enough, it was Boots, but like everyone else, he looked different. Dutchy froze with horror in his eyes. He looked up at the girl, who was still crying.

“I’m sorry.” He told her.

The girl just continued to cry. Dutchy just stared at Boots in horror. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw Marty standing there, and she looked sad.

“Travis, let’s go home. I think you’ve had a big day, and you’ve seen enough people die in the last few hours.”

The girl looked up at Dutchy. “Thanks for caring. There’s not very many people like you around now.”

Dutchy tried to smile as he stood up, but it came out crooked. He turned with Marty to the car, and he was still horrified. When he sat down in the car, he looked over at Max, who looked more sad than Dutchy.

“I saw what happened,” he said.

Dutchy didn’t say a word. Instead, he just buckled his seatbelt and leaned back in his seat. Know that he knew what he had to do when he saw his friends’ images he needed to find out why they were in trouble and help them. He thought for a little while, then he remembered the tattoo he saw on one of the thugs.

“Marty?” he asked.

“Yes?” she answered.

“I saw a tattoo on one of the thug’s arms. It was kinda like a black spider with only four legs.”

Marty sighed. “White supremacists. If you’ve forgotten, they think that black people are inferior to white, and they like to hurt them and or kill them.”

Dutchy leaned back in his seat. Now that he knew what he could be up against in the future he knew he could be prepared next time.

* * *


“Ellie?”

Dutchy watched as Max’s wife came out of the kitchen. She was almost the exact image of Cleopatra, and she was wearing a dark blue shirt and a black skirt. When she saw Max she rushed over to him and threw her arms around him.

“When I heard about the explosion I feared the worst.” She said, then a big, Siberian Husky came into the room and rubbed against Max.

Max nodded. “I was a safe distance away in the parking lot, but Tim was in the garage when it exploded.”

Ellie gasped. “You mean he’s…” she cut herself off.

Max nodded. “Yes. By the way, I invited Travis and Marty over since he’s out of the hospital, but he’s had some brain damage.” He showed Ellie Travis. “Travis, in case you’ve forgotten, this is my wife, Eleanor.”

Travis smiled at her. “I’m afraid I don’t remember you, but I’m glad to meet you again.”

Ellie smiled back. “I’m glad to see that you’re out of the hospital. Since you don’t remember me, you probably don’t remember Rusty, the dog you gave us after we got married.” And she pointed to the Husky next to Max.

Dutchy rubbed the dog’s back. “Don’t remember him either, but I think I like him.”

Ellie went back to the kitchen and finished preparing dinner. When it was done, they all went up to the table and had a hearty meal of spaghetti and meatballs. After dinner, Ellie excused herself.

“I have to type up something for my boss tomorrow, so I’ll have to go right now.”

Max nodded. “You do that, Ellie. I’ll just plug in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”

Ellie nodded, and she headed for the rec room. When she left, Dutchy turned to Max.

“Uh, what’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind?” he asked.

“It was our favorite movie when we were teens. Since Tim ain’t here and you’ve lost your memory I think I’d like to watch it.”

Dutchy nodded. “Well, I don’t know what a movie is, but I guess I’d like to find out what it is.”

Max nodded, then headed to the living room and pulled out something in cardboard. “It’s wide screen, and in THX, so it’s gonna be a little bit louder than you’ll expect.”

Dutchy had no idea what those meant, but he didn’t ask any questions and waited for the movie to start. When it started, the entire room was filled with noise, and it startled Dutchy, but afterwards he got used to the noise and watched the movie.

It was pretty interesting for him, then it came to a scene that really made wonder what would happen next. Just as soon as a woman was about to open a door to her bathroom, he smelled something. It smelled like smoke, and it was getting stronger.

“Max, do ya smell that?” he asked.

Max nodded, and he stopped the movie and told Marty and Dutchy to get out of the house.

“What about Ellie?” Dutchy asked.

“She’s probably already out.” Max answered.

They headed out side, then the inside of the house started to flame. Max ran around to the other side of the house to see if Ellie was there. Dutchy waited, then, he saw Cleopatra’s image in front of him.

“Oh, no.” he said quietly.

Before he knew it, he ran into the flaming house. Cleopatra’s image was slowly beginning to fade out. Flames were leaping everywhere, and he knew he needed to hurry because Cleopatra’s image was half-faded. He rushed past the flames into the rec room and found Ellie on the floor.

She was unconscious, so he lifted her up over his shoulder and ran to get out of the rec room, but the exit was flaming. Dutchy looked and saw the half-faded image of Cleopatra there. He breathed, then he jumped through the exit. When he landed, he was in one piece, and so was Ellie.

He ran out of the house with Ellie still on his shoulder. Cleopatra’s image was suddenly fully restored, then it disappeared. When her image disappeared, he heard Ellie start to come around. He set her on the ground and Max came running over to them.

“Ellie, are you okay?” Max asked, his tone was worried.

Ellie sat up and nodded. “I smelled the smoke, but I thought it was you trying to cook something. Then when I realized it was a fire I passed out.”

Then, they heard a bark. Dutchy, Max and Ellie looked at the house and saw Rusty jump out and rush over to them. When he reached them, the house burst into flames. The fire department arrived and put the fire out. When it was out, one fireman came over to them and handed them a picture.

“Here, we found this, and I think you’ll want it.”

He handed them a picture of Tim. Max took it and thanked the fireman. Marty came over to them when the fireman disappeared.

“You can all come to our house for the night.”

Ellie nodded. “Thanks a lot.”

Marty gathered them all and put Dutchy in her car. Max and Ellie followed in their truck to her house. Dutchy placed his head on the car window. This has been a bad day, he thought. First, I find out that my life in 1899 was just a dream, I lose my real memory, I lose one of my real best friends, I watch a boy I knew in my dream die and now I almost lost my other best friend’s wife. I wish I was still back in 1899.

* * *


Dutchy rolled over on the couch. Marty was in her room, and Max and Ellie were sharing Dutchy’s room. When he woke up, he pulled his glasses on and forgot that he was no longer in 1899.

At first he was a little scared, then he remembered the truth. He threw his sleeping bag aside and sat up. He rubbed his eyes and looked around the room. He saw something black on the coffee table in front of him. He picked it up and looked at it. It had a bunch of buttons on it, and he pressed one marked “power”.

When he pressed it, the TV set in front of him turned on. He found himself watching a movie called Wild America. He enjoyed it, then he saw Marty come out of her room.

“Morning, Travis.” She said.

Dutchy just waved to her because he was still watching the movie. Marty sat down on the couch next to him.

“Do you want some breakfast?” she asked.

Dutchy nodded. “Just a piece of bread and some milk, that’s all.”

“Bread and milk? Is that what you had in your dream?”

“Yeah, but I’m not all that hungry.”

Marty got up and got his bread and milk. She gave it to him and ate a bowl of Cheerios. When the movie was over, Ellie came out of the room with Rusty behind her.

“Morning Marty.” She said with a yawn.

Marty looked over at her. “Morning Ellie. Max still asleep?”

Ellie nodded. “Can I have some breakfast?”

Marty got up and headed for her kitchen. “Travis, would you go outside and get the newspaper? Jason should be here soon to give it to you.”

Dutchy nodded and walked outside. He walked to the end of the driveway and saw a teenaged boy come riding a bike down the street with a basket full of papers. As he got closer, Dutchy noticed that Jason looked a lot like Snipeshooter. When he came to the driveway he pulled on his brakes and stopped right in front of Dutchy.

“Hi Travis. Good ta see yer outa the hospital.” He said, and he handed Dutchy a newspaper.

Dutchy took the newspaper. “Thanks, but I’m afraid I can’t remember very much of what happened before the accident.”

Jason nodded. “Oh. Well, I gotta get rid of the rest of my papers now, so I’ll get goin’. I hope your memory returns.”

Dutchy smiled, and Jason got back on his bike and rode off. Dutchy opened the paper and began to read, then he saw another image of a newsie. It was Snipeshooter, and his image was fading. He turned around and saw Jason riding his bike, and a car headed right towards him.

“Jason!” he shouted.

Jason stopped; and when he stopped, he saw the car go past which could’ve hit him. When he saw how close it was to hitting him, he turned around and rode back to Dutchy.

“Thanks for stopping me. I didn’t see that car comin’, and it coulda killed me if you didn’t stop me!”

The image of Snipeshooter was fully restored, then it disappeared. Dutchy pulled his attention back to Jason and shook his head.

“Don’t mention it. I saw two people die yesterday, and I didn’t want to start my day with seeing another person die.”

Jason sighed. “Well, thanks again, but I’m gonna head back to work.”

Dutchy nodded, and Jason rode off. Dutchy continued to read the paper as he walked back to the house. Then, for some reason, he turned around and saw a young woman walking along the sidewalk. He looked closer at her. She looked like Stripe, but she was rounder and her name was Stripe in his dream. He remembered that her real name was Cora, so he called out to her.

“Cora?”

The woman stopped and saw Dutchy standing there. She rubbed her eyes and looked at him again.

“Travis?”

Dutchy smiled as Cora came walking over to him and hugged him. “Gosh, Travis, it’s so good to see you! I haven’t seen you in, what, five years?”

Dutchy sighed. “Cora, I’m glad to see you too, but I got hit by a car a few days ago and lost most of my memory, so I can’t really remember very much about you, except the fact that you’ve gained some weight.” Dutchy cringed. Foot in the mouth, he thought.

Cora looked at her feet. “Listen, I really gotta talk ta Marty about this. I wish I could tell you, but I can only tell Marty.” Now, she was close to tears.

Dutchy hugged her again. “Hey, it’s okay. She’ll be glad ta see ya again.”

Cora wiped some tears away from her eyes and nodded. Dutchy led her back into the house.

“Marty, I have a present for you.” He said when he came in.

Marty and Ellie looked in his direction and saw Cora standing there. “Cora?”

Cora nodded, and Marty got up and gave her a big hug. “Cora, where have you been all these years? When you left after you told me you were pregnant I got so worried about you!”

Cora started to cry again, so Marty led her into her room with Ellie behind them and talked to Cora in private. A few minutes later, Max came out of Marty’s guest room and sat down next to Dutchy on the couch.

“Morning, Travis. Where’s Ellie and Marty?”

“Cora, their old best friend, paid them a visit, and she’s talking with them right now.”

Max looked surprised. “Cora’s back? I was wondering where she’d been all these years.”

Dutchy nodded, but he continued to watch TV. Ten minutes later, Marty, Ellie and Cora came out of Marty’s room.

“Well, don’t worry Cora. You can stay here just until you can get a job or get a place to live or even after the baby comes.”

Max saw Cora and stood up. “It’s good to see you, Cora.” He said.

Cora saw him and smiled. Marty poured out another bowl of Cheerios and gave it to Cora.

“We’ll take you shopping today. I’m sure you’ll feel better once you get some new clothes.”

Cora nodded, and ate her Cheerios.

* * *


“Max, will you and Travis meet us back here at twelve?” Marty asked.

Max nodded. “Sure. Now you girls get outa here.”

Marty nodded, then she took Ellie and Cora into the local mall. Max turned to Dutchy.

“You wanna head to Central Park? I can show ya where we used ta hang out on Saturdays when we were teens.”

Dutchy nodded. “Anything to bring my memory back.”

He got into Max’s truck and Max drove them the few miles to the park. Dutchy got out and looked at the park. It was much different from his dream, then Max interrupted his thoughts.

“Follow me, we’re not very far from our old hangout, but you could get lost here.”

Dutchy followed his friend as they walked down a path. It was rather pretty, but he continued to follow Max on the winding paths.

“Stop!” Max shouted.

Dutchy noticed that he had walked past his friend, and he turned around to Max.

“This is it?”

Max shook his head. “No, this is where we hung out.” He said, then he led him into a big bush. Inside, there weren’t very many branches, and some places had been patted out for sitting.

“Do you remember this place?” Max asked.

Dutchy shook his head. “No. I wish I did, but I don’t.”

Max sat down on one of the branches. “Do you remember when we all brought our girlfriends here?” he asked.

Dutchy shook his head. “Still no. Would you mind telling me about it?”

Max nodded. “Sure. It was a summer day, and I brought Ellie, Steve brought Marty, Tim brought Agnes and you brought Cora. We all came here and talked about a lot of things, then Marty pulled out a bag of candy and passed some out to everyone. I’d say that was the best time I ever had here.”

Dutchy nodded, then, he saw an image of another newsie, and I was one that he hadn’t met yet. It was Mush, and his image was slowly beginning to fade out. Dutchy jumped up, startling Max.

“Travis? Are you okay?”

Dutchy shook his head, turned around and jumped out of the bushes. He ran forward and looked around. He finally saw a man pulling another guy’s head out of the lake, then he pushed it back in again. Mush’s image was half-faded now, so he knew that the man with his head under the water was Mush.

He ran over to the lake, grabbed the man who was holding Mush underwater and punched him in the face. He got up and ran away. Dutchy looked down at the man in the water. He pulled his head up and breathed hard. Mush’s image was restored, then it disappeared. Dutchy helped the man in the water up.

“Thanks sir. That guy’s been hating me for a long time, and I had the feeling he’d try something like this sooner or later.” He held his hand out. “My name’s Daniel.”

Travis shook his hand. “Travis. It’s nice to meet you, but I think you should report this to the police.”

Daniel nodded and ran off. Dutchy turned around and saw Max standing there.

“Okay Travis, something’s going on, and it’s really creeping me out.”

Dutchy sighed. “All right, I guess I’ll have to tell ya the truth. Just sit down for this cuz I don’t think you’ll believe me.”

Max sat down on the grass. Dutchy got out of the water.

“To tell the truth, I’m not sure what’s really going on. In my dream, all my friends and other people had a role to play. You were Bumlets, Tim was Specs, Marty was herself, Ellie was Cleopatra and Cora was Stripe. Before the explosion yesterday I saw Specs’ image right in front of me. Then, he started to fade out. When he faded, the explosion occurred. Then, I saw another image two hours later. It was the image of Boots, a boy in my dream. That was when I saw that boy get killed in the alley. Last night, when the fire occurred, I saw Cleopatra’s image, and I knew that Ellie was in trouble. I don’t know why this is happening, but it’s driving me crazy.”

Max looked totally lost. “Travis, I don’t understand. I wish I could, but I don’t.”

Dutchy groaned. He sat down on the grass and thought. A few minutes later, Max stood up.

“Hey, we’d better get goin’. We don’t want Marty and the others to think we’re in trouble.”

Dutchy stood up and followed Max. They got into his car and drove to the mall. The parking lot was packed, so they had to park in the back of the lot. When Dutchy got out he walked towards the mall and saw Marty, Ellie and Cora standing on the sidewalk, and Marty was holding something in her hand. Dutchy quickened his pace.

Suddenly, a breeze blew, blowing the thing that Marty was holding out of her hands. Cora ran across the street to get it, then Dutchy saw another image. It was Stripe, and the image was slowly beginning to fade. He looked at Cora, who got the object, then he saw a car being chased by a police officer, and it was heading in Cora’s direction. Dutchy gasped, but he knew what he had to do. He turned to Max, who was right next to him.

“Max, tell Marty I love her.”

Max looked confused, but before he could say anything, Dutchy ran towards Cora. Stripe’s image was half-faded, and the car was almost to her. He finally made it to the street, and Stripe’s image was almost completely faded out. He rushed into the middle of the street.

The car was only a few yards from Cora, so he pushed her out of the way. As soon as Cora was out of the way, he looked at the almost completely faded image of Stripe. But it wasn’t Stripe’s image now; it was his. He gasped, then the car hit him.

He flew onto the hood and crashed into the windshield, shattering the glass. The driver pushed him out of the windshield, then he rolled off the hood in front of the car and landed right in front of it. The car didn’t stop, so it ran over him. Then, Dutchy opened his eyes and lurched up out of his bunk. He looked around and noticed that he was back at the boarding house, and all the newsies were there, sleeping. He punched his fists into the air.

“YES! It was only a dream!” he shouted.

Then, the air was filled with complaints. “Shut up!”

“Go back to sleep!”

“Hey, I’m tryin’ ta sleep here!”

“Ain’t ya got any consideration fer some sleepin’ people?”

Dutchy fell back onto his pillow. It was only a dream, he told himself, but it seemed so real! Did I really travel into the future? Dutchy forgot about the dream, then he rolled over and went back to sleep.