The Pocket Watch
The Pocket Watch Did you ever want to venture out into a world completely unlike your own? To have great adventures every day, and happy endings to go along with them? Or how about to explore the great beyond, and share magical moments with friends from afar? I have. And I’ll tell you all about it. Though like in many stories, there aren’t always happy endings, where the guy gets the girl and what not. There always has to be some kind of a plot. A sinister plot at that. But I’m not here to just tell you any kind of story, this is a true one. One that I faced 24 years ago. Chapter 1. It all started on a day similar to today. Bright and sunny, and very few clouds. It was a perfect day. Except for one thing. You guessed it, school. The second worse thing in life next to death. Well maybe I’m being a little too harsh, but for a 13 year old, it was. At least for me. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to learn, it was that everybody seemed to dislike like me. Maybe I’m sounding a little paranoid here, but it was true! People would say, ‘There goes Jane the dweeb’ or ‘Jane, where’s Tarzan?’ But why do they mock me? What have I ever done to them anyway? Some days I wish I just didn’t have to go to school just because of them. This day was one of those days. My mom woke me up once again by calling my name over and over in the ‘Jane you have to got to school right now or I’m going to kill you’ voice like she always does, day by day by day! Not surprised by her upset tone I replied, “Coming mom! I’ll be dressed in a sec!” while I lay my head to rest once again on my light, soft and fluffy pillow which comforts me in such a nice and warm feeling. Why is it that on weekdays, your bed feels so comforting, while on weekends it feels like nothing but a hot uncomfortable rock? It’s probably some kind of a possessive thing your mind does. It knows on the weekdays you have to wake up early in the morning to go to school, and that it must gain as much energy and comfort it wants until you’re shipped up to go to school once again. And on the weekends, it knows that you don’t have school, and that you’re too pathetic to have any place to go like to a popular friend’s birthday party, or out shopping at the mall with some of your friends, so it makes you think that it’s hot, and makes you want to leave the rock of a bed alone because it feels that it’s the weekend, and you should be out having fun. Well, what does my mind know anyway? 5 minutes had passed since my mother gave me an oral wake up call, and I thought it was just about time for me to sit up in bed for another minute, while my eyes rest, and my back gets a little straighter, so I did so. As you can see, I’m not what you would call a hard working person. Lazy would be the perfect word to describe me. I got up from my sitting position wearing my soft black eye shades that blocked out most of the sunlight pouring through my windows. Walking like a zombie, blind as a bat, I reached around for my dress. Anyone, I did not care. Taking off my eye shades while closing my eyes, I put the dress on my bed. My eyes were damp from being closed by cloth all night. Wiping my eyes, I put on my dress. Maybe I was called a dork because most of the time I’d wear a dress. Or maybe it was because I wore glasses. I went to the bathroom to use the facilities, and to get into my school mode. I then put on my glasses and put on my socks and shoes. How dull can one day be? I grabbed my backpack on my corner desk, and headed out my door. School waited ahead, oh boy. Rushing out of my house, while my mom grabbed me for a goodbye kiss, I finally got passed the first part of my day. I walked to the corner bustop, and sat down on the cement bench, which had graffiti writing on it: ‘REPS’ it said. It must stand for something. Probably all of the group member’s names. I began to think about life. My life. About how it was so plain and simple. So monotonous! Over and over, the same thing everyday! Life didn’t really seem so interesting to me, one of the most unpopular kids at school, Jane Wilson. The bus came at it’s normal time, like it always did, and the same busdriver sat there with his usual friendly smile. Showing him my buspass, I stepped in the bus, glancing right to left at the people sitting down in the seats. Kids, adults, elderly people, like always. I sat down in my same seat, and as usual, it was empty, and it would stay empty for the remainder of the trip. Chapter 2. At about 15 minutes later, I arrived at school. As usual, I would be just in time for the national anthem. “Hey Jane!” beckoned Phoebe, probably my only friend. I call her Phe.“Yes?” I replied. “I have news!” she stated. “What kind of news?” “Not so good news. Mr. Lommick said that our science papers, you know, the one about the eco-systems are due today!” “What? But I thought-” “I did too, but he says that it’s due today!” replied Phe. Mr. Lommick, science B227.The most strict teacher of all Mecketh High. Just his name gives goose bumps on the elementary kids, whom yet to have him as a teacher. Once, while we were all taking our science quizzes, I sneezed, and Phe said ‘God bless you’ to me, so I said with courtesy, ‘Thankyou’ and here comes Mr. Lommick right in front of Phe and me, and says to us, “Would you ladies put your quiz papers on my desk now so that I may mark a big fat zero on them?” how mean can you get? And when we tried to explain to him after what had happened, he just smiled, turned his hand toward us, and said, “Excuses, excuses. I don’t want to listen to your lousy excuses. Leave now before I call your parents.” From that point on, I zeroed out Mr. Lommick as my worst teacher. “What? Today? Oh no.” I said. “Well, it’s a good thing that it’s the class after snack, so we can finish it in the library.” replied Phe. “Yes, but I didn’t even start!” “Uh oh. Well, you have to hurry.” The two of us walked through the long hallway adorned with lockers to its sides, and backpacks on its floors. We walked until we reached Mr. Bailey’s classroom, our homeroom. I thought that in homeroom, it would be a perfect time to work on my draft by using a paper and pencil. That way, when it comes to typing it out in the library, I could just copy down what I wrote, instead of making it up as I go along. So I sat down in homeroom next to Phe like I always do. I took out a piece of paper, and my science book. “You working on your draft?” asked Phe. “Yeah, I hope I can finish it during homeroom,” I replied. “And I hope that Mr. Bailey doesn’t catch me doing this.” When I was working on my draft, I could hear Mr. Bailey say something about a student council meeting after school. I was a member of the student council. Nothing big, just a representative. But I was shocked to find that I, one of the most unpopular kids at school won the honor! But the thing was that I was up against Shirley McLean, the most unpopular kid at school, so lucky me, I won. I payed close attention to Mr. Bailey’s words, though I also tried hard to concentrate on my paper. So far all that I wrote on that loose leaf sheet of paper was: “How the Eco-system Works by Jane Wilson.” What a start! Yeah right. I heard that Mr. Bailey was talking about where to meet, which was in the conference room. I especially enjoyed that room because in it was a huge table in the shape of a circle, and we’d all sit down, and no one was higher than the other, everyone was equal. Ah. Wouldn’t it be lovely if everyone were to be equal? That would be a perfect world. “How are you going with your paper?” asked Phe. “I haven’t even gotten a topic sentence!” I replied with frustration. “Ooh, that bad, huh?” replied Phe with pity. I finally thought of a good topic sentence: I believe that the importance of eco-sytems remains in three simple bases. And then wrote down three simple bases, whatever that meant. I winged it from there on. Well, who cares if I got an F on that paper, as long as I wouldn’t have to have a phone call to my parents, or worse yet, a parent teacher conference! Once, I didn’t turn in my science lab papers, because I left them at home, and since he gave us a week to work on it, and two days to turn it in, he called my parents in for a parent teacher conference meeting! How embarrassing! That was after the ‘sneeze incident.’ After he gave us a zero on our papers, he also called Phoebe’s and my parents! Ugh. “Done?” asked Phe with a slight smile. “Yeah. I just finished.” I replied with an exasperated sigh. Brriing! Brriing! The bell had rung, which had meant it was time to go to first period class, which was English. Ms. Hales, short, curly, and fire red hair. Our English teacher. I began to think when I walked to her classroom. English class. We live in America, English is just about everyone’s first language here, then why in the world do we have a class called English? I can understand having a class called English class in Samoa, but in America? No. Language Arts perhaps, but not English. I arrived in Ms. Hales’ classroom with a bright smile. Looking for my usual seat in the front. “Hi Jane.” said the girl who I really hate, no I shouldn’t say hate, but strongly dislike, Linda Parker. What a- “So, how is it in the peanut gallery? Never been there before, you know?” she talks in such a rude sarcastic way, I could be the “Why aren’t you answering? Cat got your tongue?” she persisted. “No, Linda. Would you please move, you’re sitting on my table.” I insisted. “Ooh. Ms. Tough guy. And what exactly are you going to do about it?” she stated in a sassy tone. My rage bursted like a leaky pipe sprouting with water. “That’s it Linda!” I said as I pushed her off of my desk. Chapter 3. Oh oh. Big mistake. The desk fell on top of her, and, it was kind of funny though I tried hard not to laugh, she began to cry. Ms. Hales came from the back of the classroom to me and said, “That is enough of that, Jane Wilson. You will go to Mrs. Koran’s office right now!” she ordered. She walked to Mrs. Koran’s office and directed me to follow her. She opened the door and said to Mrs. Koran, “Pardon me Mrs. Koran, but Jane pushed a girl down in class. Would you be able to talk to her?” “Of course Ms. Hales.” replied Mrs. Koran in a sweet korny voice. When Ms. Hales left, I knew I was in big trouble. Mrs.Koran, the devil in carnate. She would be the perfect match for Mr. Lommick, perfect. “So, Jane. You know that pushing people is against school policies. Do you know that I could-” just then her voice got a little bit louder, and meaner. “suspend you, perhaps even expel you from school? Do you know that? Violence is not the key! You should know better than that! I am phoning your parents for a-” My nerves tightened up, for I knew what she would say, and it certainly would not be a tea party. “parent teacher conference meeting!” “But-” “No buts about it! Why did you do it?” “Well, I did it because-” “I don’t want to hear your excuses! Don’t bother me with that nonsense!” “But you-” “Silence! While I phone your parents.” Oh great. First the science paper, now this. What more could go wrong? As I saw Mrs. Koran dialing up one of my parents on the phone I began to think more on the subject of my life. Was I a bad kid? Why was life the way it is? And I began to daydream on what a world would be like if there were no rules. If there’d be adventures to conquer everyday. If there were villains and heroes! If, if, oh! I really should stop this day dreaming! It makes me too jealous. “Ms. Wilson, I have phoned your father, and he is rather upset with you. You’re not even one of the alcoholic drunkies, like no one here at Mecketh High., thank God. But you have good grades. To think, all of that wasted.” She began to really get on my nerves. “Look, she said some really mean things to me, so I pushed her! I didn’t punch her, I just slightly pushed her! I didn’t mean for her to fall!” I insisted. “No one ever really means for these things to happen, they just do. I talked about your father about sending you to a psychiatrist, and he said that it was a wonderful idea!” She said. What? Psychiatrist? Only weird nut cases go there! Just because I slightly touched her, I’m going to one of those, those looneys? “No way!” oops. I had to say it. “What did you say? Are you saying that I was wrong to say that you need a physiatrist?” she asked leaning towards me. “Yes! I am not crazy!” I began to cry. “Yes, you really need one. You’re crying.” she replied. “What? I can’t be sensitive? Gosh!” I became so upset that I could just walk out of there and not have a care in the world. So I did. I stood up from my chair and walked out. I ran away from that door as fast as I could. I could hear her faint voice from that back saying, “What do you think you’re doing? Get back here now!” But I didn’t listen. I kept running and running. I looked back at her to say that I wouldn’t stop, to say that I wouldn’t obey to her rules anymore, to say something, but I was stopped, when I tripped on the stairs, and did three tumble overs until I landed face down to the ground. I awoke within seconds, and saw the ground with a blurry vision that was extremely shaky. My head felt like it was going to explode. But I got up, and turned around to see if Mrs. Koran was chasing me, but she wasn’t. Well, I geuss I’m off the hook. I walked around, getting my footage each step I took, until I reached the gates which led me off campus grounds. I walked across the street which had no cars speeding along it, like it always had, to an area with many trees, and green grass. There was a huge gate that towered as high as two stories in a building. A sign on the gate read: Beware: Danger lurks beyond this gate that leads unto the REAL WORLD.’ The real world? Isn’t this the real world? What is the real world anyway? Well, there’s only one way to find out. I advanced towards the gate and reached my hand up towards the handle which would lead me to the real world, but I was stopped. An old man hunched down to a 3rd. Grader’s height said, “Ya can’t go in there!” “How come?” “You aren’t prepared to enter the real world yet.” “I’m not prepared?” “No, ye ain’t! Ya don’t deserve to go there! And ya don’t even have the trainin’!” “The training? But I want to go!” “So, many youngin’s want to go! If I let you go, then everybody would want to go! But the thing is, is that once you’re there, you can never come back to this place, and when I told them that, they went away. And that’s what I’m telling ye! You wouldn’t want to be trapped there forever, now would ye? Never see your family or friends?” I thought about what the little Irish man was saying. True, I wouldn’t see my parents or friends, excuse me, friend, but hey, my life stinks! “I do!” “What?” “I still want to go! I don’t care about my life here!” “Oh, really? There’s no turning back now, you here?” “I hear you, loud and clear! Now please sir. Open the gates!” I said triumphently. He obeyed with a mumble. “Aw, you’ll be sorry!” I didn’t care what he thought. I didn’t care what anybody thought. If I was going to make my life better or worse, I did not care, I only longed for adventure, and difference. Chapter 4. I then fell from the gateway down to the ground which was covered with green, gren grass, and all of the prettiest flowers which consisted of daisys, daphedelles, dandylions, and many more beautiful flowers. It seemes like I fell from a tree adorned with plumeria. This place was like a heaven. I turned around to see a wonorous town , with a grand palace overlooking it. It was a dream come true. I spun around with happiness and walked down along the grass, walking past the flowers and beautiful trees, and past a tiny stream, and a wishing well. How lovely! I feel like I have gone back into the past! Why this place looked exactly like the scene of “Beauty and the Beast!” It was quite enchanting. I then came to a road which I walked along. People walked along the street beside me calling out for things, their voices so loud, yet I couldn’t make out a word they were saying. I did however hear people shout out, ‘fresh fish!’ and what not. I decided to be a little nosy, I wanted to check out the place, so I went to a house, two stories, old fashinoed, made out of wood, and painted white.I knocked on the door three times. A plump and friendly looking person popped out and said, “Oh, hello dear! What would you like?” How friendly! If I did that back home, the person in the house would say something like, ‘Hey! Get out of here kid! I’m trying to watch the superbowl!’ But this was a very nice woman. “Would I be able to come in?” “Sure!” Wow. I geuss there aren’t too many robberies around here, are there? I stepped inside the woman’s house. It was an old English style house, and was very clean and extremely tidy. A sitting area towards the left, and the cooking area towards the right. And right in front was a staircase. It was such a wonderful tiny house! “May I walk up your stairs?” I asked. “Be my geust!” She replied with a smile. I walked up the tight staircase, gently sliding my hand up the polished oak railing. There was a double bed with a tiny wooden night stand. Everything was so cute and perfect. A window was on the opposite side of the bed looking out at the town. I went back downstairs and thanked her for letting me in. She then said to me, “Oh dear, it was no trouble at all. Before you go, would you like some of my homemade cookies?” What gracious hospitality! What a sweet and wonderful lady she was! “Thankyou very much!” I said as I took a cookie from the basket which she held out for me. “Mmm! These are such good cookies! What is your recipe?” I asked with the scrumptious cookie in my mouth. “Uh uh uh! You naughty thing! I mustn’t tell anyone my secret! Not even a sweet little girl like you!” She said in a sweet and gentle scolding voice. “That’s alright. Thankyou again for your hospitality!” I said as I left her charming little house. Well, that was nice. I strolled along down what seemed to be Main Street. How lovely! I decided to see he insides of other homes as well, so I turned the corner to see other houses which I hoped to look different. They looked different, but they were still in the same style as the others were. As I walked along the street, I saw an old man sitting on the ground with pigeons scattered all around him. He wore raggedy and torn clothes that had various shapes of holes on them. They were gray. I went over to talk to him. “Hello sir. Can I help you?” “Why do you think I need help? Just because I’m sitting here on the ground feeding pigeons doesn’t mean I need help!” He was a grumpy old man, wasn’t he. Saliva ran down his mouth when he talked. “Well, I was just wondering.” I replied backing off. “You were just wondering? That’s all people do nowadays! Wonder, wonder, wonder, wonder!” “Gee, well, I’m sorry!” “You’re sorry! Stop feeling sorry for yourself! I’m the one who should feel sorry for myself! No home, no life! Just get out of here kid!’ He shouted. “Alright, if you are sure that you don’t need any help.” I said in a shaky way. “I don’t! Now beat it!” Boy is he sure grumpy. But I don’t blame him. I would to if I were poor, homeless, and starving. Wait a minute. That’s what I am! Well, except for the starving part. I’ve got to find a home for myself! I continued to walk that street. It was a long street, getting more narrow towards the end. It also became darker as well. Ah, the slum of the town. The dark side. And the house styles started to change a little as well. The houses looked a little older. And then a drastic change, there was a house whose roof was made of loose dead branches, and its door was nothing but a raggedy old maroon towel, hung from 4 clips. The house was made of thin pieces of old lumber. So old, that it was gray. I debated whether I should go in or not. This place looks pretty crummy. What if some drug addicts live there, and they want to kill me when I enter? Well, I could just take a peek, and if they have problems, I’d be able to help them out! I decided to go in. What the heck? Live a little. Chapter 5. I slowly lifted up the towel. No one was there. It had a smooth dirt floor. There was one small square table and some debris lying in the corner. There was a hanging candle from the ceiling which hung so low. And a hole in the ground. A hole? What kind of place is this? I looked in the hole to see nothing but darkness. It was pitch black. So I grabbed the candle hanging from the ceiling. Hmm. Ah yes! My glasses! It looked to be like a sunny day! I went outside and took off my glasses and put it over the wick of the candle. Hey, why isn’t it working? I had to wait about a minute until it finally kicked in. Ah, yes. This is the stuff the girl scouts don’t want you to know. I giggled in an evil voice. The candle was lit and ready to go! I went back inside the shack to look down the hole. Ah! The hole was so deep, that I couldn’t even see the bottom! I did however see that there was a ladder that I could go down, so I did. I feel pretty stupid going here. What if someone kills me? This is the worst place to be kidnapped, well actually I’m sort of trespassing, so I would know why the owner of this crummy residence would not want my presence here, and perhaps shoot me dead as a dog. I continued to go down the ladder, feeling slightly secure because of the dirt wall besides my back. Down and down, deeper into the ground. I looked up at the surface was but a tiny hole of white. And then I felt a very insecure feeling, for the dirt wall was no longer beside my back. Perhaps I was almost down. No, I looked down, and still, I could not see the ground. This was beginning to be tedious, tiring, and a bit scary. I began to have more and more feelings of anguish as I climbed down the ladder. I was almost to the impatient point of jumping off of that ladder and falling to my doom just to get to the bottom. I looked down once more and still could not see the bottom. What was this, the bottomless pit of doom? For crying out loud! Why am I doing this? Well, that was easy. Because I am a curious little cat, but curiosity killed the cat! I continued to climb down the everlasting ladder, my legs and arms sore and tired with pain. I stopped to rest. But before I could go down any further, something or someone tugged at my ankle! Chapter 6. I was too scared to look back. I wanted to, but I was too scared. I tried to pull my ankle away from whatever it was, and its grasp, but I couldn’t. I automatically turned around expecting to see this crazed man’s face grinning evilly at me, but I didn’t. Instead, I saw a vine wrapped tightly around my ankle. What? Was this for real here? A vine? Too bad I had no knives. I could just cut that old vine off. But it wasn’t doing anything, just gripping. But I wanted to get loose anyway, so I held onto the ladder with one hand and tried to pull it with my other hand. That didn’t work. Ah ha! My candle! I then put the flame of the candle on the vine to burn it off. Oh no. Big mistake. Oh sure, my ankle was free, but I wasn’t. Fire arose in that dark hole. I couldn’t even breathe. And I couldn’t climb up in time. I figured if I’m going to die. I’m going to feel what falling forever feels like, so I let go my grip from the ladder. I wasn’t turning, I was just falling straight. It was a good sign, I guess. My arms wailing around in circles. Ah! Oh, I’m going to die! I thought about my life again, and all of its values and all of its boring habits. Sameness everywhere. And I thought about this place, the Real World and about how my life would have been if I just hadn’t gone to the stupid shack with the deep hole in the ground. I am so stu- Ah! Splash! I had plundered into water. Fortunately, it wasn’t very deep, I wasn’t a very good swimmer. “Thank you God!” I said with a smile. I waded in the water for a while recollecting my thoughts and sense of where I was. I felt woozy, and that I would vomit. My legs and arms weak from the climb, and from the pressure of falling a few hundred feet. It was pitch black, and I really did feel like I would die. I didn’t have the energy to smell my way out of the underground pit like an animal. I was too scared to move. I didn’t see any light whatsoever. I guess the fire had burned out. I smelled the air to see what kind of place I was in. To see if it was made of wood, or another material. I expected to smell sewage because I thought I was in a sewer, but I didn’t. Instead I smelled, a very familiar smell. I could not make out what it was. It smelled like hydrogen peroxide and pine sol mixed together. The place was dark and silent. So silent that I could her a loud ear piercing ring. It kept on getting louder and louder. To make it stop, I clapped my hands softly so I would hear the clapping, instead of the ring. Where am I? Will I ever get out of this place? Thoughts raced into my mind as I stood there in the deep dark hole, clapping like a fool. Just then, I heard a sound of large machines rubbing together. It was a loud cranking noise that got faster and faster. More noises started to occur, similar to the first. Then suddenly, they all stopped, and it wasn’t dark anymore. Chapter 7. I ducked down into the water, hoping no one would see me. Now since it was bright, I could see my way. I opened my eyes, expecting them to sting a little, but they didn’t. They didn’t hurt at all, and I could see as clear as I did above water. The water became cooler than it did earlier. I wonder where I am. I held my nose and looked up. I could see the ceiling, which was about a mile high. What kind of material is that? I’ve never seen that before. I crawled along the floor until I reached the wall. I need to breathe, but what if the thing that’s in here sees me? I saw a button on the wall that read: ‘Emergency Only: Press button to release water’ I would press that button, but that would blow my cover. Next to the case was a tiny box. I opened it to find a key. What do I do with this key? I looked around to find a keyhole, but there wasn’t one, so I placed it in my dress pocket. Oh, I’m running out of air here. My choices: 1. To die from not breathing or 2. To go and see who’s on the surface and to possibly die from that thing. Well, I did what any sensible being would do. I slowly lifted my head out of the water, inhaling a mouthful of air silently. Wow. I was trapped in a huge laboratory. Huge lights adorned the ceiling, and there was no one in sight; or at least my sight. I got out of the now, freezing water, soaking wet to explore this laboratory. I looked up to the corner where I had fell, and the ladder was not to be found. Maybe the fire destroyed it. Tables lined the floor, and on those tables looked like the chemistry sets in Mr. Lommick’s classroom. I turned around to see a huge glowing crystal enveloped in a tall glass case. The crystal was almost as big as myself. Wow, cool. I wonder what that thing is. I quickly got out of the water and advanced towards it and saw a pedestal by it with a black button on it. Hmm. It must be to open the glass case! Should I press it? Yes, I should! Moving my finger slowly closer to the button, wanting to press it, but afraid of knowing the consequences of pushing it. My curiosity running wild. “Don’t you dare push that button!” said a voice from the back. Chapter 8. I quickly turned around. Far away was a balcony with a pale colored man dressed in a white day suit on it. It seemed that he lived underground here, with no sunlight. No wonder he was so pale. He had brown hair and a tiny brown beard. He went into this tall black machine. It looked like an elevator, but thinner. And then appeared before me! How odd. “What are you doing in my laboratory?” asked the man. He was not amused. “Uh, I fell through the hole!” I replied. “Why did you come into the shack?” “Because it looked like poor people lived there, and I’m a helping person, so, um, I wanted to help the, uh, residents who lived there! Yeah.” “You aren’t from around here, are you?” “Well, no, not really.” “People here don’t help poor and needy people! That’s why I built my laboratory here!” “I see. Uh, can I go home now?” I was afraid that he would say the famous ‘You have seen to much, now I must kill you!’ line. “Go home? Why go home when you came this far already?” His voice suddenly changed from an angry pitch to a sweet pitch. “Here. Come along. You must be hungry.” He said walking towards a wide opening. “So, you live down here?” He turned his face around to answer my question. “Yes.” He sounded a little fishy then. I was wondering if he was one of those classic Disney villains who always pretend to be nice and helpful, but in the end they want to kill you. Hmm. Past the opening was a long table with one chair, which was at one end. “As you could see, I never have any guests. You are my first one. Pardon me for the rude entrance I made. Please sit down.” He turned the chair towards me so I sat down. The ceiling in this room was much lower. Almost like an average room! “Now. As you probably guessed if you were smart enough, is that I am a scientist. My name is Dr. Shavan, at your service. He did a short bow of the head towards me. “I’m pleased to meet you, err, Dr. Shavan,” I replied. “I am glad that you are treating me so well, for I know that I am an intruder, and should be persecuted.” What was I doing? Now I was talking crazy talk. “Oh, heavens no! A sweet thing like you? Of course not! Now, what would you like? Anything! You name it!” Dr. Shavan said with an almost fake smile. Hmm. “Anything?” “Anything!” “Well, can I order up a whole entire meal?” “Of course my dear!” “Great! For starters I’ll have carpaccio, and then clam chowder and ceaser salad, and then filet minon, and for desert, chocolate mouse!” Pretty snazzy, huh? I definitely knew he couldn’t pull this order off! “Wow! All that for a tiny thing like you?” he asked in a sweet sounding voice. “Yes! All!” I replied. “Alright then!” He went to a door near the table and went inside. Hmm. What was he doing in there? Boy, it sure is cold down here. He came out with a platter and said, “Dinner is served!” He placed it in front of me, and took off the top, revealing 5 pills. “What?” I asked in surprise. I knew what they were, but I just wanted to see what he would say. “These are my food pills! One calorie, no mess, and twice the taste! You can eat them anywhere, and they only take a minute to make! My life’s work! Voila!” O-kay. This was kind of weird. But I really wanted to try it. I was kind of worried that they were poison, but I wanted to eat it anyway. “Go on! Eat up!” He wanted me to eat the pills. What if they were poison pills? “What’s the matter? You don’t like them?” “No, it’s not that. I just never have seen them before. Uh, I don’t know how to eat them.” “Ah, I see. You place it in your mouth, and suck!” It sounded like fun. Well, here goes nothing! I grabbed the carpaccio pill marked C on it. I began to suck. Since carpaccio was raw beef, I couldn’t taste much. And then I tasted something really aweful! I wrinkled my nose, and spit the pill out into my hand. “You don’t like it?” Well, I just don’t like carpaccio. Let me try the clam chowder. That I do like. I took the pill marked CC on it and placed it into my mouth and began sucking. It tasted like sour milk, and started to get creamier. Mmm. Now it tasted good! “Mmm! This one’s good!” I stated with a smile. The doctor seemed to be smiling as well at my enjoyment. I started to taste the potatoes and clams in it as well. And then the pill evaporated. “Good?” he asked. “Very! But, aren’t I supposed to get full?” “That’s the magic of it my dear! You don’t!” What? “I don’t?” I asked in surprise. “You don’t! Now you can eat anything and everything, and you don’t even get full!” “But wouldn’t I gain weight or get fat?” “No! And how could you gain weight? The pill is only 0.2 grams!” “Then wouldn’t I starve?” “No! The food pill is not for one’s survival, but for one’s enjoyment! You understand?” “Uh, yes.” “Good. That’s why there was a time when obesity was extremely high! People would eat food, not to survive, but because they enjoyed it! Now, with the food pill, those food enjoyers can eat and eat to their hearts content! Ah. The food pill. My life’s work. Don’t you just love the idea?” I loved it, but I knew there was some kind of consequence to it, but of course I said, “Yes! I think that it is the best idea in history!” I raised my arms up and then cackled evilly. You fancy me crazy? No, this is just what the villains do in movies. If this Dr. Shavan was a villain, I wouldn’t mind joining him. Well, half of me would join him, and the other half would be on the good side. For I, am the yingyang itself! “Yes! I am so glad that you agree with me! Come! It is time that I make myself present to the king!” He said as he went into one of those weird elevator things. This was so much fun, I couldn’t wait for what would happen next! Chapter 9. I went inside that weird contraption of his, and he pressed a button to make the door close. In one second, we were in front of the castle. Woah. “What is that?” I asked the doctor. “My transporter? Oh, it is an invention that I made several years ago,” He chuckled. “It teleports the person inside to the destination of his or her choice.” You know, he didn’t seem like that much of a bad guy anymore. He seemed nice. “Follow me. We are going to do some business with his majesty. He walked up a grand rock staircase leading to the castle. Two guards at the door. I followed him. “Halt! Who goes there?” asked a guard, pointing his spear out towards the doctor. “I am Dr. Shavan. I would like to make business with the King.” He replied. The other guard nodded to him giving a sign saying, ‘It’s alright. Let him in.’ He did so. The wide doors opened, and we were let in. Wow. Carpeted floors. And on each side, a miniature aqueduct of streaming water. We went up the stairs. “This castle has many floors. Let’s just go the quick way.” Dr. Shavan said as he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards his transporter that had just appeared. We entered, and once again it only took one second until we reached our destination. We were in front of a large red door. A guard standing by said, “What do you want?” “I would like to see the king.” “What is your name?” “Dr. Shavan.” “A doctor? Well, alright.” said the guard as he opened the large door. “His majesty, presenting Dr. Shavan.” He showed us inside the large thrown room. The king was sitting on a beautifully colored throne painted gold. He stood up and walked towards us. “So, Dr. Shavan, what brings you here to my castle?” asked the King. “Food pills. I am a scientist, and an excellent one of that, isn’t that right, dear?” he asked me. “That’s correct!” I replied with a huge fake smile. “Ooh, and who is this young lady?” asked the King. “My name is Jane Wilson your majesty.” I said as I curtsied. “What is this food pill?” “The food pill is a pill where people eat any kind of food that they want, and don’t gain one bit of weight, but enjoy the wonderful flavors of the food they love. The food pill isn’t designed to keep one alive, it is merely a treat for people who enjoy food. Of course they would eat regular food along with the food pill. This pill is to keep obesity down.” I think Dr. Shavan explained that rather well. “Aren’t there any consequences? What is this pill made of?” asked the King. “I’m sorry, but that remains a secret. There are no consequences at all. Even Jane tried it. You’re alright, aren’t you, Jane?” he asked. “Yes, I’m great!” I replied with a burst of energy. “I am sorry doctor, but I can’t allow you to just sell this in my town! There may be an element in there, that if used too often, may be hazardous to your health!” stated the King in an angry voice. “But sir,” started Dr. Shavan. “No buts about it! I am sorry to do this, but guards! Send the doctor out of my throne room!” stated the king. “And this girl too, sire?” asked a guard. “Well, I geuss she didn’t do anything wrong, no.” replied the King. Oh boy! I can explore the- “Come along, Jane.” said the Doctor as he grabbed my hand and the transporter appeared. We went inside and we were back in the laboratory once again. Oh, great! Now I’m down here again! I guess now I am one of the bad guys, if the Doctor was a bad guy. But he’s just a scientist. That’s all! “Why didn’t he accept my idea? It was a wonderful idea! A grand idea! But no, he said that it may contain an element that may be hazzardous to the body!” Dr. Shavan looked the angriest then. “Oh, Jane. I’m sorry for being so upset like that. Dear, are you alright?” Hmm. What kind of an over upset, over cautious scientist calls a young female intruder dear? Easy question, Dr. Shavan. “Yes, Dr. Shavan, I’m alright. You can get mad any time you want.” it helps the climax deepen! I’m a big movie fan, myself, and never have I been this close to an actual story climax! My life, from being boring, dull, and so filled with sameness had changed. “If you really don’t mind me blowing up like that.” This guy had a split personality! One second he’s mad, the next, he’s happy! What’s with this guy? “No, I don’t mind. It’s actually,” “It’s actually what?” he asked. “Quite funny!” I said with slight giggling. “Funny?” he asked, with a mean look in his eyes. Oh oh. “I mean, amusing.” Oops. “Amusing?” Now I was in deep trouble. “I mean I like to see people get mad.” “You do? Well, then how’s about this! I don’t think that I am funny when I get mad! I am very upset with the king! I needed for my food pill to be a hit success! If that happened, then I would be the lead producer of the world, and then I could rule the world!” He yelled at me with a sneer, followed by an evil laugh. Okay, now this guy had too many punches in the head. What is wrong with this guy? “Yes! Hmm. The king. I would be a much better king than King Drake.” King Drake? So that’s his name. “Yeah. All the power, mine! And my knowledge so widespread!” He had a gleam in his eyes when he talked. Then he looked at me. “You know that I am the smartest man of all the kingdom, do you not?” Smart yes, but sane not. I believe that that was a rhetorical question so I didn’t give an answer. “And that I could have Drake kingdom at its mercy to me? And that I could get the people of this kingdom to buy my food pills, do you not?” His chin resting on his right hand. “I believe in all of those things, but-” “But I won’t. And do you know why?” I shook my head. “Because I am a loyal man to King Drake. The kind and sincere King Drake. The idiot of a man who won’t trust me to do my job King Drake. The blithering numbskull who doesn’t know what he’s talking about, King Drake!” His voice climbing louder and louder. This, was really weird. I loved it. He was inhaling and exhaling deeply and fast a few times, and then stopped. “Pardon me, while I go and rest.” He walked away and made his transporter appear, stepped inside of it, and disappeared. Man, what a weirdo! Hmm. He’s just going to leave me alone like that? Underground? Hey, how does he make that transporter of his appear? I guess he has some kind of a remote control that he just clicks to appear and disappear. Yes, he sure was a smart man, but you know how most genius’s are. Crazy. Chapter 10. I walked around the desolate laboratory looking for food. That pill ‘o’ nothing didn’t fill me up, perhaps it made me hungrier, but I had a very strong urge to eat. Where are those pills? I must have some food! How does this guy survive anyway? So I decided to call Dr. Shavan’s name out loud so he could hear me, and feed me real food. I guess he sort of owned me now, ever since I dropped in on him. Literally. “Dr. Shavan!” I called out from the top of my lungs. Just then, he appeared in front of me. “What is it? I was just getting ready for my nap!” he asked in a frustrated voice. “I am hungry! Is there any real food that I can eat?” I asked. “Real food? What about those wonderful pills that you love so much?” he asked with a more gentle tone of voice. I wanted to say that I didn’t care about those pills, and that I wanted some real food now, but instead I said, “I don’t know where it is.” He chuckled and said, “Follow me.” He went to the same opening he had earlier. “This is my food pill room.” he stated proudly. Food pill room. Right. “This is my food pill machine. Here, I type in what kind of food that I want to eat, and bam! Out comes the food pill! Here, you try.” He said moving over just a bit. The “food pill machine” looked like one of those neoprint machines, the kind where there’s a screen and a little hole at the bottom, but this one had a keyboard. I typed in the word: hamburger. The computer screen read:1 Hamburger...Is that all? And I typed in yes. And out came the pill. Wow! I bent down to get the pill, which had an H on it. “Go ahead. Eat it.” said the Doctor. I did so. I placed it in my mouth and sucked on it. Mmm. The juicy flavors of the hamburger in my mouth. Cooked just right, and the flavor of the crisp lettuce, oh and the onions, what a treat! But how in the world did Dr. Shavan do this? How did he put all of those flavors into one pill, and how are all of the pills in that one machine? And how did he get every single food possible into that machine? All of those questions came down to one question, and that was, “How do you do it?” “How do I do it? No, no, no. I’m afraid I can’t tell you, or the King, or anybody! It’s for me to know, and you to find, err, well it’s for me to know. Alright?” “Alright. But I’m still hungry. Can I have some real food? Food that will make me full?” “Hmm. Alright. The real food is kept far away in my garden, so I will call upon my transporter. It then appeared and he entered it, motioning me to come along, so I did as told, err, motioned. We appeared in this large underground garden. Long dirt trails ran for about a hundred feet down, and there were vegetables planted throughout those trails. Radishes, tomatoes, pumpkins, carrots, lettuce, you name it, and it was there. Vegetables of all sorts! This guy was a health nut! Doesn’t he ever eat protein? “What do you do for protein?” I asked. He pointed me over to a homemade pond. Yes, it was homemade. He made it himself, and he must have bought live fish, and placed them inside there, just to fish them out for fun, and then to cook and eat them. I walked over to the pond. The ground changed from cement to plastered down orange pebbles. I looked inside. The pond was pretty deep. It looked to me about 20 feet deep! The pond was pretty small though. It was a circular pond with clear water. All of the fish were huddled together at the bottom, I could count 7 fish. They were huge! “Do you want to go fishing?” He asked me in a kind and gentle voice. “Sure!” I replied. He past to the pond to the wall, where there was a door. He opened that door and grabbed a fishing pole. He passed it to me, and I caught it. “Thank you!” I replied with a smile. I never fished before, but I wanted to seem professional. I grabbed onto reel, and started to unravel the lining into the water. “Wait! You forgot about the bait!” He said. Hello! The bait! God I’m so stupid. He held out a live worm in his hand. Eww! Gross! But I took it and pulled my string back to me. I jabbed the squirming worm into the hook and threw it into the water. “I starve those fish, you know. That’s why it’s so easy to catch them.” The Doctor said. All of the fish swam up to the worm to bite, but the one who came to the worm first, was hooked. Yes! I got one! It was a silvery gray fish. About 2 ft. Long! I reeled it closer to me! Yes! My first fish! “Good job. So, was this your first time?” “Uh, yeah.” I said with a sheepish grin. You know, this Dr. Shavan wasn’t so bad. Even if he did have a split personality, I wouldn’t mind if he adopted me, and I lived with him for the rest of my life. Well, maybe just a bit. I could be his adopted child. Even though I had parents...Parents who loved me, and cared for me. I felt a little sad bringing them up, but realized what’s done was done. After we ate a dinner of sautéed bass, steamed potatoes, and brussel sprouts, (all real food) He showed he upstairs where I would spend the night. “Come with me Jane.” said Dr. Shavan as he walked up the staircase leading up to the second floor. He walked along the hallway, which seemed to never end! Everything was white. The ceiling was white, the floor was white, the walls were white, heck, Dr. Shavan’s clothes were white! “So, you like white, huh?” I asked him. “Well, white is a clean color, and I am a fan of cleanliness. Ah. Here is your room.” He said as he came to the end of the hallway. Finally! He opened the door, walked inside, and turned on the light. Wow. It was, it was, it was beautiful. A canopy bed, of coarse all white, a Jacuzzi in the right corner, a stereo system in the left corner, and a bathroom at the direct right. “There’s more.” He said as he walked along the Jacuzzi. I eagerly followed and saw a room with a pool, and an open door leading to what looked a pool table, and another opened door leading to what looked to be a library. “Thank you so much Dr. Shavan!” I said as I hugged him. “You are welcome! Now have a good stay Jane Wilson. I’ll see you in the morning!” He said as he left my new room. Wow, what a guy! Wait, this is too good to be true. Isn’t he supposed to be a villain? Or maybe he is, but perhaps he wants me to trust him to my full extent, and then wham! Right when I’m not expecting it, he kills me. Bam! Right on the spot! Nah. He wouldn’t do that. Would he? Ah ha! I’ll spy on him! That’s what I’ll do! I walked up to my door to slowly open it. Hey! It’s locked! Ooh. Now I know that something’s up! Oh, if only I could split myself into two. Wait. He wanted me to stay in my room. He didn’t want me to leave because he’s doing something private and secretive in the deep down laboratories! No, I don’t think so. I’ve been watching too many movies lately. I must remember that this is the Real World, just like what the sign at the front gate said! Hmm. I walked to my canopy bed and sat down. Then laid down. Watching the clock on the wall. Tick tock tick tock. Oh, I just can’t take it anymore! I must see what that Doctor is up to! What if he’s spying on me now? Hmm. He could be. Maybe I should go to sleep. I’ll force myself to. I went to the light switch, turned it off, and laid down on my bed. Ah. So nice, comfortable, and soft. My new canopy bed, in my new white room, in my new white home, with my new white father. Chapter 11. “Good morning!” Who is that? My eyes opened slowly in a blurry fashion. “Oh, it’s you.” “Yes, and I have brought you breakfast!” The Doctor said, holding a tray of orange juice, and a plate of three pills of E, B, and T. Eggs, bacon, and toast. How lovely. At least the juice was real. “Thank you sir for your kindness.” I said with gratitude. Even though I liked living here, something very peculiar was going on. I mean, who would be nice to, give them somewhere to sleep, and feed an intruder? Either an evil or a really naive person. “There is no need for thanks. You will not be here much longer anyway.” Wait. Hold on a second. What did he mean I wasn’t going to be here much longer? “I need to go somewhere now, so if you need any food, the back room has a refrigerator with some food in it. Good food, like pizza and hamburgers, the kind that kids love. So, I’ll be back to check up on you later this afternoon. Ta ta.” He said as he walked away from me and out the door. Hmm. Food! Real delicious food! Oh boy, pizza! I ran as fast as I could, past the Jacuzzi, past the swimming pool, the billiard room, the library, and finally I reached my personal dining room. A small table with four chairs around it. A refrigerator was in the far left corner. I ran to it, and opened it, but in shock, I found nothing but viles with pills in it. I was starving for real food but this had to do it. I grabbed the vile marked: ‘Pepperoni Pizza’ on it and took out one pill, placed it in my mouth, and began to suck on it. Mmm. This tastes really good! I can taste all of the cheese and dough, oh the dough! And the delicious pepperoni! After the pill dissolved, I felt slightly full. Oh, that was sure filling. I walked towards the library door, and my fillingness went away. Oh my gosh, my stomach! I am starving now, more than I was before! I have to eat some more food! I quickly ran to the refrigerator and took out the pizza vile and poured the remaining 2 pills into my mouth. I was once again full. I sat down at the table to think. Hmm. There is something wrong with this food pill! It leaves me full for about a minute, and then the filled sensation leaves me, and I become, once again starving. Even more than I was before! Ooh, my stomach. I’m hungry again! Now I feel like my stomach will burst if I don’t eat right now. Oh, my stomach! But I can’t eat any more food pills, because they make me even hungrier! They are like drugs! That was why King Drake did not trust Dr. Shavan! The food pill’s acids eat up your fat cells to make you more starving, I think. And then people would be addicted to the food pills, and rush out to the store to buy more! And then Dr. Shavan would be rich, and like he said earlier, be the king of the market! And then have power over the kingdom! I had just realized the Doctor’s plans for power. 1. Everyone would want to try the new food pill, so everyone would rush to the stores to purchase them. 2. They would be even hungrier than before, and then go out to purchase more. 3. Dr. Shavan now stops creating the food pill, and the stores are now sold out of them. 4. People come to Dr. Shavan, for him to make more food pills, but he decline’s and says that he won’t do it, unless he has the throne! 5. King Drake is powerless, and at the mercy of Dr. Shavan, and gives him the throne. It’s as easy as that! And I’m one of the victims! I just sat there at the table, my stomach aching, a throbbing pain like something inside my stomach kept grabbing it and letting go, over and over! I rushed back to my bedroom, and laid down. Surely it would go away sooner or later. That’s how drugs worked. You take them, you’re addicted to them, but if you stop taking them, then you hallucinate, and have stomach pains for like an hour, and then you’re back to normal. I’m not really sure how it works though. And then I remembered about the key. I quickly undid the button of my dress pocket, and found the key, which I had found in the pool of water yesterday. I quickly ran to the door of my bedroom and shoved the key inside the keyhole. Twisting and turning the key to fit inside, hoping that it would unlock the door to freedom. To my surprise, it did. Chapter 12. Freedom! Sort of. I slowly opened my door, and got out of my room, and closed the door behind me silently. I crept down the long hallway. Oh, what if I were caught? My stomach was now aching the worst! I had a jumble of bad feelings inside my mind, but the strongest was to get the heck out of this place. After I finished the hallway, I slowly snuck down the staircase, slowly walking over to where the large glowing crystal was. What was this thing, and why didn’t the Doctor not want me to push the black button on the pedestal? Hmm. I walked over to the pedestal, looking for any clues that would give any answers to my questions. Then I heard a voice. I looked for a place to hide. Ah, a box. I ran over to where the box was, just big enough to hide my body. I went behind it, not to be seen. “And soon my plan will be complete.” said Dr. Shavan. I slowly turned my head to see what he was doing. He was standing in front of the crystal. He pushed the black button and the glass covering slid down slowly. The crystal was glowing more intense now. “The time has come to release my food pill.” He said. I gasped at the thought of his evil plan. He placed his hand on the crystal, and closed his eyes. What is he doing? His body was now glowing along with the crystal. He slowly started to change into what looked like King Drake! He let his hand go of the crystal. He looked exactly like King Drake. What? Why did he want to turn into King Drake? Duh, to be the king! But what about the real King Drake? I had many ideas, but I didn’t know for sure why he did what he did. “Yes! Now my plan is taking action!” He walked away from the crystal, but slowly turned back into himself. “No!” He shouted. “Oh, I must have more power! I need more power!” He walked towards the pedestal and pressed the button once again to close the glass covering. I could hear him mumbling for awhile, and then it was silent. I sat there waiting for a minute for two, and then slowly crept out of my hiding place to find that he was sitting in a chair right in front of me! “Jane!” He stated. “Uh,” I started to say, I thought that I should say something really weird to him, so he wouldn’t kill me. “I love your plans! Oh, my masterminded hero! Conquer the world for me! For that King Drake is nothing but a fool, and you would make an excellent king! I bow down to you!” I always wanted to say that. “What are you talking about?” He asked, I believe that he was quite surprised. “You, are my hero!” I lied. “This is nothing but childish nonsense. I am not a fool. You were spying on me! And I trusted you. You intruded in my laboratory, but I fed you. I gave you a luxurious home, and you spy on me?” He looked pretty upset. This was a very scary moment for me, but I continued on with my act. “Oh, to know more about you! I hope you aren’t upset.” I said in a sweet tone. “Quit that! I wasn’t born yesterday, you know! I know that you are just saying that so I won’t harm you, well you’re wrong! I am not a fool, like that King Drake! I am sorry, but I must do this. You and I were going to be such wonderful friends. You don’t know how lonely it is down here! But all of that will change! Soon I will be the king, not like that twit King Drake, no. I will be a far better king than he.” Boy, was he mad. I backed up from him slowly. He pointed out his hand towards me. “I am sorry to do this to you, but,” He sure didn’t look sorry. “I must! I hate traitors!” He said as lightning shot out of his fingers and towards my head. I ducked just in the nick of time. I ran away from him as fast as I could. “Stop!” He called from behind. I kept on running and running, but I knew that that wouldn’t do any good. This was his house, and it was a mile underground! I knew that I could not escape him. If only I knew how to call upon the transporter. I ran until I reached a wall. Dr. Shavan then appeared in front of me. The transporter, no doubt. “Say goodnight.” He said. All I could think about doing was kicking him in the “Ouch! Why you little!” I ran away from him, but still there was still no escape, and like all animals, including humans, once they have been injured, they’re even more dangerous. I ran to the crystal, pressing the black button on the pedestal. I waited for the glass covering to slowly drape down. I raised my hand to press it on the crystal, but Dr. Shavan grabbed my hand. “It’s too late for that. You should stayed in your room like a good little girl. That way you wouldn’t have died!” He threw me to the ground, which had turned into a room where I was lying down on a bench like platform. The room was like a doctor’s office. My hands and arms, cuffed to the table. “Like I said earlier, I’m sorry that I have to do this.” He went to the table with supplies on it, and opened the cupboard above. He took out a syringe. Oh no, I was sure to die now. That syringe contained a death poison, sure to kill me in seconds! Oh no. What to do? Okay. Time to try anything crazy. Uh, err, um, sing! Yes, I’ll distract him by singing! I recieved an A+ in choir. The only song that came to mind was, “I will follow him. Follow him wherever he may go. There isn’t an ocean too deep. A mountain so high it can keep, keep me away from him.” I think I deserved a Grammy for that! He turned around in surprise. I was hoping that he would say, Oh, you have such a beautiful voice, that I will let you live. You can be my singer from now on.’ But he didn’t. Instead he turned around and reached for his medical mask, and grabbed a bottle of clear solution. That’s it. That’s the poison! I was done for! I have an idea! What if I pretended that I was already dead! Yeah! “Oh, I feel so sick! Oh, the pain! The pain! I’m going to die! I’m, I’m, oh.” I tossed my chin to the side. Now that deserved an Oscar! I squinted my eyes to see what he was doing. My eyes so squinted, that they looked closed. He looked at me, cocked head, all, but he turned around to fill up the syringe. Oh great. Now what? I have an idea! It will hurt, but it’s an idea! The key that I have is sharp, so I can jab it in my arm! And then slip it all the way in! And then when Dr. Shavan inserts the needle in me, I won’t get the poison! Yeah right. I couldn’t do that. Uh, my last idea. He was coming toward me. “Uh, sir? Can I talk to you before you do this?” I asked. “What is it?” He asked impatiently. “Uh, you know, that I can help you. The King trusts me more than he trusts you.” Oh oh. “Hmm.” He began to stroke his beard. “And I can lead him to a place, any place you want me to lead him to, and you can kill him!” Weird plan, huh? “Perhaps,” He said with a bit pf shakiness. “But I don’t trust you!” He snapped. Oh oh. I shouldn’t have kicked him. “I’m sorry that I kicked you, err, master. I did it for self-defense. If you think that I deserve to die, a poor little girl like me, Jane Wilson, then so be it.” I started to cry. “If you think that I should die for self defense, then kill me! Now! Go on and do it! Get the pain over!” I said in a whining voice. Now that, I knew he would buy. “What are you waiting for? Oh, needle, I am your sheath, wear me now!” Do you think I was a bit hysterical there? No, because he did buy it. He set me free. “Oh, please don’t cry. I hate to see a lady cry.” See? Split personality! That’s good! He uncuffed me. I thought of kicking him again, but I realized again that there was no escape, and that I would be back here again. He then asked me how I got out of the room, and I had to tell him the truth. That it was the key, so he took it away from me. I was back where I started from, in my new bedroom. Chapter 13. But of coarse I was thankful! At least I wasn’t in my second life now. But I had to find a way out of this joint. There was a knock of the door. I ran to answer it, but remembered that I couldn’t because of the locked door. Dr. Shavan entered the room. “Come.” He said. He left my room and walked down the hallway, I followed. “I forgive you for your mistakes.” He said. “Thank you.” “I have a job for you.” “I would be honored to do it sir.” “Good. I want you to go to the marketplace and buy me a vile of chloric acid.” A bottle of chloric acid? Hmm. That must be one of the secret elements of the food pill. “Of coarse sir.” He turned around to look at me, he stopped walking, and so did I. He knelt down and said, “I am sorry for what I did earlier, but you did betray me. Thank you for forgiving me, and for that, here.” He handed out a bag. “Use it for something nice. Come along.” He walked down the staircase followed by me. He turned around and showed me a red ball with a tiny black button on it. “This is called a recall device. To use it, you press the black button on top of the sphere, and think of where you want to go, and it will take you there. Don’t let go of the button until you’re there, or you will be stuck in the middle of nowhere forever. You got that?” He asked, handing me the recall device. “Got it.” I replied, taking the device to my hand. “Now you go and get me the chloric acid now. I am trusting you.” “May I ask you one thing before I go?” “Uh, sure, what is it?” “Why don’t you purchase it?” “Uh, err, I have more important things to do. Now be off with you.” He walked away swiftly. Yes! Now that I have the recall device, I can bust out of this joint! Hooray! I held the ball in my hand, pressing the button with my thumb. I was thinking of Main Street. It was pitch black. I couldn’t see anything for awhile, and then I appeared in the center of Main Street. I let go of the button. If I let go of the button while I saw blackness, I would have been stuck there forever! Hmm. I walked down the long street, filled with houses and shops. Chloric acid. What kind of a place sells chloric acid anyway? I saw pottery shops, I saw dress shops, beauty shops, and more, but nowhere did I see a place that came one bit close to chloric acid! Ah, wait. I saw a sign on the wall at the end of Main St. It read: ‘Larry’s Miscellanious Items at 1141 Parker’s Lair’ Ooh. Now that may be a place that sold chloric acid! I quickly ran down the next street looking at the mail boxes, watching the addresses change higher, until finally I reached 1141 Parker’s lair. This is the place. It looked pretty normal. A sign above the door read: ‘Larry’s Miscellaneous Items: Members Only’ What? They have some kind of a club here? I noticed the door had a sliding peephole on it. I knocked on the wooden door three times. The peephole slid to the right quickly, and I saw two beedy eyes staring at me. “Password please.” said the voice. It was a man’s voice. “Uh, I forgot.” I replied. “You forgot? What do you mean you forgot? You’re new here, aren’t you? Come on in, and we’ll give you a test. Wait a minute, you’re a woman! Women aren’t allowed in here, so you can’t join our club! Beat it, lady!” I gasped in surprise. “Well, fine then! Humph!” I left in rage, but paused for a moment. Ah, yes. I thought about Mulan. She dressed like a man to be a warrior to defeat the Huns. I’ll dress like a man, of coarse! I walked to the nearest dress shop and hurried over to the men’s section. I chose a perfect silver day suit. I went to the check out booth, and oh no. Money! I completely forgot. This was a good day suit! It would cost around $500.00! “3 pieces of gold, please.” said the woman from behind the counter. I opened the bag that Dr. Shavan had given me, which was filled with gold. If you want something done, you gotta do it youself. Wait, that phrase doesn’t belong there, does it? I handed her 3 pieces of gold, and she handed me the suit. Well, I’ve got the outfit, now for the hair! I then went to the beauty shop to purchase a man’s wig. 2 pieces of gold. Not bad! Now all I need is a place to change in! I went to the public bathrooms right next to the dress shop. Which one should I go into, men or women? Well, I’m coming out a man, so I should go to the men’s bathroom. But I’m going in a girl, so I should go to the women’s bathroom. Oh well. I went to the women’s bathroom. I changed into the men’s clothes. They smelled funny, like cologne. They were perfect! And I was 5'5, so I would just be a short man! The wig was kind of uncomfortable though. I walked out of the stall, man like and walked out of the bathroom quickly, so no one would see me. Phew! No one did! I hurried over to Larry’s and knocked on the door three times. The peephole slid open. “Yeah, what can I do for you?” I deepend my voice. “Uh, I’d like to take the test to enter the club.” “Sure, come right on in. He opened the door and looked at me, squinted his eyes, and said with a chuckle, “You’d better change those good clothes, if you don’t want them to be ruined.” What was he talking about? The worst I could do would be to sweat on them, though I have never sweat a lot, especially on tests at school. “What kind of test is it? I hope it’s multiple choice.” He looked at me and chuckled again. He went to a wall with clothes hanging from it, and threw a pair to me, I caught them. “Here, you can give them back to me after the test. I’ll be waiting outside. The dressing room is over there.” He pointed to the room behind me. What was going on? I walked towards the dressing room to change. Something really weird was going on. Chapter 14. The clothes were white. I unfolded them, and all it was, was a robe! A fighting robe! What to do? I was a girl! Surely they’d know that if I wore that suit! Well, maybe not. I changed from my day suit, to the fighting robe, and tied the belt around my waste tightly. There were also pants of coarse. I put those on as well. Now I was ready. And no one could tell that I was a girl! Not even me! I just hoped that my wig wouldn’t come off. I walked out of the changing room with a proud smile, awaiting my test. I went outside. It was a nice peaceful place. A smooth rock ground, and a beautiful water fountain in the corner. Lush green plants in the back. “Now is the time for the test.” The man said as he took off his shirt. Hmm. I had a feeling that this test wasn’t going to be on paper. “Get ready. I’ll let you do the first move. To past the test, you must defeat me until I give up. No weapons, just your skills. Start when you’re ready.” He said. Oh no! I am such a weak little person! I couldn’t possibly defeat him! He looked so strong and muscular! Definitely not! I played video games where I had to fight monsters, RPG. I learned a lot of moves. Hmm. One was called, ‘Swan Driver.’ It’s where you kick low once, and punch high three times. Well, here goes nothing. I ran towards the man and kicked him as hard as I could in the lower thigh area. As I kicked, I fell face down on the hard ground. Ouch! What a klutz I must seem to that guy. I thought he would help me up, but he didn’t. Instead he grabbed my leg, and twisted it around! A throbbing pain in my leg, that seemed like a thousand tiny knives jagging in my leg all at once. It felt like I broke a bone! All this for my new enemy, Dr. Shavan? I grabbed the guy’s arm, hoping to swing him around to injure him. Did I? You bet I didn’t. He grabbed my arm, and swung me around his shoulder. Oh no. I saw this move on a wrestling video game once before. Wham! He threw me on he grass. Good thing it wasn’t the rocky ground. “Had enough? Should I call off the test now?” He asked. “What’s your name anyway?” I asked. “Atticus. Now if you want me to stop, I will.” “No, I want to be in this club.” I said as I rammed my head into his chest. Surprisingly, he fell. Yes! I went to where his head was, and pulled his entire leg up, and twisted the lower part of it. A taste of his own medicine! Haha! He jumped up quickly. Man, this guy was tough! He charged for me, but I moved aside just in time. He bumped into the wall! It was quite hilarious. I kept myself from laughing. He stood there in a waiting mode, with his fists out. I decided to do what I had done to Dr. Shavan. Kick him in the place that hurts the most, so I did! He looked down and squinted his eyes. He cleared his throat and said, “You’re in the club.” He put his shirt back on and walked inside. I never thought I could do it. But hey, that move always works! My leg still throbbing with pain, but it was worth it! The room was brown and wooden. It was like a fitness place. Two benches with barbells in front of them and a changing room, and stairs. “Come, err, I didn’t get your name. What is it?” “J-,” Err, I had to think fast. “John.” I replied with a man like smile. “John,” Atticus put out his hand, and I shook it. “You have a good kick. Follow me.” He went up the stairs and I followed. There were small tables everywhere in the room with miscellaneous items on them. “Where’s Larry?” I asked him. “Larry? He uh, died several days ago.” Atticus replied. “Oh, I’m sorry.” I replied solemnly. “That’s quite alright. Now how can I help you?” “Do you sell chloric acid?” “Chloric acid? Why would you want those?” “It’s secretive, I’m sorry.” “Well, yes, we do have chloric acid. It is very dangerous though. If mixed with a water elixir, an explosion of several hundred miles will occur. Oh no. I probably shouldn’t have told you that. I am sorry but I must prohibit you from buying the water elixir.” “What does the water elixir do?” “It restores ones health. But there are more elixirs that I can sell to you that are better than the water elixir. Since I won’t let you buy the water elixir, I’ll let you have something free.” “Really? Thanks! How much does the chloric acid cost?” “14 gold.” “14 gold?” I checked my bag to see if I had enough. I counted the pieces of gold, and there was exactly 14 pieces of gold! “Here’s the amount of gold.” “Hold on.” Atticus said. He walked behind the counter and bent down. He came back to me holding a sealed vile of clear liquid. “Why so little?” “Do not underestimate size! One drop of this stuff could cause a explosion like I said earlier!” “Just one drop?” “Yes! So, I want you to be very careful with that!” “Alright.” I replied. I searched around the shop for my free item. Hmm. What to buy? I saw this weird looking figure that would change shapes every few seconds. First, it would be a sphere, then a square, and then, and triangle! Weird. I wanted to buy it, but I remembered the shopper’s rule: ‘Don’t buy the first thing that you see!’ so I followed that rule. I searched the room, finding nothing that I really wanted. And then I looked on the ground. There was a box filled with items. I looked inside the box. There were books inside of the box. Old and dusty books. I read the titles: ‘Serenity’ was the first book, ‘Voices’ was the second. There were no more books. There were necklaces in the box as well. The box now had one thing left in it. A jewelry box. A wooden jewelry box. I slowly lifted up the cover, there was a cracked mirror inside of the box, and a small, golden, round, pocket watch. It was a bit rusty too. Hmm. I clicked on the button on top of it to open the watch, but it didn’t open. “Ah, you don’t want that old thing! It’s busted! How about that beautiful necklace over here? You can get it for your girl friend.” stated Atticus. Uhhh.. Girl friend? I think not. “No, I want this pocket watch.” I declared. “But why? It’s broken! Not only is it old and rusted, you also can’t tell the time with it! Why do you want it?” I wasn’t sure myself why I wanted that watch, but something inside my mind was just telling me to take it, so I did. “I want it.” I held it in my hand as I got up from the ground, and said, “Thank you. I’ll see you later.” as I went downstairs. I placed the chloric acid and my pocket watch inside the money bag, took out my recall device, and held down the button to return back to Dr. Shavan’s lair. Why you ask? Well, because it’s to advance the plot! I wanted adventure, so the home of it was right there, underground with the mad scientist, Dr. Shavan. Chapter 15. Ah, home at last. I released my press of the recall device, and placed it back inside of my moneybag. I looked at my new pocket watch. I noticed the long gold chain. I placed it around my neck. It was a stylish look to me. Speaking about stylish, I forgot my day clothes! Oh well. I walked towards the crystal and called out, “Dr. Shavan! I am back!” He appeared suddenly. “Good. The chloric acid if you please.” He said with his hand sticking out. I didn’t know if I should give it to him, but heck, I came this far. I handed the vile to him. “Good. Thank you. You have done well.” He said. He turned towards the crystal and pressed the black button. I guess he now didn’t mind if I watched him do the dirty work. He placed the vile in a hole near the crystal once the glass covering went down, and placed his hand on the crystal. He slowly turned into King Drake once again, and he took his hand off of the crystal, which was radiantly glowing. He walked away from the crystal, and snapped his fingers. The transporter then appeared. “I’m off.” He said as he stepped inside and disappeared. Hmm. I stood there waiting. He then reappeared and was his normal self. “Damn! I could have sworn that that was enough power! This needs even more power!” Dr. Shavan was really upset that his plan didn’t work. “Jane! Go to your room at once! I must concentrate!” He said as he pointed to the staircase. I did so, walking up the staircase, down the long hallway, and to my room, closing the door behind me. What was that man up to anyway? I lay on my bad, starring up at the silk of the canopy bed. I gently rubbed my new pocket watch with my hand. Hmm. I sat up in the bed looking at the old antique. Watching it shimmer as I slowly turned it. And then I felt my stomach rumble. “Oh, I wish I had some real food to eat!” I complained while holding onto my watch. It started to glow! Why was my pocket watch glowing? And then a tray of real food appeared in front of me! Woah, cool! On the silver tray, there was a cheeseburger, large french fries, and a coke. A perfect lunch, even though a fattening one. Wow. My pocket watch did this? This old antique? The busted watch that no one wanted? This was my ticket outta this joint! I first decided to eat, to get my strength up, so I did. Yum! Real food! So much tastier than that stupid poisonous food pill! Now that I had my magical pocket watch, nothing could stop me now from leaving this dark abyss, and saving the world! Well, not the world, but the real world from the destruction of evil. I stood up out of my bed and placed my hands on my hips. “It will take the power of strength, courage, bravery, and wisdom, (and a little magic) (make that a lot of magic) but with those, I can use them to fight and defeat the evil doings of Dr. Shavan! And then I will be a hero, yes! And I shall have power! Hahaha! Wait, I’m starting to sound like that deranged Dr.Shavan. I shall stop.” I said, dropping my hands back at my sides. But with my new pocket watch, I knew that I would have amazing powers. Oh yeah. Chapter 16. I decided to get some rest. Super heroes don’t just go off fighting a villain, well some do. But I needed a plan. A plan to stop this phycho maniac from destruction. But I couldn’t rest. I had so many things on my mind now. My new world, my new home, my new life. At least it wasn’t boring. It was more like one of those video games that you want to finish, but you’re to scared to go on. You know? Nevermind. I wish that there were some windows down here, but all that window would lead to, would be the dirt of the underground. I wonder how Dr. Shavan built this underground laboratory. How could he dig as deep as a mile? He must have been crazy to do that! Or maybe he had someone or something to dig and built it for him. Maybe I should ask him. Yes. I walked to my door and opened it slowly, hoping that it wouldn’t creak. I saw Dr. Shavan sitting down at a small table. He looked pretty frustrated. His head, dripping with persperation, held by his two large hands resting on the table. I walked down the hallway and down the stairs. Closer and closer to him. “Dr. Shavan?” I asked. He turned around as quick as lightning. “What is it, Jane?” He asked. “Uh, how did you, um, build this underground laboratory?” I asked with my cocked head. “Well, er, why do you want to know? And I thought that I told you to stay in your room!” He shouted. Well, he was definately keeping something from me. He was a very suspicious character I realized. A long time ago. “Why must I stay in my room?” I asked. He stood up and twisted his head to the side. “Because it is your new room now, and you will obey by my rules!” He yelled. Some explanation. “O-kay. Well, um, I think I should be running along now,” I gave a little laugh. “Yeah. You uh, just do what you were doing before I came down here, uh, Doctor.” I was backing up as I spoke. “Wait,” He called out. “I have a little erran for you to do.” “Yes?” I straightened out my back. “I want you to go to the marketplace and get me some booze.” “Booze, sir?” I asked. Gee, I hope he wasn’t that deppressed to resort to alchol. “Yes booze! Don’t ask, just get it!” He snapped. “But aren’t I a little too young to get an alcholic item?” I asked in a meek voice. “Just do as I tell you!” He yelled. “Uh, yes sir.” I took out my recall device and clicked on the tiny red button to travel to the marketplace once again. Chapter 17. I’d go to the same place that I went to, to get the chloric acid. Oh no. I forgot that I needed to dress like a man. Hey, why dress like a man, being a female, when you can actually be a man? I forgot all about my new pocket watch! I’m powerful! I could even just make the booze appear! But, why do that when I could have adventure? I mean, if everyone had a magical pocket watch that did everything for them, life would be totally boring! I’m just going to use this baby when I really have to. Or just when I’m hungry. Haha. I held my pocket watch in hand, and walked to a corner where I was unseen. I thought about being a man. The man I only half looked like when I dressed like a man, but more real. A real man. Seconds later, I was that man. Ta-da! Gender change in only seconds! Come one, come all, homsexuals! Now you can get your free gender change! Brought to you by Jane Wilson! Er, John. Yeah, that’s right. John Marshall. Ah, that name fits perfectly. I strolled down the street in my men’s ware, nodding my head to all of the beautiful women, like men do, and saying, ‘Hello’ and ‘Good day to you’ to all of the other men in suits. I finally reached Larry’s Miscellanious Items, knocking the wooden door thrice. “Is that you, John?” Atticus asked. “Yeah.” I replied. He opened the door. “Hey!” He replied. “Hi! I’d like to buy some booze.” I said. “Booze? You didn’t look like the kind of man who’d drink.” “No, I’m getting it for a friend.” “Sure you are. Right.” “Yeah.” Atticus walked to a shelf by the stairs which had various bottles of liquir on it. He bent down and grabbed a small bottle of booze, and handed it to me. “4 gold.” He said. I realized that I had no money with me, so I grabbed my pocket watch and thought of four gold in my money bag. I reached into my moneybag and handed him the gold. “Here you go.” I said. “Thankyou.” “Hey, how come no one ever comes around here, anyway?” “Well, ever since Larry died, everyone just stopped coming. Larry was a very good person. Funny too.” “Oh.” “Yeah. Well, what’s your story?” “Er, my story?” “Yeah. Everybody has a story to tell.” “Um, well, I just don’t know where to start.” I didn’t even know the name of the towns here! “Well, start off by where you grew up.” “Uh, here.” “Here, okay. Then uh, what are your goals in life?” “My goals. Well,” My goal is to save this world from destruction by Dr. Shavan, the mad scientist! Nah, he wouldn’t belive that. “My goal is to be a rich man, married to a beautiful woman and have two kids.” “I think that’s every man’s goal.” “Well, yeah but, I was always not one for originality. Heh heh.” “Well, it’s alright if you do not wish to share your dreams with me. I do not wish to share mine either.” He then got up from his chair and walked by the window. He stared aimlessly out of it. He seemed sad. I wondered why. And then suddenly, I knew. He looked so lonely. All alone everyday. It seemed as though I was his only friend. I then realized that the time passed right by.“Um, Atticus?” He turned around smiling. I could tell that he was faking it, no doubt. “Yes?” He replied. “I kind of need to go now.” “Alright. Be my guest.” “Bye.” “Until we meet again.” I left the old brown building with my booze, or should I say, Dr. Shavan’s booze. Chapter 18. I took out my recall device, and almost pressed it, but then I realized that I was still a man! I couldn’t return to the ol’ cave as a man! So I held my pocket watch and thought about being my old boring self again. And I turned back into plain Jane. Hey, that name sort of fits me, doesn’t it; Plain Jane. I then used my recall device to return back to the cave. Dudududududududu Batman! To the batcave I would go! I then appeared in the cave with the booze. “Ah, you’ve returned,” exclaimed Dr. Shavan. He looked more pleasant than before. How joyful he looked. How exquisite in his fine suit was he! How-“Now give me the booze before I take it myself, including your hands!” Woah. What kind of remark was that? I gave him the booze with an alarmed face, my eyes darting around the room. “Ah… At last! Thank you again.” Said Dr. Shavan. “Um, if you don’t mind me asking, um, why don’t you go out to the marketplace yourself?” I asked. “Go to the marketplace myself?” “Um, yeah.” “Because I don’t want to get-… It’s none of your business anyway!” “No, really. You don’t want to get what?” “Nothing! Now please leave me! I must work on this!” yelled Dr. Shavan.” “Fine already!” I marched upstairs to my room and slammed the door. I sat on my bed. What was he going to do? I had to know…But I couldn’t go down there, or he would just tell me to leave…Oh! I know! I got out my pocket watch and held it tight, and began thinking of a tiny rat, outside of my room. I closed my eyes… When I opened them, I felt so tiny. The room looked gigantic! I could only see what was directly ahead of me, and feel the floor that was ever so cold. I then had a new idea. Becoming invisible! Now that was a good idea. Luckily, I was wearing my pocket watch around my neck, so I could turn invisible then and there. I thought about turning invisible, and I did. I ran down the stairs feeling as free as a bird. It felt extremly weird not seeing myself at all. Have you ever like not seen yourself at all? Not your hands, body, legs, feet, nothing? But everything else? No, I don’t think so. This feeling was the weirdest feeling I have ever felt! I glided on the floor, feeling like an angel, and saw Dr. Shavan with the booze. He held it in his hands, and he walked towards the crystal. I could see the cork stuck tightly in the bottle. He stared at the bottle of booze, and, what? What the heck? The-the cork! It’s gone! How did he do that? I could hear him chuckling and saying, “Shavan, you old devil, you still have the touch!” “Wha-what touch? How did he get that power? I was shocked. Somehow, I knew that his power and my pocket watch were mysteriously connected in some way. He pushed the black button on the pedestal, and the glass opened. The crystal magically glowing. He poured some of the booze inside of the vile that contained the chloric acid in it. The crystal now glowed more rapidly then ever! Sparks started to fly from the crystal. Dr. Shavan madly laughed. “The world will soon be mine!” Classic badguy line, if I do say myself. He then placed his two hands on the button and slowly turned in King Drake. He snapped his fingers and the transporter appeared. He stepped inside. I ran inside just in time for it to close. Chapter 19. The portal appeared inside of the thrownroom. Dr. Shavan stepped out disguised as King Drake. The guards were standing by the door, and stared at Dr. Shavan suspiciously, and murmured amonsgest themselves, until they finally got the smarts to go over to Dr. Shavan and to arrest him. Just when I thought that I was going to see Dr. Shavan in his prison uniform, I heard the guard say, “Your majesty! You have a transporter! How grand!” Oh my god. How stupid can he be? “Yes, a very good transporter as a matter of fact. Now please move out of the way.” Replied Dr. Shavan as he walked around his new throneroom. Man, where’s the real King Drake anyway? Isn’t he supposed to be here? Wait a minute. What is that? Dr. Shavan slowly pulled out something from his left pocket. What the heck is that? Is that a-Yes it is! It’s a miniature of King Drake! But could that be the real King Drake? Tha-that miniature? What is he doing with that thing? “I want to show you a little something,” Said Dr. Shavan again. He pulled out another thing from his right pocket. It was an amethyst. What was Dr. Shavan doing with an amethyst? “Look at my beautiful amethyst.” “Wow. That is beautiful.” Replied the guard as he looked deeply into the ame-Oh my god! What’s happening? The entire room froze. The guard still standing there, looking at the amethyst. The other guard standing in front of the throneroom door in the middle of a long yawn. Me, having no idea what was going on. And Dr. Shavan, now again, as himself, laughing evily. “All is going as planned. The world will be in the palm of my hands!” I just had to do something! So I decided to turn uninvisible. Wait. Where’s my pocketwatch? Oh no! Did that turn invisible too? No! I saw it before on my invisible self! What the! I searched around the room. Perhaps I dropped it. Oh my god. I was feeling so frantic, I felt like vomitting. Where is it? I don’t want to stay invisible forever! I’ve got a very important job to do! I have the most important job of them all! To save the world from the destruction of Dr. Shavan! Now where the heck is it? And that was when I saw it. Around the old Doctor’s neck, was MY pocketwatch! Not his pocketwatch! MY pocketwatch! Mymymy! You hear me? And it was going to be a sintch to steal it from him. Wait, not steal take back. I casually strolled down by him. He was sitting on his new throne, daydreaming about his evil plans, no doubt. And I placed my right fingertips onto the pocketwatch. I had to take it off of him very gently.Right when I clutched it, he grabbed my arm! Oh my god! How did he see me? How did he feel me? I looked down, and saw my body. Holy Sh-“Ah, you’re here. I knew you would be.” “Um, haha. Uh, how? I mean, um really? I’m here? Um, er, this is all a dream. Nothing you see is real.” “You know what I’m talking about.” “This is only a test. I repeat, this is only a test. BEEEEEEEEEE!” “Shut up already, will you?!” “Fine! Geez!” I tried to take my arm out of Dr. Shavan’s grasp, but I couldn’t. My arm was in so much pain! Well that was probably since the blood in my arm wasn’t circulating anymore. “I knew that you were here ever since I got into my transporter.” “Bu-but how?” “I found the Breudeux of Sador lying on the floor.” “The Brewjuice of somemore?” “No, you ignorant teenager! The Breudeux of Sador!” “What’s that?” “Or what you would call a pocketwatch.” “My pocketwatch? The brooduce of suhdor?” “Yes!” “But why didn’t you stop me?” “Because I wanted to see you react to what has happened.” “What?” “Nevermind. You are too ignorant to understand. Anyway, I’ve seen what I wanted to see, and now I am afraid that I must do something to you.” “What? Kill me? I know too much or something?” “Exactly. I’d like to first know where you got this pocketwatch.” “I am not telling you! But if I do, will you let me go?” “Perhaps. Tell me or you’ll die for sure!” His clutch of my arm was getting harder. My arm was almost pue white! “I got it from this store!” “Where?” “Um, Larry’s!” “Larry’s?” “Yes! The same place where I got the chloric acid and the booze!” “Ah, that Larry’s. Thank you.” “Now, will you let go of my arm?” “No!” “Bu-” “There’s something strangly odd about you.” “Strangly odd…hmm.” “You do not act like the other kid around here.” “Oh, and why would you say that?” “You are clever. Much more clever than I was at your age.” “Ah well, that’s very sweet. Now that we’ve had our little compliments said, can you please let go of my arm right now?” “Alright.” Said Dr. Shavan as he let go of my pale arm that was throbbing with pain. “Thankyou!” I replied. Oh no. I blinked, and what to my wondering eyes, what should appear? But a glass surrounding me, and a pain in the rear. “There. I had to sustain you somehow. Oh, and I thank you so much again for dropping the Breudeux of Sador. You have been a very good apprentice and helper to me. For I have taught you well. Hehehe…” Oh god. What a mess I’m in now. From saving the world from the destruction of Dr. Shavan, I pushed him a million miles closer to victory. The end of the world! But hey, this was pretty cool, you have to admit. Even though the situation sucked big time, it was a pretty good background, don’t you think? Anyway, I was thinking about the movies and how completely stupid the victims act in scary situations. And in this case, I use the word scary loosely. Well, the people act very stupid, and end up getting themselves killed or something. And I always wanted to do something outrageously funny to the villain, like oh I don’t know. Say, “Hey Dr. Shavan.” I said in a seducted way. “What, um, do you want? I am trying to plan out my attack!” “Why plan out yoru attack when you could do something better?” “Better? What’s better than sneaky planning?” “Oh, don’t act so modest. I want you.” “What?” “Don’t try to hide it. You know that you are handsome. In fact the most handsome man I have ever met.” “Oh really? Go on.” “And you are so smart and well educated. Oh so safisticated. And how old are you? Twenty?” “hahaha. I do look 20, don’t I?” “Or perhaps younger. Oh god! I can’t wait anymore! I have been hiding this all of this time, but now I just can’t stand it! Take me in your arms!” The glass of my cell went up. Oh yeah. This was going to get interesting. And no, don’t even go there! I am NOT and I repeat NOT really in love with Dr. Shavan! How sick! You have a sick mind to be thinking that, geez! Oh my god. He was walking really fast towards me. I wasn’t quite ready for that. “Come here!” Oh my god! Man, male hormones sure do act quickly, don’t they. I slowly backed up and said, “Um, girls like it slow.” What was I talking about? “Well I don’t! I thought that you said you wanted me!” “I um, do!” Well, it was now time to make my move. I would hug him or something and steal the brewjuice of somemore, whatever. I was goig to get my pocketwatch back! “Come here!” he stated in an excited way. “Oh yeah!” I said in a fake way. I ran up to him and hugged him. He was kissing my neck. Eww! Hnow how sick can you get? Sloppy wet kisses from a 50year old sex maniac who wants to rule the world isn’t exactly what I would call “fun.” He still was kissing me, and I was hugging him, and well, it was pretty hard for me to reach my pocketwatch from here. Oh no! He touched my-“Hey!” I exclaimed. Oh oh. That was a bad mood. Good thing he didn’t hear it. He was carrying me and taking me somewhere. Where? I do not know. Wait a second. I DO know., Oh my god. I am not about to be raped by a 50 year old man. I have to do something! Think Jane, think! Wait. When people have sex, don’t they take off EVERYTHING? Wait. I am NOT going to see Dr. Shavan without his clothes on. Now THAT is a very sick thought! He took me to a what? A library?! Why did he take me to a library? Do books turn him on or something? He placed me on a bookshelf. A bookshelf? Now that was weird. Woah, it’s high up here. And it seemed as though it were getting higher! I looked down and I saw sparks fly! Wait. Wasn’t that suppossed to happen here, instead of down there? And he appeared right in front of me! “Hello precious.” Precious? Hmm. Well, better play along. “Hello babydoll. How are you?” “Here.” Dr. Shavan said as he handed me my Pocketwatch! Oh my god! Why did he do that? Maybe a change of heart perhaps? “Why the sudden change?” “Keep it as a rememberance of me. I would love to stay with you babe, but I’ve got a world to take charge of! Hahaha!” But didn’t he need the pocketwatch to destroy the world? “I will be back, and we can celebrate with a bottle of champagne with my victory of taking charge of the world! And then you can fully have me.” Ha. Fully have him. What fun. Well, with the pocketwatch back, I’m going to stop him! So haha to him! “Bye!” stated Dr. Shavan as he gave me another kiss. What was that guy up to anyway? Well, at least I have my pocketwatch back. Dr. Shavan then disappeared. I held it close to me, and thought about turning into a huge moster, like godzilla. I closed my eyes tightly. I slowly opened my eyes, and I was still where I was, on top of a stupid dusty bookshelf 50 feet high. As myself. He must’ve transported the power from the pocketwatch to him somehow. And that was what the sparks down there were for. The transition of the power from the pocketwatch to Dr. Shavan! But how am I supposed to save the world now? I’m all alone, no power, 50 feet high in a library, that’s killing my alergies! Hachoo! I didn’t know what to do, so I clutched my pocketwatch and jumped. Don’t call me stupid, nor crazy! Because you would probably do the same thing too! Oh, sure, say that you wouldn’t, but I know that you would. I jumped. The air pressure ripping my face as I was plundering down the floor of the old library. Well, for my last moment, I guess that I would say thank you because what has happened within the past few days were not boring at all, but very fun and interesting. And it would be a pretty cool way to end one’s life. I probably experienced ten livetimes in those past few days. Well, ten adventurous lifetimes. Oh my god, I’m almost near the ground. I love you God! I am sorry for all of my sins! BOOM! … Chapter 20. My eyes were closed. My back really hurt. But the most pain was in my lumbago. Woo-whee! Did that hurt! But wait. Why was I still alive? I tried to get up, but I couldn’t. My neck was hurt very badly. I twisted my head to the right to see where I was, and I heard a cracking sound. I slowly opened my eyes. My vision was blurry. I could just see that it was bright. “Jane!” cried out a man. Oh no. Was that Dr. Shavan again? “Jane sweety! Are you alright?” Or could it possibly be my father? I was lifted up by someone. The person was warm and strong. I was shivvering, and the warmth felt good. “Jane, are you alright?” It was my father. Was all that I experienced a dream? I still coulcn’t see anything. I felt so light-headed I just fainted in his arms. I opened my eyes again, and I was back in the library. Woah. What just happened here? I looked around on the ground to see if there was any blood whatsoever, and there wasn’t. Well that’s good. I opened up my right palm to see my pocketwatch. It was still there, but it wasn’t doing much for me. I clutched it once again and thought about being godzilla. I opened my eyes again to find that nothing happened. I felt like an idiot. Wait a second. I feel very useless without this magic, but I can save the world without magic, can’t I? Heh heh. Okay, guess not. But it’s at least worth a try! Wait a minute. I woke up in my real life a few minutes ago! So this is all a dream, right? And in a dream you can do anything right? I thought about being godzilla again, but this time with more thought than the last. Think Judy. Godzilla. … Well, still nothing happened! Why? Isn’t this a dream? Or maybe a nightmare! Well, either one, I’ve got to get out of here! I’m tired of this place now! I now think of what that little munchkin said to me about once I come into the real world I can never get out. I shouldn’t have come here. Well, I am still going to try to save the world. I walked out of the library and into the throneroom. I walked until I was out of the castle. It was really dark outside. Oh my god! What is wrong out here? I saw lightning bolts streak the sky every 5 seconds. I saw no people around the castle. No animals, no one. All I could see in the town that once was filled with the happy cries of small children running around chasing the chickens and the townspeople’s bustling throughout it, was rubble lying on the ground. It was not a pretty sight. I got out of there as fast as I could. Out of the place that once looked like a peaceful town from a fairytale. As I exited the town, I entered a huge field. The trees that were once filled with luscious fruits, were now nothing but a thin pole with twigs sprouting out from it. I started to cry. Something inside of me just impulsed me to cry. I didn’t know what to do. Why didn’t I just use my pocketwatch to get rid of Dr. Shavan right when I knew that it contained powers? Why did I not do that? Oh yeah. Because I wanted adventure. Well this is not adventure! This is torture! Pure torture! I went down on my knees and started to cry again. BREWAWARGH! What was that? I looked up and saw a tree no more than 10 feet away from me that was just struck from lightning. It was burning red hot flames. I started to feel the presence of its heat and got up quickly. What the heck? Thank you lord for not hitting me! Wait a minute. I wanted it to hit me! Hey God! I thought you were on my side! It’s not safe here! I’m going back into the- Before I could finish my train of thought, I saw it. It was monsterously huge, and as dark as night. I had never seen it before. It must’ve been conjured up by that nut, Dr. Shavan. His castle. It wasn’t very far from where I was standing, and hey, I was looking for a suicide job, so I advanced towards it. More lightning bolts struck trees, faster and faster. I could feel that he knew I was coming. I began to run to the castle. I was actually sort of excited. I mean, wouldn’t you be? To run through dangerous fields filled with lightning bolts that can strike and kill you at any second? Running to a castle filled with nightmares and adventures? Only if you were on drugs and felt light-headed anyway? What kind of answer is that? Oh well. I was almost there. Just a few more steps. Ah, I am finally at the castle of doom. I slowly lifted up my hand to open the door, but I was surprised to see that it opened itself. I quickly put down my hand in surprise. I looked inside. Nothing to the right, nothing to the left, the coast was pretty much clear. The floor was adorned with red carpetting with what looked to be pure gold trimmings on the sides. I slowly walked in. The door quickly slammed behind me. Cool. “How very classic you are, Dr. Shavan!” I said. I didn’t care about being quiet. He knows I’m here. Heck, he even opened the door for me! “Nice crib ya have hea!” I said once more. I entered the main room. There were stairs on both sides, and a gigantic chandeliar on the ceiling. I expected a little something creepier. But this place is nice! I could live here. I nodded my head as I looked both sides. I skipped as I went up to the stairs on the right. I started to skip up the stairs, but was stopped by a flying knife. It went just barely above my head. Oh, my God. I quickly turned around, nothing. I looked to my right, nothing. I looked to my left, nothing. I started to breathe heavily. Oh my god. What the heck was that? That flying knife had to come from somewhere! But where? And that was when I realized it. Dr. Shavan was invisible. And he had been following me all along. The lightning bolts, the opening of the door, and now the knife. I turned around and said, “I know you’re here, Dr. Shavan. Show yourself to me!” Nothing happened. “Now!” Still nothing happened. Still bretahing heavily, I looked around the room somemore. I gave up on that, and started to walk up the stairs again. This time more custiously. What? You say that you thought I wanted to die? Well yeah, but not like this! I mean, I want to at least advance towards the main plot for crying out loud! When I finished the stairs, I noticed a large door, with gigantic knockers. And no, I am not talking about breasts. The door was black, unlike the other items inside of the castle. I tried to push it, but it wouldn’t budge at all. I then started to pound on it screaming, “Open the fricken door! Come on you dumbass!” The only thing that happened after that, was my hand that was filled with pain from pounding so hard. I then tried to lift up one of those knockers and dropped it. I slowly walked back. The door started to shake. Holy spit! This thing was gonna blow! I jumped down the staircase, just like James Bond, hoping to land perfectly on my feet, but I didn’t. Well, I did, for a second, but fell flat on my face. Ow, that hurt, a lot. But my arms slowly pushed me up to I would actually see what was happening. The door was still shaking, along with the floor of that level. I then heard the evil sound of Dr. Shavan’s laugh, getting louder and louder. So loud, that I couldn’t even hear the deafaning sound of the door rattling. “Dr. Shavan!” I said in a meek voice trying to sound brave. Just then, the rattling stopped. The laughing died. I walked up the stairs once again to investigate the door. Right when I reached the top, the door opened. Man, what is this? Just get to the point! I mean, all of this is just too predictable! “Dr. Shavan! Just show yourself already!” I shouted, as I was looking up, not even paying any mind to what was in front of me. “Come on now doctor! Cut the act! Just stop!” As I finished my demanding sentence, I slowly looked down with a punkish grin, but that grin turned into a face of terror. Holy spit! My eyes turned into large golf balls. For what I saw was unimaginable to human eyes! The most ugliest and scariest creature of them all! You don’t want me to discribe what it looked like, believe me. Because if I did, you would probably puke. I know because I did. Right in front of that scary sight. Blech Ew, I can’t believe I just did that! I looked up once more at that hideous sight again. Eh, now I know why! I puked again. “Jane? Why are you vomitting? Isn’t this what you wanted?” asked Dr. Shavan. And yes, you guessed it. He was the most disgusting sight that I have ever seen. Try look at an insane 50 year old man naked! Wait a minute. Don’t try to look at an insane 50 year old man naked! It’ll give you nightmares! “Ew, put some clothes on!” I said, turning my face away. He then appeared in front of me. I prayed to God that he would have everything on. Phew! Thank you God! I now know that you’re still here! He had his clothes on. “Why did you do that?” I asked. “You said that you wanted me!” “I meant I wanted your mind! Your intellect!” “Well, now you tell me!” “And your power!” “My power? So is that all you wanted from me?” Oh oh. Big mistake. Why on Earth did I do that? “Um, we can rule the world together! You and I!” I excalimed. “No, I am not an idiot,” Sure you aren’t. “I will rule it all to myself.” “What about that foodpill of yours?” “I don’t need it!” “Oh you don’t, eh?” “No, because I have the Breudeux of Sador!” “Where are all of the townspeople?” “Why should I answer you?” “Because I need to know!” Just then, he slowly walked aroud the room, stroking his small beard. “Alright. I’ll tell you. I have them locked up in my dungeon.” “All of them?” “Yes all of them! I have the Breudeux of Sador remember? Or are you too focused on saving the world from destruction from me, Dr. Shavan?” I gasped. How could he possibly know that? And the phrase as well? “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to, Jane Wilson.” I was speechless. He started to walk towards me. “Bu-but why did you let it go on? You have the brewdoo of sador!” I asked. “Oh Jane, Jane, Jane. Why else? You wanted adventure, didn’t you? And I gave it to you.” “Huh?” “Answer my question! Did you, or did you not want adventure?” “I-I did.” “And I gave it to you! See how much I care for you?” “ca-care?” He started to laugh. What was this man up to? I didn’t understand him at all! “It’s been fun for me to watch you grow. You are wiser now.” “Wa-watch me grow?” This guy was sick! “Yes. You are now wiser. Cunning. A mini me.” Mini Dr. Shavan? Now that was a sick thought! No I wasn’t, I’m good! He’s evil! “Now I have two questions for you.” “What are they?” “Do you want the world to end, or do you want it to go on?” “I want it to go on! What’s the next question?” “Do you want the world to be ruled by evil, or do you want it to be ruled by good?” “To be ruled by good, what else?” “I am sorry, but one of those answers is incorrect.” “What?” “The world cannot still be going, and be ruled by good at the same time!” “What do you mean?” “It is now going, is it not?” “Yes, it is!” “And who is running it? Good or evil?” “Evil.” “Yes, and the world will never be runned by good. Not anymore.” “Yes it will! How can you be so sure of that?” “Shut up! I could kill you in a second flat if I wanted to, so you had better watch what you say before my presence!” “Okay, okay!” “And since you wanted it to be runned by good, you shall die.” “What? Why?” “Don’t you get it? You can’t win!” “What?” “Nothing that you do now, can let you win! I am sorry Jane Wilson, but I guess you’ll just have to learn the hard way!” “Wait!” “What?” “Can I ask you one more question?” “What is it?” “Where is all of your power? How did you get it to you from the pocketwatch, er, brewdoo of sador?” “Where else? From the crystal!” “In the library?” “I transported it from the cave to the library!” “How?” “With the Breudeux of Sador!” “Oh, I see. And the crystal is still in there?” “Yes it is, but you can’t get it now! It would take you at least an hour to get there from here! And I have got you right where I want you.” He’s right. I couldn’t go there…By foot. However, I remembered that I still had my, dundundun! My recall device! I slowly reached in my moneybag to get it while I talked. “Well, yes, you’re right. Kill me. Kill me right now!” “Alright. But the world would have been so much better with you as my little apprentice. It would be fun. And adventurous! Did you not want that?” “Not anymore. Kill me!” Yes! I found it! I would press it to go to the library. “Kill me now!” I pressed it, and thought of the library. And I was there. I saw the crystal radiantly glowing. I lifted up my hand slowly, and cautisously. I touched it quickly, and backed my hand away from it. My hand started to glow. The glowing stopped after about five seconds. I tightly closed my fist, and released my clutch. I once again raised my hand to put on the crystal. Slowly raising my hand to the crystal. I could feel the warmth of the glowing crystal, which possesed the powers of the pocketwatch. I barely touched it with my middle finger, when my arm was grabbed by that insane doctor, Dr. Shavan! Ahh! “I knew that you would do that!” And with a flash of his right hand, strong winds came out and threw me to the wall. My bones felt so weak. I began to cry. It was hard for me to breathe. I guess that this was the end. “See what you made me do? I really didn’t want to do that, but you made me do it. I am really a caring and compassionate man! I-” I couldn’t really hear what he was saying. I didn’t want to hear what he was saying, frankly, I didn’t even care. It was all a bunch of crap anyway. So this was it. This is how it is to die. “Good…bye Doctor.” I slowly said. My head dropped. This was the end. I didn’t save the world after all. I wouldn’t be made into a hero. The world will now be ruled under Dr. Shavan. Lying there on the cold, hard floor of the library, I began to think of life once again, since I knew that mine would end soon. All lives seem tedious at times, but there’s always those exciting moments. That’s what makes us ourselves; those little incidents that happen to us along the way. They shape our true character. And life isn’t quite so boring after you look at things like that. My life is going to end soon. I would like to thank God for letting me learn this lesson, even though I am going to have to die from it…But wait, why am I not dying? Why am I not dead yet? I opened my eyes slowly, and saw Dr., Shavan sitting down on a chair, stroking his beard. I tried to get up, and it was a success! I wasn’t going to let the world be runned by a maniac! I was going to live! I placed my right hand on the crystal. My hand started to radiantly glow. And the glow slowly ascended up my arm, and throughout my body. I started to shiver. I could feel electricity going up and down my spine, and throughout my arms and legs. And then tiny sparks started to fly. Just like when Dr. Shavan touched it! Oh no. Speak of the devil! He turned around! “What in Hell’s name?” The crystal was shaking like crazy! “Hey! It’s not supposed to do that!” Exclaimed Dr. Shavan. I grabbed my pocketwatch, and rose it in the air. Don’t ask me why, it just felt appropriate!And the glowing in my body rose up to the pocketwatch! “Ah! What are you doing Jane?” yelled Dr. Shavan. Woah. That was werid. Dr. Shavan started to glow as well! And all of the glowing soared into the pocketwatch. The crystal was now really shaking. It was going to explode. “Give me the recall device now, Jane!” Yelled Dr. Shavan. “Why should I? And don’t you have your transporter?” “No! You took it away from me when you stole my power! Now give it to me!” He demanded. Hey, I felt sorry for the poor guy, so I gave it to him. “Haha! I’ll see you later! And I will rule the world!” He pressed the recall device. “Wait! I need to ask you something!” I persisted. “What?” I heard his voice, but I didn’t see him. Wait a minue. Why couldn’t I see him? Oh, I know. I remembered when he said if you release your grip with the recall device, you would be trapped in the middle of nowhere forever. “Um, how does it feel to be in the middle of nowhere?” “Oh crap! Jane Wilson! You –” All that was said after that was a whole lot of cussing. And his voice got softer and softer. The last words I heard him say were, “You’ll be sorry for this one day! Just you wait!” And I never heard or seen him ever again. I held the pocketwatch still in my hand. I wished for the land to be returned back to normal. And I closed my eyes. I clutched onto the pocketwatch tightly, thinking about the town back to normal. And when I opened my eyes, I was in the middle of town, in front of Larry’s Miscellanious items, the pocketwatch, still in hand. The town was as beautiful as ever. Looking at the small shop, I started to think about Atticus and I. We had a very dishonest relationship. I just had to tell him the truth about me. So I knocked on the door, as myself. No sex changes here. And the peep hole slid open. “What do you want? The sign on the door says no girls!” Said Atticus. Gee, he didn’t seem like himself. “Why don’t you let girls in anyway? They’re the same as boys, except with a different sex organ!” He opened the door. “I suppose that you’re right.” He said with a fake smile. “Do you know who John Marshall is?” I asked. “Why, yes I do! Are you his sister or something?” He asked. “I am him. I turned into him because you wouldn’t let the real me inside.” “What?” “You said that no girls were allowed, so I changed into John Marshall.” “Bu-But how?” “With this broken old pocketwatch.” I said as I lifted up my pocketwatch. “Oh my God!” Atticus exclaimed. I then went inside and explained what had happened to me. That night, he let me sleep in the guestroom that smelled of cedar. As I was going to sleep, I began to think about my real life. Not this life that I only experienced for a week! So, who cares if I was in a bad point of my real life? I know that in a few days later after that little incident, things would return back to normal! And I could be a carefree kid again! And no more huge responsibilities like saving the world. But I really wish that I could go back to that same day, but from the point where I wake up. In my own, warm, comfortable bed. Safe from harm, with my loving mother calling me to wake up. I started to cry. I miss her so much. I used to hate it when she would wake me up. But I realized that she was helping me a lot, so that I wouldn’t have to wake my own self up in the mornings, and get a demerit for being late. Oh, if only I could go back to my room once again! I could change my whole day around! If only. Chapter 21. I tightly held onto my pocketwatch. And closed my eyes to sleep. That night, I had no dreams. I woke up the next morning. My bed felt a little bit different, and it no longer smelt like cedar. And an amazing thing happened. As I opened my eyes, I was in my bedroom! My own bedroom! Oh my god! I quickly got up from my bed and jumped up and down. Oh my god! I was screaming for joy. I heard a knock at the door, “Jane dear, are you alright?” It was my sweet and loving mother. I went up to her and kissed her twice, one on each cheek, and said, “Oh, I love you mother!” And she replied with, “Jane, are you feeling alright?” “I have never felt better in my life!” I figured that what I experience was some kind of dream, some kind of sign. “I just had the most amazing dream! But it’s too long to explain to you.” “Oh, alright dear. Well, get dressed! School is about to start in half an hour!” “Alright mother! Bye! I love you!” “I love you too, Jane.” Replied my mother. I felt great! One, because all of that was just a dream, no PTA meeting, no broken neck, and two, that I had learned a very valuable lesson, several actually. Time: It goes as slow as a slug for the impatient, and for the rushed, time is as fast as one of the running antelope. I guess that I was the impatient type. I always wanted action. But too much action isn’t good. I need sometime to rest. Besides, I had daily activities. I went to my closet to find a dress to wear. But first I would take off my pajamas. When I rose my arms up to take them off, something fell down. Now what was that? I put my hands back down, and looked on the floor. What in God’s name? It was the pocketwatch. Or the brewjuice of sador! But-how-Why-I-I did not know what to say or do. I bent down to pick it up. I stared at it. I turned my hand to get a better look at this mysterious item. It shimmered, as every other gold item would, but the pcketwatch gave off a special kind of shimmer. I was too afraid to wish for something. I swore that it was cursed. I glanced at it once more, and placed it on my shelf. Even though it did bring be back here, it caused so much damage back in the real world. I found a small jewelry box that I never used, and placed the pocketwatch in there. And I would never use it again, until I really had to, or if I felt adventurous. But from that day on, I never used it again. Chapter 22. I still remember what had happened those 24 years ago, as if it just happened yesterday. Right now, staring at my old pocketwatch, I can remember the things that came out of having it. The things that I should’ve done with it, the things that I shouldn’t have done with it, and the outcome that it had brought me to. I was a naïve, brave, and adventurous kid back then. I now know how to take things in a more serious manner, and not to be so daring. Because if I didn’t get up that day when Dr. Shavan had damaged my lungs by throwing me to the wall with a strong gust of wind, I would be dead, and not experience all of these other great things in life. And so Nicole, I finally have told you the story about the pocketwatch. Now please promise me that you will never use this, but only in an emergency. “I promise. But not to go off to France when I’m bored to death in math class?” Nicole asked. “No!” “Aw mom! Come on!” “No, I am sorry.” “Well, alright.” “Now I need to get going. Your father asked me if I could help him with cooking the turkey for Thanksgiving.” “Oh, alright. Bye mom!” “Now Nicole, I am trusting you to not touch that pocketwatch!” “Yes, alright. Bye!” “Bye.” Nicole walked over to the shelf and opened up the jewelrybox and placed the pocketwatch in her hand. “I’m not going to do anything with it. I’m only looking at it!” She studied it, and tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge. “Hmm. That’s weird.” Nicole said. “That was so cool how my mom actually did all of those funny things in the past! I wish that I could relive her life! That would be so cool! Oh well.” Just then, the pocketwatch started to glow. Nicole put it back inside of the jewelrybox. And the pocketwatch stopped glowing. Who knows what would have happened if Nicole did not put away the watch in time?
