Chapter 1

It was crowded in the cafeteria on Monday.  Everyone was talking loud to each other, it sounded like a bunch of screaming.  David and Sara were sitting next to each other at the table near the center of the room.  They couldn’t hear each other talk above all of the noise, so they decided to walk to the library.  They sit down in a nice quit place and start to quietly talk to each other.

“So, how did it go yesterday when you got home?” David asked Sara.

            “David, I don’t really want to talk about it right now.” Sara replied.

            “I’m just worried about you.  I notice you have another bruise.  Sara, where did it come from?”

            “My dad got drunk again last night.” She said in a very quiet, sad whisper.

            “Sara, you need to tell someone.  I don’t want you to get hurt anymore.  I love you too much to watch you go through this.”

“I know you love me David, I love you too.  But it’s starting to get better at my house, please believe me.”

            “Sara, how can you tell me it’s getting better when…?”

            The bell rings and David stops talking.  Sara sighs in relief because she really didn’t want to get into the subject.

            “I’ll see you tomorrow David.”

            “Yeah, sure, I love you.” David said in a loving, yet worried tone.

            “I love you too David.  Just pray for me, alright?”

            “Sure.” David replied.

            The two kids each walk to their own classes apart from each other.  David walks into algebra class and sits down.  He starts to cry to himself.

            “Okay class, today we are going to learn the Pythagorean Theorem.  Did anyone read ahead?  David, would you like to explain it to the class?”

            “Huh, what did you say Mrs. Johnson?”  David asked.

            “Why are you sleeping in my classroom?”

            “I wasn’t Mrs. Johnson.”

            “Then what were you doing?”

            “I wasn’t doing anything Mrs. Johnson.”

            “See me after class David.”

            “Yes Mrs. Johnson.”

            The teacher continued with her lesson.  All David had his mind on was Sara, and what he could do to help her.  The teacher assigns the homework, and the bell rings ten minutes later.  David gets up out of his seat and starts to walk out the door.

            “David, come here.”  Mrs. Johnson tells David.

            “What do you want?”  He asks as he is approaching Mrs. Johnson, who is sitting behind her desk.

            “I want to know what is up with you.  You never sleep in my class.” Mrs. Johnson said in a very concerned tone.

            “I told you I wasn’t sleeping.” He replied back.

            “What’s wrong with you?”

            “Nothing, nothing is wrong with me.  I’m just a little worried about a friend.  Now may I please go to my sixth hour?”

            “Who are you worried about?  Is it something serious?”

            “I don’t want to talk to you about it Mrs. Johnson.”

            “Well, I’m here if you ever need to talk to me.  Do you understand that?” Mrs. Johnson asked.

            “Yes.  May I please have a pass to my next hour?  My English teacher will write me up if I’m late again without a pass.”

            “Sure, who’s your English teacher?”

            “Mrs. Holloway.”  David answered.

            “Okay, here’s your pass.”

            “Thanks.”  David tells her as he walks out the door.

            David continues walking to his English class.  As he is walking, he is trying to put a smile on his face, because he does not want the same thing to happen as it did in fifth hour.  He figures, he only has one hour left, maybe he can get his mind off of it.  David walks into English class five minutes late, hands the pass to Mrs. Holloway, and takes his seat in the back.

            “Okay class, as I was about to say, we will be discussing Urban Legends for the next three weeks.  I know you all were suppose to learn about them last year, but I figure, most kids like that part of English II, so I figured we would go further into them.  Who remembers what an Urban Legend is?”

            Destiny raises her hand.

            “Yes Destiny, what is an Urban Legend?”

            “We learned about them in Ms. Mathews’s class last year.  It’s a story, either true, or myth, that are meant to give a lesson.”

 “Thank you.  Class, that’s what an Urban Legend is.  Some Urban Legends are scary, some are funny, but they do give a life lesson.  For instance, last year you all should have read The Pearl.  That had a few lessons in it.  One of them is not to get to greedy with money.  Or in the play of The Monkeys Paw, the lesson is to be careful what you wish for.”

            Carrie raised her hand in the air.

            “What Carrie?”  Mrs. Holloway asked.

            “Do we have to read some dumb book?” Carrie asked Mrs. Holloway

             “No Carrie, not until next week.  However what we will be doing today will be fun homework.  Or at least it will be for some people.  I have twenty life size models of time machines.  I want each of you to take one home, and write down your ideas on how a time machine could be related to Urban Legends.  It must be one page long, and it is due tomorrow.”

            “That’s really stupid!  Why do we need to take one home, can’t be just look at them today and think of it afterwards?”

            “Well Bryan, you need to take it home, in case small minds like yourselves can’t think of anything for the whole, huge, one page free write, you can look at it before you go to sleep and who knows, maybe you will dream about it and have the assignment done tomorrow when you come into class.” Mrs. Holloway replied to Bryan.

            “That’s even dumber.”  Bryan said to Mrs. Holloway.

            “I agree.” Destiny said

            “You only agree with him because he’s your boyfriend.” Kayla said.

            “Shut up Kayla.” Destiny said to Kayla

            “Everyone that is enough talking, Kayla, Destiny, Bryan, come here and take these to the main office.  All three of you are getting detention for disrupting class.” Mrs. Holloway said.

            Destiny, Bryan, and Kayla all took the slips and walked to the main office and the class continued.  Mrs. Holloway passed out the models of the time machines, and finally got to David’s desk.

            “That’s odd; this one is different from the others.  Her you go David.” Mrs. Holloway said.

            “Thanks.” David replied.

            The bell finally rang and the kids left to go to the school buses, and the kids who were lucky enough to drive cars, went out to the student parking lot.  David walked to his car.  He gets in and drives home.  As soon as he gets in his house, he goes to his room, unpacks his book bag, and starts on his English homework.  He just stares at the model of the time machine, but can’t think of anything.  David starts to talk to himself.

            “Well, Mrs. Holloway said mine was different.  What kind of assignment is this anyway?  I wonder what she meant by different.”

            David continues in thought process, but is interrupted by the phone ringing, so he answers it.

            “Hello.”, David said into the phone.

            “David, its Sara, come get me and my sisters, we need to get out of this house right now.”  Sara said to David.

            “I’ll be there in ten minutes. Okay?”

            “Okay, I’ll see ya then.  Bye.”

            “Bye.” David replied

            David hung up the phone, grabbed the car keys from the counter, left the house and got into his car and started driving.  He was stopped by every red light there was.  By the time he got to Sara’s house, he was ten minutes late.  He gets out of his car to find Sara and her sisters outside crying.  David walks up to the sisters, and Sara.  Sara looks up at David and doesn’t say a word.

            “Sara, what happened?” David asked.

            “I’ll tell you when we are in the car.  Would you please take my sisters to our aunt’s house?”

            “Yeah, sure, let’s go.”

            As they were all walking towards the car, James, Sara’s father, comes outside screaming up a storm.

            “Where the heck do you plan on taking my kids?  You better not go anywhere you SOB.  Get the heck away from them.  Kids, get back here.” James screamed.

            “We aren’t coming back Dad, you can’t make us.” Sara tells her father.  James started to run towards his three daughters, but they were also running towards the car.  Laura and Rebecca, the sisters of Sara, made it into the car, but James grabbed a hold of Sara before she could get in.  He started to hit her.  David quickly ran over to Sara and James.  He went to the back of James and kicked him where the sun don’t shine.  James let go of Sara to get a hold of David, but David already started running towards the car, and signaled Sara to follow.  James almost caught up to them, but they both got safely in the car, and David locked it.  David started to drive to their aunt’s house.  Laura was crying non-stop.

            “David, I don’t know what to do.  I can’t go back there.” Sara told David.

            “Sara, we will figure something out.  Are you going to stay at your aunt’s house with your sisters?” David asked.

            “Not right now.  I want to stay at a friend’s house tonight, but I want to stay with you for the rest of the day.  Will that be alright?”  Sara asked David.

            “That’s fine.  Are you girls okay back there?” David asked Sara’s sisters, Laura and Rebecca.

            “I’ll be okay,” Rebecca said, “but I’m worried about Laura, she won’t stop crying, and she won’t talk to me.

            “Well she’s eight years old.  I think it’s normal.  Well we are here.  Do you want me and your sister to walk with you girls to the door?”

            “Yes please.” Laura answered.

            They all got out of the car, and walked up to the door.  Sara knocked and rang the door bell.  Their Uncle Andy answered the door.

            “Hey guys.  What’s up?  Or what’s wrong I should say by the look on your faces?”  Uncle Andy asked.

            “Uncle Andy, our dad got drunk again, only this time he didn’t just take it out on me.  He hurt Laura and Rebecca as well.  They’ve never been up to hear what goes on at night.  They had no idea.” Sara told her uncle.

            “Come here guys.  Everything will be alright.  What happened Rebecca?” Andy asked his niece.

            “Dad hit me in the chest and punched me in the back, and he gave Laura a black eye.  He also called her, well, the B word.” Rebecca replied.

            Laura started crying even more.  Laura and Rebecca went inside the house while Andy stayed outside talking with David and Sara.

            “Uncle Andy, I might come over later and stay the night, but I’m going to hang out with David and try to see if I can sleep over my friend Linda’s house.  Okay?” Sara asked her Uncle Andy.

            “Yeah, that’s fine.  I won’t be here tonight, but your Aunt Cindy will.  I’ll let her know what’s going on.  Will you be okay Sara?”

            “Yeah, bye Uncle Andy, and thanks.”  Sara said.

            “Bye, I love you.” Andy said to Sara.

            “I love you to.” Sara said.

            Sara and David ended up spending the rest of the day together, and she got to go to her friend Linda’s house for the night.  As soon as David got back home from dropping Sara off, he took out the model of the time machine.  He was still curious about it.  Maybe it was real, he thought.  He wanted to help Sara, but didn’t really know what to do.  He decided to try to see if the time machine worked, though in the back of his head he knew it wouldn’t.  He set the time machine to fifteen years back, so Sara would be one year old, and he himself would not have been born yet.  He pressed the green button, and to his surprise it worked.

Chapter two

            David found himself at his school in a bathroom stall.  He figured he wound up there because that way no one would see him appear out of nowhere.  He walked out of the bathroom.  He was surprised at how different his school was.  There wasn’t nearly as much room.  He found his way to the exit of the school, and started to walk to Sara’s house.  As David was walking, he was thinking of what to say when he got there.  He approached the house and knocked on the door.  Sara’s mom opened the door holding Sara in her left arm.  For a few moments, David looked in awe at Sara.  He just got to see the person he is in love with, as a baby.

            “Who are you and what do you want?” Debbie, Sara’s mother asked.

            “Well, I am an old friend of James.  I moved a couple years ago, and I am back to visit a few of my old friends.”  David replied.

            “Aren’t you a bit young to be James’s friend?  You only look like you are sixteen or seventeen.”  Debbie said to David.

            “Actually I’m twenty.  James and I grew up on the same street.  Sure, we were four grades apart, but we were great buddies.  He was like a big brother to me.”  David replied to Debbie’s previous remark.

            “Well, James is at work.  You are welcome to come in and watch television or something until James gets home.  It’s weird; he never mentioned anything about you.”

            “Thank you.  I’ll take you up in your offer.  By the way, where is your bathroom?”  David asked, even though he knew full well where it was.

            “It’s over there, the first door on your left.”  Debbie replied.

            “Thank you, ummm, I don’t know your name.”  David said.

            “You’re welcome, and the name is Debbie.”

            David walked to the bathroom, and shut the door.  He goes to the medicine cabinet and takes out Tylenol, because he had a killer head ache.  He turns the sink on and takes it with water.  He walked back out to the living room, and he saw Debbie feeding Sara.

            “Your daughter is too cute.  I’ve never seen a baby have such beautiful hair and eyes.”  David said to Debbie.

            “Thank you.  I think that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said about Sara.”  Debbie said to David.

            “Well, that’s a nice name for her.  And I’m serious, it’s like I already love her, and I’ve only looked at her a few times.”  David said.

            “Would you like to hold her and feed her?”  Debbie asked David.

            “I’d love to!”  David replied.

            Debbie handed Sara to David.  David took Sara in his arms and gently rocked her.  Debbie then handed him the bottle, and David fed his future girlfriend.  The smile on his face was so real, if anyone were to walk in; they could easily see how much he loves Sara.  In the back of David’s mind, he felt weird having feelings for a baby, but he has known this baby for all of his life, but doesn’t remember her when they were that young.  Sara fell asleep in David’s arms.  Debbie told David to set her down in the crib in the next room over.  He did what Debbie said, and he just stared at Sara while she was sleeping for a couple minutes.  He walks out of the room and back into the living room.   James walks in the door and stares at David.

“Who the heck is this guy Debbie?”  James asks his wife is a rotten tone.

            “James, its Peter, don’t you remember me?  We grew up on the same street.  We were best friends.”  David said to James.

            “Peter, hmm, I don’t recognize you, but the name sounds familiar.”  James said.

            “Well, I was visiting and I figured it would be wrong to not come and say hi.”  David said.

            “Ya know what, I do remember you.  You were on the Junior High football team, right, when I was in high school.  You invited me to a few of your games, right?”  James asked David.

            “Yeah, so how have you been James?  It’s been a while huh?”  David said.

            “Yea, I guess it has Peter.”  James said.

            “I’m going to go take a nap while Sara is sleeping.  I’ve been up all day.  You two have a nice time.”  Debbie said as she walks to her room.

“Okay, honey, see ya when you wake up.”  James said.

            “Are you hungry Peter?”  James asked David.

            “Yeah, I haven’t eaten all day.”

            “Let’s go get something in the kitchen.  We can talk about the years we’ve missed.”  James said.

            “Sure.”  David replied.

            They both got up from their chairs and walked into the kitchen.  As James Is opening the refrigerator, David is searching for the knives.

            “So Peter, what are you in the mood for.?”

            “I’m not really picky.  Anything is alright with me.”  As David said that he found the knives.  He silently took the sharpest one out, went to the back of James, and with a very hard force, sliced his head off.  David wanted to puke at the sight of all the blood, but didn’t want to risk Debbie getting up.  He then put the knife in the sink and rinsed it off. Then he grabbed a napkin to wipe off his finger prints from the handles, and put the napkin his pocket.  He took off his shoes and socks, and took the shoes and socks from James’s feet and put them on.  He took his own pair of shoes and socks into the bathroom and placed them in the toilet.  He went back out to the kitchen to grab more napkins, went back to the bathroom, wiped off the medicine cabinet, opened it with another napkin and took the Tylenol bottle, with another napkin turned on the sink, and he rinsed the bottle to get rid of his finger prints.  He put the Tylenol back in the medicine cabinet and closed it.  He put all the napkins in his pocket, went to grab one more napkin.  He then opened the house door with it, turned it inside out, and closed the door with the other after he walked out of the house.  He walked back to the school, and into the bathrooms.  He went in one of the stalls, and set the time machine for fifteen years later.

            He was back in his room, but it was decorated differently, very differently.  The wall was a mixture of baby blue and pink, with beautiful painted clouds.  It kind of reminded him of Sara’s room at her house.  He walked out of the room.

            “Hey mom, why is my room so different?”  David asked his mother.

            The mother walked out of the kitchen and into the dining room.

            “Who are you?  And how did you get in the house?” Maria asked, the woman who was supposed to be David’s mother. 

            “It’s me, David, your son.  Are you feeling okay?”  David asked Maria.

            “I’ve never met you.  Please get out of my house.”  Maria told David.

            “Mom, quit kidding with me.”  David told Maria.

            “I don’t know who the heck you are, but if you don’t get out of this house right now, I am going to call the police!”  Maria told David.

            Sara walks in the room, and David just stares at her.

            “Mom, what’s going on?”  Sara asked Maria.

            “Sara, she’s not your mom, she’s mine.”  David told Sara.

            “How do you know my name, and who are you?”  Sara asked David.

            “Sara, it’s me, your boyfriend.  You know, the guy you love.”  David said to Sara.

            “Okay, you are freaking me out.  Mom, what does he mean when he said that you are his mom?”  Sara asked Maria.

            “He is just crazy.  I don’t know who he is.”  Maria told Sara.

            David starts to cry.  He can not believe his mother and his girlfriend would do this to him.

            “I don’t know what you two are trying to pull, but I know that my mom isn’t yours.  I’ve met your mom before.”  David said to Sara.

“That is impossible,” Maria said.  “Her mom is dead.”

            “What?” Sara starts to cry. “What do you mean my mom is dead?  You are my mom aren’t you?”

            “Sara, I’m so sorry.  Your mom and I were best friends.  Some one murdered your father, so your mom killed herself on the same day, leaving a note saying she wanted Sara, yourself, to be left with me.  In the letter, it said that some man named Peter was the only person it could have been.  After the police found them both dead, they searched for fingerprints.  They found someone’s shoes and socks in the toilet, but the water washed the prints off.  I’m so, so sorry you have to find out about it this way.”  Maria told Sara.

            “So then you aren’t my mother.  I’m a nobody, and I’ve lived my whole life believing a lie.”  Sara said.

            “Sara honey, that’s not true.  I am your mother.  I raised you, and I could never love another person as much as I love you.  Please believe that.  Which reminds me, why are you still here?  Please leave.  Now!  You’ve caused us enough pain.”  Maria said to David.

            “Bye.  You may not believe this, but I love you both with all of my heart, and I always will.  Once again, I am saying good bye.”  David said

            David walks out of what was supposed to be his home.  David had a realization.  When Maria, the woman who was supposed to be his mom, said that she and Debbie, Sara’s biological mother, were best friends, that the man who was supposed to be his father never met Maria, because she had a child, Sara.  David also realized he did something wrong.  He knew he had to go back before he killed James, and stay in the past until after he killed James.  So once again he sets his time machine to fifteen years and one day ago in the past.  He looks around to make sure that no one is watching, and he presses the green button.