text: The Machine “Turn that off, Billy, it’s time for bed.” Billy turned away from the hologram projection on the wall, still showing a clip of a cheetah running through tall grass, to see his mother. She wore a grey nightgown, her hair disheveled. Billy thought she looked exhausted. But he wasn’t tired at all. He didn’t know why she always insisted he go to bed so early. There was nothing to wake up for in the morning anyway. “Fine, mom. But first I’m going to go see dad in his work room.” “I don’t know why he’s still wasting time in there with that stupid machine. But okay, you can go see him, and then after that it’s straight to bed.” “You got it. Goodnight, mom.” Billy clicked off the projector and began to move toward the hallway, a long narrow passage leading away from the living room with doors on each side. He could have reached his dad’s work room with his eyes closed, he spent so much time pacing back and forth through the apartment. He hasn’t been allowed to leave in more than four years, ever since the epidemic broke out. His mom always told him he was lucky to be healthy. But stuck in this one-floor apartment, 20 stories above ground with no windows to the outside world, he didn’t feel lucky. The one window they had before gave him a view of the city. He used to look out and see hundreds of grey buildings shooting out of the dark surface like spikes. He would imagine the thousands of other kids sitting there looking back at him. He looked toward where the window used to be, but now it was filled with a large, black box that protruded into the apartment. It was where the drones would drop off food and other necessities. The city had installed this drone delivery system after the epidemic began, because it was no longer safe for people to go outside without hazmat suits. The virus that spread throughout the city was fatal not only to humans, millions of whom had died, but it killed all of plants and animals it touched, leaving the city a barren wasteland. Billy barely had any memory left of the grass and flowers and trees that had once filled the city. He was still able to watch nature scenes in his projections, but it wasn’t the same. Looking through the half-open door into his dad’s room, he envied the man. As part of the engineering team tasked with maintaining the drone delivery system, his dad was allowed to go outside. He had to wear a bulky, full-body hazmat suit, but it would still be worth it. Billy imagined the excitement of walking around somewhere other than his apartment. “What are you doing there buddy?” his dad turned around to see Billy looking in through the door. The short boy standing in the doorway showed boredom in his face, with a hint of sadness. “Just watching you work,” Billy mumbled. “It’s better than going to sleep.” “Well it is time for bed, Billy.” “I know. But I’m not tired. Can’t I watch you work for just a few minutes?” “I guess a few minutes won’t hurt anyone. Besides, I think I’ve had a breakthrough with the machine.” An excited smile crept onto his dad’s face as he looked back at the machine, a hulking metal box the size of a refrigerator with a large opening in the front. Flashing blue lights inside the box lit up the tangle of thin wires lining its walls. Suddenly Billy perked up, with an unusual tinge of excitement in his voice. “Really? Does it work now? Can you travel back in time?” “Well, it’s still too dangerous for a human test, but I think I may have solved an issue that was preventing the wormhole from staying open. I still need to perform a series of diagnostics to test out its stability, but if all goes well I think I should be able to give it a try by next month.” “Next month? But that’s so far away.” “It’s worth taking my time Billy. This may be my only chance. If it malfunctions, I could get stuck in the wormhole, or trapped back in time.” “Where in time would you be trapped?” “I’m only planning to go back five years, to 2055. That way I can kill the virus at its source before it spread into an epidemic. That could save millions of lives.” “But couldn’t you go back farther if you wanted? To see what the world used to look like in the old days?” “Well, theoretically, yes. If it works for 2055 it should work for whatever year I plug into the controller.” He glanced at a black remote sitting on his work table with a series of buttons and a dimly lit blue display screen. “But for now my only goal is to stop the epidemic so things can go back to the way they were before. Anyway, that’s enough questions Billy. It’s time for bed.” “Ugh, fine.” Billy sighed, dejected. The machine had momentarily excited him with a curiosity he seldom feels. Everything else in the apartment was old and boring, with no opportunity for any sort of adventure. But he knew his dad wouldn’t let him use the machine. He would say it was too dangerous. Billy dragged his feet back out the door, his dad following him and flicking the switch to turn off the light in the work room. “I should be going to bed too,” his dad said under his breath. “I need to sleep on this. Need to consider what the breakthrough could mean before I move to the testing phase.” Wanting to ask another question but deciding against it, Billy shuffled through the hallway into his room, one door down from his dad’s work room. He closed the door, turned off the lights and plopped into his bed. It was pitch black in his room as he stared up at the ceiling, but Billy couldn’t fall asleep. He wasn’t even tired before, and now his mind raced with thoughts of the machine. Could it really take you back in time? Where could you go? What would the world look like? Minutes passed, and then hours. Billy had no idea what time it was, but he still couldn’t bring himself to fall asleep. His imagination soared with all of the people and places he could see if he tried using the machine. His dad said he had a breakthrough and solved the issue, so shouldn’t it work now? Billy’s curiosity became too much for him to bear. He crept out of bed and pulled on his slippers. Then he quietly opened the door and tiptoed over to the door of his dad’s workroom. Slowly, he turned the doorknob, careful not to let it make a sound. Then he cracked the door open just enough for him to squeeze inside and gently closed it behind him. The room was dark except for lights from the machine, still flashing bright blue. He used the dim glow to find the switch and turn on the main overhead light. It lit up the whole room, but Billy’s eyes remained fixed on the machine. Staring at it now without his dad working on it, the rectangular box didn’t look so complicated anymore. All he needed to do was grab the remote, get into the machine and press a few buttons. But what if his dad was right and it didn’t work? What if he got stuck somewhere? Billy felt a moment of hesitation. Then he thought about the last four years, trapped in his apartment, no one to talk to and no where to go, and realized it couldn’t be much worse. He gathered his courage and grabbed the remote from the table. Grasping the remote with his left hand, he took three steps forward until he was face to face with the machine. Before stepping in, he looked down at the watch on his hand. It read 2:00. It was two in the morning. Billy knew his dad wakes up at six, so he had to make sure that wherever he went, he got back before then. He lifted up his left foot and placed it into the machine. Holding onto the side with his right hand, he pulled himself into the refrigerator-sized box. It was cramped, but his fully body fit inside. He took a quick glance around at the wires and lights before looking down at the remote. There were ten buttons with small white numbers, a green button that read ‘GO,’ a red button that read ‘RETURN,’ a spinning dial and the display screen. With his fingers he tapped the buttons 2-0-2-0. Then spun the dial, not sure what it was for, and pressed the green button. Suddenly, the lights and wires disappeared. For a second, everything was black. And then he began to spin. As he rotated faster and faster, he saw flashes of blue light, then green and yellow. Billy closed his eyes and screamed, not knowing where he was or where he was going. The next thing Billy knew, he had been dropped outside somewhere onto a concrete sidewalk, landing hard on his feet. The bright light blinded him. “WATCH OUT!!!” Just as Billy turned to where the shout came from, a bicycle crashed into him. It knocked Billy to the ground, and the remote flew out of his hand onto the sidewalk. He looked up from where he lay on the ground and saw a boy who looked around his age, but with darker skin and shorter hair, had fallen off the bicycle. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you! I tried to stop!” The boy stood up and walked over to examine Billy. “Are you okay?” “Yeah ... yeah I’m fine.” Billy touched his arms and legs and nodded back at the boy. “Where did you come from anyway? I could have sworn you just appeared out of nowhere.” “Uh ... I ... I don’t know. Where am I?” “What do you mean where are you? You’re in D.C., stupid.” “D.C.?” Billy looked around, and with his eyes adjusting to the light, suddenly he saw the world around him clearly for the first time. He was awestruck. The sidewalk where he sat stood on the edge of a wide field of bright green grass. He had never seen anything like the vast, green field that lay before him. Tall, bushy trees lined the field, and he could see groups of people walking on sidewalks on both sides. He followed the grass into the distance and his eyes came upon a large, white obelisk shooting into the sky. “What’s that?” Billy asked “Uh, the Washington Monument,” the boy studied Billy. “Are you sure you’re okay?” “I told you, I’m fine.” Suddenly Billy remembered the remote and shot up, running over to where it had fallen. He picked it up, and it appeared to still be intact, nothing broken. “What’s that thing?” the boy asked him. “Just a toy I dropped. Don’t worry about it.” Billy tucked it into his pocket and thought for a second. “This is my first time here. Can you show me around?” “Sure, I guess so. I was just riding around, I’ve still got some time before my curfew. What do you want to see?” Billy looked around, unsure of what else there was to see but amazed at the color green he saw everywhere. “All of the grass,” he said. “And the trees.” The boy looked puzzled. “All of the grass? Well I suppose I can take you to see this whole area, this is called the National Mall. Here, hop on these pegs on the back of my bike.” As the boy pulled up his bike and got on, he pointed to two short poles that jutted out of each side of the back wheel. Billy put his feet on the pegs and grabbed the boy by the shoulders. “What’s your name, anyway?” the boy asked him. “Billy. My names Billy.” “Nice to meet you Billy. I’m Michael. Now hold on tight while I take us around the mall.” Michael began to pedal. They started off slowly and then sped up as Michael pedaled faster. Billy felt the wind blowing his hair back and he squinted his eyes and smiled. He looked around at the green grass. He saw people sitting and reading. Two kids with gloves on their hands threw a ball back and forth. He saw a bird fly by and looked up at the bright blue sky. He felt a rush of excitement run through his body. “This place is incredible!” Billy shouted. “Eh, it’s okay. It gets too hot and humid sometimes, and there are lots of mosquitoes.” “But you have all of this grass! And the wind! I can’t believe you get to live here!” “Sure, whatever you say,” Michael responded. “Here come look at this.” Michael slowed down and stopped the bike next to the edge of a wide pool of water. Billy looked down and the pool stretched a long distance down to a rectangular, stone monument with columns across the front. Kneeling down to the water, Michael plunged his hand in and then quickly splashed the water so it sprayed all over Billy. “Hey!” Billy was surprised but laughing. He reached his own hand down into the water and pulled it back out. As the pool settled he saw a reflection of his face looking back at him, pale, round and smiling. Then a noise came from Michael’s pocket. He pulled out a small device and looked at it. “It’s my mom. She says I have to come home now. If you ever want to find me, I live near the corner of 10th Street and Franklin Street, Northeast. I usually hang out in the park there. It was nice to meet you Billy.” Michael got back on his bike and pedaled off, leaving Billy alone by the water. He wasn’t sure where to go. He walked back over to the grass and sat down. Crossing his legs in front of him, he picked blades of grass and put them in his lap. Minutes passed as Billy played with the grass, and then he remembered to check his watch. It read 3:00. It had only been one hour. But still, Billy thought he had enough excitement for one night and decided he should try to get home and back in bed before his dad wakes up. Pulling the remote out of his pocket, Billy paused for a second before pressing the red “RETURN” button with his thumb. Suddenly, Billy vanished from the grass. Thrust back into the spinning vortex that had brought him there, Billy felt unsettled, but not as scared as before. He closed his eyes so it would go by quicker. The next thing he knew, he was dropped back into the machine with a force so great that he fell out and toppled onto the floor, landing with a thud. “What was that noise?” He heard his dad shout from his room. His heart pounding, Billy quickly returned the remote to the table, snuck out the door and closed it behind him. “Just me, sorry dad! I was going to the bathroom and tripped on my way back.” “It sounded loud. Are you okay?” his dad’s voice coming from his room sounded calmer but still slightly concerned. “Yes, I’m fine. Goodnight dad.” “Okay, goodnight Billy.” Feeling relieved, he opened the door and returned to his room. As he laid down, his heartbeat slowed and his mouth rested into a soft grin. Exhausted, Billy fell right to sleep.