Time Machine

Anna Li (10) | STAFF REPORTER

A key fell from the sky.

To be precise, it fell from the ceiling of the girl’s washroom.

I was standing in front of the mirror checking on my makeup when the shiny object cut through the air in front of my face, almost hitting my nose. I shot my head up, but the ceiling was perfectly smooth.

Was it a prank?   

My curiosity drove me to pick up the key and to my surprise, it was intricately carved with tiny letters, which read:  

Turn the key thrice and it shall take you to the day you desire.

I laughed in disbelief. But again, my curiosity drove me to follow the instruction.

With doubtful eyes, I turned the key thrice in the air, yet nothing changed.

Feeling a little disappointed, I shrugged and walked away from the mirror.

Upon opening the washroom door, I frowned. A troubling sense hit me. After taking ten steps down the hallway, I realized the school was completely empty.

It was lunch break, yet there were no students nor chatter.

I looked out the window and a dark grey sky loomed over the school, instead of a clear blue sky minutes before I entered the washroom.  

I hastened my step and rushed to open the door of every classroom, desperate to find someone. I sprinted out of the school and into every shop on the deserted street.

There was no one. I was the only person in the entire city, perhaps the entire world.

Trembling, I returned to the school and collapsed on to the floor of the main foyer. I took out the key and turned it again three times, longing to see a change.

But nothing changed.

“Maybe it’s because I need to do it in the washroom. When I do it in the washroom again, everything will come back. Yes. I need to return to the washroom.”

I staggered to my feet, approached the washroom and pushed open the door. Instead of toilet cells, a rusted metal cabriolet sat in the middle of the washroom.

Fear and wonder submerged me. Where did this car come from?

Once again, my curiosity overruled my body and it charmed me to walk toward it.  

Although it was covered with dust, there seemed to be several letters on the door. I wiped some dust away and uncovered a few words.

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Time Machine Proj

I dusted the door again and revealed the entire sentence:

Time Machine Project developed by Dr. D. Turn the key thrice and it shall take you to the day you desire.

Under these lines were bold scratches. The scratches together formed one giant word. FAILED.

With trembling hands, I held up the key. The sentences matched. I looked into the car and saw a key hole beside the steering wheel.

I yanked on the door, which opened with a crack. I sat on the driver’s seat and pushed the key into the key hole, turning it three times. The hole, however, spat out the key with a force so great that the key was sent away bouncing off the rear of the car, which then bounced toward the ceiling. My gaze followed the key until it vanished into the ceiling.

What?

I jumped up and pushed open the door.

The key vanished. Does that mean the ceiling is the entrance to the other world?

I stepped on the car and stretched my fingers toward the ceiling. But the ceiling was solid; it would not take me in the way it absorbed the key.

I stepped down the car and collapsed onto the floor.

I want to go back. I still need to reconcile with my mom from the fight we had last night. I still need to tell dad I love him. I still need to apologize to my best friend for screaming at her because of a school project, I still need to…

Tears rolled down my cheeks and blurred my vision.

I stood up and walked toward the sink to clear my mind. While washing my face, some water splattered onto the mirror. The water droplets changed color.

I froze. With eyes filled with fear, I approached the mirror and wiped it with wet hands. The wet part of the mirror revealed a different reflection. I wiped the entire mirror and gasped.

Coming into view was my face, but acting asynchronously with me.

She was not my reflection, but a clone of me.

She was staring at me and putting on her make-up. Suddenly, I saw a key fall in front of her face. She bent down to pick it up. That was the key the ceiling had just engulfed!

I watched her pick it up and read the words. With doubtful eyes, she slowly turned the key in the air.

NO! DON’T DO IT!!

I shrieked at the mirror. My scream echoed down the hallway, piercing through the air. Yet she didn’t even flinch.   

All she heard was silence.