"Forward In Time"
It was just after 7:00, and while Ned was busy driving the tour bus, the rest of the group decided to sit down and look at some old pictures. Jack and Carey were laughing at the pictures of when their parents were younger, but Clu was starting to wonder what he would think when he saw pictures of himself when he got older. He looked closer at the pictures and then jumped away quickly when the pages started turning by themselves. Clu yelled out, but no one answered. The pages started turning faster and faster and the room around him seemed blurry. When he opened his eyes he was alone. Clu got up slowly, still shaking, and walked out of the tour bus. He could only see miles and miles of dirt and what looked like an old car lot. He saw one other person who was trying to repair a rusty car. Clu ran up to the man, and sounding as scared as he really was, tried to ask where he had landed.
"Um...hi." He started.
"I'm working here." The man replied with an angry expression on his face.
"Wait I need your help!"
"What part of busy don't you understand?"
"But it's an emergency!"
"Alright, alright, don't get all weepy on me. What do you want?"
"Well see I was in that tour bus with my family, and then we were looking at some pictures and then the pages started turning really fast and..."
"Whoa slow down. I lost you at the tour bus part. See, no one has been in that tour bus in years."
"What are you talking about? I was with my family just a few minutes ago."
"Did you hit your head coming into this place? I told those lazy, good-for-nothing workers to fix that doorway weeks ago!"
"No you don't understand! I was sitting in that tour bus with my mom, dad, brother, Jack, Fi, and Miss P."
"Miss P.?"
"Yeah you know, Molly Phillips."
"Oh is she still alive? She stopped her tour ages ago. I told you, no one's been in that bus for years. Look don't you have something better to do than bother me? Shouldn't you be at work or something?"
"Work? I told you already, I travel with my family on the Molly Phillips tour. My name is Clu Bell."
"Hahaha...you're not amusing me."
"But I'm serious."
"Sure and your brother is Carey Bell."
"Actually he is."
"Stop denying that you didn't hit your head!"
"Will you please listen to me?!"
"The number for the hospital is 911. Amnesia is very serious you know."
"I didn't hit my head! I'm eighteen years old, my dad is Ned Bell and my mom is Irene Bell, my big brother is Carey Bell, and we're on tour with Molly Phillips and her son Jack and daughter Fi. I was looking at some pictures of when my parents were kids and I just ended up here in this crazy wacked out world, and the only person I have to help me is you. And you know what? You're pretty wacked out yourself! So stop trying to tell me I have amnesia because I'm the only sane person here!"
"You seriously need some help."
"You know what? Just forget it!"
As Clu stormed off towards the broken doorway, the man shook his head and turned towards his office. He quickly changed his mind and turned around to catch up with Clu.
"Wait a minute!" He shouted.
"What now?" Clu said with a sigh.
"I'm starting to think that maybe you are Clu Bell. But I think I better come along with you just in case you really did hit your head."
"You mean you'll help me?"
"Well don't get all mushy now!"
"Okay first of all, where are we?"
"Hello? We're in Hope Springs."
"Yeah that's right. We just came from a gig."
"So what now?"
"Wait a minute. You didn't believe me when I said I was 18. What year is it?"
"2023."
"2023!? So that would make me around 40 right?"
"If you say so!"
"Wow this is weird."
"I find this very hard to believe."
"Yeah but it's true. I went forward in time!"
"I'm still with the hitting your head theory."
"Do you know what happened to my family after the year 2001?"
"Sure let's see. Molly Phillips cancelled her tour and went back home with her two kids, Jack and Wee I think it was."
"It's Fi."
"What's Fi?"
"Nevermind keep going!"
"Okay Ned got Carey a spot on some tour, and he went back home with Irene. Ned got a job as a teacher, and Irene...ah I can't remember."
"No you can't stop there! What happens to me?"
"I don't know. I just remember reading in the paper before Molly cancelled the tour, that you left for college. I mean a lot of people wanted Molly to keep singing, but for some reason she just stopped. Nobody really knew why she stopped, she just did. After that people kept buying her albums to get her to come back, but she never did. I have all of her albums including a signed T-shirt. Want to see it?"
"No that's okay. I can't believe she's going to cancel the tour for good. Well...does any of them live around here?"
"You bet! I can show you where they all are."
"Great maybe that'll be a key out of here."
The two left the lot and took a cab to the Phillips' house. When they got there, Clu was surprised to find that everything was the same as it was 22 years ago.
"This is it I think." The man said looking a bit confused.
"Let's see if anyone's home."
They walked up to the door and rang the doorbell twice.
"Just a second!" Came a voice that sounded almost exactly like Molly's. Moments later the door opened and a familiar face appeared.
"Clu! Long time no see!"
"But I thought you saw her a few minutes ago?" The confused man said.
"Miss P. you HAVE to help me!" Clu let himself in the house and sat down at the kitchen table. "I'm in trouble and need your help."
Molly invited the man into the house and sat down across from Clu. "What's wrong sweetie? Is it Carey? Is someone sick? Tell me.
The man stood up and pushed in his chair. "Look lets not waste time. I'll make this quick. See he hit his head coming into my shop and he seems to think he's seventeen and lives on a bus."
Clu interrupted and stood up next to the man. "No that's not what happened! I went forward in time Miss P. Now I'm 22 years older and I don't know where I am or where my family is. You have to help me go back to the year 2001! Please Miss P."
Molly, obviously very confused, decided to side with the man since he had the most realistic explanation to what was going on.
"Uh, Clu, honey," she started, "why don't you come lay down for awhile and I'll call your parents."
That got Clu's attention. "You know where my parents are??"
"Sure Ned's teaching in the high school down the street and…"
"And what?"
"And I haven't talked to Irene since I stopped the tour. She was mad at me since she didn't have a job anymore and became very distant. Ned never talks about her when I see him."
Clu's smile turned to a frown. *I have to find them*
"Look, Clu, if you really believe all this stuff about going forward in time, then don't you think Fi would be the best person to go to?"
Of Course! How could he forget Fiona Phillips? The only person who would believe him was Fi! Fi and the paranormal were like peanut butter and jelly!
"Great idea. Where can I find her?"
Molly gave Clu Fi's address and showed the two men to the door.
"Come back soon Clu I missed you."
Clu smiled and walked with the man to the cab. He got in, shut the door, and sighed.
"What if I never get back?"
"Can we get something to eat before we find Wee? I'm starving."
"Her name is Fi."
"Whatever."
"We can worry about food later. Right now I need to get back to the year 2001." The cab pulled up the long driveway leading to Fiona's house. "She'll know what to do. I know she will."
It was just after 7:00, and while Ned was busy driving the tour bus, the rest of the group decided to sit down and look at some old pictures. Jack and Carey were laughing at the pictures of when their parents were younger, but Clu was starting to wonder what he would think when he saw pictures of himself when he got older. He looked closer at the pictures and then jumped away quickly when the pages started turning by themselves. Clu yelled out, but no one answered. The pages started turning faster and faster and the room around him seemed blurry. When he opened his eyes he was alone. Clu got up slowly, still shaking, and walked out of the tour bus. He could only see miles and miles of dirt and what looked like an old car lot. He saw one other person who was trying to repair a rusty car. Clu ran up to the man, and sounding as scared as he really was, tried to ask where he had landed.
"Um...hi." He started.
"I'm working here." The man replied with an angry expression on his face.
"Wait I need your help!"
"What part of busy don't you understand?"
"But it's an emergency!"
"Alright, alright, don't get all weepy on me. What do you want?"
"Well see I was in that tour bus with my family, and then we were looking at some pictures and then the pages started turning really fast and..."
"Whoa slow down. I lost you at the tour bus part. See, no one has been in that tour bus in years."
"What are you talking about? I was with my family just a few minutes ago."
"Did you hit your head coming into this place? I told those lazy, good-for-nothing workers to fix that doorway weeks ago!"
"No you don't understand! I was sitting in that tour bus with my mom, dad, brother, Jack, Fi, and Miss P."
"Miss P.?"
"Yeah you know, Molly Phillips."
"Oh is she still alive? She stopped her tour ages ago. I told you, no one's been in that bus for years. Look don't you have something better to do than bother me? Shouldn't you be at work or something?"
"Work? I told you already, I travel with my family on the Molly Phillips tour. My name is Clu Bell."
"Hahaha...you're not amusing me."
"But I'm serious."
"Sure and your brother is Carey Bell."
"Actually he is."
"Stop denying that you didn't hit your head!"
"Will you please listen to me?!"
"The number for the hospital is 911. Amnesia is very serious you know."
"I didn't hit my head! I'm eighteen years old, my dad is Ned Bell and my mom is Irene Bell, my big brother is Carey Bell, and we're on tour with Molly Phillips and her son Jack and daughter Fi. I was looking at some pictures of when my parents were kids and I just ended up here in this crazy wacked out world, and the only person I have to help me is you. And you know what? You're pretty wacked out yourself! So stop trying to tell me I have amnesia because I'm the only sane person here!"
"You seriously need some help."
"You know what? Just forget it!"
As Clu stormed off towards the broken doorway, the man shook his head and turned towards his office. He quickly changed his mind and turned around to catch up with Clu.
"Wait a minute!" He shouted.
"What now?" Clu said with a sigh.
"I'm starting to think that maybe you are Clu Bell. But I think I better come along with you just in case you really did hit your head."
"You mean you'll help me?"
"Well don't get all mushy now!"
"Okay first of all, where are we?"
"Hello? We're in Hope Springs."
"Yeah that's right. We just came from a gig."
"So what now?"
"Wait a minute. You didn't believe me when I said I was 18. What year is it?"
"2023."
"2023!? So that would make me around 40 right?"
"If you say so!"
"Wow this is weird."
"I find this very hard to believe."
"Yeah but it's true. I went forward in time!"
"I'm still with the hitting your head theory."
"Do you know what happened to my family after the year 2001?"
"Sure let's see. Molly Phillips cancelled her tour and went back home with her two kids, Jack and Wee I think it was."
"It's Fi."
"What's Fi?"
"Nevermind keep going!"
"Okay Ned got Carey a spot on some tour, and he went back home with Irene. Ned got a job as a teacher, and Irene...ah I can't remember."
"No you can't stop there! What happens to me?"
"I don't know. I just remember reading in the paper before Molly cancelled the tour, that you left for college. I mean a lot of people wanted Molly to keep singing, but for some reason she just stopped. Nobody really knew why she stopped, she just did. After that people kept buying her albums to get her to come back, but she never did. I have all of her albums including a signed T-shirt. Want to see it?"
"No that's okay. I can't believe she's going to cancel the tour for good. Well...does any of them live around here?"
"You bet! I can show you where they all are."
"Great maybe that'll be a key out of here."
The two left the lot and took a cab to the Phillips' house. When they got there, Clu was surprised to find that everything was the same as it was 22 years ago.
"This is it I think." The man said looking a bit confused.
"Let's see if anyone's home."
They walked up to the door and rang the doorbell twice.
"Just a second!" Came a voice that sounded almost exactly like Molly's. Moments later the door opened and a familiar face appeared.
"Clu! Long time no see!"
"But I thought you saw her a few minutes ago?" The confused man said.
"Miss P. you HAVE to help me!" Clu let himself in the house and sat down at the kitchen table. "I'm in trouble and need your help."
Molly invited the man into the house and sat down across from Clu. "What's wrong sweetie? Is it Carey? Is someone sick? Tell me.
The man stood up and pushed in his chair. "Look lets not waste time. I'll make this quick. See he hit his head coming into my shop and he seems to think he's seventeen and lives on a bus."
Clu interrupted and stood up next to the man. "No that's not what happened! I went forward in time Miss P. Now I'm 22 years older and I don't know where I am or where my family is. You have to help me go back to the year 2001! Please Miss P."
Molly, obviously very confused, decided to side with the man since he had the most realistic explanation to what was going on.
"Uh, Clu, honey," she started, "why don't you come lay down for awhile and I'll call your parents."
That got Clu's attention. "You know where my parents are??"
"Sure Ned's teaching in the high school down the street and…"
"And what?"
"And I haven't talked to Irene since I stopped the tour. She was mad at me since she didn't have a job anymore and became very distant. Ned never talks about her when I see him."
Clu's smile turned to a frown. *I have to find them*
"Look, Clu, if you really believe all this stuff about going forward in time, then don't you think Fi would be the best person to go to?"
Of Course! How could he forget Fiona Phillips? The only person who would believe him was Fi! Fi and the paranormal were like peanut butter and jelly!
"Great idea. Where can I find her?"
Molly gave Clu Fi's address and showed the two men to the door.
"Come back soon Clu I missed you."
Clu smiled and walked with the man to the cab. He got in, shut the door, and sighed.
"What if I never get back?"
"Can we get something to eat before we find Wee? I'm starving."
"Her name is Fi."
"Whatever."
"We can worry about food later. Right now I need to get back to the year 2001." The cab pulled up the long driveway leading to Fiona's house. "She'll know what to do. I know she will."