Conner McKnight carried a box to the second floor guestroom of his teacher- Tommy Oliver's house. He dropped it beside the bed and looked up as his teacher brought in another one. He moved to take it from him and smiled at him.
"Was that the last one?" Conner asked.
"There's two more boxes in the car and then we're done unloading." Tommy said and Conner nodded before following him back downstairs and outside.
They grabbed the two boxes and went back upstairs dumping them on top of the last two they brought up. Conner sighed and turned to his teacher with a raised brow. Tommy nodded and gestured to the boxes closest to the dressers.
"Start on putting your clothes away. After you finish that we can put up your posters and other stuff. Okay?" Tommy said calmly.
"Yeah. Are you sure there isn't anything in here belonging to you?" Conner asked.
"Yes. I'm sure Conner. Now start unpacking so we can have your room done before dinner." Conner nodded and Tommy headed back downstairs to the kitchen.
Conner began unpacking his clothes and putting them in the dresser and in the closet. As he got down to the third stack of boxes containing clothes he dropped his communicator and it rolled under his bed causing him to groan. He dropped down onto his stomach and reached under the bed to pull the bracelet out and found himself confused when his hand hit something hard. He shoved the hard thing and listened to it slid out from under the bed and hit the side of one of the boxes.
He got to his feet, slapped his bracelet back on and walked to the other side of the bed to find a wooden box with a lock on it. He picked it up, sat down on the bed and flipped it over to see if there was a key. Finding one he removed it from its place and inserting it into the lock he opened the box. Upon seeing the green and white photo album inside he became curious. Why would Dr. Oliver hide this in a box and leave it under a bed? Conner pulled the album out and flipped it open to the first page sucking in a deep breath. He closed it back and got to his feet and headed downstairs with both the box and the album in his hands. He found his teacher in the kitchen, sitting at the table grading papers. Tommy looked up and seeing the items in his hands went white.
"Where did you get those?"
"Well the album was inside the box when I found it. It was under my bed." Conner said as he held up the key in his other hand.
"Give them here. I'll put them somewhere else." Tommy said holding out his hands.
"Who are the people inside the pictures?" Conner asked as he handed the album to him.
"You looked at it?" Tommy asked horrified.
"Just the first page. Then I closed it and brought it down here to you."
"Let's go sit in the living room and I'll tell you." Tommy said and they went and sat down on the living room floor.
Tommy turned on the radio and put in his Nickelback Album. Conner sat down next to him and Tommy flipped it open to the first page. He pointed to the first picture and began to talk as his favorite song 'Photograph' came on.
"This first one is of me and my best friend Jason. Whenever we took pictures our eyes would turn red and it was only ours. I never found out what the hell was on his head." He began, laughing at the picture.
Look at this photograph
Every time I do it makes me laugh
How did our eyes get so red?
And what the hell is on Joey's head?
The next picture was of an orphanage in LA. Both him and a few other kids were seated on the front steps smiling at the camera. "The present owner fixed it up. None of us knew we went without."
And this is where I grew up
I think the present owner fixed it up
I never knew we ever went without
The second floor is hard for sneaking out
Then he showed Conner a picture of Angel Grove High. "This is the school that I went to. My time was divided between classes and being a ranger. It was a miracle any of us graduated. Life wasn't great but it was good."
And this is where I went to school
Most of the time had better things to do
Criminal record says I broke in twice
I must have done it half a dozen times
I wonder if it's too late
Should I go back and try to graduate?
Life's better now than it was back then
If I was them I wouldn't let me in
Oh, oh, oh
Oh, God, I
Tommy sniffed softly and flipped the page as the chorus began playing. He had the album spread out on the floor in front of him and Conner and found that he enjoyed sharing the memories with Conner.
Every memory of looking out the back door
I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye.
Every memory of walking out the front door
I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye.
Goodbye
He flipped through the pages and found one of the youth center. Him and the other rangers were sat at one of the tables laughing at something Jason had said. "This is the youth center. The owner Ernie is the only one who knew the truth about us. And only because he figured it out. We spent all of our free time there."
Remember the old arcade
Blew every dollar that we ever made
The cops hated us hangin' out
They say somebody went and burned it down
Another picture showed Kimberly, Zack, Aisha and Adam on the small stage singing and dancing along to a Michael Jackson song. "This was just before Zack, Trini and Jason left for the peace conference. Kimberly and Zack wanted to be professional singers and dancers one day."
We used to listen to the radio
And sing along with every song we'd know
We said someday we'd find out how it feels
To sing to more than just the steering wheel
He came to two pictures and had to wipe some tears away. "Kimberly was the first girl I ever loved. As well as the first girl I ever kissed. I haven't seen her since the Turbo rangers and I saved her and Jason from Divatox on Murianthias."
Kim's the first girl I kissed
I was so nervous that I nearly missed
She's had a couple of kids since then
I haven't seen her since God knows when
Oh, oh, oh
Oh, God, I
"I actually haven't seen any of the original rangers, any of my friends since I told them I was going to be working with Anton Mercer." He found it hard to believe he hadn't seen any of them for a long time. It wasn't his choice though. He tried to keep in touch. He called and emailed them but never got a response.
Every memory of looking out the back door
I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye.
Every memory of walking out the front door
I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye.
I miss that town
I miss their faces
You can't erase
You can't replace it
I miss it now
I can't believe it
So hard to stay
Too hard to leave it
If I could relive those days
I know the one thing that would never change
"If I could relive those days I wouldn't change anything. Ever."
"Why not Dr. O?"
"Because the path I chose led me to you and the others. You four are my family now. And I wouldn't change that for the world."
Conner smiled and Tommy wrapped an arm around his shoulders as they finished looking at the album.
Every memory of looking out the back door
I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye.
Every memory of walking out the front door
I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye.
Look at this photograph
Every time I do it makes me laugh
Every time I do it makes me…
Once they finished looking at the album Conner finished with his room and finding an envelope filled with pictures of Dr. O and the team he got an idea. He picked up the phone on his nightstand and called Kira.
"Hello?"
"Hey Kira it's Conner. Can you do me a favor?"
"Sure Conner. What do you need me to do?"
"Find as many pictures as you can of the team and Dr. O. Then have Trent and Ethan do the same. I also need you to find a black and gold photo album. I'm going to enlist Haley's help as well. I want to do something for Dr. O and surprise him with it."
"Okay. I can do that. Will we meet up after school on Monday?"
"How about we meet up tomorrow and Sunday at your house? We can work on it this weekend and hopefully have it ready in time for Tuesday."
"Why Tuesday?"
"Dr. O's birthday is on Tuesday. Ask Haley for more information okay. Just get the album and pictures. Please?"
"Okay. See you tomorrow. Bye Conner."
"Bye Kira." Conner hung up and headed downstairs to find Tommy shrugging on his jacket.
They made their way to Tommy's car and went to the nearby mexican restaurant for dinner. Conner and his teacher discussed his grades and what he could do to bring them up as they ate. When they returned home Conner headed up to his room and headed to bed. The next two days were busy for Conner as he worked with Kira, Ethan and Trent to put together a photo album of them. On Monday Conner met up with Haley at her cafe and spoke with her briefly.
"Did you do the thing I asked you to do?" Conner asked anxiously.
"Come on to the back and I'll show it to you." Haley said and smiled.
He followed her to the back and there on her desk was the completed album the design on the cover exactly as he had Trent draw it. It was the symbol of their team and in the middle of the claw was the words 'Memories in Reefside-Dino Club'. Conner smiled and thanked Haley who wrapped it up in red paper before handing it to him. He slipped the album into his bag and headed home to start on his homework.
The next day after school Conner dragged Dr. O to the Cyberspace and his surprise party. Tommy upon seeing the closed sign however tried to tell him they should head home. Upon Conner's insistence he conceded and they entered the building. Conner pushed him into the middle of the room and let out a shrill whistle as a signal.
"SURPRISE!" The team and Haley said as they jumped up from behind the couch and counter.
Tommy found himself smiling and pulled his team into a big hug tears filling his eyes. He was pushed towards the table covered in a small pile of gifts and a cake before he began to blush as they sang him happy birthday. Once they finished and he had opened the gifts they began eating the cake as Conner left the cafe briefly.
"Dr. O we have one more gift for you. It was Conner's idea but we all contributed to it." Kira said as Conner came back inside and over to the group.
Tommy saw the book shaped package and looked at Conner curiously as he took the gift from him. He tore off the wrapping paper and was unable to stop the tears that began to fall from his eyes.
"I wanted you to have some new memories. Ones that made you smile and were from us. I know it's not much but I thought this was a perfect gift." Conner said and smiled softly at his teacher.
Tommy got to his feet and pulled Conner into his arms holding him close. Conner wrapped his arms around him and looked at his friends and Haley with a smile.
"Thank you Conner. It's wonderful." Tommy said as he pulled back and wiped his eyes.
They both sat down and Tommy began to look through the photo album. He came across one and began to laugh. It was of the five of them and Haley. Conner had accidentally picked up Kira's lipstick instead of chapstick and none of them had said anything until after the picture had been taken. He knew then he had found the one that would make him laugh every time.
Look at this photograph
Every time I do it makes me laugh
This idea came to me after I read Tommy Oliver Photograph and it's sequel After Tommy Oliver Photograph by Dr. TommyOlivers shadow. I hope you guys like this one.
Some elements are the same as in the story mentioned above in this postscript. Those elements are solely that ofDr. TommyOlivers shadow.I just borrowed them to help with the story line and tweaked them to make my own. But the original idea is theirs.
Please read and review.