Gale and I decided where we wanted to go, the past. We wanted to go to the 1920s where the flappers and the lost generation would be. "Go on Ammaleigha" Gale encouraged me, so I did.
I took a step in the high tech and confusing, to say the least, time machine. I tripped on the second metal step and reached out to catch my fall. I accidentally hit the year 3046. Gale quickly got in when he saw the time machine start up and in a matter of milliseconds were weren't in the past we were in the future.
We were stunned for a few moments in confused silence. I broke the silence with a question, "What is this?"
Gale spoke two simple words "let's look."
Outside looked every bit as terrible as it smelled and the smell was wretched. The landfill was so nauseating I could hardly breathe. I saw trash everywhere. Candy bar wrappers, old electronics, rotten food, dead animals, papers, plastics it was literally hell. A small vulture swooped down majestically through the murky air. It picked up a dead rat as big as the tiny window we were staring through.
I saw a kitten crawling, like a baby tiger sneaking up on it's pray. Gale saw the kitten too, and he wanted to get a better look at it. I had the easiest access so I lifted the chrome bottom of the window up as far as it would go. I instantly regretted it. The smells of the unknown future were bad in the time machine but outside they were unbearable. I saw Gale's Native American features go green. "Plug your nose, close your eyes if you feel dizzy" I ordered him.
He doesn't like being bossed around but quickly followed, so did I. My eyes shut sleepily and for a brief second I wondered why I was so tired. I might have dozed off into a more peaceful place if I hadn't heard a soft low meow, it reminded me of the way a mother would talk to an infant who won't sleep, quiet enough to soothe, but loud enough to hear. As soon as my eyes reopened so did Gale's. The small kitten was black with orange tiger stripes. It was right at the brink of the window, standing on the flat surface. One more step forward and the cat would've fell inside so I slowly as not to scare it flattened my palm and laid it in front of its paw. He stepped slowly cautiously on to my palm. I stayed still for a second and the cat climbed up me onto my shoulder stealthily. "Meow" he said again and Gale picked him up.
"Does he have a collar?" I asked.
"I doubt he'd be in a dump like this if he had an owner" Gale was right as always. "He's so cute" I stated the obvious
"yeah we should give him a name" Gale said.
"How about…" I started but just then a loud clap of thunder rumbled in the dark sky.
"That's it we should name him thunder" I told him and by the look on his face he agreed.
"Let's get out of here I'm sick of this landfill. I want to see the good part of the future" and with that he pressed the button.
My head hurt when we landed and I was so tired, I guess that's what time traveling does to you. I couldn't believe my eyes when I peeked out the tiny window. We were on a beach or at least that's what it appeared to be. It had all the signs of a beach, the loud waves crashing against the sand. The long strip of land like a peninsula and the sea creatures. That was what got my attention immediately. They were on the land, they were dead.
"Oh…my…..God" I choked out while holding back tears.
"What the….." Gale didn't finish because what we were looking at was indescribable.
Thunders soft "meow" pulled us out of our trance and I was forced to really look out the window. I saw a dolphin with its mouth agape lying next to a sea turtle with eggs that have been cracked open and were being eaten by a raccoon. I took off my shoe and yelled "go away" while throwing it at him. I missed his head and his round glassy eyes stared at me for a second, then ran away.
"Nice aim Ammaleigha" Gale commented but, it didn't matter because none of the eggs had been salvaged. On the left of us was a whale, a dead whale with its head and blowhole sticking out of the water.
"What could have killed them?" Gale asked
"I don't know another BP oil spill maybe" I guessed.
"What I want to know is what kind of future would do this to animals, to the atmosphere, to the earth? Doesn't anyone care about how the past affects the future? Is it really like this everywhere?" I couldn't have agreed more with every word Gale said because they held so much meaning.
"Were going home" I declared and thunder meowed in agreement, Gale pressed the button marked 2011.
That's how Gale, Thunder, and I vowed to protect the future and the earth from the people who rule it, but could destroy themselves in the end.
Think about tomorrow.