She had long wondered if the events of long ago really took place. Ever since she had come home from practically nowhere did she look to the sky and wonder if all of it was just one big, collective hallucination. She wanted to believe that it was, indeed, a hoax that her mind was playing on her. Yes, it nothing but a trick of the mind on a young girl… right? Her imagination always went wild when there was talk of history and imaged herself there on the great pyramids, in Greek temples, aboard pirate ships, and even fantastical adventures. When she awoke from it all and felt the unsullied stitching along her calves as she stood everyday… it was all real, wasn't it? She had traveled back in time to 1770 Boston.


"Hey, Tsipporah (sah-FRAH)!" called out a fellow classmate. A girl of mocha skin and clad in black turned her dark eyes to the familiar voice. Upon finding the source of the noise, she smiled naturally.

"Hey, Angie, you want to go to Nino's today? I heard they have a new sub sandwich today."

"Sorry, no," her companion frowned, "I have dance rehearsal during lunch; Rain check?"

Tsipporah nodded in forgiveness. She knew her friends would always be busy and that there would be a rare occasion for them to have any time for leisure. President's Day was coming up; after all, perhaps they can have lunch together then. She wished they had time to catch up, though. Tsipporah had never stayed with friends for a long time due to past troubles, but was glad to see her friend grow; and what a journey that has been. Their phases branched from having unruly hair, obsessions with pirates and natives, adventuring in "darker-than-black" attire, and militant colloquialisms to fine young ladies. Tsipporah still obsessed over militant subjects, though. The phase of desiring to collect ancient weapons and maybe go to the ancient Mayan Ruins to find treasure hasn't died out.

Angie wandered off to go about her important business, leaving her friend to twiddle with her thumbs. She sighed and sat out in the hallway, watching other students go out to eat in groups. "I… am really bored right now…" she peeked through her lowered lashes to her pocket full of cash. "Eating by myself again…" she stood from her spot and left to eat when she swore someone had called her name.

"Tsipporah…"

She blinked once and stopped in her tracks. "Yeah?" she answered clearly for the other to hear, but was only faced with a now barren hallway. Scratching her head, she took one more puzzled look and exited outside. Once out, she gave a Cheshire smile to herself upon realizing how lucky she was to be at a high school that allowed students to go to nearby restaurants instead of eating at the stuffy cafeteria. Across the street she saw the adolescents gather like flies at Nino's. Her grin reached her ears when she saw her elder sister there walking out with a pack of wrapped food.

"Yo," her sister greeted, "Where's Angie?"

"Busy again," Tsipporah answered, hiding her crestfallen face. "Well, she's a dancer. The theater kids are always here day and night, but they give the best shows because of it. You know."

"Yeah… I just wish… well…" the words couldn't be molded into a full sentence and died immediately. Her sister chuckled, slightly opening her package of lunch and handing something wrapped to the younger one. "Here, eat. The sub's pretty long, so you can have the other piece." Her sister gratefully accepted and ate it without question. Whatever her elder sister usually eats ends up being her favorite as well, oddly. They walked to a small patch of evergreen grass by the school building that was near the parking garage. A park area, many supposed. They sat on the naked patch and ate heartily.

"What dance is she doing, anyway?" the elder sister asked despite the amount of food filling her cheeks.

Tsipporah waited to gulp and replied. "The Rabbit Dance I think it's called. The Mohawks did it as it is their tradition. Did you know that 'Mohawk' means 'man-eater'?"

"They sound scarier than the Mayans…"

"Well… to me they sound like they're the Spartans of natives. Makes me wonder what the kids and women do on a daily basis." Her elder sister choked on laughter, then her food, but gulped it down in time.

"No way… kids are—"

"—tiny little Hitlers," Tsipporah finished.

Her sister laughed harder. "And how do you know that? Have you met a native kid?"

"No, but I would sure love a fantastical adventure or meet someone tribal. That would be some—no! Go back in time! That would be some cool shit!" she bounced in her seat.

"Don't start. You know going back in time means going back into slavery days. No one wants that…"

"Yeah, that would be bad, but—"

"No."

"Ok…"

"Tsipporah… heed my voice"

Her dark eyes darted in every direction to find the voice and her elder sister eyed her like she was watching a madman. "What's wrong?" she managed. Tsipporah looked back at her sister after her slight craze; biting her lip in confusion.

"I thought I heard someone calling me."

"Yeah, I know that awkward moment—"

"No," she corrected, "I seriously heard someone call my name…"

"I think you've been sniffing too much turpentine in the art studio."

"I hope that's just the case, girl, because I am not putting up with voices in my head." She stood from the patch of grass and crumpled her now empty lunch wrapping, shooting it into the nearby trash.

"Just one more class—arts!" she cheered as she left her sister at a short distance. "We're going to the museum two blocks from here! They have an exhibit on art from the American Revolution!"

"And what do you know 'bout the Revolution?"

"Liberty Kids prepared me for this moment. Don't underestimate me!" she laughed and retreated to class with her things.


Once she got inside she went up the stairs to retrieve her belongings from the art studio she had left them in. She saw that her class was already gathered for attendance and sat down in a chair by the door. The instructor explained the usual for walking field-trips: no wandering into the streets, no pushing or rough-housing, no talking loudly, etc. Once they had their things gathered in the storage closet, they were off. They bustled through the streets and kept together as the teacher asked until they came to the museum. It was then that they were allowed to wander, but knew that this would end up as a homework assignment… Tsipporah didn't mind, though.

She loved craftsmanship and research; the work itself tells a story of its time and intently took in every detail of it. There was one wall space with native works; Beautiful. The quill-work of the baskets, the beading of the scarves and blankets, and the weaponry were breath-taking. There was one item she found standing alone in one open room. A tomahawk of all things, but this tomahawk was different. This particular weapon had a rare tear-drop shape, but an eagle feather hanging from the handle as one would expect of a native weapon. Even the label was explained how rare this piece of work was. The handiwork is clear that it made by Mohawk hands, but… it was unique shape. Tsipporah thought it curious and wanted to go to ask about this specimen—

"Tsipporah, you must listen…There is something you must do before it is too late."

A flash of images came to her head at that instant. The young girl was sure that her head would burst open at the shock and fell to her knees, clutching her splitting skull. Was she dying? Was she dreaming? She gasped as the massive collection of images stopped flashing in her mind and looked up slowly. No… She noticed the ground had changed below her. There was grass and dirt; no marble floors? Had she wondered outside in her supposed madness? Was voudou being worked on her and she got spirited away? No, that can't be. She stood slowly, taking in her surroundings, but took note that she was surrounded by tall trees and a cliffside off in the distance. Yep, this was definitely not Florida anymore. As a crazed fantasy enthusiast, she thought up her survival rules as she did with serious scavenger hunts. She had to see where she was and looking for water sources or looking from high places would help mapping out. It was a shame that she was a poor climber because of her ankle… Searching for a water source should suffice, then. She sniffed out and looked carefully and soon heard movement. Just ten feet in front of her was rustling bushes. She backed behind a tree and peeked until the creature made itself known.

A deer had appeared and walked along timidly, biting at leaves. Tsipporah breathed in relief, which caught the animal's attention. It slowly approached, but recoiled as the girl came out from behind the tree. She reached her hand to reassure the gentle creature and it did. It slowly came to her hand, sniffed, and allowed her to pet it. Of course she had pressing matters, like how to get back or if that's even possible, but this was a rare experience. She giggled at the touch and wished she had her camera, but that would be ill-advised.

"Tsipporah, you must find me. Seek me out. Play your role…"

No pictures or abrupt flashes came to mind, but the jolting and kicking of the deer was. Tsipporah stumbled back, taken aback completely by this action and soon understood. Once the deer had gotten a good distance run, she noticed the arrow in its side. The poor thing whined and slowed down in pain. Instinctively, she came running to the wounded creature to take out the arrow and treat it, as it was in her knowledge, but another rustling of the bushes came about to her ears.

"An arrow," she said to herself. Obviously this was someone's hunting grounds. Someone's… There could be a town nearby or something, but who hunts with arrows nowadays? There was whisper of voices closing in now. Was she just hearing things again? She held the deer close to her and looked about, swearing that she saw movement in the low shrubs. "Who's there?" she said with power. Her ankle could obviously lose in a fight, but she didn't take two years of martial arts for nothing! She took a moment to look back at the unfortunate creature. Its eyes were fluttering wearily, dying. "Oh no…" she breathed sharply, but sharpened up when a shadow fell over her.

"I'll put him out of his misery. I was hunting, anyway."

Tsipporah gasped and looked up, still clutching the deer defensively. It was a boy around her age, she guessed, maybe older. His clothes on the other hand were completely… native. Animal skins covered him along with crafty beadworks and arrows in a quiver. He pointed at the girl with his bow in annoyance.

"Move away, girl. You almost scared the deer away. Right now I need its hide." It would have been ill-advised to pick a fight in a strange forest with a stranger, but… Tsipporah released the deer from her hold and stood to back away from it. She watched the boy as he gave a small prayer and took a knife to cut the deer's innards. The gushing noises it made as the knife cut through was cringing. The tanned-skin boy noticed the girl was still there and furrowed his brows.

"Who are you and what business do you have here?" he gripped the bloodied knife in his hand. Tsipporah tried not to look scared or turn her back, but his brown eyes bore into hers in a threatening fashion.

"I-I'm lost… m-m-my name—"another tribal boy around her age came to the stranger's side. He dressed similarly, but was more on the chubby side. Tsipporah would giggle if a knife wasn't pointed in her direction.

"I ask again, stranger. Who are you and what business—"

"My name is Tsipporah! I'm lost! I don't know where I am, okay! I was just with my friends, then I heard voices, I saw weird images, and now I'm here!" she shrieked out and went into a fetal position.

The boy kept his stance, but his guard was dropped a bit at her actions. She genuinely seemed confused as to where she was. She also protected the deer with unwavering determination, so she couldn't be one of them. He looked at his companion and came down to the curled up, weeping adolescent. Placing a hand on her head he tried to coax her into calmness.

"If your words are true, then I trust that you are not with the men who wear red."

"Men in red?" the girl looked up with tear-struck eyes. Did she fall into a rabbit hole or is she going to see fairies and Peter Pan next? His companion spoke in a language she did not comprehend, but sound quite Native American. The boy replied back and turned his attention to Tsipporah again.

"We are almost done for the day and I am to gather eagle feathers…" he then turned back to his friend in their language, gesturing to the stupefied teen. He must have asked to watch her and then dashed off to the cliffs to find an eagle's nest or something. Indeed the teen was stupefied. Where was she and where have all the children gone? The chubby native boy tugged her hand to follow him to where the other ran off. She reluctantly followed out of little choices and rolled her eyes. There was just silence save for the two walking through ankle-leveled shrubbery, then the native pulled her back to stop.

She looked around, confused as ever, but rather the strange company than no company at all. Especially since one of them spoke English, Thank God. The sudden rush of downward wind caught her off guard and caused her to stumble. When she looked up, the native boy was in a pile of leaves, branches, and forest debris. He shook the greens from his short, silky hair and looked to the two attendants. He spoke his language to his friend passively as if he meant to fall out, but Tsipporah burst out in laughter at this scene. It was like a youtube viral video waiting to happen, but she had no camera. Shame.

"What are you laughing at?" he glared at her.

"You!" she pointed and laughs. She was sure he was okay and without injury, so she took the moment to laugh at it all. It was the only thing that managed to shake off the building anxiety. The boy quickly stood up and came to her within two feet and Tsipporah stifled her laughter, calming down.

"Be glad I will not take your actions to heart. I will ask the clan mother to house you and then be on your way."

"There's a problem, though. I don't know how I'm gonna get back." The girl bit her lip in mild frustration. The boys sighed.

"We will see what will be done with you… Tsipporah." The girl's name was strange on his tongue and thus wondered what it meant. It sounds exotic… perhaps she was of another tribe. No, that couldn't be. Her skin was too dark for that boys conversed a bit before nodding the girl to follow them, but the chubby one went off in another direction. Tsipporah suspected him to be continuing his part of the hunt, so her eyes followed until she bumped into a hard back.

"Keep silent and do not interfere." The boy hissed, evidently annoyed. She gave a puzzled look and read his movements. He was still hunting.

"Once I get this hare, we will leave to the village." Village…? She would await further observation of this place to at least know where she is… or when. She shook her head at the thought. Should the date be of concern? Ripped from her thoughts, she heard hollering from behind her. The other native boy ran and swore incoherently. Shame that the hilarity of it was short lived when they heard roaring closing in. Trees were bashed to the side, to the forward, and out the black creature emerged having been disturbed. The bear stood in its feral glory, raising its four inch claws to the stunned teens…


I should have posted a note in the very beginning when I wrote this, but this is my very first fanfiction story. Be gentle with me-Thank you!