The name of this story is Sci-Fi Outsider's Fic Take 2 for the sole purpose that this is the second time I have written this story. I have decided to redo this story because I am not happy with the original, and rewriting this is the only way I'm going to have closer. The original was written when I was eleven-years-old. I am fifteen-years-old now, and it is up to you to tell me which version you like better (if you would like to read the original, you can find it on my profile page. The title is scifi outsider's fic). I hope you enjoy.

It was a brilliant, spring day, the sky a radiant blue speckled with white, fluffy clouds and the occasional bird. The grass was a cocktail of colors, mostly green with bluebonnets and indian paintbrushes sprinkled here and there. In the corner of a near by field, black eyed susans grew, their yellow petals warm and majestic.

In fact, it would have been a perfect day if it hadn't been for the fact that I was walking home from school with my doofus of an older brother.

The reason I called him my doofus of a brother is because if it weren't for his little "accident", we wouldn't be walking. My mom said it wasn't his fault. My dad said it could have happened to anyone. But I say that he should have been a little more careful. I mean when he saw how rainy it was, he just have pulled over and let it pass. Did he do that? No, he continued driving like it was nothing. The next thing he knew, he hydroplaned. Subsequently, he ran into a light post, smashing the front of his car into an unrecognizable mess.

I suppose it's needless to say that I was pretty mad at him.

"So...Abbey," my brother, Bobby, said as nonchalantly as he could, sensing my anger towards him. "It's pretty hot out. Do you want to stop at 7-11 and get a drink? My treat."

I knew he was just trying to make it up to me, but he wasn't going to get off the hook so easily.

"And walk a mile out of our way?" I retorted curtly. "I don't think so. I just want to get home."

Bobby nodded silently besides me. He wrecked his car a week ago, and we hadn't really talked to each other since then. I actually felt a little guilty about giving him the silent treatment for I knew that I wasn't going to be able to see him every day come next August. He was a senior, about to graduate from high school in two weeks. Soon, he would go to college and forget all about his little sister.

"Huh," I sighed, ready to give him a long apology, but he cut me off.

"You know what, Abbey?" Bobby exclaimed in a fit of frustration. "I'm sorry. I don't even know what I did, and I'm sorry!"

"You don't know what you did?" I exclaimed back, forgetting all about my guilt. "You wrecked your car and now we have to walk everywhere!"

"You know, when I was a freshman, I walked everywhere because I didn't have an older brother to drive me every place I wanted to be, you spoiled brat!"

"You don't drive me everyplace I want to be because if you did, you would actually be nice! And I am not a spoiled brat. Mom and dad spoil you so much more than they spoil me!"

"That is so not true. You get everything you want!"

"I do not!" I seethed back. "If I got everything I wanted, I would have my own computer and cell phone, two things that you have!"

"That's because I'm about to go to college. I need those things!" Bobby retorted angrily. "And--Hey, where are we?" He sound genuinely confused and a little scared.

"Where are we?" I repeated his question back to him, trying my best to belittle him. "What? Were you born yesterday. Just look around." But even as the words were out of my mouth, I realized that I had no idea where we were.

"What street did we just turn on?" Bobby asked as he turned around. I turned around as well to find no street signs. In fact, I couldn't even find a street. The ground that I walked was a dirt road, the side walk, buildings, cars and other people no where to be seen.

"This isn't some sort of weird joke?" I said a little uneasily as I looked around, trying to find something to say we were home in Fort Worth, Texas.

"And how would I go about pulling this little 'joke' off?" Bobby asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"All right, it's not a joke," I replied hastily. "But I can't even fathom where we are. We can't be more than a mile away from school."

"Look," Bobby said, his voice steady. "We'll just find some one to ask. They'll be able to help us home. Or at least tell us what's going on."

"All right," I replied, already beginning to calm down as an idea dawned on me. "What about your cell phone? You could call mom or dad to pick us up."

"Good idea." I watched as Bobby reached into his pocket. A few moments later, though, his eyes went wide with realization.

"What is it?" I asked, fearing the worst.

"I can't find my cell phone. I must have dropped it somewhere."

"Great," I muttered. "Is that all you dropped."

"I can't find my ipod either. And what happened to your watch?"

"Nothing. It's right here." I looked to my left wrist where I usually wore my blue, digital watch. In it's place, though, was a large, cream colored vintage watch with leather strap.

"That's weird," I muttered to myself.

"Like this all isn't weird?" Bobby laughed nervously. "Come on. Let's try to find someone to help us before it gets dark."

I nodded as I looked to the sky, the sun just beginning to sink below the horizon.

We probably walked three miles or so, my backpack starting to feel heavier than usual, when we reached a large farmhouse accompanied by a small farm. It was the first building we had seen in a few hours.

"You think there are people in there?" I asked as I pointed to the farmhouse. It was yellow with large windows betraying huge pools of light.

"I would bet on it."

With renewed vigor, we ran the last 100 yards to the house. We arrived out of breath, but happy that we found some potential help. With a tired hand I knocked on the door, hoping someone would answer.

A few moments later, to our luck and relief, the door opened, betraying a young man perhaps in his early twenties. He was clad in a large blue t-shirt, and a pair of jeans with an exaggerated flare at the bottom. He wore no shoes, and had long bushy hair and a beard to match.

"Hawthorn and Willow?" He asked in hushed, but expectant voice. It kind of freaked me out, but Bobby remained unperturbed.

"No. Bobby and Abbey. We're lost. We were wondering if we could use your phone."

"Sorry, Man," the man replied. "We don't have electricity here. But you two are welcome to spend the night."

"No, really. That's all right. We just want to use a phone. Does anyone here have a cell phone or something? I seemed to have lost mine."

"Dude, no electricity. No phones."

"Where's the nearest phone, then?"

"About fifteen miles. They have one at Sherman's Convenience Store in town."

"Could someone take us there?"

"Man, we're, like, right in the middle of dinner. No one's going anywhere tonight. Why don't you come in and eat with us?"

Bobby gave me a resigned look as he shrugged. "I suppose we really don't have a choice."

The man disappeared behind the door as Bobby and I followed him in. The house smelled of fresh baked pie, body odor, and an unfamiliar earthy smell. We followed the man passed a large staircase, a living room furnished with old, dusty couches, and a bookcase which held decorations instead of books. Soon, we entered a crowded dining room, at least a dozen young men and woman around a long, wooden table. All were engaged in some conversation, but everyone hushed themselves as we entered the room.

"Brothers and sisters," the man said in the same hushed excitement he used with us outside. "Let me introduce you to Bobby and Abbey, two lost and weary travelers. They will be staying with us for the night." The man turned from the table back to us. "Let me introduce myself. I am Sunshine, and it is very nice to meet you two."

"Nice to meet you too," Bobby and I muttered in unison.

"You can put your bags here for right now," Sunshine said kindly as he pointed to a corner. I shrugged mine off my back, but I jumped back in surprise when I saw it. It was made from brown canvas with a drawstring instead of a zipper. Bobby had a similar one except it was dark green instead. It was then that I noticed the clothes that Bobby was wearing. When we had left school, he was clad in a pair of denim shorts, a blue polo shirt, and a pair of Nike running shoes. Now he had a pair of jeans very similar to the pair Sunshine was wearing, a white, flowing shirt with beads along the neckline, and a pair of brown sneakers made of what looked like leather. Trembling slightly, I looked down. I was wearing a pair of flare jeans, much like Sunshine's and Bobby's, a pair of what looked like leather moccasins, and a white peasant blouse.

"Is something the matter," Sunshine asked me, looking at with an odd glint in his eyes.

"No," I replied hastily. "I'm just tired." I put my bag down next to Bobby's, trying to catch my brother's eye. But when I caught it, he gave me a look that said "we'll talk later". I nodded slightly.

"Sit, friends," Sunshine instructed. Bobby and I found two empty seats across the table from each other. I took one as Bobby took the other.

"Abbey." a girl sitting besides me called out. "Would you like some endive salad? I grow it myself in the garden."

"Yes, please," I replied as she loaded my plate with salad. She grabbed another dish, this one holding boiled carrots and asparagus and dumped a spoonful on my plate right next to the salad. She kept grabbing dishes, all of them of fresh or simply cooked vegetables, putting spoonful after spoonful on my plate. After several moments, my plate towered, and I was left with the curious question as to how I was going to eat it all. Surprisingly, though, I was very hungry and I downed the food in seconds.

When I was finished with my supper and enjoying some spiced apples (that was the scent I thought was pie), the girl sitting next to me (she introduced herself as Star), started the conversation up again.

"You seem so young to be traveling," Star said with sympathy. "You can't be any older than fourteen. I was sixteen when I left home."

"I'll be fifteen next month," I offered her.

"Fourteen is rather young." She frowned. "Especially to be running off with an older boy."

I flushed a scarlet red as I realized what she meant.

"Bobby's my brother," I said, embarrassed she would even make the assumption. "And he'll be in eighteen in August."

"I see." She wore a devious smile, as if she thought I was using some sort of idiom. "Cyprus"--she picked up the hand belonging to the man sitting next to her-- "He was my next-door neighbor. He was like an older brother to me. Then, he got his draft notice, so we ran off together. At first, he was my older brother. Then, he became my lover."

"Bobby really is my older brother," I explained. "We have the same parents."

"Blood siblings. I see. You must specify for we are all brothers and sisters."

"I see," I replied. But I was really freaked out. What if Bobby and I got transported to some weird alternative universe where the whole world wore funny clothes with funny names and ate funny food? And what was this thing about a draft notice? Was there a war going on? The world seemed pretty peaceful. Would we get shot down at any moment? Was that the reason Sunshine didn't want to take us to town?

Just as I started to panic, Sunshine stood up to make an announcement.

"What a marvelous dinner," he said. "Now that we are all fed, let us go to the living room."

Everybody got up to go except Star and Cyprus. They began to collect dirty dishes, starting to the kitchen.

"Let me help you," I said to Star as I grabbed a dish.

"No," She simply replied. "You're a guest. Please, follow the others into the living room. We'll join you soon."

I shrugged, not about to argue with some weird girl named Star. I followed the crowd, quickly finding Bobby already in the living room, sitting on a couch. I sat down next to him, afraid to be away from him. After a few minutes, everyone from the dining room was in the living room, including Star and Cyprus, who must have put the dishes in the sink for later.

"I bought a newspaper today," Sunshine said as he stood up, addressing the entire room as he held a newspaper out. I figured right then that he must be the ring leader (or at least the owner of the house). "The articles that it contained were more disturing than usual. Let me pass it around for you to all see. I will start with Abbey and Bobby for they are our guests."

Sunshine handed Bobby the newspaper. His eyes went wide as he scanned. Hurriedly, he handed it to me, and my eyes went wide as well. It was the Fort Worth newspaper, the Star Telegram. But the date on it was what was unusual for it was dated May 12, 1967.

"You said you bought this newspaper today?" Bobby asked Sunshine.

"Yes, I did. Is there something wrong?" Sunshine asked as he furrowed his eyebrows.

"No. I just saw a similar article on the front page on another newspaper yesterday."

Sunshine nodded as we continued to scan the newspaper. The front page article was about the Vietnam War, which is exactly what I'd expect from the late 60's. We passed the newspaper to the person next to us. Soon, everyone had had a chance to read the article. Sunshine went on about it, but I really don't remember what he said for I leaned my head against Bobby's shoulder, dozing slightly.

'

"Our travelers are tired!" a voice boomed close to my ear. I woke to find Sunshine's mouth close to my ear, and the living room empty save for Sunshine and me. For a moment, I couldn't find Bobby. But a moment later, he returned to the room, his backpack slung over his shoulder and mine his hand. He handed it to me as I stood up and stretched.

"Thank you for your hospitality," Bobby said. "My sister and I greatly appreciate it."

"I believe," Sunshine said slowly, "that the world would be better if the whole world could trust complete strangers and be kind to one another."

Sunshine might have been strange, but at least he wasn't a pyscopath.

We bade Sunshine goodnight as we headed up the giant staircase.

"We're on the second floor," Bobby muttered as we climbed. "Third door on the right."

I was the first to open the door and go inside. It was a cozy room with two gas lamps and a four candles on the nightstand as well as two books of matches.

"Well," Bobby muttered as he shut the door. "This could easily be the strangest day of my life."

"Yeah, tell me about it," I muttered back. "What the heck happened, anyway?"

"I know about as much you do." Bobby lit the candles, which casted just enough light to see. "But it seems as if we went through a time machine or something. We're exactly 41 years in the past. Those people, they're just a harmless bunch of hippies."

"Where do you think these clothes came from?" I asked. "And these new backpacks? And what about my watch." I paused for a moment. "I bet you didn't drop your cell phone and ipod. I bet they went wherever our clothes and backpacks went."

"You're probably right. Hey, what do you want to bet that there's things in our bags besides books?"

I grabbed my backpack and opened it up. Inside, there was aother pair of jeans (they were boot cut instead of flare), a pair of Converse High Tops, a white blouse, a long, tan skirt, a pair of loafers, socks, stockings, a white, flowing nightgown, and some underwear and bras that looked like something my grandmother would wear.

I showed Bobby my contents as he showed me his. He had another pair of jeans (boot cut as well), a pair of Converse High Tops, a white shirt, a pair of khakis, a brown belt, a pair of loafers, socks, some striped pajamas, and some underwear (briefs). Pretty much, we had the same things except I had the female version and he the male.

As Bobby handed me my backpack back, I saw something that I hadn't noticed before. On the very bottom of the bag was a leather bound book. It had no title, nothing at all to indicate what it was. Next to me, Bobby pulled out the same book from his bag. He opened it up, read it for a few moments, smiled, then turned to me.

"Read this," he said, handing me the book. I shook my head as I took out my book. I opened it up and read the first sentence: "When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home".

It sounded familiar. What book was that from? Then it dawned on me: The Outsiders. We didn't go through a time machine. We were transported into the book. Why or how was beyond me. But I didn't care. I lived in the ecstasy of the moment, of finally figuring it out.

"Abbey," Bobby said thoughtfully after several moments. "I don't think we're in the right city."

"I've always wanted to go to Tulsa," I snickered.

"Whatever," Bobby muttered back. "Close your eyes. I'm going to put my funny pajamas on. You can put yours on next."

After getting ourselves situated, we finally sank into bed, both of us asleep within seconds.

'

Morning came way too soon. One moment, I was asleep, my arm wrapped a pillow. The next momet, Cyprus was bursting in the room, calling out "I heard you two wanted to go in town."

Bobby was up in a second, pulling off his funny pajama shirt and replacing it with his funny shirt from yesterday. He did the same with his pants, not caring as much for modesty as he did yesterday.

"Hurry up and get dressed, Abbey," Bobby called as he hurried out of the room. Cyprus, however, stayed in the room, watching me, waiting for me to take my clothes off.

"Um," I called out nervously, "I can't get dressed if you're watching."

Cyprus didn't have a chance to react. Bobby came up behind him, grabbing him by the arms out of the room.

"You do not disrespect my little sister," Bobby seethed into Cyprus's ear. "You do not look at her. You do not touch her. You understand?"

"Hey, Buddy," Cyprus turned around. "Take it easy. I wasn't going to touch her."

"Bobby," I called. "Let him go. Don't hurt him. He didn't hurt me."

Only when I said that did Bobby let him go.

"Sorry," Bobby muttered. "I'm just a little overprotective, I guess."

"Don't worry about," Cyprus muttered back. "I feel the same way about Star."

With the boys playing nice, I was able to close the door and get dressed. Not wanting to dirty my clean clothes, I pulled on the clothes from yesterday, stuffed my night gown into the bag, slung it over my shoulder, and joined Bobby and Cyprus in the hallway. To my relief, they were talking quietly without a hint of violence.

"All ready?" Bobby asked.

"Yep," I replied. I followed the boys outside and into an old-looking truck. I noticed there were no seatbelts as I slid inside.

We had a very quiet ride (well, quiet as in no one was talking. It was very loud as far as the engine and the wind whistling outside the open windows). After forty-five minutes down a country dirt, road, we finally hit pavement. Soon after that, we pulled in front of a small, white building with a sign that read "Sherman's Convenience Store".

"This is it," Cyprus said as he stopped the car. "Is this goodbye? Should I come back for you?"

"I think we're going to be fine," Bobby said after just a second of hesitation. I sure hope we would.

We hopped out of the truck after a quick goodbye. Bobby and I stood besides each other as we watched Cyprus drive away. I was a little sad to see him go (and a little frightened). But we couldn't stay in Fort Worth. We had to get to Tulsa.

Because we didn't know what else to do, we walked into the store. It was filed with sodas, cand bars, magazines, newspapers (both the Star-Telegram and the Dallas Morning News), and some snacks.

"I wonder..." Bobby muttered. He reached into his pocket and extracted his wallet. Opening it, he muttered. "I had a twenty in here!"

"You had?" I replied, not liking where this was heading. "What's in there now?"

I was frightened he was going to say nothing, but instead he said, "It looks like five tens, twenty fives, and fifteen ones."

"Well, that works for me," I laughed.

"We should try to conserve as much money as we can. But we should get some food, just in case. You know?"

"I agree, " I replied (I admit it; I was a little hungry).

We picked out a pound of apples, a loaf of bread, a pack of bologna, and for our breakfast, two freshly baked blueberry muffins on a platter at the checkout counter (the cashier, and obvious owner of the store for his name tag read George Sherman, winked at us as and said "My wife baked those this morning" as he bagged the muffins up). Our total came up to 2.12 including tax. With a small smile, Bobby gave the man three ones. In return, he got 88 cents back. With a 'thank you', we took our breakfast outside as we watched the sunrise. It was different from watching the sunrise during our own time. In the future, the sunrise was always obstructed by a building. But there was no large buildings to be seen save for the distant skyline of downtown Fort Worth. After fifteen minutes, a truck pulled up with an Oklahoma liscense plate. Excited, we followed him into the store.

"Yeah," we heard him muttering to the cashier, "Just going to Topeka. Was down here visiting my sister. Just had a baby. But now my Aunt is sick. Gonna stop in Tulsa for a little while to see my wife and kids. Then it's more driving."

The cashier muttered his sympathies as he rang up the man. As he did that, Bobby turned to me, giving me his so-are-you-thinking-what-I'm-thinking look. I gave him a nod that said "go for it".

"Excuse me, sir?" Bobby asked the man on his way out of the store. "My little sister and I, we need to get to Tulsa. I noticed you telling the man that you were headed there. I was wondering if you might be kind enough to give us a ride?"

"The man scrutinized Bobby, deciding whether he was telling the truth, or was going to shoot him to death ten miles up the road and steal his car. He must have chose the former for he said "Yes, but come on. Time's a-wasting."

The ride to Tulsa was long and boring. I had personally never been there before, so I didn't know what to expect. After eight long hours in the car with a short break for lunch (Bobby had sacraficed another two dollars for a couple hamburgers, some french fries, and two cokes), we arrived in Tulsa.

It was about two o'clock in the afternoon when the kind man (we never asked him his name. How rude of us!) dropped us off. He asked us if there was anywhere specific we needed to be, so Bobby told him the truth. He said that we weren't quite sure where we needed to be, but we'd be all right.

The man chose a nice little park to leave us. It had a fountain, and big, leafy trees. It also held the ominous presence of something evil about to happen. I recognized it immediately: the park where Johnny was to kill Bob. I shivered as I thought of this, realizing that it probably wasn't a coincidence that brought us here.

"So what now?" I asked Bobby as we sat down on soft grass, waiting for whatever was suppose to happen.

"I'm not quite sure, but I think those two guys might be who we need to talk to."

"And why do you say that?" I asked.

"Because, they match the description for Sodapop and Steve exactly." He had his leather bound (it was right then why I realized that the books was leather bound and empty of text--so we could read the book without suspicion) book held open to the pages describing Steve and Sodapop. He handed it to me and I read, "Soda is handsomer than anyone else I know. Not like Darry-Soda's movie-star kind of handsome, the kind that people on the street watch go by. He's not as tall as Darry, and he's a little slimmer, but he has a finely, drawn, sensitive face that somehow manages to be reckless and thoughtful at the same time. He's got dark-gold hair that he combs back--long and silky and straight--and in the summer the sun bleaches it to a shining wheat-gold. His eyes are dark brown--lively, dancing, recklessly laughing eyes that can be sympathetic one moment and blazing with anger the next." Across the page was Steve's description, and I began to read that as well: "Steve Randle was seventeen, tall and lean, with thick, greasy hair he kept combed in complicated swirls. He was cocky, smart, and Soda's best buddy since grade school."

"Yep," I said as I handed the book back to Bobby. "That's probably them."

"Stay here," Bobby warned. "I'm going to talk to them."

I remained firmly planted in the grass as Bobby approached the two boys, talking just loud enough for me to hear.

"I'm new in town," I could hear Bobby say, "and I was wondering if there was a good place nearby to get a bite to eat."

"Actually," one of the boys replied (I'm pretty sure it was Soda. The voice sounded friendly, and Soda's supposed to be friendly, right?). "We're headed to the dingo right now. I sure think it's the best place to get a burger. Come along with us. We'll show you around."

"Thanks," Bobby replied. "Abbey, come here!"

I came lopping up a few moments later, not believing I was seeing two fictional characters from a stupid book I liked when I was a little kid. But, whatever. It was my life now.

Thank you so much for reading! If you liked this, rest assured! There will be more! (and sorry if there were a lot of spelling errors. I wrote this entire thing without spell check!)