Chapter 2, The Trip to Midesco
Location: Pittsfield, Massachusetts, July 17, 2046
It was a hot summer's day in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and Rosemary, Melenda, Darin, Danielle, Abbie, Casey, Keenan, Chris, Kelly, Keith, Patti, Zabria and Camden, were all spending a lovely day at the park. Darin and Keenan were giving the two youngest of the bunch, their cousins, Zabria and Camden, a ride in their Reptar Junior wagon, when Camden, noticed something up ahead.
"Oooh, prettyful!" Said Camden excitedly, as she spotted a glowing yellow twinkling light in the distance.
"What's that sis? You wanna go see the twinkling light?" Zabria asked.
"Uh huh?" Camden replied.
"Hey cousin Darin, could you take me and Camden over to the twinkling light? I think my sister wants to get a closer look." Zabria asked.
"Sure! Right this way!" Said Darin, as he pulled the Reptar Junior wagon closer to the glowing light.
Just then, Rosemary and Melenda put down their books they were reading, to notice that Darin and Keenan had disappeared to investigate something. Curious about this, they followed the Reptar Junior wagon tracks to where Darin, Keenan, and their cousins, had headed off to. Danielle, Abbie and Casey, all looked up from the drawings they were making with chalk on the sidewalk, to notice their friends had disappeared, so they decided to go see what everybody was up to.
Keith, Kelly, and Chris were all playing basketball on the basketball court, when they overheard Camden's cries of something looking prettyful in the distance, so they too, decided to go investigate. They ran into Patti, who was playing in the sandbox on the way there.
"What you up to big brother?" Patti asked.
"We're off to see what our friends are looking at." Replied Chris.
"Oooh, can I come?" Patti asked.
"Sure! Come on!" Said Chris, dragging his little sister out of the sandbox, Patti, dropping the shovel she was using to dig in the sand on to the ground, and catching up to the rest of the bunch.
"So, what's the big occasion?" Kelly asked.
"Camden saw a twinkling yellow light in the park, and was curious as to what it was, so we all decided to come and investigate." Darin replied.
"Well ok, make it quick, for once, I was ahead of my brother in our basketball game." Snapped Keith.
"Not for long, I'm gonna beat you, and you know it." Argued Kelly.
Just then, Camden reached her hands out of the Reptar Junior wagon, to touch the glowing twinkling light. As she touched it, the light started to expand in size, turning into a giant yellow funnel, that stretched higher than Rosemary's head.
"What's this?" Danielle asked.
"I don't know, but I'm curious to see what it is. Come on everybody." Said Darin, as he ran around to the front of the Reptar Junior wagon, and started walking through the yellow funnel.
Camden and Zabria hopped out of the wagon, and followed their cousin into the funnel, followed by Keenan, then Danielle, then Kelly, then Keith, then Abbie, then Casey, then Chris and Patti, with Rosemary and Melenda, bringing up the rear of the line.
Everybody vanished into a flash of yellow light, as the portal closed, and swirls of bright yellow light, danced around them.
"Where are we?" Melenda asked.
"I don't know Melenda, but we're going somewhere." Darin replied.
Just then, Rosemary's hair got stuck on a vine that was sticking out of the portal.
"Help! I'm stuck!" Shouted Rosemary.
"Don't worry Rosemary, we'll get you out." Danielle replied, as she and the others, went to rescue Rosemary.
Her gray barette, that she was wearing that day, to match her gray Confederate uniform, was stuck on a vine that was sticking out of the wall of the funnel. Everybody grabbed a hold of Rosemary, pulling to pry her loose, only to cause her barette to poke a whole in the portal, causing it to explode. This caused the portal to explode, causing everyone to get sucked into a black whole. They floated in the black whole for several minutes, before they all of the sudden, fell hard on a grassy clearing.
Location: Midesco, California, July 17, 2034
Upon impact, everyone opened their eyes, to look around, only to find themselves in a park.
"Are we back in the park?" Chris asked.
"Hmmm, we're in a park all right, but I'm not sure if this is our park. Something looks different." Keenan replied, as he sat up, and looked around.
"Hey! Maybe he can help us, come on!" Said Darin, pointing to a basketball court, where a young boy with dark purple hair, slightly older than him was playing basketball.
The gang headed over to the basketball court, and Darin, approached the boy.
"Hi, I'm sorry to bother you, but my name is Darin Pickles, and this is my little brother Keenan, my friend, Melenda Finster, our friend, and princess of the Confederacy, Rosemary Albany, my cousin, Danielle Deville, her cousins, Kelly and Keith Barrow, our friends, Abbie and Casey Wehrenberg, our friends, Chris and Patti Butler, and my cousins, Zabria and Camden Cowhoon." Said Darin.
The boy stopped bouncing his basketball and turned to stare at them.
"Your last name is Pickles? That's my last name too! Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Adam Pickles, and over there on the bench, are my friends and cousins. There's Bob Christianson, my cousin, Camden Frumkin, my friends, Charles and Rachel Finster, our good friends and prince and princess of the Confederacy, George and Abbigale Albany, my cousins, Megan and Benjamin Deville, our friends, Darin Barrow and Cassi Wehrenberg, and my cousin, Emily Pickles." Said Adam, pointing to the other kids on the bench, who were watching him play basketball.
Everyone was in shock. These kids had the same last names as they did? Or, most of them did?
"Wait a minute, there's only one princess of the Confederacy, and that's me, but you guys are such preteens, you wouldn't know any better." Scaufed Rosemary.
"And just who do you think you're calling preteens? I'll have you know that Bob and I are now thirteen-years-old, which makes us, officially teenagers." Said Camden Frumkin, hopping down from the bench where she was sitting, and walking over to the group.
"What day is it anyway?" Abbie asked.
"And where are we?" Casey added.
"It's July 17, 2034, and you're in Midesco, California." Replied Bob, who hopped down from the bench, and came up to join the group. Abbigale, George, Darin, Cassi, Benjamin, Megan, Rachel, Charles, and Emily, all hopped down to come admire the rather large group that had formed.
"So let me get this straight, you guys also have the same last name as us?" George asked, shocked as to what he was hearing.
"I'm the only Albany around here. The rest of them have snotty last names like Pickles, Finster, Deville, Barrow, Wehrenberg, Butler, and Cowhoon." Said Rosemary.
"Look! A note!" Said Abbigale excitedly, as she picked up a piece of paper from the ground.
"What does it say?" Darin Barrow asked.
Abbigale skimmed the note, and read it aloud.
"If you want to go home again, you must find all of the bright yellow puzzle pieces, and put them back together in this very spot." Read the note that Abbigale read out loud.
She then saw beneath the piece of paper, a puzzle piece, that was the same bright yellow color as the blinking light that young Camden Cowhoon had spotted back home in the park in Pittsfield.
Abbigale then turned over the piece of paper, to see another message scribbled on the back.
"Here's your one clue. You must learn the paths your families have followed, if you ever wish to return home again." Read the note on the back of the sheet of paper, which Abbigale read out loud.
"Do you mean, our families is the key to us getting home?" Melenda asked.
"I guess so." Replied Charles.
"But where did you guys come from anyway?" Rachel asked.
"My little sister, saw a twinkling glowing light at the park in Pittsfield." Zabria replied.
"Pittsfield? What's that?" Cassi asked.
"That's where we're from. We're from a place called Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and last I knew, it was July 17, 2046." Explained Darin Pickles.
Everybody was in shock to meet these kids who had come from the future.
"Look, my throat is getting parched. Why don't we all head over to the Java Lava, and figure out a way to solve this strange mystery over some smoothies." Said Camden Frumkin.
"You've heard of the Java Lava?" Danielle asked in surprise.
"Yeah! My dad owns it!" Replied Charles.
"It's only a few miles away from the park, come on guys." Said Rachel, making her way to the front of the line, everybody else, following behind her, Adam, bringing up the rear of the line, as he went and picked up his basketball from the basketball court, before racing to catch up with the others.
A few minutes later, everybody walked into the Java Lava, where they were greeted by Chuckie, Nicole, Chaz and Kira.
"I see you kids got thirsty." Said Chuckie, who was refilling a bin with straws.
"Yeah dad, we'd like twenty-five Finster Finster Shakes please." Said Charles.
"Coming right up." Said Nicole, as she went over to the blender, to start making up the shakes.
"Guys, this is my dad, Chuckie, and my mom, Nicole, and, I see my grandma Kira and grandpa Chaz have also come in to help today." Said Rachel with a smile.
"Wow? Your dad's named Chuckie, your mom's named Nicole, your grandma's named Kira and your grandpa's named Chaz?" Asked Melenda.
Rachel nodded.
"Wow! So are mine!" Said Melenda excitedly.
"Why don't we all find a table, and we can get to know one another." Said Darin Pickles.
"Great idea!" Said Adam, who helped Darin Pickles pull several tables and chairs together, to make a big table, big enough to seat twenty-five people around.
Everyone went around the table, and started talking about everything under the sun, from basketball, to their favorite movies and games, and so on, when Chuckie interrupted their talking.
"Your Finster Finster Shakes are ready." Shouted Chuckie.
"We're coming!" Shouted Bob, as he got up and headed over to the counter, Camden Frumkin, George, Abbigale, and Danielle all followed behind him, and helped Bob carry the shakes back to the table, distributing them to each member of the group.
Everybody slirped on their shakes for several minutes, trying to endure everything they had learned in just a matter of an hour. The offspring from 2034 were trying to grasp the fact that there were a set of kids with their same last names, with parents of the same names, but from twelve years in the future, while the offspring from 2046 were trying to figure out, how on earth they got sucked into the past, as the majority of them weren't even born as of July of 2034, as even Rosemary didn't come into the world until December of that very same year. It was then that they must have figured out what must have happened. Keith looked up, to see the barette was missing from Rosemary's hair.
"What happened to your hair Rosemary?" Keith asked.
"Huh?" Rosemary asked, confused, till she touched the top of her head, to notice her barette was gone.
"AAAHHH! My gray barette! It's gone!" Shreaked Rosemary.
"Hey, I think I know what must have happened." Said Kelly.
"What?" Keith asked, turning to his twin brother with curiosity.
"Rosemary's barette, it's what got stuck on that vine that she was stuck to in the portal." Explained Kelly.
"And?" Keith asked, eager to hear more.
"And, when we pulled her loose, her barette caused the portal to pop into the bunch of puzzle pieces, that have somehow scattered themselves all over this place these kids from the past call Midesco, California." Kelly explained.
"But even if that's true, how are we going to solve this mystery and get back home?" Chris asked, as he took another sip of his Finster Finster Shake.
Everybody pondered this question, as they continued to sip on their shakes in silence for several minutes.
And this, ends chapter 2. How will they go about fixing the portal, so the kids from 2046, can head back home to their rightful time? We'll find out, in chapter 3.