The Ruins of Our Lives Chapter 21

"Beware Falling Clocks"

Randy's POV

Right now, mom, Brad, Lauren, Wilson, and I are on a plane, flying back to Detroit. I didn't want to leave Los Angeles, mainly because I'll wind up missing two or three episodes of Life and Stuff, but Jonathan told me to go ahead and go, and come back whenever I can.

Once we get to Detroit, we're going to stop by Heidi's house to see what it is that she was talking about on the phone. Then I guess we'll be flying to Boston to get Mark and bring him back home.

I just feel so horrible that none of this worked out. All because I had to go to amateur's night at that stupid comedy club. If I hadn't done that, I could be working at a daycare right now, and mom and Brad could still be on the highway to hell. And Mark... He's the one I feel sorry for the most here. When it comes down to it, I don't mind going back my self, but I hate to think that Mark has to come back to Detroit now too, all thanks to me. He must really hate me right now.

Later That Day at the Keppert Residence

Heidi's POV

'Scott, do we have any batteries for this clock?' I ask. Right now I'm trying to get the pendulum on our miniature grandfather clock swinging again.

'Yeah, I think so. Let me check' he says, getting up from the couch. When he does that, our "guest" for the moment gets up, and stands right next to the ladder.

After a minute or so, Scott comes back into the living room with the batteries. I set the clock down on the top rung of the ladder, and get the batteries in with no hassle whatsoever.

Then when I try to hang the clock on the wall, it slips down off the wall, and...should've come crashing down onto the parquet floors of the living room. But instead, all I hear is a dull thud. I look down to see him lying there on the ground, not moving a muscle.

Scott runs to the kitchen and grabs the ice pack, which I put on his head.

'Should I call 9-1-1?' Scott asks.

'Maybe. Let's give it a couple more minutes. If he doesn't move, then go ahead and call' I say.

Then suddenly, he comes to.

'What are you doing Heidi?' he asks.

'You know who I am?' I ask.

'Of course I know who you are. I hired you, didn't I? Now, what am I doing at your house? Aren't we still in the middle of a Tool Time episode?' Tim responds.

'Tim, Tool Time hasn't been on the air for over three years now. Do you remember anything from the last Tool Time?' I ask.

'I remember Tim Allen was there in the audience, since he was debating on buying Binford Tools. I remember that something hit me really hard, and then the next memory I have is being here with the ice pack on my head' Tim says.

'The roof collapsed. Al was electrocuted when the lights came crashing down, and most of the audience was killed. We thought you had been killed too' I explain.

'But I'm alive' Tim says.

'You must have somehow made it out of all the debris, then wandered the streets for the next three years' I say.

'Do Jill and the boys know I'm here? What about my mom and brothers?' Tim asks.

'Your brothers are all flying in to come see you. Jill and the boys is a long, long story' I say.

'Oh God. Why didn't you say anything about my mom? Oh God, please don't tell me she passed away' Tim says. When I nod my head, he starts up saying "Oh God" again.

'When?' he asks.

'About eight months ago' I answer.

'What about Jill and Brad and Randy and Mark? Let's see, Jill must be a psychologist by now, Brad should be in college, Randy would be a senior in high school, and Mark...God, Mark is a freshman in high school' Tim guesses.

'That's not quite how things went Tim' I say. Then I proceed to tell him all about Jill and Brad's drinking, and how Mark and Randy ran away, and where Jill was going and everything. I regret even trying to go into this much detail almost immediately, since Tim isn't really digesting this information all that well.

Jill's POV

'Okay, Heidi's house should be along here somewhere. Oh, there, I see it' I say. The whole family is back in Detroit now. Well, almost the whole family. We have yet to go and get Mark.

I pull up into the driveway, and Brad, Randy, and I all get out of the car as fast as possible. All three of us are still confused as to what could be going on here.

We walk onto the porch, and ring the door bell. Scott answers, and invites us in.

A/N: Sorry, I'm leaving it right there for now. You'll just have to R&R to find out what everyone's reaction is. I'm thinking I'll be able to write about three more chapters, which is more than what I promised about six chapters ago, but I don't think anyone is going to complain about getting more chapters :P

I do have to give credit to the show ER for giving me the idea of having Tim get hit on the head with the clock.

Thanks for reading.

-Yours truly, Randy Taylor