Thanks for all the great reviews! Enjoy part seven, and I alrady have ideas for a sequal, although I don't know how I'm going to end this! :-)
-egbkid
"You do realize how much this is going to change the future, don't you? I mean, we might never meet, then that would mean we wouldn't come back and, whoa…'
"Blah, blah, woof, woof, whatever, Logan. Don't get into all that past-future crap. It's to confusing." Max and Logan were now driving out of Seattle towards Wyoming and Manticore. They had spent the night in the car, Logan sleeping and Max keeping vigil, although Logan did not know that. Max had called Mr and Mrs Cale and told them she could not baby-sit, that her father said she had to go to a family outing or something. She had been looking forward to spending more time with Logan and his siblings, though.
That morning while Max had gotten everything ready for their trip, Logan had disappeared for an hour. Max had a feeling of where he had gone, but she wasn't going to say anything. If he wanted to talk about it, he would.
"Max, you wanna check that map again, I'm not to sure which exit to take." She grabbed the map off the dashboard and opened it, moving her finger along their trail.
"Um, the next one. We could take this one, but the other one is closer to where we are going."
"Ok, then we'll take the next one."
"Sounds good to me." Max refolded the map and put it away. They drove in silence for a while, each in their own thoughts, until Logan spoke.
"You know. I was thinking about that guy we picked up yesterday. He asked me if my car was new."
"Yeah, and you told him it wasn't. It's about twenty years old, isn't it?"
"Well, yes and no. In one month, my father will buy this car for my family. So really, it's brand new. It's a 2002 Aztec."
"Uh, I thought we were in 2001." Max said, rolling the window down to get some air.
"We are, but they used to start making cars in about June the year before, so they will start selling 2002 cars in a little while. It's strange, but true."
"This year is weird."
"Well, I guess, but if someone from this time came to the future, they would think it was strange."
"So this used to be the family car?" asked Max, changing the subject.
"Yeah. I remember sitting in the crowded back seat, driving to the airport…"
"Crowded back seat? Why was it crowded, you weren't that big a kid, were you?" Although Max knew that Logan was remembering sitting in the backseat with Sean and Erin, she wasn't going to let on.
"No, Max." he smiled sadly. "That's not what I meant. I have a feeling you know what I am talking about, or rather whom."
"No…"
"Max, please don't lie. I know where you were yesterday. You said you were babysitting, and most people wouldn't let any stranger just walk in off the street and take care of their kids."
"Logan, I'm sorry. I was just curious. But what do you mean by most people?"
"My mom was so absent minded, she never noticed how experienced a person was, or even how old they were. My father just didn't care, so long as there was someone there."
"Really?" Logan pulled over onto the shoulder of the road.
"If we're going to discuss this, we might as well do it now," he said, turning to Max, "Yes, really. So what did you think?"
"You seemed like a very intelligent child. And your brother, wow."
Logan smiled at the memory, "Yeah, he was always showing off. Believe it or not, by this time next year, he'll come home with an accent."
"Really? That must have made him sound sophisticated."
"Yeah, a sophisticated ten year old. By then, though, he had stopped showing off his intelligence. It was just there."
"Didn't you say yesterday morning that you would have been at private school by now? According to your younger self, you attend public school, and it does not exactly make your father pleased."
"I said that so you wouldn't go off doing what you did." Logan answered, turning away, "I wasn't sure if I wanted you to know about my family."
"Logan," Max put a hand on his shoulder, "Your family was one of the nicest I have ever met. I have babysat a lot of children, and believe me, you guys were the best behaving yet. Sean went to his room and did schoolwork, and we watched cartoons. Now that's strange television."
"Really." Logan turned back to face Max, "What cartoons did you watch?"
"One about some little monsters, and one about a bunch of superheroes with weird names, oh and one about a bunch of girls and talking cats."
"Erin's favourite." Logan mumbled. He looked very sad.
"Yeah, that's what you told me. Are you alright?"
"Yes. It's just that I miss then so much."
"What happened?" she lowered her voice, because he looked like he wanted to cry.
"Were you told what was wrong? With Erin, I mean." He looked away again, staring off into the distance.
"Yes. You said she had something called meningitis when she was a baby, then got better, and for some reason just started getting worse again. Was it the meningitis?"
"No. Meningitis was something that was mostly caught by children, but adults could get it too. We were all vaccinated against it, but somehow, Erin got it. It attacks the spine and brain. The child that gave it to Erin actually died. It usually leaves the person permanently disabled, brain damage, spinal damage, blindness or deafness. Erin was lucky, and was able to relearn to walk, and it left no permanent damage because it was caught early. She had Sean and me behind her all the way. By the time I was fifteen, meningitis was all but wiped out, like polio. But that's not what was wrong with Erin. She had all the blood tests available. My father stopped at nothing to find out what was wrong, but no one knew. She just kept getting weaker and weaker. Finally, about three days before her eighth birthday, she died. It was all she could barely do was wake up in the mornings. She was stuck in bed for almost two months before she died. I missed a lot of school that year, just sitting at home with her, keeping her company. My parents hired a babysitter nurse, but she didn't keep Erin company. I snuck back in after my parents left for work to sit with Erin. She was so sad and lonely. After she died, they found out it was her heart. For some reason, it was weak, and not working right. If they had checked that, she could have received a heart transplant, and maybe…" Logan trailed off, he turned back to Max, tears in his eyes, "As for Sean, he's still in Ireland. He didn't really come home much after Erin died, and he met someone when he was fifteen. They eventually married, but I haven't seen him since. They still live in Ireland and I know they have two kids. One is five, and she looks exactly like Erin. Sean wrote me once and said every time he looks at her he remembers Erin and feels like crying."
"I sort of know how you feel, loosing Eva and Jack, and even Tinga and Zack were some of the hardest times I have lived through. I wish I could have gotten to know Erin more. She seemed like such a sweet child. Maybe there's something we can do to help her, too."
"Max, do you realize what could happen? As is, we are screwing up the future. Just going there and babysitting me could have done something to screw everything up. And what we are going to do now is an entirely different story. And we still haven't figured out what to do with all those babies at Manticore when we get them out!"
"We could open an orphanage." Max said, smiling. Logan leaned back in his seat and put his face in his hands. He started shaking and Max thought he was crying. "Are you alright?" she asked, putting her hand on his wrist. He pulled his hands away and she discovered he was laughing.
"Max, you are something, you know that?"
To Be Continued…
-egbkid
"You do realize how much this is going to change the future, don't you? I mean, we might never meet, then that would mean we wouldn't come back and, whoa…'
"Blah, blah, woof, woof, whatever, Logan. Don't get into all that past-future crap. It's to confusing." Max and Logan were now driving out of Seattle towards Wyoming and Manticore. They had spent the night in the car, Logan sleeping and Max keeping vigil, although Logan did not know that. Max had called Mr and Mrs Cale and told them she could not baby-sit, that her father said she had to go to a family outing or something. She had been looking forward to spending more time with Logan and his siblings, though.
That morning while Max had gotten everything ready for their trip, Logan had disappeared for an hour. Max had a feeling of where he had gone, but she wasn't going to say anything. If he wanted to talk about it, he would.
"Max, you wanna check that map again, I'm not to sure which exit to take." She grabbed the map off the dashboard and opened it, moving her finger along their trail.
"Um, the next one. We could take this one, but the other one is closer to where we are going."
"Ok, then we'll take the next one."
"Sounds good to me." Max refolded the map and put it away. They drove in silence for a while, each in their own thoughts, until Logan spoke.
"You know. I was thinking about that guy we picked up yesterday. He asked me if my car was new."
"Yeah, and you told him it wasn't. It's about twenty years old, isn't it?"
"Well, yes and no. In one month, my father will buy this car for my family. So really, it's brand new. It's a 2002 Aztec."
"Uh, I thought we were in 2001." Max said, rolling the window down to get some air.
"We are, but they used to start making cars in about June the year before, so they will start selling 2002 cars in a little while. It's strange, but true."
"This year is weird."
"Well, I guess, but if someone from this time came to the future, they would think it was strange."
"So this used to be the family car?" asked Max, changing the subject.
"Yeah. I remember sitting in the crowded back seat, driving to the airport…"
"Crowded back seat? Why was it crowded, you weren't that big a kid, were you?" Although Max knew that Logan was remembering sitting in the backseat with Sean and Erin, she wasn't going to let on.
"No, Max." he smiled sadly. "That's not what I meant. I have a feeling you know what I am talking about, or rather whom."
"No…"
"Max, please don't lie. I know where you were yesterday. You said you were babysitting, and most people wouldn't let any stranger just walk in off the street and take care of their kids."
"Logan, I'm sorry. I was just curious. But what do you mean by most people?"
"My mom was so absent minded, she never noticed how experienced a person was, or even how old they were. My father just didn't care, so long as there was someone there."
"Really?" Logan pulled over onto the shoulder of the road.
"If we're going to discuss this, we might as well do it now," he said, turning to Max, "Yes, really. So what did you think?"
"You seemed like a very intelligent child. And your brother, wow."
Logan smiled at the memory, "Yeah, he was always showing off. Believe it or not, by this time next year, he'll come home with an accent."
"Really? That must have made him sound sophisticated."
"Yeah, a sophisticated ten year old. By then, though, he had stopped showing off his intelligence. It was just there."
"Didn't you say yesterday morning that you would have been at private school by now? According to your younger self, you attend public school, and it does not exactly make your father pleased."
"I said that so you wouldn't go off doing what you did." Logan answered, turning away, "I wasn't sure if I wanted you to know about my family."
"Logan," Max put a hand on his shoulder, "Your family was one of the nicest I have ever met. I have babysat a lot of children, and believe me, you guys were the best behaving yet. Sean went to his room and did schoolwork, and we watched cartoons. Now that's strange television."
"Really." Logan turned back to face Max, "What cartoons did you watch?"
"One about some little monsters, and one about a bunch of superheroes with weird names, oh and one about a bunch of girls and talking cats."
"Erin's favourite." Logan mumbled. He looked very sad.
"Yeah, that's what you told me. Are you alright?"
"Yes. It's just that I miss then so much."
"What happened?" she lowered her voice, because he looked like he wanted to cry.
"Were you told what was wrong? With Erin, I mean." He looked away again, staring off into the distance.
"Yes. You said she had something called meningitis when she was a baby, then got better, and for some reason just started getting worse again. Was it the meningitis?"
"No. Meningitis was something that was mostly caught by children, but adults could get it too. We were all vaccinated against it, but somehow, Erin got it. It attacks the spine and brain. The child that gave it to Erin actually died. It usually leaves the person permanently disabled, brain damage, spinal damage, blindness or deafness. Erin was lucky, and was able to relearn to walk, and it left no permanent damage because it was caught early. She had Sean and me behind her all the way. By the time I was fifteen, meningitis was all but wiped out, like polio. But that's not what was wrong with Erin. She had all the blood tests available. My father stopped at nothing to find out what was wrong, but no one knew. She just kept getting weaker and weaker. Finally, about three days before her eighth birthday, she died. It was all she could barely do was wake up in the mornings. She was stuck in bed for almost two months before she died. I missed a lot of school that year, just sitting at home with her, keeping her company. My parents hired a babysitter nurse, but she didn't keep Erin company. I snuck back in after my parents left for work to sit with Erin. She was so sad and lonely. After she died, they found out it was her heart. For some reason, it was weak, and not working right. If they had checked that, she could have received a heart transplant, and maybe…" Logan trailed off, he turned back to Max, tears in his eyes, "As for Sean, he's still in Ireland. He didn't really come home much after Erin died, and he met someone when he was fifteen. They eventually married, but I haven't seen him since. They still live in Ireland and I know they have two kids. One is five, and she looks exactly like Erin. Sean wrote me once and said every time he looks at her he remembers Erin and feels like crying."
"I sort of know how you feel, loosing Eva and Jack, and even Tinga and Zack were some of the hardest times I have lived through. I wish I could have gotten to know Erin more. She seemed like such a sweet child. Maybe there's something we can do to help her, too."
"Max, do you realize what could happen? As is, we are screwing up the future. Just going there and babysitting me could have done something to screw everything up. And what we are going to do now is an entirely different story. And we still haven't figured out what to do with all those babies at Manticore when we get them out!"
"We could open an orphanage." Max said, smiling. Logan leaned back in his seat and put his face in his hands. He started shaking and Max thought he was crying. "Are you alright?" she asked, putting her hand on his wrist. He pulled his hands away and she discovered he was laughing.
"Max, you are something, you know that?"
To Be Continued…