Part 1

Liz Parker, Maria Deluca, and Isabel Evans were all centered around the television. Earlier they were arguing on which movie to see. Maria wanted to see the 1970s movie 'Hair' and Isabel wanted to see anything without blood. Liz, the wise one, was neutral.

When all was finally quiet, the channel was interrupted by a news bulletin:

Channel 5 is reporting live from the outskirts of Roswell. Police have discovered a car that apparently has exploded. No word on how this occurred, but we can tell you ashes were found. The details are still sketchy but we will inform on the latest, this is Alice Hadiatmodjo reporting....

"Wow, some accident," Maria said, turning off the television.

"Yeah..." Liz said silently, somewhere inside she knew something was wrong. It didn't feel right.

"Hey, why'd you do that? The movie was getting good," Isabel said, throwing popcorn at the perky one, as the movie was continuing.

It had been the first time in a long time since the three of the them got together. They never really hung out, except for the occasional dinner at the Crashdown, but Liz and Max weren't exactly on speaking terms. Whenever a rare dinner date came up, everyone became silent as the two would walk in separately. They knew a silent war was brewing between the two. They just seemed to grow part and go their separate ways, though Maria and Michael had been increasing their relationship.

"Yeah, yeah," Maria said, getting up to go to the kitchen to restock on supplies.

"Maria, is it ok, if I call Alex?" Isabel asked. They had went to the Prom together and she thoroughly enjoyed herself. It had been the first time she was able to go out on a date with him. With Grant and the whole Las Vegas fiasco, she was really able to enjoy herself with the one person she felt like she could spend the rest of her life with.

Maria waved her off and put some red Sour Straws in her mouth.

While listening to the phone ring, Isabel pictured what Alex was doing. Probably playing his guitar or reading the latest computer magazine. She wasn't thinking he was a dork, well maybe, her dork. She wanted to make sure their plans for that night were still a go.

She hung up the phone, discouraged, "That's strange, no one picked up."

"Oh don't worry Isabel, he's probably getting ready, you know perking those pecks," Maria said gigglingly.

She was met by a poke in the side, "You know Alex wouldn't like that," Liz said.

"And why wouldn't he?" Isabel asked curiously.

"Oh because you know how our Alex boy is..." Maria said turning on the radio.

"Riiight," she said laughing, "Hey Liz, did you ever think about doing something different with your hair?"

"No," she said, self consciously touching her hair, "Not really. I kinda..."

"Shh- there's something about the accident," Maria said. She motioned everyone to hurry to the radio to hear the announcement more clearer.

More about that accident outside of Roswell. Boy, it seems that this one is a big one. Maybe the worst accident around. More confirmed information though, there were some identification cards found on the scene. Some of them were burned in the blaze and there is an analysis going on as we speak about the ashes the police found. They fear that it may be of a person. The blaze was so ferocious that left only pieces of the car. The police are asking if you have any information on any missing persons, to please call your local station. More information will be provided as it develops. Continue to listen to KROZ for more on this on going case.

"Something isn't right about this," Liz said. She had this feeling before, she had it before Prom. What if? No, it wasn't possible. He was home getting ready for his date with Isabel. He had no reason to go out on the road. No less be outside of Roswell.

"Liz, is everything ok? You seem kinda pale," Maria asked, concerned.

"Yeah, fine, it's just, it's not what I think," she said, hopefully her thoughts weren't true.

"Liz, what do you think it is? Is it about the accident?" Isabel asked.

"Yeah, I think so," she said, looking at both the girls.

"I think... I think..." she stumbled..."I think it's Alex."

~
Alex opened his eyes to find sun rays shining upon him. He smiled at the warmth.

He sighed, "It was all a dream, I knew it was."

He was hit with a certain pang of reality. He realized where he was. He was still on the bus. He felt it screech into a stop.

"Welcome to Denver," he heard over the PA.

"We're here," the woman next to him said, "I guess this is my stop, I guess I'll see you around."

She stepped off the bus before he was able to say anything. He grabbed his bag and something told him to look up, and when he did he saw a bag that matched the one he was holding in his hand. He grabbed the bag and stepped off the bus.

He went off to the side, stretched a little. He patted his pockets and pulled out some money, "At least I'm not broke," he kidded.
He looked some more until the lint came out of his jean pockets, no id or credit cards.

He sighed and went to the closest newsstand. He bought a cup of coffee and an apple turn over. He wondered how he knew how many sugars he would want and how he liked apple turn overs. Everything was new to him. Everything that was him. He knew about the American Revolution, he knew about the latest Macintosh computer, but when it came to him, he knew nothing. He heard a bus honk and almost choked on the apple turn over when he realized the bus to Smallville was pulling out. He raced over to it, he wasn't sure if it was the right decision. But if he could get answers there then that would be better than staying where he was. He hoped that whatever lied ahead, it would be for the better because nothing could be worse than this.

Too bad the bus to Denver pulled in 5 minutes later than it was supposed to. If it haven't he would have had time to notice the newspapers that aligned the floor in the newsstand. If he would have looked he would have noticed the headline, "Teenage Boy Missing After Explosion."

The ride to Smallville was long. Extremely long. Not only did Alex have time to count every dot on the seat in front of him, but he made a list of everything he knew. For one he was a boy, a 17 year old boy. Liked apple turn overs, liked coffee with 3 sugar packets. He was on a connecting bus ride. He woke up when he was going to Trinidad, Colorado. He thought about getting off the bus and going back, retrace his steps, but it would be too much for him to do.

He looked through the pamphlet about Smallville, Kansas. Your usual run of the mill town. It used to be the Cream Corn Capital of the World, but after 1989 it's now known for the meteor shower. It said that now there are walking tours around the local forest to find pieces of the meteor rocks. The shower was so huge that it wiped out some of the town, and pieces of the crash are found everywhere.

He shuffled through his belongings once more. He found a couple of shirts, some pants, seemed like he was going on a little trip. He found no phone numbers, no way to know who he was. He tried again, like he did the previous night, to search through his brain to find some kind of memory. He was hit with a blank.
He tapped on the paper, while he was trying to think of some way to figure out who he was. He decided though, to call himself Mario. It sounded familiar, maybe it was the name to a cousin or his father's. That's if he had a father. Another thing to add to the list. Mario what? Mario Parker. Yeah that sounded ok. Parker, that too sounded familiar. There were many things that struck a chord, but nothing actually panned out. He sighed some more ...and some more. Boy was it a boring trip. He wondered if he left any family behind and if he did, were they worrying about him?