The date: December 24, 2033.

Jason stood quietly in the kitchen and watched the images unfold on the 100-inch holographic projection TV in the living room. His father, mother, and older sister Lori sat on the couch in front of the screen, getting a closer view of the action.

They gazed in horror and despair at the sight. On the TV screen, a gigantic mushroom cloud was climbing higher and higher into the sky, spreading its branches widely in every direction. This was not like one of those old-style nuclear tests which had long since been replaced by computer simulations. This eruption of deadly radiation would spread for hundreds, maybe thousands, of miles, poisoning the atmosphere and killing indiscriminately. It was a holocaust of unprecedented scale from which the world might never recover.

"I wonder how much they paid The Wraith to betray us," said Jason's father, a dark-complexioned bear man, with thinly veiled hatred.

"What could possibly be worth the deaths of millions of people?" his mother asked rhetorically.

Jason took his eyes from the screen and glanced around the living room. A well-lighted Christmas tree sat in one corner, and Kwanzaa decorations dangled from the ceiling. It was becoming clear to him that he would not survive to see Christmas morning, and neither would countless other children. Unless...

Lori turned to her parents, her eyes brimming with tears. "Mom...dad...I may never get another chance to say this. I just want to tell you how much I love you."

"We love you too, dear," said her mother, a dark-haired aardvark woman.

Jason knew exactly what he had to do. He lifted his backpack from off the kitchen table and strapped it over his shoulders.

As he opened the door to the garage, his father turned his head, hearing the noise. "Jason?" he called.

Jason walked past the light blue hovercar, which rested on its shining steel supports. The item he sought was buried behind a large pile of useless scientific equipment. He dragged away one piece of junk, then another, then another...

...and there it was.

He quickly sat down on it and placed his feet on the pedals.

"Jason, no!" exclaimed his father, standing in the doorway.

But it was too late to stop his son...

----

The final bell rang, and the students in Bud Wald's fourth-grade class stood, grasped their packs, and started to file out of the room. All except for Alan, formerly known as The Brain, who anxiously awaited a certain item of news from his teacher.

"Good luck, Alan," Muffy said to him as she walked by. "I'm sure you'll make it."

"We'll miss you," said Arthur, smiling.

As Sue Ellen walked past him, shooting him a friendly smile, he felt a knot in his stomach. The knot had come back every time he saw the girl, ever since he had returned from his incredible voyage to the future. Would he ever tell her? Did he dare?

Francine and Fern chatted as they headed for the door. "Sugar Bowl, Fern?" Francine asked.

"Sorry, I can't," said Fern. "I'm grounded."

"Oh, yeah," said Francine as she held the door open. "I feel your pain."

"I have nobody to blame but myself," said Fern sadly.

Soon all the children had exited except for Alan. The boy walked up to Bud's desk, a look of nervous anticipation on his face.

Mr. Wald wasted no time in getting to the point. Picking up a sheet of paper from the top of his desk, he said, "Congratulations, Alan. You passed."

A relieved smile spread across Alan's face. "I passed," he repeated, gazing dreamily into space.

"Of course you passed," said the horse-faced teacher, rising to his feet. "I never doubted for a second that you would. A smart boy like you..."

"So I'm a fifth-grader now," said Alan, his voice growing more serious. "Funny, I don't feel any different."

Bud put a hand on Alan's shoulder. "You're not a fifth-grader yet. We need to see Mr. Haney and fill out some paperwork. Maybe you'll feel different after that."

Alan smiled again.

About fifteen minutes later, Alan strolled down the sidewalk toward his house, a confident glow on his face. Half a block ahead of him, several of his classmates stood chatting excitedly, including Arthur, Buster, Francine, and Beat Simon.

When they saw him coming, they hailed him. "Hey, look!" cried Francine. "Here comes Lakewood Elementary's newest fifth-grader!"

"How 'bout it, Alan?" Buster asked. "Did you pass?"

"Yup," said Alan as he drew near to the group.

The kids cheered and pumped their fists.

"I knew you could do it!" exclaimed Arthur.

"Now we'll have to call you The Brain again," said Beat in her intelligent- sounding British accent. "All the better. I was growing weary of the title."

"We're on our way to the Sugar Bowl," Francine said to Alan.

"And we're taking our sweet time," said Buster. "Get it? Sugar Bowl? Sweet time? Hahaha!"

Alan chuckled politely at Buster's awful joke.

"Come with us and we'll celebrate your advancement," Arthur suggested.

"I'd be glad to," said Alan. "But first, I'd like a word with Beat...in private."

Beat looked a bit perplexed.

"Okay, we'll see you there," said Francine, turning on her heel.

As she, Arthur, and Buster meandered down the sidewalk, Beat smiled at Alan, and her rabbit ears sprang up with joy. "I'm so happy for you, Alan."

Alan gave her a stern look. "The test wasn't that hard," he told her. "I don't understand why you were afraid to take it."

"I wasn't afraid," said Beat.

Brain became somewhat flustered. "Then...why? Why wouldn't you take it?"

"I've told you before," Beat answered firmly. "My reasons are my own. They don't concern you."

"You could've easily passed," Alan insisted.

Beat didn't respond, but only stared blankly at Alan.

"Fine," said Alan with a hint of resignation in his voice. "I won't bother you about it anymore. It's your own business. I understand."

Beat smiled again. "Come on, Alan. Our friends are waiting."

Alan followed closely behind Beat as she walked in the direction of the Sugar Bowl. "Beat?" he said.

Beat turned her head. "Yes?"

"It won't be fifth grade without you."

Beat giggled.

At that moment Alan saw something out of the corner of his eye...as if an object were streaking from the sky in their direction. By the time he turned his face to look, it had already passed overhead with a whooshing sound... followed by a loud crash. He and Beat whirled, amazed at the strange sight and sound. Half a block away, Arthur, Francine, and Buster also stopped and turned.

What they saw was a boy, about their age, sprawled on his back in front of a fence on the other side of the street. A few yards from him lay what appeared to be an overturned child's plastic tricycle.

"My heavens, he's hurt!" Beat cried out. She and Alan rushed across the street without checking first for oncoming traffic.

They stood on either side of the prostrate boy and examined him. A small stream of blood trickled down his face where it had collided with the white picket fence. He appeared to be dazed, or fully unconscious. His face and ears were dark and bear-like, similar to Alan's, but his nose was distended with the nostrils near the bottom, like an aardvark's.

"Well, he's alive," Beat remarked.

They heard a door open, and turned to face the small, light green house sitting behind the fence. A blond elephant woman stepped out, looked at the wounded boy calmly, and went back into the house. Seconds later she re-emerged, holding a medical kit.

"Let me look at him," she said to Alan and Beat. "I'm an EMT."

The woman came through the gate, sank to her knees in front of the mysterious boy, opened her kit, and pulled out some gauze.

As she worked, Alan turned and walked toward the plastic object that lay on the street and had apparently arrived with the boy. Something seemed oddly familiar about it, but he had to be sure...

He picked up the object, turned it over, and gasped with surprise when he saw a sophisticated control panel attached to the handlebars.

It was the time tricycle that Nadine had brought back from Spiritus Mundi!

(To be continued...)