"It certainly looks like something I would invent," Augusta remarked. She was
examining the design of the time reverser, a gadget created by her future self
that had enabled April Murphy to journey three years into the past. A beige
rectangular box that fit in the palm of her hand, it featured six dials--
seconds, minutes, hours, days, years, centuries--and an activation button.
"You were very proud of it," said April, who sat in the desk chair. "It was your greatest accomplishment. Going into the future is so easy, you didn't bother to make it an option." She shrugged. "I wouldn't want to go back to a future where my parents are dead anyway."
Augusta positioned herself at the center of the living room of her apartment, and started to manipulate the reverser's controls. "Five seconds into the past," she muttered. "That should make for a convincing demonstration."
As she braced herself to press the button, a sudden flash of light stunned her. She was staring at the backside of a blond rabbit woman, dressed in the same blouse and skirt that she herself was wearing. The woman turned around, revealing a face identical to her own, except for a satisfied smirk.
"Are you...me?" inquired the astonished Augusta.
"Stop talking to yourself and push the button," ordered the other woman.
Augusta did so, and promptly vanished.
The second Augusta looked at April, who seemed bored with the proceedings.
"The first time I did that," said the cat girl, "I was tempted to not push the button. Then there would've been two of me."
"I wonder how that would work," mused Augusta, idly tossing the time gadget into the air and catching it. "If I made copies of myself, I wouldn't have to bother with birthing little Wicastas. But would the copies be viable?"
"Your future self asked the same question," April told her. "She finally decided not to try it, because of the baby."
Seating herself on the edge of the desk next to April, Augusta laid the time reverser in one of the compartments, next to the black case containing the Los Cactos crystal and the sapphire-hued invisibility stone that April had used to steal the crystal from the laboratory.
"I'm not certain the crystal will be of any use to us," said Augusta disappointedly.
April gaped at her. "Why not?"
Augusta took a deep breath. "The properties of the crystal are such that it could contain all of the world's evil, and then some. The problem is, if the crystal breaks, I have no idea where the evil would go."
"Your future self said something about vast wells of good and evil at the Earth's core," April related. "Maybe it would go there."
"There's no room for maybes," Augusta replied firmly. "You remember what happened to Dolly. She absorbed only a small amount of my evil, but it was enough to push her over the edge. With my powers and knowledge, and a strong enough temptation, I could draw all the evil in the world into my own soul, and become an all-powerful demon. Which is why I must, at all costs, keep the balance of good and evil in my soul where it is."
April yawned. "Your future self told me all that."
"I'm sure she did," said Augusta. "I'm just repeating it for the benefit of the readers."
----
The next morning held no great surprises for the kids of Lakewood Elementary-- except for George. After he had waved his sister Sal off to her second grade class, Beat Simon approached him in the center court, a friendly grin spread over her aardvark face. "I hear your mum's expecting, George," she greeted him.
"Expecting what?" George responded naively.
"A baby, you silly goose." Beat gave him a playful cheek pinch and walked past, leaving him to wonder if his classmates were privy to a secret that he hadn't heard.
A motorized wheelchair piloted by Van Cooper pulled alongside him on his way to Mr. Wald's room. "Congratulations, George," said the duck boy. "How many is that, three? Double that, and you'll be even with us."
Unsure as to Van's meaning, George ignored him and set down his backpack on a desk in between Francine and Adil. From the corner of his eye he caught Fern waving and smiling at him, something she seldom went out of her way to do. In the corner of his other eye, Binky paused from his doodling to flash a thumbs-up.
Mr. Wald stood and summoned the class to order. "Before we begin, I have some announcements. First, you'll be happy to know that Nigel Ratburn, who taught many of you in third grade, has accepted a teaching position at Stonecreek Elementary. On top of that, he is engaged to marry Carla Fuente...again."
The applause began with Arthur, then spread through the classroom and became thunderous.
The teacher stopped clapping and motioned for silence. "Second, someone in this classroom is expecting a new addition to his family."
George suddenly felt very hot as all eyes focused their gaze on him. Yet he still didn't quite get it.
"That's great, Mr. Wald," he spoke up. "Is it your first?"
Everyone else started to laugh, even the teacher. They laughed uproariously until the confused expression on George's face made it clear that he truly knew nothing of what was going on.
"It's your mom, George," Fern pointed out.
The moose boy was taken aback. "M-my mom's having a baby? But she never told me!"
"What do you mean, she never told you?" replied the equally astonished Fern. "Then why did you come to my house and use my computer to look up a gynecologist?"
Baffled into speechlessness, George looked toward Mr. Wald as if he could help. "Who can tell me what a gynecologist does?" the teacher inquired of the class.
Beat raised her hand. "A gynecologist is a doctor who treats pregnant women."
"D'oh!" groaned George.
"So...your mom's not having a baby after all?" Francine said to him.
"No." George shook his head determinedly. "I made up the part about him being a gynecologist."
"Who?" asked Francine.
"Dr. Portinari."
"Who's that?"
"I don't know." George sighed. "That's what I'm trying to figure out."
After a lesson on the various types of rodents and their feeding habits, the kids started to leave their desks. Mavis Cutler, in the meantime, took interest in the drawings which Binky had idly scratched out in his notebook. "Let me see those," she requested.
Binky handed her the notebook, and she scanned the peculiar sketches. They were recognizable as internal organs--a heart, a brain, a lung, a stomach--and were amazingly detailed. "Binky, these are remarkable," said the hamster girl in awe.
"Yeah," replied Binky, rising from his desk, "my mom got me a book about parts of the body, and I've been drawing them in my spare time."
Suddenly inspired, Mavis laid the notebook on her desk and grabbed a pencil. A few quick strokes, and the brain drawing had arms, legs, eyes, and a goofy grin. Binky chuckled at the sight.
"He's a little brain boy," explained Mavis, returning the notebook to Binky. "He goes to a school where all the kids are organs. There's a heart kid, a lung kid, and a stomach kid who does nothing but eat all the time."
Binky felt his creative juices kick into gear. "He's the smartest kid in the school, because he's a brain," he expounded. "And the heart kid is a girl, and she has crushes on all the boys. And the lung kid..."
"The lung kid talks all the time and never shuts up," said Mavis.
She and Binky continued to describe their cast of characters as they strolled out of the classroom. "The brain boy remembers everything he learns," Mavis went on. "He can even remember when he was a baby brain. He's like a sponge."
"All the other kids are jealous of him," Binky added. "They call him names, like Smartypants."
"Then that's what we'll call him," Mavis proclaimed. "Spongebrain Smartypants."
Binky grinned with amusement. "I like it."
Mavis' face lit up. "Hmm...are you pondering what I'm pondering, Binky?"
"I think so, Mavis," Binky answered. "But your dress wouldn't fit me, and I can't see with your glasses."
----
During morning recess, Dudley sat on a bench by the playground, poring over an issue of Boy's Life magazine. He wore a plaid, short-sleeved shirt and a pair of slacks that Alan had recently outgrown; Mrs. Powers had not, as of yet, purchased him any new clothing, out of fear that he might change back into a girl at any time. As he absorbed himself in reading, Salma Nordgren took a seat next to him and grinned sweetly.
"Whatcha doing, Dudley?" asked the little moose girl, who was wearing the same red silk dress as the previous day.
Dudley reciprocated with a rather sheepish smile. "I'm learning about careers for boys," he answered. "There are so many in this century. In the town where I grew up, a boy didn't have much choice but to become a farmer, and a girl became a farmer's wife."
"I want to be a doctor," said Sal, gazing affectionately at the rat boy.
"A beautiful girl like you should marry and have children," Dudley remarked.
"I want to do that, too." Sal pushed herself an inch or two closer to Dudley as she spoke.
Made nervous by the girl's apparent intentions, Dudley tried to think of a ladylike--or rather, gentlemanly--way to let her know he wasn't interested.
"I was once a girl," he pointed out. "Did George tell you that?"
"Yeah, he did," Sal replied, her enthusiasm undimmed. "That's so cool."
"Why is it...cool?" asked the increasingly anxious Dudley.
"Most boys are jerks," Sal observed. "They don't understand how girls feel inside. But you do. You have a unique perspective."
Change the subject, thought Dudley. Must change the subject...
"Er, tell me about the snake exhibit at the library," he inquired.
TBC
"You were very proud of it," said April, who sat in the desk chair. "It was your greatest accomplishment. Going into the future is so easy, you didn't bother to make it an option." She shrugged. "I wouldn't want to go back to a future where my parents are dead anyway."
Augusta positioned herself at the center of the living room of her apartment, and started to manipulate the reverser's controls. "Five seconds into the past," she muttered. "That should make for a convincing demonstration."
As she braced herself to press the button, a sudden flash of light stunned her. She was staring at the backside of a blond rabbit woman, dressed in the same blouse and skirt that she herself was wearing. The woman turned around, revealing a face identical to her own, except for a satisfied smirk.
"Are you...me?" inquired the astonished Augusta.
"Stop talking to yourself and push the button," ordered the other woman.
Augusta did so, and promptly vanished.
The second Augusta looked at April, who seemed bored with the proceedings.
"The first time I did that," said the cat girl, "I was tempted to not push the button. Then there would've been two of me."
"I wonder how that would work," mused Augusta, idly tossing the time gadget into the air and catching it. "If I made copies of myself, I wouldn't have to bother with birthing little Wicastas. But would the copies be viable?"
"Your future self asked the same question," April told her. "She finally decided not to try it, because of the baby."
Seating herself on the edge of the desk next to April, Augusta laid the time reverser in one of the compartments, next to the black case containing the Los Cactos crystal and the sapphire-hued invisibility stone that April had used to steal the crystal from the laboratory.
"I'm not certain the crystal will be of any use to us," said Augusta disappointedly.
April gaped at her. "Why not?"
Augusta took a deep breath. "The properties of the crystal are such that it could contain all of the world's evil, and then some. The problem is, if the crystal breaks, I have no idea where the evil would go."
"Your future self said something about vast wells of good and evil at the Earth's core," April related. "Maybe it would go there."
"There's no room for maybes," Augusta replied firmly. "You remember what happened to Dolly. She absorbed only a small amount of my evil, but it was enough to push her over the edge. With my powers and knowledge, and a strong enough temptation, I could draw all the evil in the world into my own soul, and become an all-powerful demon. Which is why I must, at all costs, keep the balance of good and evil in my soul where it is."
April yawned. "Your future self told me all that."
"I'm sure she did," said Augusta. "I'm just repeating it for the benefit of the readers."
----
The next morning held no great surprises for the kids of Lakewood Elementary-- except for George. After he had waved his sister Sal off to her second grade class, Beat Simon approached him in the center court, a friendly grin spread over her aardvark face. "I hear your mum's expecting, George," she greeted him.
"Expecting what?" George responded naively.
"A baby, you silly goose." Beat gave him a playful cheek pinch and walked past, leaving him to wonder if his classmates were privy to a secret that he hadn't heard.
A motorized wheelchair piloted by Van Cooper pulled alongside him on his way to Mr. Wald's room. "Congratulations, George," said the duck boy. "How many is that, three? Double that, and you'll be even with us."
Unsure as to Van's meaning, George ignored him and set down his backpack on a desk in between Francine and Adil. From the corner of his eye he caught Fern waving and smiling at him, something she seldom went out of her way to do. In the corner of his other eye, Binky paused from his doodling to flash a thumbs-up.
Mr. Wald stood and summoned the class to order. "Before we begin, I have some announcements. First, you'll be happy to know that Nigel Ratburn, who taught many of you in third grade, has accepted a teaching position at Stonecreek Elementary. On top of that, he is engaged to marry Carla Fuente...again."
The applause began with Arthur, then spread through the classroom and became thunderous.
The teacher stopped clapping and motioned for silence. "Second, someone in this classroom is expecting a new addition to his family."
George suddenly felt very hot as all eyes focused their gaze on him. Yet he still didn't quite get it.
"That's great, Mr. Wald," he spoke up. "Is it your first?"
Everyone else started to laugh, even the teacher. They laughed uproariously until the confused expression on George's face made it clear that he truly knew nothing of what was going on.
"It's your mom, George," Fern pointed out.
The moose boy was taken aback. "M-my mom's having a baby? But she never told me!"
"What do you mean, she never told you?" replied the equally astonished Fern. "Then why did you come to my house and use my computer to look up a gynecologist?"
Baffled into speechlessness, George looked toward Mr. Wald as if he could help. "Who can tell me what a gynecologist does?" the teacher inquired of the class.
Beat raised her hand. "A gynecologist is a doctor who treats pregnant women."
"D'oh!" groaned George.
"So...your mom's not having a baby after all?" Francine said to him.
"No." George shook his head determinedly. "I made up the part about him being a gynecologist."
"Who?" asked Francine.
"Dr. Portinari."
"Who's that?"
"I don't know." George sighed. "That's what I'm trying to figure out."
After a lesson on the various types of rodents and their feeding habits, the kids started to leave their desks. Mavis Cutler, in the meantime, took interest in the drawings which Binky had idly scratched out in his notebook. "Let me see those," she requested.
Binky handed her the notebook, and she scanned the peculiar sketches. They were recognizable as internal organs--a heart, a brain, a lung, a stomach--and were amazingly detailed. "Binky, these are remarkable," said the hamster girl in awe.
"Yeah," replied Binky, rising from his desk, "my mom got me a book about parts of the body, and I've been drawing them in my spare time."
Suddenly inspired, Mavis laid the notebook on her desk and grabbed a pencil. A few quick strokes, and the brain drawing had arms, legs, eyes, and a goofy grin. Binky chuckled at the sight.
"He's a little brain boy," explained Mavis, returning the notebook to Binky. "He goes to a school where all the kids are organs. There's a heart kid, a lung kid, and a stomach kid who does nothing but eat all the time."
Binky felt his creative juices kick into gear. "He's the smartest kid in the school, because he's a brain," he expounded. "And the heart kid is a girl, and she has crushes on all the boys. And the lung kid..."
"The lung kid talks all the time and never shuts up," said Mavis.
She and Binky continued to describe their cast of characters as they strolled out of the classroom. "The brain boy remembers everything he learns," Mavis went on. "He can even remember when he was a baby brain. He's like a sponge."
"All the other kids are jealous of him," Binky added. "They call him names, like Smartypants."
"Then that's what we'll call him," Mavis proclaimed. "Spongebrain Smartypants."
Binky grinned with amusement. "I like it."
Mavis' face lit up. "Hmm...are you pondering what I'm pondering, Binky?"
"I think so, Mavis," Binky answered. "But your dress wouldn't fit me, and I can't see with your glasses."
----
During morning recess, Dudley sat on a bench by the playground, poring over an issue of Boy's Life magazine. He wore a plaid, short-sleeved shirt and a pair of slacks that Alan had recently outgrown; Mrs. Powers had not, as of yet, purchased him any new clothing, out of fear that he might change back into a girl at any time. As he absorbed himself in reading, Salma Nordgren took a seat next to him and grinned sweetly.
"Whatcha doing, Dudley?" asked the little moose girl, who was wearing the same red silk dress as the previous day.
Dudley reciprocated with a rather sheepish smile. "I'm learning about careers for boys," he answered. "There are so many in this century. In the town where I grew up, a boy didn't have much choice but to become a farmer, and a girl became a farmer's wife."
"I want to be a doctor," said Sal, gazing affectionately at the rat boy.
"A beautiful girl like you should marry and have children," Dudley remarked.
"I want to do that, too." Sal pushed herself an inch or two closer to Dudley as she spoke.
Made nervous by the girl's apparent intentions, Dudley tried to think of a ladylike--or rather, gentlemanly--way to let her know he wasn't interested.
"I was once a girl," he pointed out. "Did George tell you that?"
"Yeah, he did," Sal replied, her enthusiasm undimmed. "That's so cool."
"Why is it...cool?" asked the increasingly anxious Dudley.
"Most boys are jerks," Sal observed. "They don't understand how girls feel inside. But you do. You have a unique perspective."
Change the subject, thought Dudley. Must change the subject...
"Er, tell me about the snake exhibit at the library," he inquired.
TBC
