AN: So, I got this idea for a story and wrote out the first chapter and sat on it for a while to think if I liked the idea enough to publish it. Anyway, here's a strange idea with time travel with Lincoln, hope you enjoy!
A boy was walking home from school on a nice autumn day where the leaves crunched under his shoes as he walked through the park. In a pile of leaves, he saw something strange sticking out. "What's this?" he asked himself. As he got closer he noticed it looked like a hand, was it a body? Was it an early Halloween prank? He carefully moved the leaves and saw there was an arm with an orange sleeved shirt. When the wind pushed some of the leaves off he saw a face, a face with freckles and on its head, white hair? He jumped a little, seeing a body was not something he wanted to do. "Are they alive?" he thought. Nervously, he tapped the body with his foot. It started to move and it got up, he wasn't dead. The body was a boy with white hair wearing an orange polo shirt he yawned and looked around.
"Huh? Why am I in the park?" the boy in the leaves asked.
"You don't - know why you are in the park?", the other boy asked.
"No, one minute I'm in my bedroom and now I wake up in the park."
"Do you have amnesia?"
"No, I don't think so, my name is Lincoln Loud, yep don't have amnesia," Lincoln said.
"Why, did you add the word loud to your name?"
"That's my last name," Lincoln replied.
He got up and brushed off the leaves from his body and looked around. The boy standing in front of him was wearing blue overalls with black and white athletic shoes, and a long-sleeved t-shirt with red and white stripes. His hair was hazel and shaggy, covering his ears and running to his collar in the back and bangs covered his forehead. His eyes were brown and had some freckles on his face.
"So, who are you?" Lincoln asked.
"Oh, my name is Ricky, Ricky Pearson," he said.
"I've not seen you around town before, are you new?" Lincoln asked.
"No, I've lived here all my life, I've not seen you before," he said.
"Where do you go to school?" Lincoln asked.
"Royal Woods Elementary, 5th grade," Ricky replied.
"I've not seen you around school, and I'm in 5th grade."
"Are you sure you don't have amnesia?"
Lincoln patted his pockets with his hands and found he had his phone in his pocket. He looked at the time it was 2:53 PM.
"What is that?" Ricky asked.
"What is what?" Lincoln asked.
"That thing in your hands."
"My phone?"
"Phone? How is that a phone it's not even connected to anything."
The Loud boy wondered if Ricky was joking or had never seriously had seen a cell phone. Maybe he was dreaming because people don't randomly wake up in the park if they were in their room. He pinched himself and it hurt.
"Are you sure you are alright?" Ricky asked.
"Yeah, I was just wondering if I was dreaming," Lincoln said.
"Oh."
"That's strange, I can't make a call with my phone."
"Can I see it?"
"I guess so."
Ricky looked at the phone. It didn't have buttons and it had pictures of a superhero with some logos covering it up.
"Hey, Lincoln that's the time, right?"
"Yeah."
"What's that under it, is that supposed to be the date?"
"Yeah."
"Well, it's wrong it's October 9, 1975."
"What?" Lincoln started to laugh thinking that Ricky was joking.
"What's so funny?"
"You got me, 1975, that's funny."
"Is there something wrong with you? Maybe you should come with me to get checked out."
"Well, I could just go home."
"Please, come with me," Ricky said in a long sung out kind of way.
Lincoln sighed and chose to follow Ricky to his house. The strange thing was as they walked the pattern seemed familiar for him. When they crossed to Franklin Avenue it puzzled him. Did this kid live on the same street? He hadn't seen him before so, how was that possible? Eventually Lincoln saw his house, it looked the same but different. It was cleaner, the paint was fresher, and there wasn't a van in the driveway but, there was an old station wagon that looked like it had well persevered through time. In fact, Lincoln had seen a lot of older cars than normal.
"Here we are Lincoln, my house," Ricky said.
"What are you talking about? This is my house, I live here, it's 1216 Franklin Avenue, hold on."
Lincoln pulled out his phone again and showed Ricky a picture of his family standing in front of the house.
"Your house looks like mine, then, that's kind of freaky. Who are those other kids?"
"My sisters."
"All, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 of them?"
"Yeah, I have ten sisters."
"Wow and I thought having 2 brothers and 2 sisters was a lot, also how did you get a photo on that thing?"
"Ricky, you weren't kidding were you? It's really 1975?"
"Yeah . all year, man."
"If that's true, then I woke up in the past, I'm from the future Ricky!"
"Woah that's rad, wait that doesn't make sense."
"Think about it, you don't know what this is, you are living in my house and everything is different to me."
"So, that would explain why you lying in the leaves from the get-go. Do you know how to get back to your time?"
"I don't even know how I got here!"
"Well come on, no use being out here let's go inside!"
Inside the house seemed calmer than what Lincoln was used to it was like a different house. In fact, it was different in many ways. The living room was still in the same spot but the furniture was different, the matching couch and chairs were orange, the wallpaper was green and white stripes. There was a grandfather clock in the corner. Sitting on the couch was Ricky's mother, a woman with the same color hair that Ricky had she had her hair in a pony-tail, she was wearing a Carpenters t-shirt with blue jeans.
"Mom!" Ricky yelled.
"Hey Ricky, hold for a commercial break," she said.
"It's 3 o'clock, she's watching "General Hospital," Ricky said to Lincoln.
"Not today, today I'm watching Another World," his mother corrected.
"Isn't that show an hour?"
"Yes, I know I'm going to miss One Life to Live, if only there was a way to watch two different shows, well I could bring the kitchen TV to the, who's this?"
"Oh, Mom, this is Lincoln, Lincoln Loud."
"Hello, Ricky's Mom," Lincoln said.
"Come over here, so I can shake your hand, there's not much time between commercials."
"Mom, he's from the future!" Ricky exclaimed.
"Ah playing a game, that's nice, well you can stay here until you have to go home to your folks."
"That's the problem, he's stuck here and his folks aren't here."
"That would be a good story, you should write that."
"Lincoln, show her the phone."
Lincoln handed the woman the phone she flipped it upside down, under, twisted it around, pressed buttons on the side and front.
"What is this?" she asked.
"It's a future phone they apparently made them without buttons, isn't that funky?"
"That doesn't prove he's from the future, even if it is a strange thing."
"Look, show her the picture of the house, Lincoln," Ricky prompted.
"He lives in an orphanage? No wait, that's our house, well it's kind of messed up, but that doesn't explain… OK future boy, do you have any money?"
"Mom?"
"Oh, look at this, a twenty-dollar bill, why is it this color? And, well look at this it says 2011 for the year stamp."
She handed Lincoln back his money and had a puzzled expression on her face.
"In the future, they finally accomplished time travel, that's probably why we have all these moon trips. So, who won, the Soviets or the Americans?"
"Won, what?" Lincoln asked.
"Ricky, well I guess he can stay here until whatever, but we'll have to talk to your father when he gets home," she said.
"Groovy, thanks, Mom."
"Now, let me watch my show!"
The two boys walked through the dining room which still looked like a dining room but had a strange brown and white wallpaper. The next room, the kitchen, had a strange flowery wallpaper. The appliances were brown and cream there was a theme. The tile was the same as Lincoln remembered and things were in the same place but that was it.
"That was easier than I thought," Lincoln said,
"Well we were cutting into her show so, she hurried along, my big brother likes to use that time to ask her something sometimes," Ricky replied.
"In speaking of that, I haven't seen any of your siblings, so far," Lincoln replied.
"Oh, they might be outside somewhere or upstairs, Do you want a fruit pie?"
"Sure."
Ricky handed Lincoln a packaged fruit pie he got from a box.
"Your Mom, seems nice, how is your dad?" Lincoln asked.
"He's cool, if you are worried about him not believing you, well the phone might convince him."
Upstairs, Ricky decided to give Lincoln a tour, because things wouldn't be the exact same. The first room was the one to the left-hand turn on the stairs, which was Lori and Leni's room.
"This one is Russel's room he's the oldest kid in the house," Ricky replied.
He turned the knob and showed Lincoln the room.
"Russel is kind of messy," Ricky said.
The next room, right across the hall that was Luna and Luna's room.
"This room is for the youngest kid in the house, Sherry, she's six."
He opened the door and there was his sister, wearing a mouse costume. Otherwise, having the same hair color as her brother placed in pig-tails.
"Sherry, this is Lincoln, he's from the future," Ricky said.
"Oh, squeak, nice to meet you, squeak," Sherry said.
"Uhh same here," Lincoln said.
"Do you like mice, mice are groovy, you should meet Spangles. Squeak," she said.
She pointed at a cage holding a black pet mouse.
"That's Spangles, squeak, he's a mouse," she replied.
"Does she always talk like that?" Lincoln whispered to Ricky.
"Only, when she's dressed like a mouse."
"Uhh, Sherry we don't have much time, I have homework to do and Lincoln needs to see the rest of the house since he's gonna be stayin' here until he figures out how to get back to his time."
"Oh, squeak, he can sleep in my closet, if he needs a spot, squeak."
They left the room and stopped at the next room, which was Lynn and Lucy's room during Lincoln's time.
"This is my little brother's room, I think he's out with his friends so, we'll see him later."
Lincoln was kind of amused that the room wasn't painted half black and yet there was still some sports stuff like a hockey poster on the wall, in the room. The next room. the twin Loud girls room, was where they stopped next.
"This is my room," Ricky said with pride.
He opened the door, and the two of them walked in. It was painted a light purple color. The bed was the right-hand side, the same spot Lola has hers, a desk in place of the makeup table, a bookshelf and a stand with a TV on it in place of Lana's bed.
"I have my own TV, it's not big like downstairs, but it comes in handy when someone wants to watch something and downstairs is crowded," Ricky said.
After showing off the room there was still a little more.
"Oh, I guess you know where the bathroom is," Ricky replied.
"Yeah, so what's this room used for?", Lincoln asked.
"Room? Oh, the closet, we put towels, bed stuff, and the vacuum cleaner in there," Ricky replied.
"I guess there are enough rooms for each person to have their own so, the closet doesn't get used as a bedroom, it's my room in the future," Lincoln said.
"What? You sleep in a closet, your family hates you?"
"Oh, no, I'm the only boy in the house and the middle child, all my sisters share their rooms, and I get my own space."
"Guess, you couldn't fit two people in a closet, oh this room across from mine, is my twin sister's."
"You have a twin?"
"Yep, her name is Susan, we won't bug her now since she's probably napping."
"She takes naps?'
"Yeah, she gets sleepy during the day, so she takes a nap after getting home."
"Is she alright?"
"Yeah, she might just need to cut back on staying up past her bedtime. She's a neat sister though."
Russel had come home and run up the stairs to the bathroom to wash up for dinner. "Russel, tell your siblings to come done for dinner!" his mother yelled from downstairs. He wiped his hands on the towel and knocked on Sherry's door.
"Yes, squeak," Sherry said.
"Hey rat girl, wash your hands and come downstairs for dinner," he said.
"I'm not a rat, I'm a mouse, there's a difference!" she yelled.
"I really don't care," Russel said.
He went to knock on the next door. "Bobby, open the door!", he said. "Bobby!"
Then he opened the door and his little brother wasn't in there. "Mom!"
"What?!", she yelled.
"Where's Robert?" he asked.
"He has 5 minutes before he's in trouble and late," she said.
Then knocked on Susan's door. "Susan, dinner time." After that, he walked to Ricky's room and knocked on that door. "Rick, dinner time."
Meanwhile, downstairs the middle Pearson brother, Robert, who went by the name Bobby, had entered the house. He had the same hazel brown hair color that went down past his ears, a little past his collar, he was wearing black overalls with a white long-sleeved shirt under it well at some point it was white but now covered in some dirt. He was wearing red and white sneakers. His face had freckles on his face and wore red plastic-framed glasses.
"Robert! You were almost late!" his mother said.
"Sorry Mom," he said then gave a smile showing a couple missing teeth.
"You are going to need a bath tonight, I see," she said.
"Look, what I found," he said.
He held up a watch that had a green band and blue base, it also had some number buttons on it as well.
"What a strange watch," she said.
"Yeah, but I think it's broken," Bobby said.
"Hmm, give it to me and I'll get it checked out tomorrow," she said.
"Thanks, Mom, you're the best," he said.
"Well go wash your hands and face for dinner," she replied.
"Mom, remember I have my sleepover tomorrow," Susan said.
"Yes, I know, I'll bring your sleeping bag over to Christine's house so, you won't have to carry it to school tomorrow," she said.
"Thanks, Mom," Susan replied.
Bobby and Russel ran down the stairs like they were in a race. Followed by Sherry, still in her costume, acting like a curious mouse.
"Meow!" Russel went.
"Eeek!" Sherry went as she ran to hide behind a chair.
Mrs. Pearson rolled her eyes.
"Come on Sherry, stop playing it's dinner time," she said.
"But the cat," Sherry replied.
"Come on and get to the dining room before I make you take off that costume and I'll give it to a thrift store!"
"No, Mom, please don't, see I'm going to the dining room!"
Ricky and Lincoln walked into the dining room where everyone was sitting.
"Hey, how come Ricky gets to have a friend over for dinner!" Susan complained.
"Hey kid, your hair is groovy," Russel said.
"First off Sue-zan, he's stuck here, and Lincoln, that boy there is my brother, Russel, and that is my other brother, Bobby," Ricky said.
"Nice to meet you all," Lincoln said.
"Sit down, it's almost time to eat, we are just waiting for to come home," said Mrs. Pearson.
"What you mean he's stuck here?" Susan asked.
"Is he a Soviet spy, here to take away Susan's rights?", Bobby asked.
"Why my rights?" Susan asked.
"Because you aren't using them anyway," Bobby said.
"That's not true, she uses her rights all the time, she rights on paper with pens," Sherry said.
"That's a different spelling, Sherry," Russel said.
"Mice don't know the difference," Sherry said.
"So, why is he here anyway?" Russel questioned.
"He's from over 40 Years in the future and woke up in a pile of leaves," Ricky said.
The reactions ranged, with a groan from Russel, laughter from Susan, Bobby was awed, and Sherry was confused.
"Mom, what's going on?" Russel asked.
"It sounds screwy but, it seems that he might not from here," she said.
"You can't be serious," Russel replied.
"Show them the phone, Lincoln," Ricky said.
"I hope I have enough power, I don't think my charger made it with me," Lincoln said.
Lincoln showed the family the phone. Susan was the first, she was trying to press on the screen.
"You called that thing a phone, it's not very phone like," she said.
"Let me see that," Russel said.
He pressed the button on the side while holding the backside up and then the flash went off.
"Woah, it must have a security thing," he said.
"No, that's my camera, you just took a picture," Lincoln explained.
"This thing takes pictures? How do you take out the film?"
Lincoln took the phone back and showed him the picture. The blond-haired Pearson boy was looking confused with the flash on his face in the image.
"It's like an instant camera, but the picture doesn't come out," Russel said, "But I wish it had come out better."
"Here, stay still and smile," Lincoln said.
Lincoln took another picture of Russel.
"Oh, I hope I'm not wasting your film," Russel said.
"Don't worry, I have enough pictures, you can take thousands of pictures, my sister, Lori is proof of that," he said.
"I look good, as always," Russel said.
"I noticed something, you are the only one here with blonde hair," Lincoln said.
"That's because he died, squeak," Sherry said.
"Dyed-it," her mother corrected.
"He should make his head like Kojack's," Susan joked.
"Only if you do it first, Susan," he said.
She stuck her tongue out at him.
"Guess what else I found today, Mom?", Bobby said.
"It better not be anything that shouldn't be at the table, Robert," she said.
"I don't know if it should be at the table or not," Bobby said.
"Just show me it," she said with an annoyed tone.
"It looks like a plug that broke off a lamp or TV or something, but it comes apart here too," he said.
"Wait, can I see that?" Lincoln asked.
"Sure," Bobby said.
Lincoln knew what it was, it was a phone charger and it fit his phone.
"Where'd you find this?", he asked.
"In the park in some leaves," Bobby replied.
"I think this is my phone charger," Lincoln said.
"If it's yours, take it, can you take my picture too?"
entered the house.
"I'm home!", he yelled, "Give me a second to wash my hands and stuff, and be there for dinner."
"So, how are we going to tell Dad, Mom?" Ricky asked.
"I hope the phone would convince him that Lincoln is at least far away from home," she said.
"I'm sure Dad will really understand that this random kid is a time traveler," Susan said sarcastically.
"Not a very good one, he doesn't even have his time machine, usually those things are broken when someone gets stuck in a different time zone. Either that or like Zap Martin, it gets taken by some bad guys," Bobby said.
"H-Hope nobody is after him," Sherry said.
"If 40 years in the future, people have time machines, shouldn't someone who knows him can pick him up then?" Russel asked.
"Well, we don't exactly have time machines in my time, though my sister Lisa could make one. Thing is, I don't know if they know I'm gone, or stuck 40 years in the past," Lincoln responded.
"Woah, he's lost in time," Bobby said.
"You have sisters, huh?" Susan asked.
"Yeah, I have ten sisters," Lincoln said.
"Are your parents, mice?", Sherry asked.
"I can show you a picture of all of us," Lincoln said.
He found a picture of them all them on the couch, in the Loud house.
"That's our living room," Bobby said.
"You live in our house?" Russel asked.
"Apparently so," Lincoln said.
"How long have you lived there?" Russel asked.
"All my life, so 11 years," he said.
"Neat, he's our age, Ricky," Susan replied.
"What are your sisters' names, Lincoln," Mrs. Pearson asked.
"Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan,Lynn, Lucy, Lana, Lola, Lisa, and Lilly," he said.
"I see a theme there, uh, how old is your eldest sister?" she asked.
"17," Lincoln replied.
"So, she's lived there all her life, as well?" She asked.
"Yes, Ma`am," Lincoln said.
Mr. Pearson walked into the dining room, kissed his wife and took his spot at the table.
"Well, sounds like we have some conversation going on here," he said.
"Hey, Dad, we have a time traveler from the future in our, right now," Bobby said in an excited tone.
Russel elbowed him.
"Oh, hello there, time traveler," the man said to Lincoln.
"Wait, you believe he's a time traveler, Dad?" Russel asked.
Bobby elbowed him.
"I'm playing along with your game," he said.
"This is going to sound strange, Dear, but it seems that this boy is not from our time, he has that thing over there that has pictures of our house but with his family, and it's a phone with a camera," his wife replied.
He looked at the phone plugged in the charger and smiled, "They sure are making advanced toys these days," he replied.
"It sounds impossible, but we aren't making it up," Susan chimed in.
"Ok, if he's from the future, then, the World Series starts on Saturday, who wins the whole thing: Cincinnati or Boston?" he asked.
"Well, Sir, I'm not into baseball, so I'm not sure, and I can't look it up on my phone because there's no internet," Lincoln admitted.
"Can I see that thing?", he asked.
Mr. Pearson looked at it like everyone else had, with a befuddled look that showed the confusion of his understanding of this device. Then he managed to take the back off and looked at the battery. There was a manufactured date on the battery, and the year wasn't 1975, it was many years after. He carefully put the back on again.
"Hope I didn't break it, it just seemed to be able to do that, somehow, can I ask you something, uh, what's your name?"
"Lincoln Loud."
"That's a last name?"
"Yes."
"So, you say you are from the future, how did you end up here? People don't usually go back in time."
"I don't know, I went to my bedroom and then blacked out and woke up in the park under some leaves."
"You understand that it's hard to believe, but seeing a date that hasn't happened yet on something that I've never known to exist is a good clue. Do you know who wins the election next year?"
"Who's the current president?"
"Gerald Ford."
It took Lincoln a minute to think, hopefully, something from history class would be in his memory.
"Jimmy Carter?"
"Jimmy Carter, really?"
Lincoln showed him pictures of his family in the same house they live in.
"Did we move or something?", Mr. Pearson asked.
"I'm not sure, I've lived in that house, or here, all my life," Lincoln said.
"Oh, we should eat before it gets cold, and I guess you can stay here until however this gets fixed," Mr. Pearson replied.
While the others were preparing for bed Lincoln went to the closet he knew as his bedroom and it felt like the whole realization of what happened pushed on him. Tears ran down his face at the fact that there's a possibility he might not see his family ever again.