Imagine the following in the voice of Rod Serling:

"This is the story of two people who are about to go on an incredible journey, from a dark dirty dungeon to a warm tropical beach. On this journey, they will become the guardians of time. It's a story, and a journey, that takes place in 'The Twilight Zone.'"

Imagine you hear the music sting from the ending of "The Twilight Zone" theme music; as you hear that music sting, you see a starry sky. That starry sky dissolves into another scene, and you see a close-up of a face, the face of an old man. After staring silently for a moment, the old man speaks.

"I can't believe this," the old man grumbled. "Here we are living in this high-tech society, and they put us in ordinary chains, nothing special."

The old man was dressed in burlap, and he had a long white beard. There was a sulking pouting look on his lined wrinkled face. He lifted each chain one at a time. "Look at these things."

"What's that?" the young woman asked absently. Unlike the old man, she was not dressed in burlap; instead, she wore the standard prison uniform, a track suit with black and white bars.

"This! These!" he shouted. As he violently lifted the chains up and down, they rattled loudly.

His cellmate, Rhonda, noted the chains did not have any devices to detect motion or deliver shocks. There were, however, cameras all around. No doubt those cameras detected her dark eyes darting back and forth.

The cameras probably also caught it as the old man turned to Rhonda.

"What are you in for?"

Thanks to the low-tech chains, she could gesture while she spoke.

"I am the world's greatest thief," she said proudly in a sweet voice.

"Hmph," he snorted. "Congratulations. Your parents must be very proud."

"They do enjoy my posts on Facebook. And my videos on YouTube."

"Again, congratulations. And what exactly did you steal?"

"Recently? A time control device."

She went on to describe a scene in a bar where she turned the device over for payment.

She described it so vividly the old man could smell the cigarette smoke in the dimly lit bar. He could also picture the shadowy figure seated in a booth; that figure looked like Jabba the Hutt combined with Kingpin; Kingpin was an extremely large, and bald, crime-lord. As he experienced the scene, the old man could even hear the rough rumbling voice of Jabba-Kingpin; he sounded like Clancy Brown in need of a cough drop.

While Clancy Brown played a tall mean guard in "The Shawshank Redemption," Jabba-the-Kingpin played a different role in the old man's imagination; the shadowy figure spoke in a reassuring voice but it sounded phony and slightly menacing.

"Let me put you at ease," Jabba-Kingpin said. "My client will only use the device for stealing; no major changes in time."

As Rhona related what her buyer said, the old man snorted quietly.

"The sale went smoothly," Rhonda reported with a dimpled smile. "After that, I headed for the nearest beach."

Rhonda went on to describe lying on a beach. The old man could hear the crashing of the waves, feel the warmth on his skin. He closed his eyes to take it all in. It was all very peaceful and tranquil until two guys in gray uniforms approached Rhonda.

"You're under arrest." This announcement came from the uniformed guy on Rhonda's right; he looked like a Hispanic Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Hispanic Arnold seemed rather haughty; for one thing, he repeated himself.

"Did you hear me? You're under arrest."

Rhonda was not quite as haughty.

"Oh, really?" she said in a dry voice. "For what?"

Hispanic Arnold responded with a shrug and a sly grin. "We'll think of something."

Rhonda lowered her pink heart-shaped sunglasses to peer up at the two men.

"Okay, guys. How much is it going to cost to make this trumped-up charge go away?"

Hispanic Arnold grinned some more. "A cool million. Each."

The other guy nodded; he looked like an albino Jean-Claude Van Damme. "We're not greedy," he said.

"Glad to hear it," Rhonda murmured as she pulled a device out of her purse. "So just a cool million each then?"

"That's right." As Arnold spoke in a slightly sinister voice, Albino Van Damme simply smirked.

With a playful smile, Rhonda raised her eyebrows.

"Tax-free?" she inquired.

While Albino smirked, Arnold curled his lower lip. "Do we look like we fill out tax forms?"

Albino then held out two gleaming silver handheld devices. "You can download the money directly into these devices."

Rhonda pulled out her own fund-device. Unfortunately, when she checked her account, she found a balance of zero. As she tried to hide her shock, she quickly hugged the device close to her. She planned to bluff them, stall, find a way to get away. But apparently at least one guard caught the zero balance because he grabbed her and forced her to her feet, and they both hauled her away.

"And I didn't even get a trial," she moaned as she hunched her shoulders and shook her head.

The old man gave her a look, a hard tough look. He held up a mottled bony hand.

"Let me see if I understand this. You sold a time control device to some shadowy underworld figure, and you just expected to go relax on a beach somewhere and just have a nice time and enjoy your life."

"Yeah," she said with a blank look and a mild shrug.

It was hard to tell if the old man winced or glared or both.

"And it didn't occur to you that Shadow Guy might use that device to change the world in terrible ways."

With a glum look, she sighed. "I guess I didn't really think it through."

"I guess you didn't." The old man realized he sounded a little rough so he softened his tone a little. "And now here you are."

"Here I am," she said in a sad voice. Her own chains rattled as her hands went up. Looking forlorn, she assumed the pose of the famous statue called "The Thinker." "They didn't even tell me what the charge was."

"Welcome to the world of the Leader."

Rhonda made a face. "Who's the Leader?"

He frowned. "What do you mean, who's the Leader? He's the Leader. Everyone knows who the Leader is."

"Not where I'm from."

After a few seconds of silence, the man turned to her as his eyes widened.

"This is you!" he shouted. "This is your fault!"

"What is?"

He pointed a bony gnarled finger. "You're responsible for all this! There was no Leader until you turned over your little time control device to Mr. Jabba-the-Hutt-Kingpin!"

When he said this, he sputtered quite a bit.

"You're getting spittle on me," Rhonda moaned. With chains rattling, she used the back of her hand to wipe her olive-colored face.

"This is your doing, girl!" Suddenly Mr. Rough-Voice had a much more pronounced British accent.

In response, Rhonda looked contemplative, even worried.

"Do you really think so?" she asked.

"Oh, I know so," he said in a grim sinister voice with only one dark eye open, and now it seemed like most of his teeth were missing. "You've messed up the whole world and caused everyone a lot of grief and trouble. Post that on your FacePage and YouView and What-Not!"

"Hmm," she hmm-ed softly. She blinked her large dark eyes, apparently genuinely confused.

"Yes, 'hmm.'"

"I just don't see how a time control device could cause big problems like this." As she threw her hands up, her chains rattled once again.

Now the old man looked incensed. "What? Really? You don't understand how a time control device could create problems? Do you read time travel stories at all?" When Rhonda responded with a mild shrug, the old man made a face. "Let me ask you this: Have you ever read 'The Butterfly Effect?'"

"Uck! Do you mean that awful movie with Ashton Kutcher?"

"No! It's a story, not a movie, You know, with the pages and the reading." As the old man gestured turning pages, Rhonda once again supplied the mild shrug. The old man sighed loudly. "In the story, this guy is on a guided tour back in the time of the dinosaurs, and he gets off the trail and accidentally steps on a butterfly. When he returns to the present, he finds there's a dictator running the world. Sound familiar?"

She curled her lower lip. "Was the dictator related to the butterfly somehow?"

The old guy looked ready to burst. "The point is that even small changes in time can cause big problems. Do you not know that about time travel?"

She thought for a moment then realization dawned on her, slowly it seemed.

"Oh, I get it. It's like that episode of 'The Simpsons' where Homer has a time-traveling toaster and he keeps changing the past."

"If that helps you."

She giggled. "At one point, the Simpsons' house turned into the Flintstones' house. In another scene, it was raining donuts. And later all the Simpsons had lizard tongues."

For a moment, the old man stared. Then: "The point is with time travel you have to be very careful. You can't just sell a time device to Shadow Guy."

"But why not? I saw 'Back To The Future.' Marty McFly's parents ended up okay. They seemed better off in the end."

"Unfortunately, Shadow Guy is most likely nothing like Marty McFly. He's not out to make things better, and whatever money he paid you for your device, he probably found a way to make it disappear."

"Yes, all my money gone," she sighed.

He gave her a sharp look as he raised a pointy finger.

"Plus a dictator ruling the world. Don't forget that part." He tilted his head at her. "You're not really a big-picture person, are you?"

"I try to be," she said, blinking those dark eyes once again.

"Try harder."

"I just thought twelve million dollars could protect me from time travel changes."

"Well, it can't. Not when someone has the power to change just about anything."

"Okay. Change of subject." When she said this, Rhonda's disposition suddenly seemed to change. She sounded more bold and confident. "Obviously, hanging around here isn't going to do much good."

"Obviously not."

She grinned a little. "Fortunately, there is a reason I am the world's greatest thief. I have a tiny time travel device embedded in my skin. It helps me get out of situations like this."

"Wouldn't the guards detect that?"

"They wouldn't even think to look for it. And even if they did, it's temporarily powered down." A high-pitched whining sound followed. "There it is, all ready to whisk me away. It'll take me to some random time period then after a few minutes whisk me back to the present."

"What kind of plan is that?"

"It doesn't allow a lot of control."

"Wonderful!"

"It gets worse for you. Unfortunately, as I go back in time, anyone in the immediate vicinity comes with me."

The dungeon seemed to spin around then they were in a village.

Immediately, Rhonda began to walk away.

"Have fun here in the Middle Ages," she said in a cheerful voice.

The old man hurried after her. "Oh, no, you don't. You can't just leave me here. Have you learned nothing of what I've been telling you?"

Again with that grin. "I already knew. I was just messing with you."

"Then you know you can't leave me here. I could mess up the future."

"Couldn't you just be a hermit or something?"

"No! I could still mess up the future."

She sighed. "Very well. I'll take you with me but only until I get the device back." She smiled. "After all, who needs twelve million dollars when you can have a time control device?"

"Oh, really?" Old Guy said sarcastically. "Want to explain how you're going to find your Shadow Guy in an altered timeline?"

"I'll look him up...somehow."

"Oh, really?" he said, trying for more sarcasm. "I've lived through this altered timeline; I know my way around. I can help you find your way."

After a heavy sigh, Rhonda placed his chain on a forge then grabbed a nearby axe and broke the chain. She did the same with her own.

"Aren't you going to say something about how borrowing this axe will change the future?"

"Let's just get out of here."

Once again, the world around them swirled, and they found themselves in a more modern setting. Rhonda walked into a locksmith shop. Using some of the tools behind the counter, she opened up their manacles.

"Won't someone see you doing that?" the old man asked.

"We're out of phase with time," she said in an almost bored voice. "For a few seconds. For now." Once she threw the manacles into a trash can, she turned and gave him a casual look. "I'll leave you now."

But she found that when she tried to walk away, something pulled at her.

"Oh, no, not this," she groaned. "Because of how my time travel device works, we're temporarily stuck together. We'll have to work together for now."

"Which is good. I can help."

She arranged to get them some new and better clothes; the old ones went in the trash.

After a quick consult with the phone-web, in which the old man guided her on how to use the system, they went to a dilapidated apartment building. When they entered a graffiti-covered tube elevator, the old man guided her on how to use voice commands.

"I've lived through a lot of history," the old guy said as they rode. "Not the Middle Ages obviously."

"You sure?"

He grinned. "Very sure. Name's Sam, by the way."

"Oh! Like in 'Lord Of The Rings?'"

"I guess that makes you Frodo."

Once Rhonda picked the lock, they entered the apartment. With its mildew ceiling and cracked walls, it was clearly a room for a transient.

They heard a gasp. A bald very heavy man looked up from his tattered couch. Sam pictured Jabba the Hutt combined with Kingpin.

"I've been expecting you," Jabba-Kingpin said in a muffled voice, his great jowls flapping every moment, almost like they were gills.

"What happened?" Rhonda asked. "I thought your client was only going to use the device to steal things."

The big guy closed his tiny dark eyes as he bowed his sweaty bald head.

"He was. But one of his underlings got the idea to make himself leader of the world."

"And I'm guessing he doesn't know how to use the device very well."

"Well enough. He made himself the Leader, after all. But he said he was going to make me second-in-command."

"And now here you are," Sam said in a dry voice.

"Here I am."

"Here we all are," Rhonda said.

"Finding the Leader will be easy," Sam said. "Getting in and out of his headquarters, that's the trick."

"There's ways to manipulate time to do that. Fortunately, I have more experience in this area than he does."

Sam guided Rhonda to the Leader's headquarters. As they stood outside, Sam talked about the best way to break in. Rhonda tapped the area where her time travel device was embedded. Once again, the world around them swirled, and they were in a shining silver hallway.

"I've seen the inside of this place before," Sam said with a bit of awe. "I saw it in a magazine. The Leader was showing off his priceless paintings and fancy furniture."

"And for now, we're out of phase with regular time," Rhonda said in a hushed tone.

"Yes," Sam whispered back. "So why are you whispering?"

"Habit."

They found the time control device on prominent display.

"A glass case right in the middle of a big room under a bright chandelier," Sam said, glancing up briefly. "Fortunately, the Leader likes to show off. If he carried the device with him, it'd be harder for us to take it from him."

"Us?" Rhonda said as she lifted the glass case.

"I am the guide," Sam said in a huffy voice. At her grin, he also grinned. "It's nice the Leader makes things so easy. Lucky for us, he's arrogant and stupid."

"Arrogant people are stupid."

Being out of phase allowed Rhonda to quickly grab the time control device. She started to leave, Sam in tow, of course. But someone blocked her.

"The Leader," Sam whispered.

Rhonda noted the Leader was not an impressive figure: a short little pale bald man, almost like a baby. But he was encased in a rather large robot.

A giant metal hand swiped at Rhonda, but she popped up somewhere else; it moved her toward the exit. Next to her, Sam, all bent over, groaned loudly.

"Why don't you just get us out of here?"

"Not a lot of control, remember? Plus, this device, when it's near my chip, limits what I can do."

"Great," Sam grunted.

"I've got other tricks I can use."

"Good!"

The giant robot turned its large metal head. It began walking. Unfortunately for Sam and Rhonda, it was able to make great strides. The two of them popped away again but in a matter of seconds the robot turned and moved quickly toward them.

"We have to get out of here," Sam said.

"Trying," Rhonda said. She pushed some buttons on the device even as the robot was almost on top of her.

At that moment, the robot body tipped over but as it did the Leader grabbed the time control device, Rhonda looked startled and so did Sam; in fact, Sam gasped loudly.

The Leader smiled a malicious smile that spread lots of lines across his face. He pointed the device like it was a remote control. Sam braced himself for some kind of horrible change, which could include a return to that awful dungeon or another visit to the horrid Middle Ages. Or maybe he would just be thrust into the middle of World War II.

Instead, the Leader turned into a little crying baby.

"Wow," Sam said. "He really did not know how to use that thing."

Rhonda gave him a sly look. "Actually, I programmed it to do that."

Sam looked quite serious as he folded his arms over his chest. "You were right earlier. Arrogant people are stupid."

"Nice to be right about something. Now I'm going to put the device out of phase. It'll only last for a short while, of course."

"Why didn't you do that earlier?"

"It takes a while, and we were facing a giant robot. Once I place the device out of phase, we'll get things back to normal." After she pressed a long series of buttons on the device, Rhonda, along with Sam, popped out of sight. When the two reappeared, there was no silver hallway, no Baby Leader. Just a busy bustling street with people passing by.

"They look happy," Rhonda observed.

"Relatively happy," Sam said.

"It was almost worth it, arguing with me in the past to turn over the time control device to me." Rhonda adjusted the device positioned at her side.

"It was quite a fight," Sam said. "But since you changed the course of events, won't there be consequences of some kind?"

Rhonda smiled. "We eliminated them. Sometimes that's just how time travel works."

Sam nodded. "And here we are."

"And here I go."

Rhonda moved away. As she did, she noticed Sam was no longer being pulled along.

"Wait!" Sam called after her. "You may need me for one more thing."

Rhonda was back on the beach with Sam right beside her; the old man wore a straw hat, a tacky Hawaiian shirt and a contented grin.

"I'll watch the device while you go do whatever you need to do." With one pale hand on his straw hat, he waved his other hand.

As Rhonda headed off to the restroom, she noticed the sky changed color. Was this some kind of change in time?

She looked back at the beach. There was Sam looking out at the pink and orange of a beautiful sunset.

Everything was normal. And it would stay that way as long as they took turns guarding the device. When it wasn't out of phase for a short time.

She could steal items for big money so that while they were guarding the time device they could have a fun relaxing time.

Rhonda thought how she was going to get her time on the beach after all. With no Leader to interfere.

Feeling a glow inside, Rhonda continued on her way.

The voice of Rod Serling was heard.

"Rhonda and Sam. Two unusual people who are now the guardians of time. Those guardians keep watch on a beach in a remote part of 'The Twilight Zone.'"