Back To His Future

Chapter 5

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

(Turn and face the strange)

He stands once again at the top of the cliff that overlooks his favorite watering hole. The hot San Lorenzo sun, as always, beats relentlessly on his back. Staring down at the water below, a tingle runs up his spine as he anticipates the rush of cool water that will wash over him when he finally jumps. His concentration is broken when he feels a soft hand grasp onto his larger, more calloused one. Turning his gaze from the water, he stares into the eyes of his one and only. There is a playfulness to those eyes that match the smile that plays across her face.

With a smile of his own, he nods his head towards the waiting water. "Are you ready?"

She gives her head a nod of her own and tightens the grasp on his hand. "Yeah, let's do this!"

As their feet leave the earth she lets out an excited scream that blends melodically with his amused giggles. They hit the water with a splash that startles a pandemonium of native parrots and sends them flying off for safer cover.

Sinking below the water's surface, it only takes a moment for his body to start its buoyant assent to the surface. As his head breaks free of the water he lets out a laugh that is quickly cut off when he realizes that her hand is no longer in his. A bit of a panic runs through him as he searches for her, and he lets out a relieved sigh when he sees her swimming towards the waterfall that flows into the far end of the pool.

He chases after her letting out a loud, "Hey! Wait up!"

He catches up to her as she disappears behind the curtain of water. They climb up onto the small outcropping of smooth rocks together and take a moment to catch their breath. He wraps an arm around her wet shoulders and she leans against him.

They sit in silence for a moment, hypnotized by the veil of water that pours down before them, and it is not until she speaks that the trance is broken. "You were right, Arnoldo, that was quite the experience."

There is a hint of smugness to his voice. "Heh, I knew you'd love it."

She uses her elbow to give his side a playful nudge. "Oh, is that so?"

He looks into her eyes and nods his head. His voice is low and deep as his lips slowly near hers. "Yeah, what are you gonna do about it?"

He doesn't give her time to answer before pressing his lips to hers. She responds in kind and he takes her fully into his arms as he deepens the kiss. The world around him begins to spin as his ears fill with the sound of the rushing waterfall. As his body heats up so does the surrounding air, intensifying the electricity that flows through his body. His head spins faster, amplifying the commotion of the jungle.

He begins to feel himself slipping away from her and he tightens his grasp as the sounds that he is hearing start to change into those of a more urban jungle. The call of the parrots that were previously chased from their roost meld into the blare of a car horn. The rush of the waterfall becoming that of siren that grows louder upon approach before fading off into the distance.

He opens his eyes and looks about in confusion. Letting go of the pillow that is clutched to his chest, he rolls onto his back and stares out through the skylight that sits above his bed. It only takes a moment for him to come to his senses, realizing that what he had experienced was only a dream.

He shifts in a bed that seems to have shrunk over the past three years that he was away, and finds that he is unable to fully stretch his body. Now, completely back into reality, he swings his long legs off the bed and stands up. Raising his arms above him, he works the kinks out of his back before picking up the watch that he had set on the desk next to an old, outdated computer. He checks the time and hopes that he has not missed breakfast. After a quick pit stop in the upstairs bathroom, he makes his way downstairs.

He hears the comforting sounds of his grandparents' voices as he enters the kitchen, and quietly takes a seat next to his grandfather. He looks at the man, noticing the deep wrinkles in his face that were not there when he first left on his short journey out of the country.

Turning to his grandson, Phil gives him a wide smile. "Well there you are, Shortman, I was worried that you were going to sleep away the whole day."

Grandma Gertie playfully waves a spatula at the old man. "Oh Phil, leave the boy alone. He had a big night last night catching up with all his friends." She turns her attention to Arnold now and gives him a warm look. "You hungry, dear? I've got the last of the hotcakes finishing up on the griddle."

Realizing that he is indeed famished, he nods his head. "I sure am, Grandma. I'm starving."

Flipping the last of the pancakes onto a plate, she adds on a few strips of bacon and brings the food over to him. Setting the plate down, she pours him a glass of orange juice before taking a seat for herself. "So, what are your plans for today? You meeting up with that young lady of yours?"

Nodding his head, he speaks through a full mouth. "Yeah, I was planning on spending the day with Helga. I need a new cell phone and laptop, and she said her dad could get me a good deal on one."

Phil lets out an annoyed humph. "Heh, you could do better than that junk Bob passes off as reliable electronics. He's more concerned with quantity and making a quick buck than he is with the quality of what he sells."

"That may be true, Grandpa, but I don't have a lot of money and I really need an up to date laptop for school. Besides, the stuff he sells can't be that bad since he is the biggest seller of electronics in town."

"Eh, he's just lucky that he finally gave in and trashed those old relics he used to sell for more modern things like phones and whatever else it is you kids go all crazy over."

Shoving the last piece of pancake into his mouth, he drains his glass of juice and pushes away from the table. "Whatever you say, Grandpa, but I've really got to get going. Helga will be here soon and I don't want to keep her waiting."

Phil gives his grandson a wave good-bye and chuckles into his coffee. "Ah, to be young again and have all that energy, right, Pookie?"

Gertie gathers up the dirty dishes and carries them to the sink. "I don't know what you're talking about, Phil, I don't feel a day over 70."

xxxxx

Arnold sits in the passenger seat of Helga's baby blue, Mercedes SL R129. The car's top is down, and the warm air blows his hair back away from his face as she drives. He studies the scenery as it passes by them, keeping track of all the changes that have occurred in the past three years. His new phone vibrates in his hand, alerting him of an incoming text while simultaneously letting out a loud ping. The sound catches Helga's attention. "Heh, you're going to have to change that notification to something a little more unique."

He fumbles with the phone trying to remember how to pick up his messages. "Yeah, I guess so. You know, it was really nice of your dad to give me such a big discount on all the stuff I got. He didn't have to do that."

Helga shrugs, "eh, it's no skin off his nose, that's all last year's models. Besides, even with the discount he's still making a buck, so I wouldn't sweat it. Who was the message from?"

Arnold looks at the phone. "I'm not sure, I can't find the text icon to retrieve it."

Rolling her eyes, Helga swipes the screen to the left a couple of times, and points out the icon. "There it is. How did it get all the way over to your last screen? You'll have to add it back to the home screen."

Arnold scratches his head. "Boy, things sure were simpler in San Lorenzo. I think I like my old flip phone better than this thing."

"Oh, you'll get used to it soon enough. Oh look over there, I forgot to tell you, they're trying once again to tear down the old Circle Theatre."

Arnold takes in a small gasp. "What, why? Wasn't it declared an historical landmark?"

Helga nods her head. "Yeah, but you know how land developers are. It's prime real estate. They could tear that down and put up three shops in its place."

"Does Grandma know about this?"

"Knowing her, she probably knew about it before it became public knowledge. I hope she doesn't try chaining herself to the box office again. Anyway, you never answered me, who was the text from?"

Arnold looks at the phone that was temporarily forgotten in his hand. "Oh, yeah, um, it's Gerald, he's letting us know that he and Phoebe are running a little late and they will meet us at Slauson's when they get there."

"Okay, well, here we are. Hmm, there's no parking out front. I guess we'll have to park down the street and walk."

Much to Helga's chagrin, the closest parking spot is two blocks away, and she lets out a little huff as she puts the cars automatic top up. "Criminy, this town just gets more and more crowded every year. Sorry we have to walk so far."

Arnold looks at the buildings that seem familiar to him, but at the same time don't, and he can't put a finger on how it makes him feel. "Hey, didn't the old pet store used to be across the street over there?"

Helga looks in the direction that Arnold is pointing. "Oh, yeah, but it went out of business about a year and a half ago. It's some sort of new aged crystal shop or something now. Inside its dark and they play sitar music through the sound system, and it smells really strongly of patchouli."

Taking Arnold's hand, she pulls him along with her. "Come on, Arnoldo, I want to get to Slausen's before it gets too crowded."

They walk down the street in silence as Arnold silently keeps track of all the changes that he sees. He knows that life continued to move on without him, especially with how Helga would always send updates with each letter, but he had no idea how alien everything would feel to him.

An old, time worn truck blares its horn as it passes, and he looks up to see Stinky waving at him from the driver's seat, while Sid sits next to him, fiddling with the some knobs on the dash board. It feels strange to think about all of his fellow classmates already driving with cars of their own, and he wonders when he will be able to get his driver's license. He's had some experience behind the wheel of a car while he was in San Lorenzo, but the busy highways of Hillwood are quite different from the quiet back roads he's used to.

Not watching where he's going, he bumps into Helga when she abruptly stops in front of their destination. "Hey, pay attention to what you're doing, Arnoldo. Anyway, we're here."

A rush of nostalgia flows through Arnold as he looks at the old, familiar building, all the memories of his childhood rushing back to him. He looks past the large, hand written letters that spell out the shop's name, to the booth that sits beyond it. He smiles at the memory of his and Helga's first, real date. The two of them sitting awkwardly across from each other, both too nervous to come up with something to say. It makes him sad to see that the booth is occupied, he would have really liked to sit there with Helga once again.

Pulling him after her, a blast of cold air hits their faces as they enter the shop. The familiar smells of frozen dairy mix with the scent of old leather from the booths that line the walls of the eating area. Looking around, Helga spies the last of the empty booths, and makes a bee-line for it, barely acing out a group of younger kids.

Victorious in her quest, she shoots the kids a smug look while pulling Arnold into the seat next to her. Feeling a little sorry for the kids, Arnold watches as they head for one of the free tables. "Gee, Helga, you didn't have to be so pushy with those kids."

She gives him an annoyed look. "Hey, it's not my problem that they were too slow. Besides, you have a lot of stuff to catch up on since you've been away, and we could use a nice, private place to do it in."

He starts to respond but is stopped when a body slides into the seat opposite them. Looking over to see who it is, he smiles when he sees that their friends have arrived. Phoebe slides over to sit across from Helga, with Gerald plopping down in front of Arnold. Grabbing a napkin to wipe the sweat off of his brow, Gerald greets his friends. "Hey, sorry we're late. Man, it sure is a hot one out there today." He looks at Arnold, "but I guess this is nothing compared to the hot San Lorenzo sun, right?"

Arnold nods his head. "Yeah, the days got pretty hot out there, that's for sure."

Helga grabs a couple of menus that sit propped up at the end of the table, and hands one to Phoebe. Already knowing what she wants, she hands the other menu to Arnold. He takes it and lets out a small whistle when he looks at the prices. "Wow, everything is so much more expensive than they used to be."

Helga nods her head. "Yeah, well, that's inflation for ya. Don't worry about it, though, today is my treat."

Stuck in his old, chivalrous ways, Arnold doesn't like having his girlfriend pay for his meals. "No, Helga, I can pay for our meal."

She scoffs at her boyfriend. "Heh, with what? You just blew what little wad you had at Bob's store. Don't worry about it, until you get a job I'm perfectly fine with being your Sugar Mamma."

Gerald fights to hold in a chuckle at Helga's words. "Speaking of work, I can't linger too long, my shift at the Mega Mart starts in about an hour, and if I'm late one more time my boss says he's going to start docking my pay."

"I've warned you about your constant tardiness." Phoebe says before turning to Arnold. "Have you done any job hunting yet?"

Arnold shakes his head. "No, I've only been back a few days, and have been spending all my time settling in and getting used to all the changes."

Helga is quick to offer her help. "Eh, if worse comes to worse, I can always make Bob find a spot for you at the electronics store."

A piece of an old dream flashes through Arnold's head from when he was a kid. He and Helga had married and he was put to work slaving away at Bob's old beeper emporium. The memory causes a shiver to run down his spine. "Oh, well, hopefully that won't be necessary. I'm sure I'll find something. Maybe they could use some help at the old aquarium."

Phoebe shakes her head. "No, they finally got shut down about a year ago."

Arnold is sad to hear the news. "Oh, that's too bad, but I guess technically it was kind of rundown. Maybe I can get a job at Mrs. Vitello's flower shop, or at Green Meats."

Now it's Gerald's turn to shake his head. "Nope, Mrs. Vitello finally retired and moved out of state to go live with her daughter, and Harold's still got his old job working as many hours as he can at the butcher's." Gerald's eyes brighten up when a thought comes to mind. "I hear that new aged crystal shop is always looking to hire. You could try there."

Not liking the idea of coming home every night smelling of Patchouli and sandalwood, Arnold shakes his head. "I don't know very much about healing crystals and stuff, so I doubt they'd hire me."

Their conversation is interrupted by a waitress that has stopped by to drop off their orders. She places the food down and hurries on her way to take the order of a new group that has just been seated. Arnold picks up a spoon and looks at his hot fudge sundae. "Have I grown that much, or do these sundaes look way smaller than they used to?"

Phoebe nods her head. "I'm afraid it's the latter."

Gerald agrees. "Yeah, they shrunk the size while upping the prices."

Arnold takes a bite of his sundae, happy that at least one thing hasn't changed. He allows the hot fudge to linger on his tongue for a bit before swallowing, savoring the sugary goodness. They happily talk through bites of ice cream, until an alarm on Gerald's phone goes off. Wiping some fudge from his lips, he picks it up. "Sorry to cut things short, but my phone is telling me it's time to get to work. We'll have to continue this another time."

Arnold looks hopefully at his friend. "Maybe we can meet up on Monday for a game of basketball."

Gerald shakes his head. "I don't know, I'll have to see. Summer football practice starts at the high school next week during the day, and I've got to be there along with Harold, Sid and Stinky. Then I've got my night shifts at the Mega Mart."

"Oh, okay." Arnold is disappointed, but he understands. "Well, you let me know when you've got some time, and we can hang."

Gerald calls over his shoulder as he and Phoebe take their leave. "Okay, Arnold, sounds good. Talk to ya later."

Picking up on the sudden drop in Arnold's mood, Helga tries to cheer her boyfriend up. "Aw, cheer up, Arnoldo. Summer will be over soon, and then there will be plenty of time to hang out with the gang. Come on, I'll drive ya home. I've got to get going myself. My dad wants me to cover the register at the store this afternoon while he meets with a distributor."

Leaving the ice cream shop, Arnold runs a hand through his hair. "Ya know, Helga, it's not too far back to the boarding house, I think I might want to walk."

Helga shrugs and drops a kiss to Arnold's cheek. "Okay, Arnoldo, whatever you say. I'll drop off the other stuff you bought later when I get off work."

Alone now with his thoughts, Arnold slowly strolls down the street. He sees the arcade he and Gerald spent so much of their childhood in and he goes inside to check it out. The first thing to hit him is the noise from all the new electronic machines. Gone are the old street fighting style games, which have been replaced with row after row of claw type arcade games. The second thing he notices is how much younger the kids are that stand in front of each machine, pumping token after token into the slots, as they try over and over again to pick up a prize using a claw that is much too weak for the task at hand.

As he walks about, he notices a back room that has some of the older games he and Gerald used to play when they attended PS 118. He finds the old Runaway Bus game Gerald was so good at, but is disappointed when he sees the "out of order" sign that has been taped over the coin slot. Giving up, he leaves the arcade and heads straight home without any more stops.

When he enters the boarding house he is greeted by his grandfather as he makes his way upstairs. "You have a good time with your friends, Shortman?"

He gives Phil a quick, "yes", before heading up to his room. Once inside he flops down on his much too small bed and contemplates the day. He tries not to get too depressed, telling himself that he's only been back a few days, and it's perfectly natural to feel out of place for a while. Promising himself to start tomorrow with a more positive attitude, he pulls out his new phone, and does his best to figure it out.

xxxxx

The past few weeks have practically flown by, and Arnold is starting to feel a lot better about being back. With no other jobs to be found, he's taken up Helga's offer of working at Bob's electronics store, and much to his surprise, it's not that bad of a place to be. On occasion, when Helga can swing it, he even gets to work with his girlfriend, which helps to soften the blow of having Bob as a boss.

He had to take a placement test before being allowed to attend Hillwood High, and he was happy to find that even with spending the past three years in the jungles of San Lorenzo, he placed into the same year as his friends. He guesses that it didn't hurt to be homeschooled by parents who are essentially teachers themselves.

Out of pure nervousness, he chose to walk alone to school, and he now stands outside of the school's gates. He watches the various groups of students that gather in the parking lot before heading off to their classes. The roar of engines can be heard as those arriving on the later side dart into the parking lot and vie for a place to park. He notices a now familiar blue Mercedes come barreling into the lot, and without missing a beat, skillfully aces another student out of one of the last spots left.

Arnold chuckles at his girlfriend's tenacity, and waves to her as she gets out of her car. So as not to cause too much of a scene, Helga slowly meanders up to Arnold and places a small kiss to his cheek. Ignoring her desire to be discreet, he grabs her and pulls her into a big bear hug. She momentarily tenses up before getting lost in the feel of his arms, and relaxes into the hug.

A blush rises in her cheeks when Arnold releases the hug and looks at her. Doing her best to gain control of herself, she says the only thing that comes to mind. "So, Arnoldo, you ready for your first day of school?"

Arnold looks from his girlfriend, to the kids that are making their way inside, then finally to the building itself that looms over them and he nods his head. "Yes, I'm ready. Ready to finally be back and start working towards my, no, towards OUR future."

THE END