Helena

Leonor and I say goodbye to our friends and also return home. I wonder where that child came from, Severus. He's cute.

My sister and I return home through the same portal through which we came: the Juguettos store. Leonor and I have realized that time doesn't pass the same in the time machine and that when we return, we are still in the same place, on the same day and at the same time that we left, and it's something that I find very interesting about that intriguing, incredible and amazing machine.

Mom continues looking at the shelves of Barbies, and there she was when we left. Leonor and I approach her, and she looks at us and gently strokes our hair.

'Have you already decided what you want?,' she asks us in a loving and motherly tone.

Leonor and I are clear: we want the Princess's House, which is like a pink tent with curtains where the entrance is, and it also has windows.

Leonor and I take mom by the hand and we guide her towards the hallway where the Princess's House is located and we point our fingers at it so that mom knows exactly what we want.

Mom nods yes and tells us:

'Very good, I will buy it from you'.

We go to the line to pay, and we don't have to wait long because right now is not a time of year when the store is packed, like at Christmas, for example.

Mom finishes paying and the saleswoman asks her if she wants the Princess's House to be wrapped as a gift. Mom says no politely, and we leave there, very happy to have used the time machine again, although most of the time, the time machine is usually in the park that mom and dad usually takes us to. It's usually in the playground, hidden in the bushes, and the gate is usually open, at least when we go.

When we get home, mom bathes us and gives us dinner, and tells us that she will build the Princess's House for us tomorrow morning, so after dinner my sister and I play with the building blocks. We have to put each block in its respective hole, which has the same shape as the block. For example, we have to put the triangle in the hole that is shaped like a triangle, and we have to put the star in the hole that is shaped like a star. And so with each block. And each one has a color.

We also play with the phone and the mini piano that the Three Wise Men gave us this year.

Going back to the time machine, I don't really understand how it works. I just know that when my sister and I get into it, it sends us to the park where our friends Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil, Kimi, Dil, Susie and… Angelica are. Yes, well, Angelica could also be considered a friend of ours although sometimes she doesn't show it.

Why would it send us to that park and not another? There won't be millions of parks around the world! And although it's true that both Leonor and I love parks and we would like to see them all, I still don't understand what is so special about that park that the time machine always send us there.

I'm not complaining, in fact, I'm delighted with the new friends I've made, because before meeting them, the only friend I had was Leonor, and the same thing happened to her. But I don't understand it. Surely the time machine will have its instructions, like all toys (or at least, the vast majority of them), but neither Leonor nor I know how to read, and we don't want to tell mom and dad because they can get scared, but they are the only ones who can read us the instructions…

Wait, wait a minute! They are not the only ones, we also have our grandparents. If one day we have the opportunity to go with them to Juguettos, we will show them the time machine to see if we can get them to read the instructions to us. They sure aren't scared.

Leonor and I have realized that our grandparents, especially our grandfather Patricio, become like a child when they are with us, so surely we can have him or them read us the instructions of the time machine.

Changing the subjetct, but no completely… where is Severus coming from? I'm very curious and I let Leonor know:

'I'm very curious about that child, about Severus. Where will he come from?'

'I don't have the slightest idea'. I understand her, none of us seem to know very much about the time machine, but since we're using it, we should be able to know how and why it works they way it does.

Furthermore, according to what our friends have told us, when they got into the time machine, they each ended up in a different historical era, and they had to rescue each other to be able to return home.

But that doesn't happen to Severus, my sister and I. We can come and go as we please. Why would it be? I scratch my head trying to find the solution, but I give up after a while, since I can't think of any reason why for Severus, Leonor and I that time machine would work differently. Of course, our friends haven't traveled in it for a long time, before Kimi joined the group, so it's possible that the elders have changed the way the time machine works.

Anyway, it's something that we will not be able to know until our grandparents read us the instructions. Until then, we will have to be content with the little information we have.

'Helena, hey!,' Leonor tells me, passing a hand in front of my face. 'Return to planet Earth'.

I blink very quickly and I return to reality, to my room, where I'm playing with my sister Leonor, who was apparently playing the piano, because she's sitting in front of it with her hands on some keys.

'Were you talking to me, Leonor?'

'I was asking you if you liked what I had played on the piano,' she tells me, 'but it seemed like you were in another galaxy'.

'Sorry, I was just thinking about the time machine'.

'And who doesn't,' she answers, turning to me. I didn't expect Leonor to respond that way, I thought she was going to get angry, but no. 'That machine is amazing'.

'But we still don't know very well how it works'.

'Yes, for sure'.

'I thought we could try to have our grandparents read the instructions to us the next time we come with us to Juguettos,' I explain to Leonor, who looks at me very attentively, and nods her head.

'I agree with you, Helena. Now,' she says, turning again towards the piano, 'could you pay attention to me and tell me what you think of the piece of music that I play on the piano?'

'Of course, I will be happy to listen to you,' I smile at her, and I sit next to her to listen to her.

Leonor begins to play and I, suddenly, notice a very pleasant sensation throughout my body. It's as if – It's as if – as if – something expands inside me and I feel very good. It's a very pleasant sensation and makes me feel much more joy, well-being and peace than before.

When Leonor finishes playing, I applaud her and I say 'You have done very well, Leonor! Have you noticed the same sensation as me?'

'What have you noticed?,' she asks me, perplexed.

'I have felt as if something was expanding inside me. It was a very pleasant sensation, which gave me a lot of joy, well-being and peace'. I have tried to explain it to her as best as I can, although it's not easy to put words to what I just felt when she played the piano.

'Wow! I have felt the same while playing!,' Leonor exclaims, fascinated.

'You play very well'.

'Wow, thank you very much, Helena,' she smiles at me, and I smile back. 'Do you want to try now?,' Leonor asks me, stepping aside so that I can sit in front of the center of the piano.

I start playing the keys at random, because the truth is that I have no idea how to play the piano, but hey, I try, although it doesn't sound as good as when Leonor played. She has come up with a beautiful melody, while for me – well, I only get isolated and random musical notes, and I'm not creating any melody. And I'm not feeling what I've felt before when my sister played it either. Clearly, piano is not my forte.

When I finish, Leonor applauds me and tells me happily 'Not bad'.

'You play better than me,' I admit, turning to her, who is sitting next to me.

'Well, it's all a matter of practice. I'm sure that if you practice a lot, it will turn out well in the end. Do you remember that at first I played terribly?'.

'It sounds logical but the truth is that playing the piano is not something that interests me very much,' I confess. 'I would prefer to play another instrument'.

'Like which one?'

'I don't know,' I answer with total sincerity. 'Hey, by the way, Leonor, have you felt anything when I played the piano? Because I don't'.

'No, the truth is that I haven't noticed anything special'.

'Play it again. Let's check if it's true that we can only feel something different when you play it,' I make a space for her so she can sit in front of the piano.

'All right,' Leonor tells me, sitting in the space I've left for her. I stay sitting next to her and she plays again, and again I feel the same pleasant sensation that I felt a while ago and I wonder why it is. This is something as intriguing and mind-blowing as the time machine.

'I have felt the same pleasant sensation again. The same as before,' I tell my sister, who can't help but smile.

'Wow! How glad I am! I have also felt the same as you, and I don't understand why it is'.

'Could it be because you play very well? Music, when played well, is like magic,' I theorize, enthusiastically.

'It could be,' Leonor tells me, agreeing with my theory, although she remains very thoughtful. What might be on her mind? Curiosity gnaws and corrodes me.

'What are you thinking, Leonor?'

'I was thinking that we would have to try listening to music and see if we also feel the same, to find out if it's a thing of music in general or if it's just something that happens to me when I play the piano.

'Of course, I hadn't thought of that. Let's tell mom and dad to play music for us,' I say, standing up, determined.

We go to the living room, which is where they usually hang out every night after dinner, and we find them there. Dad is reading a book, and mom is writing in her diary.

'Hi, girls, do you want something?,' mom tells us, stopping writing.

Leonor and I point out the music system in the living room and our parents understand us instantly.

'It seems like the girls are in the mood for music,' dad says smiling, standing up to turn on the music system. He plays Wake me up before you go-go by Wham!, and although I have a great time listening to it, I don't feel the same sensation that I have felt before when I have heard Leonor playing the piano.

I wonder if the same thing will happen to Leonor.

Mom also gets up and starts dancing with Leonor, and dad starts dancing with me. Now that I'm dancing, I'm noticing exactly the same thing I felt when I heard Leonor play the piano. It's something that has never happened to me before when dancing. I've always had a great time dancing, but I've never felt this good and I wonder why that is.

Afterwards, mom plays A quién le importa by Alaska y Dinarama, and this time she dances with me and dad with Leonor.

When the song ends, mom turns off the music system and tells us it's time to go to sleep. Damn! I was having so much fun!

Dad and mom take us back to our room, put our pajamas on us and put each of us in our respective cribs.

They read us a story about a rabbit who didn't want to drink the syrup that the doctor had prescribed because it smelled disgusting, while his older sister did take it and therefore was cured, so the rabbit ended up realizing that he will only be fine if he drank the syrup, no matter how disgusting it may seem to him.

They turn off the light, leaving the one in the hallway on, and carefully close the door to our room, and my sister takes the opportunity to ask me:

'Helena, have you noticed anything special when playing the music that mom and dad has played for us?'

'When I was just listening to it, no. It has been pleasant and fun, but I haven't noticed anything special like when you played the piano. But when I started dancing, I did feel it, what about you?'

'The same, and I wonder why it is'.

'No idea, I know the same as you'.

'Wow, if we didn't have enough with the mystery of the time machine, now we have also the mystery of why we feel such a pleasant sensation when I play the piano or when we dance, but not when we simply listen to music'.

'Exactly'.

James Birdsong: Thank you so much! I'm glad you also liked the third chapter :)

Merry Christmas!