The Time Traveler
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 Youth Sections "The Braves Arise " |
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The Time Traveler
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by Arman Koul
(Age: 10 years) |
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| Hello primitive life forms! I come in peace. I live in Andover, Massachusetts of 2280 and am a famous reporter for the Andover Townsmen which is the best rated newspaper of these times. It is read on several planets and specializes in time coverage. Just 2 weeks back I got my time travel license and decided to take a trip to 1610 to get a story on the Pilgrims. Except the time machine I bought was rigged. I don’t know who did it but I hope to find out. And if I do, the person who fouled me is going to be in a lot of trouble. Anyway, my time machine broke down during travel and is in need of serious repair. Meanwhile I am stuck here in Andover, Massachusetts of the year 2008. While I have been here, I have tried to find a new time machine. I asked many people where the nearest time machine dealer was. But everyone just looked at me like I was completely out of my mind. While I work on my machine or find another solution to move from here, I have been going around, finding out how you folks live in the Andover of 2008. Putting it nicely friends, this is not really living. You still have video game consoles! In 2280 one puts on glasses and is actually in the game. Anything one can do in real life one can do in the game. One can even do some things that one can’t do in real life, like jump extremely high or fly. All this is in just the basic version which I wouldn’t be caught dead with. You see I have a reputation to protect which is of a connoisseur of new and cutting edge technology. And then you still use electricity! We in the future have been rechanneling solar light to brighten our homes at night and storable solar energy has been powering almost everything for the past 100 years. I have also been meeting people. I knew of two people of these times from Andover who have been mentioned by a lot of our historians and travelers. Master Armany the greatest leader of the 20XXs and his evil mastermind brother, Dr.Snorious. Master Armany rose to be the elder of the west meaning that he was in charge of North America and South America. There were also elders of the east who controlled Asia and Africa. There was an elder of the south who was in charge of Australia. And last but certainly not the least was the elder of the north who was in charge of Europe. I know you’re wondering what about Antarctica. Well the evil Dr.Snorious took it. Then he enslaved the penguins and ordered them to take over the world. But the dashing Master Armany defeated them with his skill and power. The defeated penguins started a good life with Master Armany helping their leaders whenever they needed his advice. Dr.Snorious was able to escape by somehow cheating and kept creating problems for the world. Only after a long time Dr. Sonorius realized his true potential for doing good and joined forces with his brother and other elders. He really helped Antarctica become the continent that it is in 2280. I decided that it would be an interesting feature to interview with Master Armany but no one knows of him yet, in 2008. I concluded that probably, he was still known by his boyhood name but how was I to find him? All of a sudden it came to me. I still carried my Asking watch. I found the name Master Armany was known by in 2008 and met him at his home, posing as an Andover Townsmen reporter of 2008. I took some pictures and asked him questions. It became evident from his answers that he was destined for greatness. While I was taking his leave, I saw another kid walk into my sight. It took me a second to realize that he was Dr.Snorious but he was still known by his boyhood name and not much aware of how he would influence the world. I took his pictures too and asked him questions. Now I have to return and should be working harder on my machine. Hello Friends; Yes I am calling you so because I have realized that achievement and ability is not all about gadgets and possessions. It is about how you do with what you have in the times you live in. I am back now in the Andover of 2280. I will share with you later how my experiences have changed my thinking but right now I want to tell you about how I got back home. When I went to work on my machine, it was no longer there. The same person who had rigged it to stop in 2008 had programmed it to return to base when I was not in sight for a long time. Hence, when I was gone to interview with Master Armany, the machine departed. I thought that I would be forever stuck away from my hometime. I started to walk around and while wandering, I saw a building that had a sign Library. People were walking in to the building and I too decided to go in. There I saw many books of the kind I had only heard about, with letters pasted on material called paper. You see, in 2280 books are available very differently and are read directly into mindspace. I saw a book in the fiction section about time travel. At the back of the book it quoted an extract from the book saying that every time and town has a secret passageway that leads travelers back to their own time and town. The very same time, a riddle popped on my riddle watch “Go to the place where the learnt men stay while others stay home and play. Go to the place where the children run wild and the librarian just smiles and smiles.” Looking around me, I realized that I was at just the place. What was to happen here? Was I to find an escape here? I remembered that in college they had told me that time travelers would sometime leave behind travel portals for the possibility that these may be needed by other time travelers. The chances were very low that I could get so lucky as to find one here and now, but it was worth a shot. I sent in May, which is a gadget that launches out. I can control where it goes and if I put glasses on I can see what May would be seeing. It is the ultimate spying gadget. May went all around the building but I could not see a portal. Wishfully, I asked my Asking watch and it said that I should look in the spot that was least expected to have it. I knew where I had to look, on the roof. I found the secret trapdoor going to the roof and there it was, the travel portal, shaped like a chimney top. I took one last look around me and said “2280” and just like that I was off in time, going at 5 years in a second. In no time I was back in 2280. I could not write about the pilgrims but wrote about the boyhood of Master Armany and Dr. Snorious. My article was a hit and I got loaded with cash. Plus, the story of my escape sold for even more cash. I am quite well off now and an even more respected reporter. I am also a far more experienced timetraveler now and do like to see unseen times and places. But honestly, after all is said and done, there truly is no place like home. |
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*Arman Koul is a 10 years old, 5th grade student from Andover, MA. He enjoys reading, music and sports, not necessarily in that order. |
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