"Portal" by Alicia Judd

I woke up early one winter morning, and one quick glance out the window confirmed my hopes.  The snow was much higher than I thought was possible, except in Antarctica or something.  It was up to my third story bedroom window.  Happily, I pulled on a sweatshirt, grabbed my favorite book, and fell onto my beanbag chair.  I opened the book to the first well-loved page.  What I saw was a mass of swirling purple.  I touched it tentatively with my finger.  As soon as I did, I regretted it.  I was sucked through the book and was whirled around crazily.  "Why did I do that?" was my only thought.  Finally, my legs hit some cold, hard surface and I fell to the floor.  I heard some clattering from behind me.  Groggily, I lifted my head and wished I hadn't.  Standing above me was a stern man wearing rusty, dented armor.  He shouted something I couldn't understand and I crawled to my feet.  Instantly, he slammed manacles onto my wrists and pulled me toward a gilded door.  I suddenly noticed a strange purply tinge to the gold.  Charging forward, I hurtled through blackness.  I was back in bed.

"Time" by Alicia Judd

Where have the 1300s gone?

The days where we

farmed the fiefs.  The nobles with

their vibrant cloaks, embroidered by delicate

hands.  Where are the days when we

sat around the hearth, joking merrily?

What about the years when we were

sent to the crusades?  What happened to

chasing the chickens at twilight?  We

would stumble through streams, calling

vainly for the cow, who was really

asleep in the pasture.  Alas, gone are

those days.

"Vampire Hunter" by Marie O'Grady

Artist: Edvard Munch

Time travel is one of those things that never gets old, no pun intended.  My first time was when I when I was twelve years old.  Life was going to that far off world with flaming pits of fire.  Not a good thime for me.  Anyway, I happened to notice something weird from my bedroom mirror.  I was looking into it and instead of seeeing me as twelve, I saw me as twenty-five.  Scariest thing ever, I tell you.  I couldn't help but reach out to the other me; after all, she was pregnant and scared.  When I reached out, I went through the mirror and came to sit next to future me.  I didn't say anything, I just sat there.  That's when she looked up at me and started crying.  I reached out again, and this time hugged her.  As I hugged her, I noticed our surroundings.  We were in a damp cellar.  It was dark and creepy.
"Why are we here?" I asked in a whisper.
"They've taken over..." is all she would say.
"Who?  Who took over?"  I asked, freaking out.
"Don't you watch TV?  I know we did."  She looked damaged and scared at the most.
"I watch TV.  What of it?" I asked.
"Vampires...they're not myths," she whispered back.
"Why would they make shows of vampires, if they're real?" I asked, leaning on her shoulder.
"They made the shows, so we wouldn't be able to stop them."
"If they took over, then how are we, you and me, still alive?"
"I met one in high school," she said, twirling her wedding ring.  "He and I are mated, but he has to keep me locked up so that others can't kill our child."
"Why doesn't he stop them?"
"His father is the leader..."

TO BE CONTINUED...

"1920s" by Marie O'Grady

1920's, those were the days.

Corsets and hoopskirts oh joy.

Gunshots and punches,

Bandits and goons.

TV in black and white,

Horses and carriages,

Saloons and inns.

1920s: time for fashion,

time for goons,

time to let loose.

"Where have those days gone?" by Haley Ryan

Artist: Leon Battista Alberti

Remember 1200 B.C.?  We had freedom to

explore, a whole new world to discover.

Some of us lived in castles and some on quiet, peaceful

farms.  Where have those days gone?

We went on adventures in the summer.

In the winter, we sat by a warm fire.

I miss that time, that time of freedom.

Where have those days gone?

The whole world was open to us, waiting

to be discovered.  Where have those days

gone?

"How I found out my journal's a time machine" by Haley Ryan

My favorite attempt at time-travel was my first.  I was sitting in bed writing in my journal about how cool it would be to time-travel to a time when we can live on other planets.  All of a sudden I was in the 41st Century, sitting in an apartment.  I thought, "OK, so I must still be on earth, just somewhere else in time."  I couldn't have been more wrong.  I looked out my window and I saw fish swimming by -- at least, I thought they were fish, but they didn't look like any I had ever seen.  So I decided to explore.  I walked around until I found somebody and I asked them where I was and what year it was, just to be sure.  Their reply: "Planet 51, year 4011, of course."  Oh yeah, like that was totally obvious.  I then realized I was still holding my journal.  That gave me an amazing, wonderful, crazy idea.  My journal was a time-travel device.  Well, there was only to make sure.  I wrote the year 2011 in my journal and suddenly I was back in my room, sitting on my bed.  Oh, yeah!  Now I can do whatever I want.  Time better watch out, because here I come.

"That's it for today!" by Dane Kittock

The 1924 Everest Expedition Team

I jumped through the window in my brother's bedroom once again, off to a new adventure, who knows when, who knows where.  I had discovered this time/space travel device when I accidentally fell through his window in a NERF war.  Now, generally, you don't want to do this because the window is on the third floor.  We don't usually open it either, but we were hot from running around the house.  That time, I'd ended up in the day before.  Not so exciting.
The sensation of going through space and time is rather odd.  I guess you could describe it as having all the molecules in your body taken apart, rearranged, and then put back together again.  The light is so bright you have to close your eyes.
When I opened them, they stung as the freezing wind hit my face.  It seemed it wanted to rip my flesh right off of me.  Every part of my body was cold now, and I was having trouble breathing.
When my eyes stopped watering, I found that I was above everything, everywhere.  It must have been in the future, because there were flying saucers floating below me.
I was on Everest.
I suddenly felt woozy as my fear of heights kicked in, and I jumped back through the portal, which stays open until someone goes back through.
I awoke to find myself in my brother's bedroom.
That's enough for one day! I thought to myself.

"Roar" by Dane Kittock

Oh, prehistory

boy, I'm sure glad it missed me,

for if you step outside your door,

you may be thrown against the floor,

by a very vicious velociraptor,

who would make good food,

if you could catch her.

Limbs so strong and muscular,

where's Jessie?

Do I hear it munching her?

Oh my, I've been thrown against the floor,

and the last thing I heard

was Roar.

"The Boy" by Alicia Judd

Artist: Claude Monet

As I walked into town, I heard the loud exclamation of the baker, the only one who you could hear half-a-mile away.  He was saying, "Why don't we all give a warm welcome to this young feller here," while holding up in his massive hands an embarrassed-looking boy.  The moment the baker put him down, the boy grabbed his suitcase and stammered, "Um, I think I should go."  As he ran off, a piece of paper fell from his pocket.  Picking it up, I saw there was a weird little drawing of a 10-headed dragon on the backside.  Running after him, I asked if it was his, but he just blushed and said, "Don't interrupt me, I'm in the middle of an important journey."  And with that, he sprinted to the train station.

"The Arrival of the Goddess Aphrodite and Her Pets" by Marie O'Grady

Sculpture: "The Bartlett Head," artist unkown, circa 330-300 B.C.

Things have gone topsy turvy since they arrived.  "They" happening to be the beautiful Goddess Aphrodite and her faithful subjects.  I was walking around downtown Seattle when, out of nowhere, the sky parted and a staircase appeared.  I was dumbfounded.  What the?  How?  I looked around me and I was the only one seeing it!  When I looked at the stairs again, there were huge muscular men carrying a very beautiful blonde goddess-like woman.  Within seconds they put her down and I still couldn't speak.
"Oh dear, we've frightened the young girl," she said.
"Goddess, shall we introduce you?" one of the hunks asked.
"No, Fernando, I'll do it."

[second page missing...to be continued]

"Instant Enemies" by Laurel



The Enemies of Snakes, by Jan van Kessel

Ever since he arrived, nothing has gone right for me.  I know he looks innocent enough, but now I can't even cross the front lawn without stubbing my toe or stepping in a freak mud puddle.  I used to be the luckiest girl at school, now I'm the opposite.  "No-Luck-Hannah," they call me.  His family moved in on the day of my soccer tournament.  I saw him staring at my window and from that moment on, everything went wrong.  I lost my ball, then my cleats, then my water bottle, and all the time the clouds got thicker and thicker until it started to pour.  We lost, miserably, 0-15.  His name is Justin Howard, and he's my worst enemy.

"The Flabbergasses" by Katie Perry

Artist: Vincent van Gogh

In this small town, everyone is like one big family, so when someone leaves and another comes, it's a little horrific.  Everyone was heartbroken as Jan left this town in search of a new life and family.  Months had passed and suddenly there were two whole big moving trucks and different faces.  Everyone followed them to Jan's old house, which really made everyone mad because no one was really over her leaving yet.  Nobody likes the new people.  They never wave or say "hello."  They are all so pale and different and keep to themselves.  These new people are strange people, but in time we will learn what to expect from Mr. And Mrs. Flabbergas.

"Untitled" by Haley Ryan

From the HubbleSite Picture Gallery

When I wake up, I am momentarily confused.  I'm not in my bedroom and when I look out the window, all I saw were stars.  Then I remember the events of the night before.  How I had been attacked and my attackers had just dissolved, how Will had told me it was my powers that caused it and that he was part of the new republic come to take me back to my planet so I could save the universe.  "Why did I agree to this?" I ask the ceiling.  "I can't control my powers, let alone save the whole universe."  I realize it won't do me any good to wallow in self pity, so I get out of bed and look in my closet.  I am surprised by all of the fancy gowns I see.  There's not one t-shirt or pair of pants, just dresses.  I look around the room and see a panel on the wall with a lot of buttons.  One of them is labeled "wardrobe."  I think, "Wow, really?  A spaceship with a wardrobe button?  Oh well, anything's better than these dresses."  So I press the button and order a pair of pants, a shirt and some boots.  When they arrive, I put them on and they fit perfectly.  A voice announces that we will be arriving at the new republic in three hours...