Where Does the Time Go?

"Mom! Where are the batteries?" I slam the hardware drawer shut with a little too much force, hearing loose screws rattle in protest.

"Last time I saw them they were in your room on your dresser." My little brother, Adam, chimes in. I turn to glare at him, his beady little brown eyes sparkling with amusement.

"Why were you in my room?"

"I needed some tweezers and I knew you had some hiding in your makeup bag. I knew you wouldn't mind. Charlie and I were having a bit of an issue with...something." Adam smiles as he watches my expression move between disgust and outrage. Charlie was his pet rat who I despised more than any other creature on the planet. Instead of tackling my brother and stuffing him in a closet I decided to just head up to my room, making a mental note to buy more tweezers. And a better lock.

I make my way to my room, passing cheesy family portraits, and cringe worthy elementary school photos. I pause and look at the one of baby Adam wrapped in a fluffy blue blanket. He was so cute back then. I wonder what happened.

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"I'm gonna fail." I flop back on my puffy purple bedspread and grip my phone harder in my hand. My best friend, Staci, sighs and I can practically see her rubbing the bridge of her nose wondering why she even brought up the calculus test. Tomorrow is the biggest test Mrs. Chasery has given all year and if I fail it I won't be going to Paris on spring break with Staci and her parents.

"Lily you're not gonna fail. You're one of the smartest kids in our grade. We both know you're gonna crush it. " I take a deep breath, wishing I could sound as confident as Staci.

"Yeah well agree to disagree, but I gotta go to sleep early so I can study some more before I get to school." I say as I fool with my new alarm clock, since Adam broke my last one by letting Charlie roam around my room. Something about me swinging a baseball bat around and yelling some things I shouldn't have...

"Fiiine. Just remember to set your clock forward an hour for daylight savings." I groan, not accounting for the lost hour. I turn my attention back to the new clock. It's square like my last one, but slightly more advanced. The tiny rectangular clock face is surrounded by what looks like a mini computer complete with apps such as MyNotebook, MyCalendar, and something called MyTravelLog. I run my finger over the smooth screen and hear a loud beep, startling me.

"Time set. Future alarm ready. Safe travels." A robotic female voice says. I stare at the clock, my sudden terror turning into pure annoyance.

"Great, it speaks too. Hopefully it's alarm isn't someone yodeling or something." I mutter, switching my light off and heading to sleep.

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The sound of a blaring horn wakes me up. I roll over to shield my eyes from the harsh sunlight that is streaming through my window. Who is honking at seven in the morning! No, it isn't even seven because I never heard my alarm go off. My eyes snap open as a pit forms in my stomach. I fumble to grab my alarm clock, willing the numbers on it to be wrong. Throwing it to the ground, I search my bed for my phone only to find it nowhere. I grab the alarm clock again with shaky fingers.

10:56 A.M.

Oh no. Oh no no no no no. This isn't happening. My test starts in four minutes! My alarm must not have went off or maybe there was a mute setting I missed? I throw on clothes as quickly as I can and fly out of my room, passing Adam as I rush down the stairs. I guess everyone is running late. I hear the horn again and this time a voice sounds from the driveway.

"Come on Ethan we're already late!" A deep voice that I don't recognize yells. I search around the front door for my bag and when I can't find it I decide to just hope it's in my car. I bust out the door and make eye contact with the person honking the horn.

"Etha-" The boy's yell dies in his throat when he sees me. I stop, temporarily forgetting my hurry. I've never seen him before but he seems strangely familiar. Familiar or not though, panic surges through me when I see that he's standing by my open car door.

"Lily?" The boy's voice breaks. He steps away from the car and moves towards me. I start to back up, but something stops me. His eyes are brimming with tears and they seem to have aged a hundred years, but I would recognize them anywhere.

"Adam?" I whisper. The boy stops right in front of me, pain and disbelief showing on his filled out face. After staring at each other for what seems like hours, he reaches out and grabs me into a hug.

"You're back. Oh my god you're back." His voice is muffled as he speaks into my hair. I go stiff at the sudden contact and, as if sensing my discomfort, he reluctantly lets me go.

"I don't understand. If you're my brother, how are you so much older?" The fear in my voice starts to seep out and I bite my cheek, trying to steady myself.

"Are you serious?" Worry replaces the relief in Adam's voice. He runs a hand over his face and sighs as if he's been carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders for too long.

"Lily, you've been missing for 9 years. We thought you were dead."

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So here's what I've learned. Technically I'm twenty seven, not eighteen, even though I haven't aged a day. My brother Adam is eighteen and definitely has aged. My new brother, Ethan, is eight. I disappeared 9 years ago, or last night to me, without a trace and there were never any leads. The most popular theories were that I had eloped with a rodeo clown and that I was murdered by a rodeo clown. Oh and that if you wake up after being missing for nine years, you will have a bit of a meltdown that involves screaming like a mad woman. The only thing I don't seem to know is what happened and why it happened.

As soon as Adam calmed me down from my meltdown, he introduced me to Ethan, his little brother. Well, our little brother, who is a spitting image for Adam and was who I had thought was Adam when I rushed out the door. Next, our parents were called. When my mom and dad arrived they started sobbing so much that I almost cried with them, but my shock hadn't quite worn off. Aaaand now you're all caught up.

"Where have you been all his time!" My mom yells. She jumps at the sound of her own voice and grabs my father's hand for support. I look at my family, taking in my scared mother, my suspicious father, my worried brother, and my confused other brother. No one offers to help me explain what can't be explained. How do I say that only hours ago, I was in high school, Adam was a kid, I was home, my parents didn't look like they hadn't slept in years. How do I comfort her, reassure her that I haven't been gone nine years by choice?

"I don't know." I say, not knowing how to form any other words. My mom closes her eyes, blocking me out.

"You didn't just vanish for nine years and reappear out of thin air. That doesn't happen." My father says, his accusation sounding more hopeful than angry.

"What was the last thing we talked about before you went missing?" Adam jumps in, trying to diffuse the situation before it gets worse. I turn to him, confused at first and then I realize that this is something only he and I would know. I think back to that night, when I was fighting with Little Adam.

"We fought because you took my tweezers to do something gross with Charlie." I hear the slight annoyance in my voice after reliving the still-new-to-me argument. Adam's expression turns from a serious one to pure relief and I realize that he even expected me to fail. He didn't believe me either. He looks to my parents and nods. This seems to be all the confirmation my parents need because they rush me and hug me tighter than ever.

"Baby girl we missed you so much." My mother chokes out between sobs. I pet her hair like she used to do for me when I was younger. It always made me feel safe and I knew that my mom would do anything for me. We stay locked in a hug for what must have been an hour. I feel my father's grip tighten one last time before he kisses the top of my head and releases me.

"So you really have no idea how you went missing?" His voice wavers on the last word. I pull away from my mom, letting her keep my hand in hers for comfort.

"The last thing I remember was setting my clock forward an hour an-" My voice drops as I turn to run up the stairs, already knowing what I'm looking for. My parents call for me as I burst into my room and grab the new alarm clock. A message is illuminated on the top of the clock that reads:

Welcome to the future, Romy Fields. Thank you for participating in DigiCore's revolutionary advancement of Time Travel.

"Mom? Dad?" I whisper, turning to my parents who have turned pale. Romy was my grandmother who went missing when I turned fifteen. She vanished without any leads. Like me. Did this clock send her somewhere into the future further than me?

"I thought Grandma was an accountant. What was she doing with this clock? How did I get it?" My voice starts to raise as panic sets in.

"I just found the clock in a box of your grandma's old things and I knew you needed a new one so I thought that would do. Oh!" My mom sinks onto my bed, all energy seeming to leave her in an instant.

"Mom!" Adam and I yell in unison. My father grabs her head in his hands.

"Annie what's wrong? Baby talk to me. What happened?" My father starts stroking her hair like I did earlier. My mom turns a haunted, painful look towards me.

"I'm the reason we lost our baby for nine years. I gave her that clock and she was ripped from her life. Nine years!" Her hands start to shake as she reaches for my hand again. I wrap her in a hug, wishing I could make her understand that no one wold blame her.

"Mom look at me. I'm here. I'm home and I'm safe. You had no way of knowing what that clock could do. Please don't put that weight on yourself." My father helps my mother to her feet and decides to take her downstairs to get some tea.

Adam, Ethan, and I all stand around saying nothing. No one knew what to say at this point.

"What now? Do we go back to normal?" I ask. I know nothing will ever feel normal, but in my mind no time has passed and these people are still my family.

"Ha. I don't think we can ever go back to normal now. But we're together and that's a start." Adam grabs my hand. I feel a tiny hand slip into my other one and I look down to see Ethan looking at me with eyes that mirror Adam's, the clock in his other hand. I finally hear him speak for the first time.

"We should go to DigiCore and find out what they did with Grandma Romy." He says quietly, but there is a seriousness in it that actually makes me consider it. If Grandma really did use the clock then she's somewhere waiting to wake up right? Or maybe she's already there? Going to DigiCore might finally give us a lead on where Grandma is and where I was. I look at Adam and I can see we have the same thought in our heads.

"You know what, Ethan? That's exactly what we're gonna do." Ethan's little eyes sparkle as I say his name. I see the excitement stirring within him and it infects Adam and myself as well. Adam lifts Ethan up over his shoulders and says one more thing to me before heading downstairs.

"Let's go to DigiCore."