Seven Destinations

"Dale McKinney liked to explore. He was a 23-year-old novelist always looking for ideas for his next big bestseller. His biggest dream had been to write a book so famous, it would become a major Hollywood blockbuster. Anyhow, by "explore", Dale is always on the lookout for something when he jogs. Every 7 months or so he likes to change routes. One day he went out for a jog at his latest trail. He had realized that he'd been jogging on this trail for 7 months. It was kind of a big deal when he'd change routes. The next day was a sunny March morning. The sun was shining. Birds were tweeting. Spring had sprung! Dale got ready, but then realized he had explored the whole neighborhood already. He had jogged on every single trail, route, and meter of the streets of Mellingsworth Park. Hmm..., wondered Dale, I've been on plenty of drives in the neighborhoods of the vicinity, maybe I can go explore the next town over. Dale had made up his mind. He was going to start exploring a whole new town. He had visited it every now and then but still felt the need to explore it. As he approached the calm neighborhood named Willow Springs, Dale couldn't help but notice the lovely trees, the flower-decorated bushes, the... snowbanks? There had been snowbanks everywhere. Dale couldn't believe there was still snow in these parts of the county. Either way, the snow didn't bother him. He parked his car at a nearby parking lot -- where there was a lot of snowbanks -- and began jogging. He got closer to one of the snowbanks, and as he got a bit closer, the March sun reflected on something shiny in the snowbank. The shine was pretty blinding to Dale. We wiped his eyes, but everything was really blurry. His ears were ringing. He was sweating. It was a blinding light that he had experienced never before. As soon as the earth around him stopped spinning, Dale went to check it out. It was like a big box, but with only the top-right edge peeking out. He felt the mysterious box. It was hard and had a rough, but smooth texture to it. Dale didn't have anything like a shovel, so he just used his hands. The more snow he dug out, the more it just looked like a giant box made of iron. It was silver, had a blinding reflection when it made contact with the sun and had thin black horizontal lines on the top. After 10 minutes of taking out snow, his calculations were correct. He was left with a giant silver box with black lines. He was examining it, curious to find at least something that can answer the questions going on in his head. As people passed, they were giving him weird looks. They were giving him the 'what's wrong with you' look. Dale didn't care that much. He was exploring more and more until he found a little button on the right side. Curiously, he pressed it and a door opened. The floor was a rubber floor mat like the one you'd see in a car. It was tight, had a little keypad with about 5 buttons, and had red lights. Dale entered and it was pretty warm in there. All of a sudden, a computer voice said: "Press the giant button on the top-left corner on the keypad". Dale closed the door and pressed the button. Then he had just noticed a mini projector on the top behind him. And the projector started rolling. A little movie began with camerawork that looked like it was filmed in the 1800s, maybe the early 1900s. In the movie, it looked like someone was driving a car. There was also old-timey music in the background. Then, a deep voice started speaking: "The machine that you are in is the works of Gerard Collingsworth, an English inventor who participated in a bet with his colleagues on creating a machine that can take you anywhere in time. Wait! Am I in a time machine, wondered Dale as the narrator continued to speak. "This is a time machine, automatically set to take you to seven different pinpoints in the past. Buckle up! It's going to be an interesting ride!" the voice said as it came to an end. All of a sudden, the box started shaking very rapidly. Dale tried to find something to hold on for dear life. Then appeared a light, white ball with little bolts of lightning coming out of it on the sides, which kept on getting bigger and bigger, until all Dale could see was a white ball, and then... nothing. Think of it this way, what Dale just saw was on a TV and someone turned it off. That's how quick the view faded from Dale's eyes. Then, Dale slowly opened his eyes. Even though it had been explained to him very straightforward, Dale was still confused. The computer voice that had instructed Dale to press the button on the top-left said: "Destination 1 out of 7". Ughh... I don't think I ever want to experience THAT again, thought Dale. When he finally realized on what planet he's on, Dale opened the door by pressing a button right of the door with the words 'OPEN DOOR ⬇' above. The door opened and then Dale saw a giant palace that looked like it was from the Roman times. The palace was white and it had a great number of pillars. He came out and as he wondered where he was, he also wondered what would happen if anyone saw him with the time machine. But Collingsworth was smart enough to add a "Hide Automatically" mode because when Dale turned, he could see the time machine was hidden behind some bushes. Dale began walking towards the palace and saw that he was dressed like a Roman. Then it finally hit him. That and in the nearby distance in front of the castle he saw a man. A familiar man that wore a Roman robe not too different from the one Dale was wearing. The man wore a laurel wreath on his head and his face looked serious. It was Julius Caesar! Dale could not believe his eyes as he saw the king. He appeared to be speaking to a shorter, wider man who also wore a Roman robe. In fact, everyone was wearing those Roman robes. Dale tried to fit in as much as he could. Dale also noticed he was wearing a black watch. It didn't look like an ordinary watch though. He tried to take it off, but couldn't, somehow. He kept on trying to remove the watch and look like he was a native, rather than being from a time traveler who still had no idea what was going on. Then the watch started vibrating and making alarm clock sounds. Dale began panicking when "Halt!", called someone. Dale turned to see that he was standing just a few meters away from Caesar himself. Caesar was the one who had called out "Halt!". Julius carried on speaking. "Who are you? Why have I never seen you around? What's that vibrating... thing on your hand"? Dale was panicking. Even he did not know. "S-sorry Your Highness, I-I've got to go someplace." stammered Dale as he realized the watch vibrating was a reminder to go to the next destination.

"I demand you answer me!" yelled out Caesar. He began to get really mad.

"I-I can't tell you that, I'm af-afraid."

"Alright. Keep your secrets. Guards! Get him!"

Caesar's guards started going after Dale. He realized that the time machine had hidden itself in a bush. Dale arrived in front of the time machine and quickly pressed the button to open. The doors opened and he went in. The guards were coming closer and closer, but Dale forgot what button to start the time machine. Then like lightning, he remembered. Dale pressed the top-left button and the white ball appeared again. All of a sudden, as if a TV were being switched off, Dale's view turned pitch black. Then, he woke up again. He felt as dizzy as last time. Dale heard the computer voice say "Destination 2 out of 7". As soon as the earth around him stopped spinning, he opened the door of the time machine. He was in some forest, but when he looked in front of him, he saw a big city. Dale had been very educated and had known quite a lot of history, but the city that was in front of him looked just like Florence, Italy in the Renaissance. This had been one of Dale's favorite topics in history to learn in school. He saw that he had clothes that match the Renaissance. Dale remembered the watch that he had on and figured not to spent so much time when he saw a man with a beret, long hair, and a long beard passing by. Dale immediately recognized the man as Leonardo Da Vinci, one of Dale's favorite painters. Da Vinci was... begging to people to give him ideas for paintings? Dale was confused. He knew Da Vinci as really creative, not begging people to give him ideas. Then to Dale's surprise, he saw Da Vinci coming up to him. "Hello, I am a painter named Leonardo, can you give me idea for painting?" asked Da Vinci. Dale just looked at him, trying to hide his excitement. Then an idea popped up, but a risky one. He just remembered he had his phone with him. "So... ahh, yes idea. Well, you could paint... this!" Dale was saying as he pulled up a picture of the Mona Lisa that he had saved on his phone. Da Vinci's eyes gleamed with joy.

"Young boy, you gave me brilliant idea. This woman, she's model here in Florence. What is this magical thing?"

"This? Oh, this... is just something that... is useful... yeah, I-I don't know."

"Well, how come it is with you?"

"Umm...", began Dale when the watch, or should I say the reminder to get back in the time machine started vibrating and ringing.

"Sorry, Leonardo. Got to go!"

Leonardo just looked at Dale as he ran to the time machine. Then Dale closed the door to the time machine and pressed the top-left button. The white ball appeared again and Dale's whole view went pitch black. Dale finally woke up to the words: "Destination 3 out of 7". He opened the door of the time machine and saw a fountain, some people with different styles of clothing standing in a circle around a small sculpture, and the Chichen Itza. He immediately recognized that he was in Aztec times. This was one of Dale's least favorite topics in History. One of the fellow tribesmen turned around and saw Dale. Instantly, his eyes seemed a bit furious. He angrily asked, "Who do you think you are, interrupting the Ritual of the Gods"?

Dale looked at him fearfully "S-Sorry, I-I didn't know".

"Well, what does this look like to you, a circle gathering of some weird people with different styles of clothing?!"

"Uhh... uhh..."

"Well don't just stand there stuttering, answer! Or we'll burn you at the stake!"

"Uhh..." Dale fearfully answered when he thought of an idea. "Yeah... there's just one thing I'm gonna do". The next thing you know, Dale began running up the stone stairs of the Chichen Itza.

The Aztec turned around to the others, "Well don't just stand there. Go after him"!

The Aztecs chased Dale up the Chichen Itza as Dale was thinking of the next step in his plan. Then he finally got an idea. Every now and then, the Aztecs had to stop to get air, while Dale was still running due to his jogging. He finally arrived on top and his plan was going good... so far. Breathless, the Aztecs began monologuing as they gasped for breath. "We... are going... to burn... you at... the... stake," said the Aztec that previously threatened Dale.

"Yup, you are. Oh, how could've my plan failed." Dale said trying to trick the Aztecs.

"Yes, we've got you now!" said the Aztec when Dale took a cocoa bean.

"Oh, what's this? That's right. The Aztecs' most prized possession, the cocoa bean".

Dale knew that his plan had worked due to the faces of every single Aztec. As the reminder started vibrating Dale threw the cocoa bean from the top of Chichen Itza and all Aztecs stupidly followed. Dale ran back to the time machine and pressed the button to go to the next destination. The last Dale saw of the Aztecs was the chief, who threatened Dale running to the time machine and screaming "This is not over"! The white ball appeared as usual and the view faded from Dale's eyes. Then Dale woke up as the computer voice said, "Destination 4 out of 7". Dale had a really bad feeling about this one. As he opened the door, he found himself standing in a lovely forest with rivers and pretty flowers. He would've guessed the Garden of Eden when something rocked the ground so hard Dale went a few feet in the air. Then to Dale's horror, he heard a piercing roar that could possibly be heard from kilometers away. It was a T-Rex! That's when Dale noticed a button on the reminder that said 'IMMEDIATE NEXT DESTINATION'. He thought it meant what he thought and riskily pressed it. That's when the giant T-Rex looked straight in Dale's eyes. Dale was paralyzed with fear and could not possibly take a step towards the time machine. That's when Dale saw something in the sky. It was like a star, but it was getting bigger and bigger. But it wasn't a star. It was the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. Now that was the frosting on the creepy cupcake. Dale ran towards the machine as the T-Rex looked at the shiny circular object in the sky. It appeared to be getting faster and faster. Dale pressed the button and the whole procedure began again. Then Dale woke up to the sound of "Destination 5 out of 7". He opened the door of the time machine and saw that he was on a beach. It was nighttime and that's when he noticed the wooden horse in the distance. It was the Trojan Horse. Dale was in Trojan Greece. It was much more interesting than he'd thought when a horn blew in from nearby and soldiers came from nowhere. Dale never knew the Trojan War started like this! He hid back in the time machine and pressed the button on the reminder to go back. Once again the procedure began again and Dale went unconscious. "Destination 6 out of 7," said the computer voice as usual. As Dale stumbled on to his feet, he tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. The door had been locked. Then out of nowhere, the walls went up, as if a pull-down projector screen had been pulled up and it revealed windows. The outside was pitch black. There was nothing. Just pitch black. Then there was an explosion. It started with a beam of light and turned into a big explosion. Ohh, it's the Big Bang, wondered Dale. As the explosion... well exploded, stars started forming. It was wonderful. But the reminder started vibrating before Dale pressed the button on the reminder. He pressed the button for the last destination and the whole process began again. Everything went pitch black and Dale went unconscious, the whole buzz. Then when he woke up, he opened the door and it was like a madhouse. People were on horses firing guns and crossbows. Dale saw Napoleon. It was the French Revolution! Dale was smart enough to close the time machine before he could get seriously hurt. When he pressed the button to go, the computer voice started speaking. "Congratulations! You have visited 7 points in the history of the world, all before 1800. You will be sent home now". Dale was just happy he would experience the jump in the space-time continuum one last time. The whole process began again and Dale went unconscious for the last time. Dale woke up for the last time and opened the door. He had been right where he discovered the time machine in the parking lot of Willow Springs. Wow! Dale was back in the present. Then he realized, he didn't need to jog to get an idea. He already got one." narrated Dale McKinney as he presented his book to Pineville Publishing Co.

"We love it!" exclaimed in joy the main publisher Alex Warren. Dale smiled. Another perfect book, this one based on a true story, wondered Dale. A few weeks later, Dale's book had been a New York Times Best-seller. Everyone was reading Dale McKinney's book Seven Destinations. Little did everyone know, it was a true story. One day Dale got an e-mail regarding Seven Destinations. Dale opened it up. It was from Pineville Film Commission. He got excited. The e-mail read: MR. MCKINNEY. WE'VE READ YOUR BOOK AND WE'VE REALLY ENJOYED IT. ENJOYED IT SO MUCH, WE WANT TO ADAPT IT INTO A HOLLYWOOD BLOCKBUSTER. Dale exclaimed in joy. He couldn't believe his eyes. Dale McKinney has achieved his dream of going Hollywood.