Time Loop

Jake walked down an empty Saint Paul street, his heavy backpack weighing him down. For an already small unathletic kid, the twenty or so pounds was not easy for him, but he was on a mission. He had waited too long for this day to turn around now. As he turned down main street, he took a small break on a bench and set down his pack. He had only slept for 4 hours, since he had woken up half an hour ago to leave for the library. He continued walking down Main Street until he reached the front door of the library, he had been coming here since before he could remember.

His earliest memories were the Saturday morning book reading sessions when his mother would take him and he would sit for an hour and the librarian would read him and the other kids stories. He had made most of his friends after those sessions, the parents would be making small talk outside the library waiting for their children to finish the reading session, and he would play with the other kids. That is how he had met Zack, his best friend. They were the same age, went to the same school and practically did everything together, but they were vastly different. Jake was a small scrawny unathletic kid, but what he lacked in strength he made up for double in smarts, he was a straight A+ kid and excelled in science and math. Zack on the other hand was twelve, the same age as Jake, but a whole foot taller and built like a tank, quite the opposite of Jake, he was happy when he got B's or even C's. He never got perfect grades, but he could run like the wind, and he was a star baseball player, the best on his school team. Despite their differences, the two had been best friends ever since they met at the library so long ago.

Jake waited for about ten minutes before Zack showed up.

“Sorry I'm late,” said Zack

“It's okay, I was a little early. Just be really quiet, we don't know if there are still people inside,” Jake replied.

“You think people will be in there? It is two in the morning!”

“I really don't know, but why risk it til we're sure?” Jake asked. “Okay, let's go in.”

Jake had been to the library with his mother the day before and he had been sure to leave a twig between the glass part of the window and the windowsill. He had done this so that he could easily open the window and crawl into the library.

“So when does the thingy open?” Zack inquired as they walked around to the back of the building.

“For one thing, it is not a thingy, it is some sort of extra dimensional space, or something. For all I know this is the first one and we can call it whatever we want. I am not really sure when it opens, if my calculations are right it should open tonight around two-thirty in the morning, which is only twenty-five minutes away.”

“Oh, can we call it a wormhole? Ooh, or maybe a blackhole? Or something cool like that. Are we going to tell people? I mean, if this is really a new discovery then we would be so famous!” Zack exclaimed.

"I think we should just see what it does before we tell people," Jake reasoned, smiling at his friend’s enthusiasm.

"But what about your discovery?" questioned Zack.

About one month ago, Jake had been in the library picking out some history books that he would use to study for his upcoming First Nations unit test, when he heard an odd sound coming from behind the shelves. He had checked to see if anyone was looking and when no one was, he quickly moved all the books off of the shelf and saw a very strange hole. It was about big enough for him to fit through and it had a weird rippled effect, as if it was water that had somehow been put horizontal without gravity pulling it down. And an odd, almost ominous hum was coming from it, just loud enough for him to hear. The hole was inky black, and produced no light. It also resembled the wall it was sitting against. If there had been any background sound he would not have heard it, luckily there had only been about ten other people in the place and it was an enormous building.

He had not been sure what to do, he was too afraid to put his hand through it so he had thrown a book through it. The book had been “The Graveyard Book'' by Neil Gaiman, one of his personal favorites. It had disappeared. 

“Well I guess, but I never got video footage, and maybe my math was wrong and we won't even see it,” Jake explained.

“Well I guess there is only one way to find out!” exclaimed Zack, maybe a little too loud for two kids trying to sneak into a library.

The two walked along the side of the building until they saw their first camera. They had been expecting this, since there was a security system at the library. They hid behind a bush and got out a can of black spray paint. Jake had planned to spray the cameras so if the librarians looked at the feed they would not see them. He put on a black balaclava just for extra safety and sprayed the paint on the camera. They then went to where the window was and pushed it open. Jake was the first to crawl through the space where the window was, and he was closely followed by Zack.

 “Are we criminals now?” Zack whispered. 

“Well, technically yes,” answered Jake. “But I think we are doing it for a good reason.”

The two boys walked in silence until they got to the place Jake had seen the hole. He cleared the books and stacked them on the ground. There was nothing. The disappointment was apparent on both boys' faces. 

“Maybe it moved?” Zack wondered. “Maybe it will come later.”

The two boys waited for forty-five minutes, they looked around, moved some books, but did not see anything. At exactly three in the morning the two boys were standing by the bookshelf thinking about what to do when something hit Zack on the head. It was a book. 

“Ouch!” exclaimed Zack.

Jake leaned over and picked up the book. It said “The Graveyard Book” in big words on the cover. 

“That's weird, shouldn't that book be in the children's section?” questioned Zack. 

Without a word Jake cleared all the books on the shelf and stared into the murky depths of the hole. 

“Oh my god!” exclaimed Jake. “When I first discovered the hole I tossed this book into it! It must be a time machine of some sort!”

“Wow! Can I jump in?” said an excited Zack. 

“Are you crazy? You might never come out!” 

“And that my friend is a risk I am willing to take to be the first time traveler!” 

“Well I guess so,” shrugged Jake, trying to sound unconcerned, though his face told a different story. “Let me film it.” 

The two friends took the heavy camera out of the backpack and set it up on its tripod. After taking several photos they said goodbye. Zack also took his small digital camera with him in case he could take pictures for proof. 

“Be safe!” encouraged Jake. 

“You know I always am,” replied Zack.

The two embraced and said goodbye, then Zack climbed up the bookshelf, gave his friend a mock salute, and jumped through.

50 years later. 

Jake walked into the library and walked over to the historical fiction section. His wife was waiting in the car for him so he knew he would be quick. He browsed the books for a minute or two and picked out an old one about the Napoleonic war. As he was picking up his bag, a pile of books fell on him. A young boy fell on top of him. He looked up and saw a odd black circle on the wall in front of him. Then he looked at the boy.

“Zack?”