Stranger at the lab

December 13, 2021,  9:30 pm

Ugh. Another boring night alone. Honestly, with my parents gone so much, it feels like they never existed. My dad is always working at the chemical plant. He’s always telling me that if missed one day at his job, the whole town would fall apart. As for my mom, she is always working at a science lab, conducting experiments on time travel and cloning. The only thing I really have is my dogs and my video games. My parents work all night, but get breaks on Christmas and Thanksgiving, like me. That’s why I long for those holidays, where we can be together as one. Eventually I will be old enough to visit the science lab where my mom works, or maybe, work there myself! It would certainly be preferable over this crappy environment I deal with all the time. It was 10:00 now, and my eyes were starting to droop. I decided to head off to my cozy bed, and just sleep.

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When I finally woke up, it was already 9:00, so I went downstairs to check for any “Certain humans that might be my parents?” I yelled out. Nothing. Just an empty house, let alone for one lonely boy named Johnathan. Being alone has taught me one thing, though: how to cook! It was so easy to just whip up some eggs and bacon, with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. I downed my breakfast quickly, and set off into the world.

I had just finished going to the store to buy groceries with the money my parents give me every day, when I decided to visit the science lab, or at least look inside. I reached it in about 5 minutes, and peered through the window. What I saw shocked me to the core. There was just some unknown stranger that my mom hugged and kissed on the cheek.  “Just like she used to do to me” I thought in sadness. But that was the least of my worries. Who was this man, and what was he doing with my mom?

By the time I had reached my bike, put the groceries in my duffel bag, and rode home, it was nearly 5:00. Well, guess that means I’m cooking alone! I looked online for some good dinner recipes, found some for catfish, and set to work on my dinner. I finished my dinner in about an hour. That means extra TV time! But then I heard some footsteps outside in the driveway. I quickly scrambled to get to the window for a better view. Yeah yeah, I know it might see stupid to look out a clear piece of breakable glass when a stranger is outside, but I can take care of myself. When I peered out though, a chill went through me. It was the same stranger from the science lab! He did not turn my direction though. He kept walking straight, as if I wasn’t even there. What was up with him? I need to know. Suddenly, quick as a flash, he turned his head towards me, prime to face me. I darted up the stairs and into my room where I stayed for the rest of the night, cowering in fear of this stranger.

I was tired and sleep deprived, having stayed up all night, listening for breaking glass, or a creaking front door. As I walked down the stairs, my two dogs, ChiChi and Oreo, jumped me and started licking my face. I laughed and rolled away, trying to run. Sheesh. With all of this moping, I completely forgot about the only things that keeps me sane. I quickly made a bowl of cereal, downed it AND the milk left in the bowl, and dashed out the door. I was hoping to see the stranger again, ask him who he was, and what he had to do with my mom, and maybe tell dad while I’m at it. I went back to the store, grabbed a few groceries as fast as I could, paid, stuffed them in my duffel bag, and zipped down to the lab on my bike in a record 3 minutes. I stared through the window. There he is again! The same stranger from last night, and yesterday afternoon! He was standing there, talking to my mom and smiling. What was he playing at? He started to say something, but the windows were so thick, all I could hear were muffled voices. I tried to lip read. It looked like he was saying, “Thanks mom.” WHAT?! Maybe, maybe I’m hallucinating. No way he just said mom! Do I have some unknown brother that was never spoken of? But wait. He was standing by the time machine that my mom was testing. Could it be… no. No way!

I waited till 8:00 at night, when the stranger came out of the lab. I must admit though, it was tough waiting 5 hours for him. My phone died at about 4. When he exited, I ran up to him and said, “Excuse me sir, but… who are you?” I said, a little bit frightened. He just laughed and said, “Can’t you tell, child? I am you.”

The next several hours were shocking...revealing...confusing...and caused me to question everything about my childhood. I talked with myself in my head, trying to gather up the courage to go talk to my mother about this clone of me, or an older me from the future. It was kinda scary, wondering about my mother’s reaction when I do it. Will she be sad, happy, confused, will I break her? I pondered all of this in my head for about an hour, before drifting off to sleep, still alone.

I jumped out of bed and forgot all about breakfast. I was ready to confront my mom on this. I dashed out of the door, hopped onto my bike, and rode fast to the science lab. I jumped off it and ran through the door. It was early morning, so no employees were there. I dashed to my mom’s office, and flung open the door, panting hard. My mom was sitting at her desk, crying over some picture. She turned to me. “Johnathan? What are you doing here?” she said in suprise. “I’m here to ask you about that clone of me from the future. Why did you make that?” I said calmly. “Well I…” she started, then burst into tears. “I only did it because I never get to see you! I thought that if I made that clone of you, it would bring me happiness. But it didn’t go as planned. There was a small flaw in the machine, and it made you older. Grown up. But it still helped with the fact that I was never able to see my beloved son.” she finished, still teary-eyed. I hugged her for a long time, before she said, “Come on, Johnathan. Let’s head home…”