Memories

As far as I've known, being in a pandemic sucks. A lot. Whoops, sorry, forgot to introduce myself. My name's Aaron, a regular 12 year old boy. And as far as I know, if there was ever a time to freak out, this would be it. Because I should be out THERE, enjoying the sunshine, and guess where I am? At home. Over and over again, the same things happen. Eat breakfast. Do online school. Eat lunch. Do homework. Go outside to play. HECK, even VIDEO GAMES are getting boring, and if my friends heard me say that, they'd clear their ears. Because I NEVER get bored of video games, since I'm sort of like the tech student for out school. But seriously though, I literally have to check the calendar every night before I go to bed, so I know what day it was today, and what day it's going to be tomorrow. I've barely been stuck for a year, but I'm already losing count of the days.

Flashback of last year. It was just a regular day. Well a regular day before this pandemic struck. "Let's take a closer look shall we?" asks Aaron. You and me float down, and Past Aaron is there walking to the school library with a stack of books. "Yeah", Present Aaron says, looking at you and feeling embarrassed. "I've been a bookworm before." We follow Past Aaron down a flight of stairs and enter the school library. "Hey. . ." thought Aaron. Then he asks you. "What if we found the person who started Covid, prevent them from starting Covid, then we could go back to our regular lives!" You shake your head, signaling that this is a bad idea to tamper with the past. Then you suddenly say "How are we in the past though?" Present Aaron looks at you and says, "I don't know." he admitted. "I just thought of a happy memory, and here we were. Might as well make the best of it."

Then suddenly, we were teleported halfway across the world to China. "Why are we here?" you hiss. Present Aaron looks at you, annoyed. "Don't we want to stop this pandemic?" "Yes, but not like this! Tampering with the past has dangerous consequences!" You jog to catch up with Present Aaron, while trying to explain why this is a bad idea. Present Aaron waves back and points. You suddenly see Past Aaron. "I thought Past Aaron was back in America?" you ask. Present Aaron says, "Everytime I have summer vacation, I go to China to visit my relatives." Then suddenly he looks worried. "Except for this summer." Present Aaron muttered. You can see the worry lines on his face, and change the subject. "So, how old are you here?" you ask. "10." Present Aaron answers. "Anyway, we have a virus to stop." You roll your eyes. Present Aaron is just too stubborn to take no as an answer. "So, remind me." you say. "How exactly are we going to stop this virus?" "By using Past Aaron." he says. "We can't touch things, but past Aaron can. "Got a notebook and pen?" You pass him a black sharpie and a notebook. "Thanks. Now time for Operation Stop Covid."

You follow him down the streets of China, admiring the view. Vendors are everywhere, selling live and dead animals. You shudder all of a sudden, because this was the exact same thing that started one of the most deadly pandemics in the history. Meanwhile Present Aaron scouts the area, trying to find something. "What are you doing?" you ask. Present Aaron says, "Well the pandemic was started by someone eating something bad right?" "Yes. . ." you say carefully. "Well then", he said. "Why don't we make a distraction?" "What kind of distraction?", you say skeptically. "This!" he shouts, and starts a fire. "ARE YOU INSANE?" you shout. "YOU MIGHT GET EVERYONE HERE KILLED?!" "But at least we stopped the pandemic." he grinned. "Now let's go back." They return to the present, but something feels off. Then you suddenly look around. You spot Aaron. "Are you happy now?" you ask. Then Aaron asks, "What do you mean?" "Quit fooling around." you say. "But, I'm-I'm not fooling around." You suddenly look scared. "What date is it for you?", you ask urgently. "It's supposed to be June 1st, 2019?" "Right?" he says?

You suddenly look around in a panic. If this was Past Aaron, he wasn't supposed to be here. At all. Present Aaron might be in danger from the fire. Even if you got Past Aaron back to China, the time would still be incorrect. You look around. Everyone is outside.

"But-But-" you stutter. "Everyone is supposed to be inside." Suddenly Aaron's mom peeks in. "Having fun kids?" "We're going to the amusement park soon. So get ready!" Before she leaves, you ask a question. "What about the pandemic?" You fear the answer, but this was worse. Aaron's mom says, "What pandemic? There is no pandemic?" Then she leaves. You suddenly face the horrible truth. Present Aaron's plan succeeded. At a terrible price. You look at Past Aaron. No matter what happens, you need to get him back to the past, and Present Aaron back to the present. Past Aaron looks confused. "What are you talking about?" "Nothing." you say. The less Past Aaron knows, the better.

You sit in Aaron's room feeling dejected. There was no other option, and since Past Aaron was the only one who had a chance of setting things right, she told him everything. "So, let me get this straight." Past Aaron says. "You made it to the past, tried to stop the pandemic, and now everything's wonky?" "Yes." you exhale. "Problem is", Past Aaron explained. "Is that everytime I try to do that, I get nothing." You groan. Another dead end. Now what. You think. How did Present Aaron get to the past?

Meanwhile. . . with Present Aaron. "Huh?!" Present Aaron looks around. Your gone, but Present Aaron is still here. I need to get out of here, thought Present Aaron, as the fire began to grow bigger. He made a break for it, but he heard the cops trying to sort out the fire. He ran across the street all the way to the bus station. Luckily I've been here before, Present Aaron thought, but now what? He knew how to get to the present, but what had happened to you? He thought, what should I do? Should I go back to the present? I decided to head back to the present where I found you and me? Suddenly a dart hits Present Aaron's neck, and he falls into a deep sleep.

You pace around, trying to teach Past Aaron how to go to the past. Until it works, but not the way you thought. You land in South Korea. "Why are we in South Korea?" you ask Past Aaron. He yawns, then says "I accidentally overshot. I was aiming for China." Then he falls asleep. "Great." you mutter. You decide to scout around, and you see an abandoned warehouse. You step inside.

Present Aaron groggily wakes up to find he's been tied up and stuffed. He shouts, but he's gagged. He hears voices, and realizes that those were child kidnappers. He wasn't surprised. Since 2015, there were 20,000 child kidnappings each year. The numbers have gone down a bit since. But not enough. He heard sell, and money and panicked. I can't go like this, he thought. Suddenly he heard the warehouse door open. The kidnappers fled in a panic, they thought they had been caught. But who was it? Suddenly you untie Present Aaron. "Whew, I thought I was a goner." Present Aaron said. "Tip: Next time, don't do this." "Past Aaron is waiting for us." "What?" Present Aaron said. They meet Past Aaron. "We better hurry." "I don't know why, but it's getting harder to remember stuff." exclaimed Present Aaron. Past Aaron said, "Then hurry up and do your magic." Present Aaron concentrates, then Past Aaron disappears.

"Let's head home." You both disappear. And Present Aaron makes a silent vow never to mess with time again as you return to the present.