The Twilight Time Travel Zone - The Sunset Spell

Eerie music sounds. Like a drumbeat, a deep, slow voice speaks rhythmically. “Ladies and Gentlemen, fans of the hidden dimensions and unseen energies of the universe, where the physics of time, space and power intersect. I give to you a story of life in the Twilight Time Travel Zone called The Sunset Spell.”

“Before us you see a group of friends celebrating the end of summer on a beach. They are wishing they could relive their summer. That it would never end. But they need to be careful with these wishes. The orbits and rotations in the galaxies of the universe, itself, could be changed.”

“The question before us is whether having wishes come true is always what we want. There is a saying, "Be careful what you wish for because it might come true.”

More eerie music plays. A scene emerges of people on a beach.

“I’m gonna catch you,” a voice calls. There are figures running across a beach in shorts and t-shirts. “Ha! Just you see!” comes from a figure running in front of another.

“Hey you guys, the campfire is ready for your marshmallows,” a young man calls. A low flame emerges from driftwood piled into a ring of stones on the sand. Several more people sit in low beach chairs or on towels around it.

The two people running come over to the campfire. “What a summer!” A young woman raises her arms up to the sky. “I love you beach. I love you ocean.”

A young man comes up to her and they embrace, kissing.

They sit down by the fire, put marshmallow on long sticks and hold them over the hot embers. The sun is above the horizon, sending yellow-orange-pink rays across the ocean. 

“So when do you go back to school, Cristina,” says one of the other young women. 

“’Ooohhh, hate to think of it. Way too soon, for sure,” the woman who just sat down.

“C’mon Babe. Take a semester off. Stay here with me. You can sign up for the local junior college,” says the young man who was chasing Cristina and kissing her.

“I know. Wouldn’t I love it. But you know I need to work on my physics major at the university,” Cristina replies.

“If only we could turn back time,” says Cristina’s boyfriend. The golden orb of the sun is touching the horizon now. They know it will go down fast now and evening will darken quickly.

“Ooooommmmm,” says another young man, sitting in a meditation posture. “May Cristina and Carlos turn back the clock.”

“Haha,” laughs one of the other people. “Oh Great Universe, we beg you to reverse, so we can live this summer again.”

Cristina and Carlos take their marshmallows off the sticks. Carlos holds his in front of Cristina’s face and she leans in to take a bite. He moves quickly, intercepting her, and they kiss.

“I feel strange,” says Cristina. “Carlos, wow, look at you.” They look at each other and see the extra glow. The beach begins to light up. It keeps getting brighter. People on the beach are staring at the sun now and pointing.

“Hey you guys,look.” Says another woman in the group. They look at the horizon.

Their eyes widen. “What did you put in those marshmallows, James, “ says one of the guys. “Are we tripping or what?”

Shafts of sun rays cast shadows on the beach.

Out beyond the ocean, the sun has not disappeared below the horizon.

The golden circle seems to be higher above the horizon than before.

“Oh my gosh,” says Cristina. “Babe,” says Carlos, wrapping his arms around her.

The figures around the campfire sit, unmoving, faces still. The beach becomes lighter and lighter. The sun is now well above the horizon.

“This must be an optical illusion,” says Carlos. “Like a reflection.”

“You mean the sun went down. But it is reflected from the clouds.

So we still see it?” says another man in the group. “Yeah, that’s it,” says a woman’s voice.

The sun goes higher and higher in the sky. “A sunset that reverses, haha,” says Cristina. “You know, this is not funny. Something really weird is happening,” says Carlos.

The group stands up and people start grabbing their towels. “This is too weird for me,” says one of the women. “I’m getting out of here.”

The beach is as bright as an afternoon sun now. The sun is way up in the sky. 

“You guys all see this too, right?” says Cristina. “It’s not just me?”

The group mutters and nods. “I don’t get it. Is today some kind of special eclipse or what?” says one of the men.

“No,” Cristina says. “As a physics major there is no explanation.”

“I’m feeling sleepy, like all my energy is gone,” says Carlos. “Me too,” echo the others in the group. They lay back in the sand, sighing, and close their eyes.

Above them the sun moves faster and faster. It goes across the sky toward the east. Darkness falls. In only minutes the sun rises in the west. Crosses the sky. Over and over, as the group slumbers on the beach.

Then the sun pauses, in a position just above the horizon. Cristina, Carlos and the people in the group stir and sit up.

“Oh, how I love sunsets on the beach,” says Cristina. “Me too, but not as much as I love you,” says Carlos.

“Just think. We have all summer now to play on the beach. Back to school is a long time away,” says Cristina.

They look at their watches. “Well, only a few minutes till sundown. Let’s get this campfire going again and toast some marshmallows.” says one of the men.

After awhile Cristina says, “Look, it’s as if the sun is not moving. It has been sunset for a long time.”

“It’s stuck!,” laughs Carlos. “I mean it, really,” says Cristina.

“Something’s wrong.” She says. Cristina turns her troubled face to Carlos. He squeezes her and kisses the top of her head. “It’ll be ok, Babe. Don’t worry.”

Eerie music plays. The scene on the beach begins to fade from view. Was it real and where are we? The deep, rhythmic voice says, “And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is how wishes can come true, time can reverse and stop, bringing an endless sunset, an endless time at the beach."

" Where the hidden dimensions and unseen energies of the Twilight Time Travel Zone intersect and can malfunction, causing an infinite summer.”