The Boy Who Could Stop Time

1

The Boy Who Could Stop Time

Evelyn Frederick Moll

© 2012 Evelyn Frederick Moll. All Rights Reserved

First Electronic Edition, December, 2012

© 2012 cover art CMS Moll

Published at Smashwords by Write Words, Inc.

Dedication

To Remington for his unwavering encouragement

Chapter 1

Specks of snow filled the cold, night air, as the three boys waited in line at the movie theater. Early December brought variable weather to Tulsa. Some years were cool and mild; some were blustery and snowy.

Joshua Sparkins rubbed his hands together as puffs of frosted air shot out of his mouth. Should’ve worn a warmer jacket.

Glancing towards the front of the line, Albert stomped his feet to keep warm, What’s the hold up? This is an old movie. Can’t believe we have to wait to get in.

Marty McClanahan, seeming oblivious to the cold, said, It’s just an ancient theater. Probably just a problem with the ticket processor or something. Can’t complain about two dollar admission. Besides, it’s not an old movie. I’d call it a classic.

He continued, You know my favorite time travel movie?

His two best friends groaned, anticipating a lengthy movie discussion they had heard before. Simultaneously they said, The Time Machine.

Yes, yes, of course, Marty exclaimed. He preferred science fiction, fantasy, and time travel to any other type of movie. "H.G. Wells definitely wrote the best time travel books. You also know the Terminator movies were fantastic. Time travel was handled very well in those movies.

Josh shoved his hands into his pockets. Looking from Marty to Albert, he said, Alright, we know where this is headed. Just get on with it. It’s been a while since we last discussed time infested movies.

They laughed. Josh had met his buddies a few months earlier when his family moved to Tulsa. His family relocated because of his dad’s job transfer. Mr. Sparkins hosted a mid-day, radio talk show. His grandfather also moved with them. Gramps died in his sleep one night not too long ago mumbling about time and how it passed too quickly. Josh’s mom, who was an only child, missed his Gramps very much

The first day of high school had been difficult for Josh as it was already the end of September when his family had moved. School had been underway for several weeks. Friendships had been made, cliques established, teams formed.

Pushing through the glass door of the school office, as he read through his schedule, he ended up in the middle of a group of boys who didn’t look particularly friendly.

Five menacing faces looked at him. Watch where you’re going!

Josh spied an opening between them, lunged through and quickly headed down the hall not caring that he didn’t have a clue where he was going.

As he glanced around looking for room numbers on the classroom doors, he heard a voice behind him.

Need some help?

The taller of the two boys who were behind him had spoken. Name’s Albert. I’m guessing you’re new here. He reached for Josh’s schedule and announced, You’re in our math class. Follow us. And, we’d better hurry. Tall and lanky, Albert moved easily through the throng of students scurrying to their classes. His blue eyes which were framed by large, black-rimmed glasses were scanning the rest of Josh’s schedule. After class I’ll direct you to the rest of your classrooms. Wearing a long-sleeved dress shirt, neatly tucked into beige slacks, Albert looked and sounded more like a teacher than a student.

My name’s Marty. The second boy was shorter, but also slight of build. He smiled easily as he ran his fingers through his long, sandy-colored hair. I see you had a run in with our Fearless Five already. Best freshman football players in town. Just stay out of their way and you’ll be alright.

As they entered the classroom, Albert headed for a seat in front. Marty shrugged his shoulders and directed Josh to the back. I’m not quite the scholar Albert is.

The line at the theater began to move and the trio advanced to the ticket counter. They continued their movie discussion.

"Minority Report. That would get my vote." Albert said, knowing how to set Marty off.

"Minority Report! Minority Report. No way. Marty was practically shouting now. That movie in no way can be considered time travel. Someone called it ‘psychic predictions’ and I think that describes it very well. Good movie though."

Since Albert didn’t really care where this discussion was going, he just said, Okay, fine.

Well, if you want my opinion, Josh said. "I’d go with the Back to the Future movies. I like them all and time travel was handled superbly."

Marty sighed, feeling his friends just did not understand the true meaning of time travel. "Okay, okay, so you guys just aren’t into time travel movies. Back to the Future…the first movie really does make a lot of sense, but the next two have a few problems which I could go into."

Bored with the conversation, Albert changed the subject, Did you guys discuss ‘time sayings’ in your English class today? Although they had the same teacher for English, Marty and Josh were in a different class than Albert.

Marty replied, Yeah, pretty boring stuff. Josh nodded in agreement.

However, Albert seized the opportunity to demonstrate his amazing memory and began quoting from class.

One step at a time.

Time gives good advice.

Waste of time.

Time is the great healer.

Time is money.

"Time, Time, Time, Time.

Over, Under, Round & Through.

It Carries Us On & Makes Us Do.

Time, Time, Time, Time."

Well, ‘Time is of the essence.’ Marty said as they reached the ticket counter, getting in the last word.

For just a moment Josh felt a prickling sensation on the back of his neck. A chill ran through his body. Silence pushed in around him. He shook his head to clear the eerie feeling that embraced him. He looked around. Nothing had changed.

Marty looked at Josh with a frown on his face. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.

A ghost, a spirit, a demon, the center of spiritual life, a haunting memory or image. Albert chimed in.

I don’t need an explanation! Josh growled.

Albert looked as if his feelings had been hurt. He actually read dictionaries. His outbursts of information often brought scowls of annoyance, bursts of laughter, or just a shake of the head. Sometimes definitions tumbled from his mouth without his thinking about them.

Sorry Albert, Josh said. It’s just that I felt a chill. You know, like when you’re watching a movie and the main character sees an apparition or spirits are on the scene. People always feel cold. It also felt extraordinarily quiet. It happened so fast. Very strange. I really can’t explain it.

Marty was perplexed about his friend’s statement, but not really too concerned. He was more interested in the movie. Marty was a movie fanatic. He convinced Josh and Albert to go to movies every weekend. .

As the crowd moved slowly into the theater, Marty asked, What is the temp anyway?

Albert said, It’s probably around 33 degrees now.

Not being able to resist departing more knowledge, he continued.

Might freeze by early morning since that’s usually the coldest time of the day you know.

Marty waved him off. That’s it Josh. It’s the temp that’s affecting you. Marty had to pick the seats so he could see all the action and hear every word. Josh and Albert only went to movies when they hit the discount theaters. Marty, however, went to new releases and preferably, first screenings. They made their way passed a few people and sat down, dead center. Josh couldn’t shake the feeling that something strange had occurred while they were waiting in line for the movie. Josh was going to bring up his peculiar feeling again, but Marty told him to be quiet because the movie was starting.

The opening credits began to roll. Josh settled back to watch the movie. He took the wrapper off of the candy bar that had been stashed away in his jacket pocket. He looked around occasionally during the show, looking for something out of the ordinary. He couldn’t get the feeling of unease out of his system.

District 9 proved to be a fantastic movie. Even Albert, who didn’t like science fiction, thought it was exciting. They made their way outside with the crowd to wait for Albert’s sister, Brittany, to pick them up.

Albert asked Marty, How many times have you seen this movie?

Marty answered enthusiastically, This is my fifth time. Saw it the day it came out, and the next day too. Then two more times. It’s great. Someday I’m going to get a part in a movie like that. Might even be more exciting to direct one though. Have I told you how much I enjoy drama class this year?

Only about a hundred times!

Josh said, The movie was good. For some reason though, it added to the strange feeling I had before the movie.

Marty looked up at the sky, No. No aliens out here. He laughed.

Josh thought back to that fleeting moment while they were waiting in line. Back to the icy chill he felt. Back to the total silence. He remembered the sayings Albert and Marty were tossing back and forth. There was one that Albert said that sounded unusual. Josh had never heard it before.

Josh said, Albert, when you were going through those time quotes before the movie started, I thought I heard a strange one. What was that about…something about time carrying us on? Where was that from?

Albert told Josh he hadn’t heard it, but had read it in an old book. He was going into the library one day, and there was a folding table set up between the two sets of doors that served as the library entrance. A faded, leather bound book tumbled to the floor from the wobbly table when Albert shut the first door. A sign on the wall above the table noted the books were for sale. Albert had reached down to retrieve the stray book and noticed the title, Ancient Magic. He flipped through the pages as he was replacing the book onto the jumbled pile. His eye caught the page containing the quote he recited while they were waiting in line. He had paged through the book but the only thing written in it seemed to be that one quote. After noticing the quote, he placed the book back so as not to disturb the pile again, and continued into the library. The saying had stuck in his mind. He had said it without really thinking about it.

Before Josh could question Albert further, his sister Brittany drove up honking the car horn and waving them to hurry up.

Chapter 2

The Fearless Five were pushing and shoving their way