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[[image:harris5thumb.GIF width="203" height="231" align="right"]]Another Place, Another Time
It was in the middle of the night when Johnny heard the choo-choo of a train. Johnny lived on the edge of a lake and there were also train tracks in his backyard. The train tracks were old and beat-up so Johnny wondered how this could be. Also, no one had ridden on them in several years. Curious about what was going on outside, Johnny peered out his bedroom window. He saw a tiny train riding swiftly along the tracks toward Lake Jackaloo. He couldn’t even call it a train it was so small! Johnny rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. By the time he opened his eyes again the train was gone. The next night, Johnny kept his blinds open so he could get over to the window and look out quickly. Johnny tried to stay awake but after some time he drifted off into a light sleep. It seemed like only a short time before he was woken up by the train noise again. This time, though, instead of one choo-choo, he kept hearing the noise and it seemed to be right in front of his house. Johnny leaped out of his bed and quickly got to the window. He saw the small train he had seen before with three people in it. He couldn’t make out what they looked like in the dark, but saw them motioning for him to go out there. Johnny was too curious to even think about the dangers of going. So, he wandered down the steps and into the backyard where the train tracks were. Once he got closer, Johnny could see the “train” and people more clearly. What he thought was a train was more like two benches with wheels on the bottom. There was an old, white canvas sail sticking out of the front. Sitting on the first bench was an old couple. The lady had a pink dress on with a matching pink hat. Her gray hair curled around her plump face. The man had a plaid button down shirt with corduroy pants on. He too had a hat on. His gray beard and mustache moved as he cleared his throat every few minutes. A young boy in a sailor’s outfit was sitting on the backbench. The boy looked one or two years older then Johnny. He was holding onto a string that connected to the sail and another string that connected somewhere on the back of the train. “Hi, you can call me Turner! Hop on the train and we can talk. My grandma and granddaddy are on a tight schedule so we need to go now,” the boy said as he patted the seat beside him. Johnny hesitated for a minute before deciding to go. He sat down and the train started moving quickly along the tracks. Johnny watched the tracks in front of him and saw how they repaired themselves right before the train went over top of them. Then, after they passed by, the tracks went back to their original state. Strange, Johnny thought to himself. The old couple, who Johnny assumed were Turner’s grandparents, turned around and greeted him. “Nice to meet you, son. I’m Thomas and this is my wife, Clara. I don’t think I caught your name,” the old man introduced. “Hi, I’m Johnny. What is this and where are we going?” Johnny asked. “This is a magical train that brings us to a magical land. It’s pretty much a senior center but very upbeat and bright. Normally, only seniors can go but there is a big problem in our senior center. So, we brought our grandson, Turner, to help. Last night, when he blew the whistle, we knew you had seen us and decided that maybe you could help, too,” Clara explained. “What’s the problem?” “In the senior center, time never passes. That means we don’t get any older and can’t die. This has caused the senior center to get overpopulated. We know that the Time Castle has something to do with it but our bodies are too old to search the castle. We don’t know if there’s a way to fix the problem but hopefully you can help us,” Thomas answered. “Okay, I’ll help.” Johnny said. It’s not like he really had a choice. Johnny was scared because he didn’t know what to do. He tried to calm down by telling himself, if there were an answer, he’d find it there. “Great!” the old couple answered in unison. Johnny hadn’t realized that they were now going over the lake. A rock wall had risen out of the water and train tracks had appeared on top of it. It was getting really foggy now, but through the fog he saw the outline of a castle. “Is that time castle?” Johnny asked pointing to the castle. “Yes, it is. We’re getting really close now. Hold on tight!” Thomas said. Suddenly, a burst of cold wind swirled around them and within seconds they appeared in a bright village. The train had disappeared and they were standing on grass with flowers planted all over. There were many small cottages painted either neon or pastel colors. Old people were all around the village laughing, talking, and reading. Johnny could see how it was overpopulated though. On every bench there were at least four people squished together and about every ten feet there was a group of people of at least six. Johnny looked up to find that Thomas, Clara and Turner were walking toward a small bright orange cottage. It had flowers in every window and birdfeeders hanging from hooks next to the flowers. “Listen, you two,” Thomas said once they were by the doorstep of the house, “Clara and I are going inside and doing some work we have to get done. Your job is to go to the castle and try to figure out how to make time go by in here. If you hear a bell ring that means we have to go. Good luck boys!” Turner and Johnny started walking right away. It wasn’t hard to get to the castle because it was on top of hill and easily sighted. Once they got there, Johnny was in awe of the beauty and size of the castle. It had 3 towers, each with an onion dome top. The one in the center was the largest. There were stain glass windows along the bottom and at the top the windows were sparkly gold. Most of the castle was gold and silver but the doors that led out to balconies and the main door were burnt red. The young boys walked up to the open 10-foot doors and cautiously stepped inside. There was a big room with no furniture in it except for a podium with a thick, old book on it. The floor was marble and the boys had to turn their heads straight up to see the ceiling. “What now?” Johnny asked. “I suggest we go look at that book,” Turner replied simply. The book was very dusty. In fact, it was so dusty that the boys could make a handprint in the dust. After clearing off the book they could see a map of what they assumed was the castle. The map was like a big maze with many floors, staircases, hidden doors, and trap doors. At the very top of the castle there was a clock. “I think we have to go to the clock and turn it on or something,” Johnny said. “Yeah, but this is going to be hard. Look at all the trap doors. We could easily get killed!” Turner said his eyes wide with fear. “Well, why don’t we bring the book with us? That way we will know where the trap doors are and what staircases to take.” “Okay, good plan. Let’s get going.” Turner grabbed hold of the book and took them through a series of doors and a few staircases. It started getting more difficult when they reached the fourth floor and there were no more windows. It was light enough to see the book but they had to feel around for the walls and doors. Johnny fell a couple of times and could tell that his right knee was bleeding. He kept moving on though. At the seventh floor out of nine, Turner stopped and looked carefully at the map. “Listen, Johnny. We are right in front of platforms. It’s a long drop below so let me go up first and then I will help you. So, you hold on to the book while I get up.” Turner grabbed what looked like a concrete step sticking out of the wall on the opposite side. It was about 4 feet above them and below them was a big ditch of unknown depth. “Okay, I’m up. Hand me the book now.” Johnny’s arms wobbled as he reached up to give Turner the map. Suddenly, he felt his knee give out and he dropped the book. Johnny quickly tried to grab it but it was too late. The book went plunging down the ditch. “JOHNNY! The book! You dropped the book! How could you do that? Now we don’t know where trap doors are or where to go!” “Sorry,” was all Johnny could mumble. Turner helped him up in silence and they both continued feeling their way up the platforms. Luckily, when they got to the end of the platforms, there were more windows and they could see where they were going. “Look Turner! The clock is right nearby! All we have to do is climb that spiral staircase and we’re there!” Johnny said excitedly. Turner smiled for the first time since they lost the book and the boys ran up the steps. At the top, there was a platform. Turner sprinted across it but was stopped in the middle when a trap door opened up. Johnny heard Turner scream and ran to help. He saw Turner dangling from the platform, with the ground 50 feet below. “Help! Help! Johnny I’m slipping!” Turner screamed. Johnny went to grab him and pull him up. It wasn’t easy because Johnny was much smaller and lighter than Turner. At one point, Johnny slipped and they both almost fell. Finally, after great struggle, the boys were safely on top of the platform. They laid down, panting, for a few minutes before getting up and cautiously making their way to the clock. The clock was huge, about the size of the clock on Big Ben. As expected, the clock was stopped. “How are we supposed to turn it on?” Johnny asked. “The book probably had instructions on that. By the way, thanks for saving my life.” Turner walked around the clock. When he was on the opposite side of Johnny, he called to him. “Look, Johnny! On the back it says spin to start. We are going to have to push the clock really hard and maybe it will start,” Turner shouted. “Okay, on the count of three push to your right. One, two, three!” Johnny shouted. He pushed as hard as his 7-year-old muscles would allow him and soon the clock was spinning. The hands started moving also. Both boys let out a cheer and started descending down the castle. On the way down, Johnny swelled with pride. But Johnny knew he could never tell his parents. There was no way they would believe him. So, for now Johnny decided to keep his act of bravery to himself and maybe one day he would find a way to tell his parents.