the time key

8/9/2019 The Time Key

1/173

J.V. Rosario

1


2/173


3/173

J.V. Rosario

3

take him and Uloe out of his house. So the two boys ended in the

custody of the State of Florida Social Services. While Bobby was sent

back to Miami after they were able to locate his parent between the city

reconstructions, which it looked as if another Hurricane Andrew had hit

again.The boy that never smiles tried hard to keep himself awake in

Mr. Posh =s tedious history class. Isaac read the entire textbook the first

week of the odd school year, and he knew everything that was printed

in the pages of the heavy text.


4/173

The Time Key

4

Posh =s class was the last class of the day, and the man rumbles

like a radio anchorman trying fill a void in the airwaves between

commercials. Isaac counted the seconds in the clock above the

classroom black board, he wanted to get out of there as soon as

possible, he heard from one of his friends that Uloe was in a fight again

at the elementary school across the street. And he wanted to rescue his

alien friend from any feather punishment.

The bell ring and every classroom pored into the large hall of the

middle school building; Peirson Middle-High School was the only school

in the county that contained the junior high and the high school all inone campus. All the kids moved to the ramp in front of the school, in a

huge wave to the front building. Everyone acted like they were

supposed too, some couples hide in the building corner so they could

make out, others pushed and shoved and played around, the day was

over and many were going home.

Isaac didn =t board bus that day; he needed to go to the

elementary school where Uloe was placed after the invasion. He felt that he

needed to protect his new fostered brother, nobody understood him like he

could. Uloe wasn't a normal boy; he did not belong to this world of red necks


5/173


6/173

The Time Key

6

AAccording to his teacher, Uloe was telling something about, he

called you, Master. And a boy start making fun of him, you

know this had happened before. He pushed the boy on his face,

and started a quarreler inside the classroom. Isaac, I have no

choice but to suspend him from school, @ said the heavyset

woman, from the other side of the desk.

AOkay, @ Isaac sighted. AI understand. I =ll tell our foster-mother,

what happened.

Isaac and Uloe left the school ground; they missed their bus, so

they waited for the next Voltran shuttle. The sat on grass by the busstop in front of the Handy way convince store. Isaac did not want to talk

at that moment his thoughts where in other place and time, his parents'

old house. If only he and Uloe could be gone back in time with his

parents and live with them; he and his young friend didn =t deserve what

was happening to them.

The shuttle didn =t let them wait; they were the only people

inside the bus that afternoon. Uloe, as always, sat next to Isaac, as they

looked at the empty space inside the vehicle, none of them spoke a

word, and they let the ride take them to DeLeon Springs , where they


7/173

J.V. Rosario

7

leave with their new foster-mother. Isaac walked as slow as he could to

get to the Sherimans = home; in front of the house Jimmie and his friend

Alan were riding their BMX bicycles. They were making long circles

around the paved road in front of the house, moving like two sharks in

the water waiting for their next victims.Isaac hated both boys, they were Taylor =s seventh grade biggest

bullies, and one was his new foster-brother, the only boy he had ever

fought in school. Isaac didn =t understands how he ended up in Jimmie =s

house with his mother as him and Uloe new foster mother. Even Uloe

didn =t a favor opinion for these two boys either; they were hard to get

alone. Jimmie had a big frame; he was taller and stronger than Isaac, so

he was always trying to pick up a fight with him. Jimmie =s face was large

and flat, and was ornamented with a pair of large green eyes. In Uloe =s

mind Isaac was some how afraid of the boy.

AThere they are again, @ said Isaac, as if he knew that they were

waiting for him.

AWhat is wrong Master Cunningham, @ said the younger boy.

AUloe, please for the last time, don =t call me that, I ain =t your

Master! @


8/173

The Time Key

8

AIn my planet we serve our Masters until we die, @ said the boy.

AOkay, okay . . . let =s go. This way . . . they hadn't seen us, @ said

Isaac, pulling Uloe by the arm, he was going to take a short cut and get

inside the house through the back porch door, so he could avoid the two

boys on their bicycles.

Isaac and Uloe hopped the backyard fence to get into the house

back door. The place was run like a pigpen, there were dirty sox all over

the floor, cereal droppings with milk stains dotted the carpet and toys

trailed the hall to other two foster children =s rooms. In the air there was

a sour odor, a musty smell that gave the headaches to Isaac. Hedetested the place, especially when as a brown large roach crawls over

the walls of the kitchen.

Mrs. Sheriman sat on her lazy-boy-chair in front of the TV set

when Isaac and Uloe came inside the room. They went straight to the

refrigerator quietly. The woman was snoring and the sop-opera sound

bleared throughout the room. The two boys had to recruit to still food

whenever they could to stop the hanger from setting before dinner.

Jimmie =s mom had a lengthy body, she was bone and skin

mainly, her eyes were scary blue, too blue for anyone to like, and


9/173

J.V. Rosario

9

meanness stare came with them. The woman was always coughing;

maybe it was because of her chain-smoking habit. The cigarette butts

were in every ashtray of the house; the sad thing was that Jimmie was

already smoking at school too.

Isaac didn=

t sees how Jimmie came to have such a strong body,when the woman was a toothpick comparing to him. It was maybe his

father, but Isaac never saw the guy, he was not in the picture. Jimmie

once told Isaac that his father left them when he was only four years old

and that he didn =t miss him. But Isaac never bought that; he knew that

Jimmie was still affected by the none-present of his father.

The two boys ransacked the refrigerator and went to their room.

The small quarters were the only place of the Sherimans house that was

cleaned and organized; the two roommates kept it that way.

AMaster, what is a suspension? @

AIt=s when you get kick out of school for a few days. @

AWhat is kicked out? @

AUloe, @ Isaac sighted, Ayou don =t have to go to school tomorrow

and Friday. @

AGood! @


10/173

The Time Key

10

Isaac didn =t says anything else; he still had the letter from Mrs.

Roman in his pocket. He wasn't going to show it to his foster-mother.

But, he didnt know what to do with Uloe. AMaybe, I should skip school

too, @ he said to himself.

AMaster, what is wrong with you? @ Uloe noticed that Isaac was

sad.

AI miss my parents, @ he said.

AWhat happened to them? @

AThey died in a car accident two years ago, two days before my

tenth birthday, @ Isaac said, looking at the empty space in front of him. AImiss them and every time I see this place, it makes me want to . . . @

AWhat Master? @

AUloe when you =re goin = to stop calling me that? @

AYou are my Master, @ said the young boy.

ANo, I =m not, you are my brother now, call me Isaac. @

AI cannot. I am an Alittian, we know are places in the Universe, I

am supposed to serve you, and obey you. @

AAha, I gotch you, @ Isaac said with excitement.

AWhat is it Master? @


11/173

J.V. Rosario

11

Isaac gained him a good look this time, before he began to talk;

Ayou are supposed to obey me, yes or no? @

AYes. @

ASo I can command you to stop callin = me that? @

Uloe did not answer; he knew that Isaac was right. The alien boyput a serious expression in his eyes; he also knew where Isaac was

coming from.

AI command you to stop calling me Master, @ Isaac said. AI

command you to call me by my first name only. Do you understand? @

Uloe moved his head in an affirmative gesture.

AOkay, Uloe, what =s my name now? @

AIsaac, @ he said.

AI also command you to stop fighting at school. Do you

understand? @

AYes . . . I- Isaac. @

AYes! You said it. @

The bedroom door opened, it was Jimmie followed by his best

friend Alan. AWhat =re you two geeks doin = here? @ He said.


12/173

The Time Key

12

AGet out of here, Jimmie, @ said Isaac.

AWhat? Are you kissin =?@

ANooo! @ Isaac responded at the same time he got off the bed.

AYou two are queers, @ Jimmie said as he looked at Alan, ADo you

see them, sittin = together in the bed? @

AThey are . . . I didn =t know that, @ said the other boy with a

malicious look in his eyes.

AShut up, stupid, @ Isaac said; ready to strike one of them.

But Jimmie was stronger than he was; he pushed Isaac on the

bed and jumped on his torso in a quick wrestling move ready to twist hishead.

AGet off, @ Isaac screamed.

AYou know I never like you, @ Jimmie said with a menacing tone.

AI don =t know how my mother let you come to our house. That =s the

only thing that protects you from getting = you face arranges. @

AGet off of him, @ Uloe said, while Alan held him from getting

between the two fighting boys.

AMan, I want to hit you so bad, @ Jimmie said.


13/173


14/173

The Time Key

14

Days passed and Uloe was allowed to go back to school. Mrs.

Sheriman used the boy to clean of the mess in the house; he did almost

all the work for her while she was the daytime TV.

Isaac spent is day in the library, reading books, he found out that

after his encounter with Aloe, the alien boy that recruited him to save

his planet, he could read ten times faster that he could before. And the

library was the least expected place for Jimmie to come and bother him.

School for Isaac became easy: math, science, languages,

sociology, and even PE were now too easy and at time were boring to

him, Especially Mr. Posh=

s American History class. The man went on andon over a topic, sometime he started talking about the Declaration of

Independence and ended on the making a statement about China =s

Emperor. And the worst part of it was that his class was the last period

of the day.

That last day of November, Isaac sat in his school desk, with his

eyes almost close, waiting for the bell to ring after a long day of boring

and stretching classes. Even though that school bored him, he rather be

there than with his new foster-mother. The alternative was worst than

seating through six tiring hours.


15/173

J.V. Rosario

15

He pulled his head up the desk and looked around the

classroom; Isaac wasn't the only student sleep. Mr. Posh was in one of

his monologues, talking about something that Isaac already knew; he

read about it some three weeks ago.

A

Mr. Cunningham,@

said the bold and pale man. Posh asked aquestion about the material he was discussing. He fell that Isaac needed

to be awakened; so the teacher tried to embarrass him with the

question.

AWhat? @ Isaac said as he pulled his head up, while the other

students giggled.

AOh, you didn =t hear the questions, @ said the man, mocking the

boy voice tone.

ASorry, I was trying to keep myself awake, @ Isaac responded with

sarcasm.

AOkay, when was the Declaration of Independence

signed? @Asked Mr. Posh, he thought that Isaac would never guess

something easy.


16/173

The Time Key

16

AOh, please I thought you had a more challenging question, @

Isaac responded.

ACan you answer it? @

A4 th of July 1776. @

A. . . and the constitution? @

ASeptember 1787, no specific day delegates took their time, @

Isaac responded.

AWhen did Thomas Jefferson die? @ Posh never expected Isaac to

answer the question.

A

In July 4, 1826, he died two hours before John Adams,@

heresponded. The whole classroom went quiet; all the other students

looked at the old teacher, who was in complete amazement.

AHow? @, he was going to say. AWhen and where did Lee

surrender to Ulysses Grant? @

AIn April 9, 1865 at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia, @

Isaac smiled as he answered the question.

AHow do you know that? @

The bell rang, and Isaac did not answer the last question; he

stood up as everyone looked at him. Mr. Posh observed the boy going


17/173

J.V. Rosario

17

through the class door; this wasn't the same boy he knew a year ago he

knew too much.

Since Isaac came back to school, he hadn't scored lower than

perfect grades in any of his tests, assignments or homework. Form an

>

F=

and>

D=

student before the Alien=

s invasion, Isaac, now, was an>

A=

average student in all his subjects. His teacher couldn =t understands this

change; they attributed it to the trauma of the lost of his parents and

then his foster parents during the alien attack.

In a strange way Aloe, his alien friend, had linked his mind with

his, and now Isaac =s intellect overpasses any other students in his class

and in the school. His mind was sharp, he could read fifty times faster

than his friends could and he could retain any information with just

being mention by the teacher only one time.

After the bell rang, Isaac found himself on the school bus ramp

in Uloe =s company; again he was suspended from school. Someone

called Isaac names and he defended his honor, so Ms. Roman sent him

home early. But Mrs. Sheriman couldn =t picks him up early; so the

school sent the boy home with foster brother.


18/173

The Time Key

18

Jimmie and his friend Alan were taking the same bus that

afternoon. The three other boys, members of their Pouf Warner football

team, surrounded them; to Isaac they were the school bullies. Jimmie

was their leader; he thought that they could do anything they wanted in

school and in their neighborhood. Isaac tried to stay away from them as

much as he could, and was teaching Uloe to do so too

The bus drive was in her second day in the job and her didn =t

have control of the five boys that terrorized the other passengers inside

the vehicle. They hit, spitted and intimidated their victims with the

most opulent manner and no one was able to stop them. Isaac thoughtthat the driver was afraid of Jimmie =s gang, and with good reason, the

little woman looked more like a stick in driver =s uniform. She could

provably take the role of the flying nun without the need of special

effects.

After making a series of stops, the muster vehicle route was to

take the kids from Pierson, where Taylor Middle-High was located,

through highway 17 and turned in Emporia and continued on the Old

County road 414, crossing twice the railroad tracks. The conductor

made her usual stop in front crossing; she put the bus in neutron and


19/173

J.V. Rosario

19

opened her door to listen for any train on the track. But she failed to

shut the students' noise inside the vehicle large cabin; Jimmie =s gang

was in a full swim at this moment.

ARailroad, @ she shouted as with that she was going to magically

shut them up.The noise was the same, and the little woman proceeded to take

the school bus across the track, with any eventuality.

AUloe, what happened? @ Isaac asked the young boy.

AUloe, pushed Kenneth Broussard, @ the boy responded without

any emotion on his face. Uloe does not like school; it is a waist of time. @ AYeah, I know what yo = mean! @ As Isaac said that a crunched

piece of paper landed on his lap, Jimmie =s gang was having a throwing

contest; they were picking on a chunky boy that sat beside the school

driver.

AMaster Cunningham . . . @

AAh, yo = promised! @

AForgive me, Isaac, @ Uloe said, AWhy is your planet, does not

shear knowledge the way Alittian do? @


20/173

The Time Key

20

AWe don =t know how to do that! @

The school bus made several stops before it was ready to

crossed railroad tracks again. The driver failed again to keep her crew

quiet before they crossed over metal lines.

She opened the door, but she couldn =t hear anything on the

track the kids were too loud. Jimmie was shouting to a boy on the dad,

AYou want a piece of me! @ as he opened his arms in menacing way, it

looked as if he was going to hit the boy.

The driver stopped and turned off the school bus right about

when its front two tired were on the railroad track. Then sheabandoned her post and ran as quickly as she could to the back. And

then she pulled Jimmie =s right arm toward her trying to stop him from

hitting the boy in the back seat.

ADon =t touch me, woman, @ he said as he pushed her away.

ABoy, I =m goin = to write you up, and you will never ride this bus

again, @ the little lady said.

A general gap came out of the other passengers; some made >O=

shape with their mouths. In the commotion nobody noticed that a train

was approaching toward them, on the tracks.


21/173

J.V. Rosario

21

AJimmie, stop, @ Isaac said.

AWho the heck are you? @ Jimmie said, with an angry tone.

AYou =re hurting him, and now you goin = to get in more trouble if

you don =t stop. What =s your mother =s gon = say? @ Isaac said; standing

from behind a group of boys all excited about what was going on.From where Jimmie was standing he could see that it was Isaac

that was trying to stop him from getting in more trouble.

ADon =t bring my mother to this! @

AShe =s goin = to find out anyhow, @ a girl said in the back of the

bus.

AShut up! @ Alan shouted at her.

ADon =t you tell me to shut . . . @

AWAIT, @ someone said, Awhat =s that sound? @

AIt=s a train, @ screeched the bus driver as she ran to the driver

seat.

The train light was visible to all of the kids on the right side of

the school bus. The long vehicle engine sounded much closed, some


22/173

The Time Key

22

four hundred meters away from the bus. Its loud and deep whistle

enunciated the coming of the monstrous machine.

The lady drive fell on the main alley floor as she tried to get to

the driver =s seat, half of the student inside the muster vehicle froze,

while other began to move to the emergency exist. Isaac looked around

for Uloe, who was pushed by one of the running children to the floor.

Jimmie, his friend Alan and the boy that he was hit on the seat were

paralyzed in the middle if the bus.

The train was almost over the school bus and only a few kids

were completely out of the stocked vehicle.AMaster Cunningham, use the TIME KEY, @ Uloe shouted.

Isaac didn =t answer, this time; he pulled from his pocket a fact

pen and pointed at the incoming train. The train kissed the side of the

school bus making an inward indentation on the bus large cabin.

Everything happened in less than a second; the train pushed and

dragged the yellow bus forward, making a tremendous sound as the

metal rough the metal.

The boys and girls in the direct path of the train were flown

away, with broken bones and skulls, and blood spreading against the


23/173

J.V. Rosario

23

walls of the shattered vehicle. And between them, Alan and Jimmie

were splattered alone with others against the glass and metal ramparts.

Chapter II Time Square


24/173

The Time Key

24

nside the vehicle front seats, the driver was mangled by the sudden

impact, while Isaac and Uloe stood immobile from all damage; the

fat pen emitted a white bean that opened a wormhole in front of

the two kids before the train hit the yellow bus. The two boys jumped in

the between opening, and like a vacuum, they were sucked through it.

They were thrown out the side the vehicle on the asphalt some thirty

seconds after the huge collision.

Jimmie and the Alan boy were all inside the bus, dead, alone

with other fifteen other kids and the bus driver. To Isaac it wasn't easy

to look at. In the other hand Uloe didn=

t move, it as if his feelings weregone out of his body.

Isaac didn =t understand how they ended out of the vehicle

without any scratches while everyone was inside died. He only

understood that the instrument in his hand had saved him and Uloe

from a fatal crash; somehow the time and space didn =t apply to him in

that moment. He watched everything transpired in front of his eyes

from some twenty paces away.

From inside the bus loud moans were coming, the train

conductor and his people ran outside the train to see what they could

I


25/173

J.V. Rosario

25

do to help the poor souls inside the bus. But Isaac didn =t run to try to

save anyone, he and Uloe stood some thirteen feet away from the crash.

Isaac was thinking in what to do next; he remembered what Aloe told

him about the fat pen in his right hand. Aloe called it the Time Key, and

even though that Isaac never used it before he knew its purpose. Hecarried it around his neck since Aloe; his alien friend gave it to him some

six months ago. Isaac never used it before, in a way he was afraid to try

it before, but this time it was an emergency, the lives of fifteen of his

friends were at state.

AWhat =re we goin = to do? @ he asked Uloe.AI don =t know master, if you save them you will save James

Sheriman and his friend Alan Hilly, @ Uloe said, Aand they are not worthy

of the favor. @

AI know! @ Isaac responded with a smile, something snapped in

him them. AI have the power, @ he then mumbled between his teeth.

Uloe didn =t understand what Isaac just said, his purple eyes

where fixed on the crash and what people were doing to save the

mangled group of survivors.

AIsaac Cunningham, what is in your mind? @


26/173

The Time Key

26

AI don =t know, @ Isaac responded to the boy.

AAre you going to save them? @

AI have too! @

AHow? @

AThat =s what I don =t know, @ the all-American boy said, with a

curious expression on his face. AIf I go back to the past what would

happen? Am I goin = to be there twist, inside the bus and outside?

What =s going to happen? How long back should we go, Uloe? @

AI don =t know, @ Uloe responded as he looked at the rescue

attends, Athe more time past, the more damage you will make to thespace time continuum. @

AHow is that? @

ATime gives us choices, every second we move into the future

more events happen in the Universe, it =s not only here that time moves

forward, Isaac. @

Isaac understood well what Uloe tried to tell him, whatever he

was going to do he needed to do fast. AOkay, @ he then said, Alet =s do it. @

AWhat are you going to do? @


27/173

J.V. Rosario

27

AI think I know what to do! @ Isaac pointed the fat pen to the

open road in front in the mangled bus.

AWhere are we going? @asked Uloe.

AI set the time key, ten minutes into the past, @ Isaac responded,

his face showed a disconcerting expression.AAnd then what? What are we going to do? @

AI don =t know! I never did something like this, Uloe. It =s my first

time, let =s get inside the opening and will see. @

Isaac held Uloe =s hand, and moved him to the threshold of the

time portal. AAre you ready? @ he shouted.

A vacuum of a source formed in front the two boys; it was more

like a wind tunnel that anything else. Isaac and Uloe stood still but

ready to hop inside of the space and time abnormality. The older of the

two boys looked at his friend and began to count a count. AOne . . . two .

. . and . . . THREE, @ he shouted.

It felt as if their bodies were deluded in water.

* * *


28/173

The Time Key

28

The boys landed on the ground in the same spot that they

occupied before but ten minutes behind in time. Isaac and Uloe were

on their knees on the same paved county road where the railroad track

connected with it. Both boys felt lightheadedness as they tried to stand

up from the ground.

AWhat =s goin = on? @ Isaac said, shaking the dizziness inside his

head.

Uloe didn =t answer; he was still on his knee trying to stop him

from spinning around.

The mangled school bus was not there anymore, and the trackwas clear of the two crashed vehicles. Around the boys nothing was

moving, no cars or trucks moved through the lonely via. The road was

unimportant, a lonely undisturbed piece of Florida paradise. Green pine

trees covered both side of the railroad track and the two-lines-road, a

great contrast marked the black tar that made up the hard way where

the boys landed after they came through the time portal.

Isaac helped Uloe to stand up; the two boys gained control of

their senses, and they where ready to provide with the self-impost

mission.


29/173

J.V. Rosario

29

AIsaac . . . how are we going to do this? @ said Uloe, he still

uncomfortable in calling his Master by his first name.

Isaac looked around before he gave an answer to his friend, his

senses were off in a way; he didn =t know if they moved back in time or

not. He, then, took a good look to the readings the fat pen was emittingon the small screen.

AIf I=m reading this well, we are back in time some ten minutes.

And the school bus hadn't yet crossed the railroad track, @ he said.

AYes, I understand that! @ Uloe said, while he pulled Isaac =s jacket

sleeve. AHow are we going to get to the vehicle? @

AThe what? @

AThe vehicle, Isaac! How are we going to stop it, before it

crashed against the train? @

AThe school bus, @ Isaac said slowly without looking at the kid

next to him. He was thinking, planning a course of action, but still he

didn =t know how to proceed. Doubts fused his head. What if he was

inside the bus too? That afternoon he took the bus with Uloe and the

rest of its occupants, so they were there too, moving to this junction in

time where Jimmie provoked another student inside the bus and the


30/173

The Time Key

30

driver stopped the vehicle flat on the railroad track while the train was

coming. He needed to stop the sequence of events or it was going to be

their end.

AWhere is the bus right now? @ Uloe then asked.

AThat =s it. Uloe you are a genius! @

Uloe =s face expressed satisfaction, he knew that to Earth =s

standard the two boys were genius.

AFollow me, @ said Isaac as he began to walk the roadway, he

moved into the bus directions.

A

Where we=

re going?@

But Isaac didn =t answer; he was walking a fast pace on the

county road, almost in the middle of the road.

* * *

The school bus drove steadily through the Emporia railroad

crossing off the highway 17; five minutes away from where Isaac and

Uloe walked in its direction. Inside the bus Jimmie and Alan harassed a

boy on the seat in front of them, while some of their Puff Warner league


31/173

J.V. Rosario

31

friends watch eagerly, they wanted to see a fight. And in front the seats

of the bus and behind the driver Uloe and Isaac sat together.

Now there were two Isaacs and two Uloes, two of them were

running in the bus direction, trying to make on of the stop bus, where

three of his classmates were going to step out of the vehicle. While insidethe vehicle, and unaware of what was going on, the other Isaac and Uloe

posted on their seats waiting for the ride to be over.AHurry Uloe, there =s only one stop before the railroad track

crossing, @ Isaac shouted, holding Uloe =s hand while they ran together in

the middle of the road.Inside the bus the boys' harassment was climbing to a pick, the

puff Warner boys were pushing and hitting around everyone that was in

front of their seats. From the distance Isaac could hear the screaming

inside the muster yellow vehicle.

AThere it is, @ Uloe said as he pointed forward.AI see, @ Isaac responded.AWhat are you going to do? @ AI=m playing by ear, @ said Isaac.AWhat is that mean? @


32/173

The Time Key

32

ANever mind! @

The bus =s yellow lights began to flash as it began to reduce its

speed. The driver followed the proper procedures to stop the school bus

on the correct place, where two students dismounted the transport. The

red stop sign extended off the vehicle =s body as it broke its speed to make

a full stop on the spot. Isaac and Uloe caught up with the vehicle as it

rested on the road while the Findley sisters disembarked through the

accordion door.AWhat? @ said one of the sisters as she looked at the Isaac coming

through the door. She thought at that point that she just saw him a

second ago; he was sitting on the first seat with the little boy.

The girls' mouth dropped, they wanted to say something, but

Isaac didn =t give them a chance. The driver did a rough turn to look at

the boys behind her, they were identical; the two boys that just came

through the door and the once that were sitting on the first seat.AIsaac, @ said Isaac, calling the attention to the boy on the first

seat.


33/173

J.V. Rosario

33

The boy seating on a dark olive seat opened his mouth to say

something but, nothing came out, he was as surprised as the rest of the

bus = occupants.AWhat =s goin = on? @ said Jimmie Sheriman. The harassment had

stopped by that time, all the boys and girls inside the bus got completelyquiet; they looked at the two Isaacs and the two Uloes with an odd

expression on their faces.AShut up Jimmie, @ both Isaacs said at the same time, Jimmie

didn =t say anything else. The four boys dressed alike and looked as if

someone did a carbon copy of the two boys sitting in front of the schoolbus.

AIsaac, listen to me, @ said the Isaac standing up, Adoesn't let this

bus cross the railroad track until the after the train pass. @ AWhy? @ asked the Isaac that was sitting on the first seat.

ASomething is goin = to happen, please don =t let this bus cross therailroad track, if you don =t, all this people will die, @ said Isaac

AHow did you get here? @ Isaac asked the boy standing in front of

him.


34/173

The Time Key

34

AYou know, @ the other Isaac responded while showing him the

little fat pen on his hand.

AI see, @ he replied as everyone looked at the two boys conversing.AIsaac, promise me that you would let it happen, @ said Isaac.AOkay, I promise . . . @ Isaac said to his contra part. And as he

voiced those words, something began to happen to the two boys in front

of him. Their images began to evaporate in the thin air as if they didn =t

have any substance, their skins turned translucent. The standing pair

became transparent, all the students in the bus could see through them as

if they were looking through a glass window door. Uloe and Isaac

smiled at the two boys sitting, with an odd expression.

A girl, watching the event, shrieked a high peach sound, as if she

just saw a pair ghost. Then after all the students in the bus gadded in

unison tone, as if the air in the room was gone.

A

What happened with them?@

said the lady bus driver.AThey vanished, @ said a voice from behind Isaac =s seat.AWhat-ta-heck? @ was the only thing that Jimmie asked his friend

Alan, who was so confuse that he did not want to respond his best

friend =s question.


35/173

J.V. Rosario

35

AIsaac who was that? @ the driver said.

Isaac didn =t answer immediately; he looked at Uloe for any

signal. But the little boy was as confuse as everyone else.

* * *

The days that followed became very uncomfortable for Isaac andUloe, everyone at school knew about the incident in the bus. And

everyone began to ask questions about it, even the Taylor =s Principal, Mr.

Smith, promised Isaac and Uloe to investigate the episode. The sheriffs'

office sent Elisa =s dad to investigate what happened that afternoon. The

school bus driver refused to drive the bus again; she didn=

t want to drivethe vehicle as long as Isaac and Uloe were assigned to the same route.

The only good thing that came out of the whole incident was that

Jimmie didn =t bother Isaac for the next two weeks. In fact no one spoke

with him anymore; he became a total outcast inside the school grounds.

Every time he walked inside the library or the launch room peopleobserved him as if he was a rear bird.

Isaac didn =t understand what happened, why he and Uloe doubles

showed up in the school bus that afternoon. He didn =t have an

explanation for it; the only clue he inferred of the whole incident was the


36/173

The Time Key

36

fat pen he carried on his necklace. The one that Aloe gave him the day

he when back to his planet. No even Uloe knew what happened then,

Isaac thought that he was not helpful with the responds he gave him

when he asked for an explanation.

Two weeks after Isaac =s school bus was delayed in coming to

pick everyone on the ramp that was going to DeLeon Springs.

Uncomfortable with all the looks that he was getting, Isaac went inside

the school media center to check out a book. He was looking for

something about time traveling, in his mind the whole incident was about

that, but Uloe never admitted that it was. So, he became obsessed with

the idea of time traveling, AWhat other explanation is there? @ he mumbled

to himself.AExplanation to what? @ a girl =s voice said from behind.

The girl startled Isaac; he turned to see who was talking, and then

said, AElisa, don =t do that. @ ASorry, I didn =t mean too, @ she responded, with a smile on her

face. She looked taller than him, her bands were gone, her hair was

parted in the middle and some acne was showing. They did not speak to

each other seemed her father took Isaac and Uloe to the Children =s Home


37/173

J.V. Rosario

37

Society, in a way Isaac was mad at her dad. He and Bobby wanted to

stay together with her family, but Mr. Gonzales didn =t like the idea of

taking care of three other children that weren't his.AI heard what happened, @ she said.

Isaac went blank; he didn=

t know what to say.A

Who told you,Jimmie and your friend Alan, @ Isaac said with a gnashing your teeth tone.

AEveryone is talking about it, @ said she.AAnd now you to laugh of me, @ he said.AIsaac, why are you acting that way? Don =t you remember that it =s

me?@

she noted.A

I went with you to the alien moon. I=

m your friend!@

Isaac remained quiet, he stared at her, his dark blue eyes looked

inside hers; he glanced for some kind of sincerity on her part. AI=m sorry, @

he finally said. AI feel like I =m public enemy number one lately. @ ATell me what happened, @ Elisa said.

A

Nobody had told you,@

he responded, with an ironic tone in hisvoice.

ANo, you tell me! @

AWell I don =t know what really happened, @ Isaac began telling his

story. AMe and Uloe were sitting in the bus, behind the driver, and when


38/173

The Time Key

38

we stopped to let the Findley girls on their bus stop. A boy like me,

Elisa, he was identical, came into the bus and said to me not to let the

bus crosses before the train gets the railroad crossing. Then he

vanished, I mean they vanished, Uloe was there too. I mean someone

that look like Uloe. @

AWhat else d = they say? @

ANothin' else, just that. I couldn =t believe it, it was like being in

the Twilight Zone, @ he said.

AThe what? @

A

The Twilight Zone, Rod Sterling, you never watch it?@

ANo! @

ANever mind, that =s how it happened, @ Isaac finally said.

ADo you think that it was you? @ she then asked.

AI don =t know how but I think he was. They even wore the same

close we were wearing, and he had, @ Isaac made a pause and looked

around inside the library, and the whispered, Athe time key. @

Elisa looked around too, then said to him, AWhat =s that for,

Isaac? @


39/173

J.V. Rosario

39

AAloe called it the Time Key. He said that it was used by the

Queen to look into the past or the future. But I don =t know how to use it

yet, and I =m not sure if I should use it. @

AThat =s weird, @ she said.

A

What=

s weird?@

AThat you wouldn't use it. @

AWhy? @

AI know you Isaac Cunningham; you will use it if the situation

demanded. @

He didn =t answer; Mr. Smith came into the library and told the

students that the bus was coming and that they needed to get ready to

board it.

AI got to go, @ Isaac said.

AIsaac, be careful, @ she said as he began to leave the library.

The new bus driver was aware that something-strange

happened two weeks ago in his school bus, so when he saw Isaac

boarding his bus gave him a penetrating stare. Isaac ignored the fat

man that could hardly button his white shirt uniform. Since the incident,


40/173


41/173

J.V. Rosario

41

clothes as they did in that brief moment in time. AThey were us, @ he

mumbled to himself.

AWhat did you say? @ asked Uloe from the top bump-bed.

Isaac took sometime to answer back to his alien friend, ADo you

know what happened in the school bus?@

he then said to Uloe.AMast . . . Isaac, @ began to say Uloe. AI do not know what to say, I

was as surprised as you. @

AI think that something happened and then you and I came back

to warn us about it and when I agreed to not let the bus cross the

railroad crossing before the train passes, I changed the future or the

past I ain =t sure. And this is the key of everything; @ he showed the fat

pen to his alien friend

AMaster . . . @

AAha! You promise . . . @

A . . . Isaac, @ Uloe said, Athe King said that you should be careful

in using the Time Key. @

The door opened and Jimmie showed up through the frame; he

was humbled, after the bus incident the big face boy was careful in

dealing with Isaac and his brother Uloe. Even though he still hates Isaac,


42/173

The Time Key

42

he wanted to comprehend what happened with their two doubles that

showed up at the bus stop.

Jimmie didn =t say a thing, he just looked at them from the door.

It seemed as he wanted to say or ask something to Isaac, but the words

wouldn't come out.

AWhat do you want? @ Isaac broke the silence.

A sour expression came was all over Jimmies face, as if he

wanted to jump on Isaac and bust his face. AI want to know . . . @ the boy

didn =t finish.

A

You want to know, what?@

Isaac said.AYou know! @

AMast- I mean Isaac, @ Uloe then said, AI think he is talking about

the school bus. @

AYeah, what happened there? I want to know, @ said Jimmie.

AI can =t answer that, @ said Isaac.

AWhy? @

ABecause, I- I don =t know what happened, Jimmie. @

AYou, the other you . . . showed yo = somethin =, like a fat pen. I

saw it, everyone saw it. @


43/173

J.V. Rosario

43

Isaac took a second to answer back, AI don =t know what you =re

talking about. @ But Isaac knew well what was Jimmie referring too, the

time key, but he didn =t trust him.

AYou know! @ Jimmie pointed at them; he voice had a threatening

tone. Uloe stood up from his bed and walked to sit with Isaac.AWhat do you want from us? @

AI want to know, what happened. @

AWe don =t know, @ Uloe said.

AOh, yes you do, @ Jimmie said. AI=m goin = to find out, believe me. @

The boy walked away from the door frame leaving the Isaac and Uloe

wondering what he was going to do next.

AMas . . . Isa- Isaac, what do you he is going to do? @ asked Uloe

AI don =t know, and I don =t care, @ Isaac lay back on his bed as he

said that. But in his mind he knew that Jimmie was going to go away.

* * *


44/173

The Time Key

44

The time key was hanging from a neckless around Isaac =s neck.

The device sometimes made noises, similar to the sound of cellular

phone =s buzz as if someone was calling from another time and space.

Isaac ignored them, but in occasions he was looked at by his teacher as

if he should turn off the stupid phone. He never acknowledged that he

had a phone; he ignored his teacher =s request, especially Mr. Posh =s.

Isaac never could bring himself to be awake in his. Arthur Posh looked

older than he really was, his battle against diabetes took a hold of his

body, and many thought of his mind. From a wheelchair he gave his

rambling speeches. Posh thought that he was lecturing but his studentswere all asleep.

Then, and out of the blue, a buzzing sound came out of Isaac =s

body. They all jumped, likewise Mr. Posh, who was sitting on his chair,

achieved some elevation when the sound over took the room.

AWhat is that dame sound? @ the old grouch asked his class.

Everyone put their eyes on Isaac; they knew that the sound

came from him. He tried desperately to fake that he didn =t anything to

do with the dreadful sound, but the buzzing failed to stop.

AYoung man, you better stop that, @ said Posh.


45/173

J.V. Rosario

45

Without saying a word Isaac stood up, and left the classroom as

Jimmie, Elisa, Alan and other students watch him leaving the room. This

was the only class they had together.

Isaac ran out of the room to see what was going in on with the

device. He pulled the neckless out of his T-shirt to look at the fat pen. Agreen light was flashing on its button part, in a strange way Isaac knew

that a message was coming through the device.

Inside the classroom Mr. Posh continued with his rambling

lesson as if nothing happened. Elisa was eating herself alike, for

knowing what was going on with Isaac. Curiosity was also eating Jimmie

away; he knew that Isaac had something to do with the bus incident.

AMr. Posh, @ Jimmie said. ACan I go to the restroom? @

Posh looked at him, and smiled, AYou may go to the restroom,

boy. @

Isaac was already inside the boys' restroom, the only place he

felt that he could be let alone to answer the strange call. He went inside

a cubical and sat on the toilet seats. The aluminum colorless cylinder

had eight dents around the mid section of the device, and as it


46/173

The Time Key

46

happened before he remembered what to do with them. A light was

blinking on what appeared to be the button of the pen.

While Isaac was in his cubical the restroom =s door opened

guardedly, Jimmie showed his head through the door crack. He didn =t

see anyone at first, maybe Isaac was there, but then he heard someone

speaking. It was Isaac =s voice.

Inside the cubical the all-American boy pushed the last key, and

message was coming through a small opening in front of him. A round

shape rupture broke through the thin air inside the restroom cubical.

And something was coming through the portal, a face with a pair of shoulders and arms.

AJesus, @ said Isaac pulling back inside the toilet cubical.

ADon =t be afraid, @ said a voice. A voice that Isaac could

recognize, it was his own voice.

AWho are you? @

AIt=s me, it =s you, @ said the voice again.


47/173

J.V. Rosario

47

AI don =t understand, what are you? @ Isaac then said to the Isaac

inside the opening.

AI don =t have enough time to tell you, @ said the other Isaac. AYou

can =t do what you =re planning to do, it =ll have greater consequence for

you and for . . .@

AWhat =re you doin = there? @ someone said from the other cubical,

it was Jimmie who was standing on the toilet looking at the strange

conversation.

AJimmie, get out of here . . . @

The portal began to shrink, ANo wait, you need to tell me. @ Isaac

couldn =t get the whole message.

Jimmie witnessed the whole event from his high position over

Isaac toilet cubical. He then got scared and jumped back to the floor and

moved out of the cubical, he was shaking and in a way he was mad too.

AWhat =re you doin = there? @ said Jimmie.

Isaac got out of his cubbyhole, and looked straight to Jimmie =s

eye, AWhat do you want? @

AI want to know what =re you doin = there? @


48/173

The Time Key

48

AIt ain =t your business, Jimmie go away, @ Isaac said to the flat

face boy.

AYou =re doin = something weird, and I ant to know. I saw the hole

and I saw your face inside it. It was you, I know it. You have somethin = . .

. that, that . . . @

AJimmie, I can =t tell you what it is, @ Isaac =s shout bounced on the

restroom walls.

Jimmie assumed a defensive position with his fits and his stand

appeared as if he was ready to pick up a fight with Isaac in that very

moment.A

You better tell me what your doing or else.@

AIt ain =t your business, stupid, @ Isaac shouted again.

AI=m goin = to kick your . . . @

But at the same time Jimmie said that the restroom door

opened, and a deep voice said. AWhat in the heck are you two doing

here? @

Both boys looked up to see who was standing behind them. Mr.

Smith =s hands were placed on his waist, his bifocal hand from his nose as

his pulled back to look at the two youngsters. AI=m waiting, @ the man

said.


49/173

J.V. Rosario

49

Isaac didn =t say a thing, his eyes opened wide, he didn =t like the

man and in a way he was afraid of him. In the other hand, Jimmie was

one of the Principal =s pals, he used to play for him in one of the Puff

Warner football team and it was a given that he was going to play for

the school.AWell, I =m waiting for an explanation, @ the man said.

ACoach we =re just goin = to the bathroom, @ Jimmie answered.

Isaac looked at him with a puzzle expression on his face, he

didn =t know if Jimmie was trying to cover for both of them of just for

him. Anyhow, he didn =t respond.

AAnd you? @ Smith asked Isaac.

ANothin =!@

AI don =t know. It looks to me that you =re about to get into a . . . @

the man said.

AUs? @ Jimmie said. ANo way, he =s my new brother. @ The flat face

boy moved to give Isaac a hug. AYou tell him Isaac, are we fostered

brothers? @

AYeah, @ disconcerted with Jimmie turned around, Isaac

responded.


50/173

The Time Key

50

AO.K., so let =s go back to you classroom. @

Smith walked the two boys to Mr. Posh class, he didn =t trust the

two boys, he thought that they =re lying to him. So after the bell rang

and everyone was in the school ramp he kept an eye on them

Isaac couldn =t wait to tell someone what happened, the only

people he trusted then, were Elisa, Bobby and Uloe. But Uloe didn =t

want to hear about the incident, he told Isaac that it was too dangerous

to play with the Time Key device. Elisa, in the other hand, was forbidden

to speak with Isaac; Mr. Gonzalez thought that the boy was a quack andthat he was bad influence on his daughter. And Bobby was too far

away for Isaac to speak with, Mrs. Sheriman didn =t allow him to use the

phone. The only possible thing he had to communicate with Bobby was

Internet and through e-mail using the library computer, when Ms.

O'Brien wasn't looking.


51/173


52/173

The Time Key

52

Isaac: Me, it was me coming through the wormhole,

he or I said to me that I shouldn't do what I was

going to do.

Bobby: And then?

Isaac: The stupid Jimmie Sheriman was spying on me,

he was in the next cubical, looking at me.

Bobby: Did he follow you?

Isaac: Yes!

Bobby: What happened?

Isaac: I lost communication, and Jimmie then tried to fight me. I was all worked out; he was to know

about the Time Key.

Bobby: Isaac, don = t let him have it. That boy is crazy!

Isaac: I won = t.

AWhat are you doin = there, @ said Ms. O'Brien

Isaac typed on the monitor, AGot to go, @ and then he turned

around to the slender woman, and said, ANothin =.@ The boy that never


53/173

J.V. Rosario

53

smiles had a guilty expression written all over his face, he, then, turned

the computer off.

AYoung man, you better go to the bus ramp now, @ said the

librarian.

A

Yes, madden,@

Isaac said, as he stood up and moved toward themedia center metal detector.

Ms. O'Brien observed the boy as he left the library she knew

about the school bus incident and every time Isaac came to the library

she kept an extra eye on him. And she was not the only one, Mr. Smith,

the Principal, was very suspicion of the boy, so he and the other

assistant principals kept a tied watch on the poor boy.

* * *

The muster color bus took the usual route; it commuted

between the town of Pierson, where Taylor Middle-High School was

built some sixty-years ago, to DeLeon Springs some five miles north of

DeLand. Isaac always enjoyed the back home journey; the two-lines-

road was a breath of fresh air for him. A wall of pine trees on each side

of the road and dark-blue sky roofing over the long road calmed Isaac as


54/173

The Time Key

54

the movement of the vehicle put him to sleep. His blue eyes struggled

to stay awake that evening, the worries that came after restroom

incident and the watch that everyone in school had on him took a toll.

His head reclaimed on the cold glass window, while his body relaxed on

the dark olive seat of the school bus.

The vehicle was never full of students, between sixteen and

twenty students were transported every day from DeLeon Springs to

Taylor. But since the double vision that everyone had with the two

Isaacs and the two Uloes, Isaac was under suspicion, by everyone on

board. Jimmie stopped being himself right after everything happened.Something struck him that day and he couldn =t leave it alone. His mind

was always worked out about what happened that day, and about the

fat pen that Isaac had been hanging from his neck. Jimmie wanted it,

and he was willing to do what was necessary to get it from his foster-

brother. He thought that there was something magical coming from the

instrument, a magic one of a source.

So, Jimmie pulled the neckless from his foster-brother =s neck

and ripped the pen gently, so gently that Isaac didn =t notice it at first.

Jimmie immediately looked at the tool; it was the size of a Crayola


55/173

J.V. Rosario

55

marker but a lot heavy. On what appeared to be its top part there were

a number of small keys; he counted twenty-three in all.

The boy =s hands were shaking; he pushed five keys at random

and without thinking. And nothing happened at first, he, then, observed

the thing carefully and noticed that it began to vibrate, much like a mutecellular phone.

Isaac opened his eyes and saw Jimmie standing over him with

the fat pen in his hands, immediately he felt his neck to see if his time

key was still there.

AJimmie no, @ he shouted.

Everyone in the school bus was awake in an instance, the heads

popping out of the small cubicles that the dark olive seats made inside

the school bus. Everyone set their eyes on what was happening in the

back of the bus. And the driver looked through his mirror.

The device in Jimmie =s hands was producing a soft blue light,

pointing to the front of the vehicle. He wanted to let go but something

didn =t allow him too, as if the time key was glued to his hands.

Isaac hopped out of his seat and tried to snap the pen shape

device from Jimmie =s hand. But, it was too late for that, the damage


56/173


57/173

J.V. Rosario

57

Chapter III The Past

he bus rested on a meadow surrounded by pine trees;everything was green and the air was pure but warm. The road

was gone; the railroad track was not there anymore. The

school bus was stuck to a high grass and palmetto bushes. It appeared

as if someone rolled the asphalt road and took it way.

The driver sat on his seat, with a perplexing expression on his

face, while everyone in the bus couldn =t believe their eyes. Something

strange had happened to them and they didn =t know what, so they were

muted as they looked to the surroundings. Their environment was

replaced by a forest like no other has seen before.

AWhat =s goin = on? @ said a fat girl with glasses.

Nobody answered her; an arrow hit the bus fuselage, and

bounced off the metal. Then another one entered through a window

and ricocheted on the second seat where a boy with moronic expression

occupied.

T


58/173

The Time Key

58

AEverybody down, @ said the driver.

The arrows began to hit the bus out-of-hull, some came through

the windows.

AWhat =s goin = on? @ another boy said as he put his hands over his

head.

Isaac was still holding Jimmie =s hand, as they fell on the floor.

AJimmie, what did you go? @

AI don =t know, @ he answered without letting go the time key.

ALet it go, @ Isaac screamed.

A

No!@

AWe are in trouble, let it go and I turn us back, @ Isaac said.

ABack where? @

ABack to the present time, you idiot, @ Isaac said while he pulled

the device from his foster-brother =s hand.

AI knew it, @ he said.

AShut-up, stupid, @ Isaac hushed the boy with the flat face.

Jimmie was not used to be spoken like that if the situation was

different, he would kick Isaac =s face, but something surreal was

happening.


59/173

J.V. Rosario

59

Outside the bus the arrows stopped hitting the school bus, a

moment of silence clobbered the following minutes. Isaac opened his

eyes wide and then looked at Jimmie he couldn =t believe what he beheld

through the windows. Jimmie like the rest of the other kids they all

open their mouths wide.A long hair man, almost naked and short in a statue, showed up

through the window. His black straight hair was ornamented with

feathers braided in a long pony tale. The bronzed skin man held a long

spire with his right hand, and bow and arrows were stacked on his back.

He moved slowly toward the scared group of kids, behind him more

naked people began to show up too, holding spires and pointing arrows

at the school bus.

AJimmie, what =d you do? @ Isaac shouted.

Jimmie looked at his new foster-brother and couldn =t answer, as

soon he held the time key in his hand he began to pushed keys and he

couldn =t remember what he did. AI don =t know, I don =t remember.

Where are we, Isaac? @ he finally said as everyone inside the bus looked

at the two arguing boys.


60/173

The Time Key

60

AFor the looks of it, I think . . . I think that . . . we are in the . . .

past, @ Isaac =s voice fainted as he pronounced those words.

No one said anything after that. Not even the bus driver, the

small chubby man was as confuse as his children he was supposed to

drive home. Everything around his muster vehicle had changed and the

approaching people looked very menacing to him. The other children

were completely seized by the whole situation, some were holding each

other, and other were just paralyzed by the threatening appearance of

the dark skin people that showed out them.

Isaac tried to figure out how far they had traveled into the past,he knew that they were in the same spot but in a different time. As he

observed the people surrounding the bus, he knew that they were

primitive. But they weren't Seminoles; they were too primitive to be so.

And then something caught his eye, among all the dark skins a white

bearded man was being dragged by the hostile group. The man was

wearing an iron armor on his chest and baggy pan that ended on his

knees where his long leather booth started. His style was something

that Isaac could recognize; he was a Spaniard.


61/173

J.V. Rosario

61

The man dragged by the indigenous people didn =t present any

resistant, he limited himself to comply as he moaned while they shouted

and abuse him. Isaac wasn't totally sure about what was going on, but

his best guess was that they had jumped into the past some five-

hundred year, near the discovery of Florida. In a bizarre way heexpected to see Ponce De Leon coming to rescue the man, the little

imagined lingered in his head for a few seconds.

AWho =s that? @ a voice came behind the two boys.

AI don =t know, @ Isaac said. He didn =t want to give more answers

to the others in the school bus, dark skin people were approaching with

their arrows pointing at them. AJimmie, show me what =d you do, @ he

finally said to the big face boy.

AI told you, @ his voice cracked with fear. This was the first time

since Isaac met him that Jimmie showed that emotion.

AYou dirty rat, @ Isaac shouted. AYou =re goin = to try to remember,

>cause if not they are goin = to eat us alive. @

If this was another time, Jimmie would squash Isaac head

against the pavement, but he was trembling with the Indians = menacing


62/173

The Time Key

62

site. AWhat =d you want from me? I ain =t the owner of the pen, @ Jimmie

said.

AIt=s okay, I know. All I =m saying is that we need to know what =d

you do! What keys did you press? It's a matter of life and DEATH, @ said

Isaac.

AI pushed this one and this one, if I remember; @ Jimmie put his

fingers on the device as he pointed the small keys on the upper part of

the fat pen.

Isaac immediately made a guess and pushed the three keys

Jimmie pointed out, and then he added his own equation. If theywanted to go back to the future, he needed to reverse the entire

process. He glanced at Jimmie with an intense look and then he pushed

the red middle key, and waited to see what was going to happen.

But this time nothing happened, Isaac looked at Jimmie and the

rest of the children inside the bus. The chunky driver made a gesture

with his shoulders as if he was expecting something to occur. Isaac

repeated the whole sequence of keys but nothing transpired again.

Outside the bus the dark skin people were just out of the glass

windows, some of them touched the out hull in a careful posture. They


63/173

J.V. Rosario

63

were frightened by the size of the strange object that just showed in

their mists.

One of the tallest men then pronounced some words, a

contraction of words that no one in the bus could understand. He

thundered in a language that was unknown to the kids inside the yellowbus.

AIsaac, why it didn =t work? @ Jimmie said.

AI don =t know, @ he responded. AMaybe its recharging or worth is

broken. @

AWhat =s goin = on? @ the girl with the glasses said.

But Jimmie and Isaac just ignored her; they were busy trying to

figure out why the fat pen didn =t work at all.

The dark skin people were all around the vehicle, which were

shouting in a unison voice something intelligible for them. They pushed

the transport from all sides while its occupants gather in the middle

alley between the seats. All the windows were up, but the kids didn =t

know how long it would take for the indigenous to break through.

AWhere are we? @ shouted the driver.


64/173

The Time Key

64

Isaac didn =t answer, he jumped over the line of seats and some

of his classmates to get to the driver =s seat. He sat on it and then

pressed the horn key on the steering wheel. And the banging stopped

the dark skin people pulled back.

AHow d = you turn this thin = on? @ he screamed at the driver. But

Isaac had the bus moving in no time.

The warriors stepped back as the school bus began to displace

over the meadow. Arrows hit the transport =s back fender while some

spears flew by the windows. Girls and some boys screeched in panic as

some Indians relentless pursuit it jumping and hanging by the windowsas they tried to get a hold of any its riders.

Isaac kept on moving the steering wheel from left to right, but

some lines of pine trees were coming in front of them, he needed to

stop or he would crash the vehicle against them. The bus wasn't moving

fast so the Indians were almost at their butt, running to catch the 21 st

century group of school kids and a fat bus driver.

ABoy, stop the bus, @ shouted the driver.

AHeck NO! @ Isaac shouted back, but he didn =t have another place

to maneuver himself out of his predicament.


65/173

J.V. Rosario

65

Finally the bus stopped, it was trapped. An arrow crossed inside

through the window and hit the dash board. Everyone dodged down

between the line of seats. Isaac jumped back to the driving seat and

began to drive the bus backward, he didn =t care if he took some of the

dark skin warriors that were shooting arrows at him.Some of the indigenous lunged on the windshield window and

gripped tight to the bus mirrors. Others just got out of the way of

backward vehicle coming at them while they shot more arrows at it. But

Isaac kept on driving; he knew that their lives depended on it. He pulled

the steering wheel to the right so the bus could turn around and he

could move it forward.

Everyone inside the vehicle was tossed like popcorn in a movie

theater popcorn machine. Boys and girls cried out Isaac =s name so he

could stop the large sixty-passengers transport. The short fat man, the

only adult in with them, hit the floor hard and wasn't able to stand up as

some of the kids stepped on him.

ABoy, stop this bus immediately, @ shouted the driver from the

floor.

A

NO,@

shouted Isaac,A

I=

m trying this again . . .@


66/173

The Time Key

66

Isaac pushed again the trigger of the Time Key, and pointed

toward the windshield, and this time a reaction transpired in front of his

eyes. A small hole in the air showed up similar to the top part of a

waterspout.

AThere it is, @ Isaac suddenly shouted.

But nobody understood what he was cheering for. They were

too busy trying to stay a flout from the school bus = movement as it

displaced over the grassy meadow, while the strange looking people

fallowed and shot arrows indiscriminately at it. A large hole expanded

in front of the yellow vehicle and Isaac was driving into it. Jimmie andthe other children felt an extraordinary wind penetrating the bus inside,

a suction filling overwhelmed them. It was as if a colossus vacuum

cleaner was pulling them inside.

AHere we go, @ shouted the young driver.

The girl with the thick glasses shouted from the top of her lungs

as she figured out that they were going back inside a big hole opening in

front of the school bus. Jimmie and his friend Alan were also screaming

like two little babies left without change in their dirty dippers. The fat

bus driver held to the pole near the driver seat and shouted, AOh no,


67/173

J.V. Rosario

67

God! @ And the rest of all the twenty something students clutched to the

seats in front as if they were going downhill in a roller coaster ride.

* * *

The school bus was moving across the Emporia interception thistime the short bulky driver did all the right things to cross the railroad

tracks. He open the door to see if he could hear a train coming, but the

tracks were desolated.

The driver kept on moving the vehicle it was here that the

incident with the boys that disappear happened as it was told by his

predecessor. One of the boys that was in the back of the bus sleeping

came to the bus and then he and his buddy disappear in the thin air. He

always thought that the new boy was wearer. If it was for him, he will

never let him in the bus, but until that moment Isaac had not gave him

any reason for him to kick him out of the school bus. But he was waiting

to find any friction between him and the boy.

As the man drove the sixty passengers school bus he didn't

dwell on what happened to the other driver, his life was not

complicated and he like it that way. He never gave credibility to stories


68/173

The Time Key

68

of the super natural. But the resent-incident woke up his imagination,

he didn =t understand exactly know what it had happened but he

believed his friend-driver.

In the back of the bus Jimmie kept his eyes on Isaac, who was

dosing in the cubical seat that he occupied by himself. In Jimmie =s mind

there was the nagging question about what happened before when

Isaac and his annoying brother Uloe showed up inside the bus. Isaac was

his nemesis, since he saw him for the first time he thought that boy was

a punk; a city pretty boy that he hated with great passion.

The fat driver was moving the large yellow vehicle, following hisroute to the letter; he already had left half of his cargo in different bus

stop along the way of the Old #17 Road that cross the railroad track

twist. On the distance something peculiar, another school bus was

approaching. The driver found that odd, because his bus was the only

one that travel the route, and this bus was coming in the opposite

direction and fast.

AWhat-a hell? @ he said.


69/173

J.V. Rosario

69

The bus was coming fast very fast and in the wrong lane; the two

school buses were going to a head on collision. The fat driver hit his

breaks and missed the incoming bus by three short feet.

Almost everybody inside flew out of there seats, even Isaac that

was dousing when the hole incident befell.ADame! @ shouted the fat driver.

The boys and the girls stood up from their seats and floor to see

what was going on. Then, someone came out of the other school bus, it

was Isaac. He ran to the glass door and knocked hard, he wanted to

come in. It took the driver five seconds to recognize the boy.

AWhat-a heck? @ he said.

ALet me in, @ said Isaac.

The boys that were in front of the bus said all at once, AIt=s

Isaac! @

ANO,@ shouted the driver, AGo away. @

ALet me in, @ Isaac said.

The Isaac that was already in the bus stood up, to see what was

going on in front of the bus. He could distinguish himself knocking at

the glass door and shouting;A

Let me in,@

to the driver.


70/173

The Time Key

70

Out of the other school bus other were coming out, Jimmie and

Alan came out the door as well as the fat driver and some other five

students. The others just showed their faces through the second school

bus windshield.

The fat driver seating on his seat coursed again, and finally let

Isaac come inside the bus. As he came out to face the other Isaac

Cunningham all eyes were on him, a deep silence came over the bus;

even Jimmie and Alan didn =t say a word.

AWhy are you here? @ Isaac asked the other Isaac.

AListen to me well, I know what happened last time, @ Isaac said.AWhat? @ said Isaac.

ATime corrected itself when you came back from the future or

the past, and its going to happen again, @ said Isaac. AI fell asleep and

Jimmie took the key from me, and we jumped into the past. He messed

around with it, and the key open a wormhole that threw us back in time

some five hundred years. @

ASo what do you want me to do? @ the blond boy that never smile

looked at his double with an inquisitive expression on his face.


71/173

J.V. Rosario

71

APromise me that you are not going to fall asleep in this bus

ever, @ said the other Isaac.

AOkay, I promise! @

And as Isaac said that the boy in front of him vanished in the thin

air as everyone watched. The school bus facing up their school bus andthe other children went too. The girl with the thick glasses howled a

nervous chant and fainted on her knees, she thought that she had

witnessed a miracle. The fat driver couldn =t believe his eyes, and called

the transportation dispatcher through his CB Radio, and asked for

another driver. He didn =t want to be in the same bus as Isaac like some

of the other students. They thought that Isaac was dealing with some

kind of black magic. Jimmie and Alan however they stayed with Isaac in

the same bus and finished the rest of the route. The two boys observed

him with fear and hate, now more that ever Isaac was going to be their

enemy.

* * *

The rest of the trip home took more than two hours, the refusal

of the fat driver to finish the rest of the route and the explanation and

questions that came after moved the rest of the trip into an odyssey.


72/173

The Time Key

72

Isaac was very tired, but he promised himself not to fall asleep, and to

guard the Time Key from Jimmie and his stupid friend Alan. He didn =t

know why Jimmie wanted to key, and he didn =t want to ask him either.

He only knew that it was dangerous for everyone if someone steal the

key from him.

When he got home, Isaac ran to his room and closed the door

behind him he didn =t want to talk to anyone not even Uloe. He lay on

his bed and for not reason he began to cry on his pillow, he cried until

he fell asleep. Uloe covered him and watched for Jimmie and his

mother, they were arguing in the living room about Isaac.AMom, I don =t want them here anymore, @ said Jimmie.

AWhy not? @

AThey =re weird, @ Jimmie said pointing to his foster-brothers =

door. APlease send them back. @

AJimmie, we need the money, @ Mrs. Sheriman said.

AMom, they are weird, @ Jimmie said, Athey have a pen or

somethin = that can let you travel in time. @

She didn =t answer then, the lengthy woman spun around and

moved away from her son; she gave little validity to what her son just


73/173

J.V. Rosario

73

said. Jimmie screamed an airy sound, he was angry at her. He hated the

boy that came to live with his family and his mother didn =t want to do

any about it.

AIf she don =t do anythin', I =will, I=m goin = to get rip of them, @ he

said to himself with the hope that she was listening.A

I=

m goin=

to maketheir lives hell, YOU NOW! @ The boy ran to his room and slammed the

door behind him.

As this act happened in the living room, Uloe listened to the

whole thing from his side of the bedroom door. He understood

perfectly well what Jimmie had said. However, Isaac slept throughout

the whole thing, what happened in the school bus drained all the energy

of his body. He left Uloe in the dark about what had occurred in the

vehicle. So the little boy filled all the blanks with what Jimmie told his

mother as they argued in the living room. Uloe knew that a war was

coming between the two earth boys and it wasn't going to be pretty.

Jimmie could mortify Isaac if he wants it too, and he could get vicious.

The Sheriman kid was awfully spoil by the mother, he was the

only son she had and between their narrow economic times he was

always able to get what he wanted. The thing was that he was able to


74/173

The Time Key

74

get anything at school too, and he could use pure brute force if it was

necessary. So Uloe didn =t know what to do with the information, he

knew that Isaac would act on it. In a way he thought that Isaac was

afraid of Jimmie, and he could not understand why. Isaac was the

liberator of his people the boy that destroyed the Ttenbanis.


75/173

J.V. Rosario

75

Chapter IV Bullies

he days that followed after the second school bus incident Isaac

became the school outcast; everyone thought that he was aweirdo that have some kind of magic. They forgot that the

Alien race came to destroy the Earth and that their technology was so

advance that it could look like magic when it was done. But none Isaac

schoolmates knew that he had a connection to the invasion that

occurred some six mouths ago, only Elisa =s family and Bobby knew that

fact, and now Jimmie was suspecting that Isaac had some technology

that could duplicate things or events, he didn =t yet connect the dots

about time traveling.

Isaac never wanted to be an outcast in his own school; he was a

serous boy but at the same time very gregarines. But now even his

football pals wanted anything to do with him; they were afraid of him.

Jimmie took himself to make a campaign of terror against Isaac; he

related to everyone in school and in football practice that if anyone dare

to speak to his foster brothers, he will personally Akick their butts! @

T


76/173

The Time Key

76

Jimmie began a campaign of terror against Isaac, him and Alan and

three other boys used the middle school halls to tackle Isaac wherever

they spotted him, by his locker or in front of the classroom door. The

four boys didn =t discriminate place or situation to torture him.

The boy that never smiles even learned to hate football practice

too. Mr. Gonzales, Elisa =s father, became their new Puff Warner football

coach and he wasn't fun of Isaac. The man never accepted the idea that

Isaac saved the world from the monster race that attacked the Earth

some seven months before. In a way he was jealous of the heroics that

his daughter accredited to the twelve-year-old boy. And now he wasassigned to his team a lone with Jimmie Sheriman, Alan Hail, Andrew

Schmidt and Francis Creamy members of Hate Committee.

These four boys were a menacing force inside the football field

that was controlled by Isaac =s foster-brother. Alan, Jimmie =s best friend,

didn =t appear to be that smart to anyone that when in contact with him,

in the other hand he was very strong. His Aryan looks made his friend to

called him as the German boy. He and the other two football players

were the enforcers of the Gonzales rule of no walking in the football

field.


77/173

J.V. Rosario

77

Isaac never walked on the field but that was not reason for the

trio to tackle him after the ball was death in practice. Periodically, Isaac

got hit twice in one practice and even though he at times got hurt by the

assaults he never complained to the coach. He didn =t want to look like a

sissy in front of the other players, many who had stopped talking to him.

AGet up, Cunningham, @ shouted Mr. Gonzales after Isaac was

slaughtered by the Creamy kid.

Isaac stood up and walked to the water container, where

Jimmie, Alan and Andrew were laughing at him.

AHe's a girl! @ said the Creamy boy.

AWhat =s goin = on, Isaac? You can =t keep your feet on the

ground? @ smirked Andrew Schmidt as the other three boys laughed at

him. Andrew used to be Isaac =s friend before the invasion. The chubby

kid was the first person that talked to Isaac when he arrived to the

school after he was put with the Burnsides = home by the Children

Service Department.

ANot, he =s just a woozy, @ replied Jimmie.


78/173

The Time Key

78

AShut up, Jimmie, @ Isaac responded with angry. As he took his

football helmet and threw on the ground.

Jimmie interpreted that as a challenge to his authority over the

over his group of bully boys. AYou got a problem, @ said the boy as he

moved to cut Isaac =s pathway. AYo know one thing? You and your

boyfriend, Uloe, are goin = to be out of my house before Christmas. @

AYou know what, Jimmie? If that was up to us, we would leave

your filthy house the first day we got there, @ Isaac responded.

Jimmie, who was holding his helmet with his right hand, swan at

Isaac without any pity feeling over his foster-brother. But Isaac dodgedthe strike with a lot of grease, and pulled Jimmie on the ground with the

movement.

Jimmie wanted to hurt Isaac badly at this point; he grabbed him

by his neck and began to throw pushes in discriminatory at his head with

his right fist. Isaac struggled to get free from his foster-brother

embrace; he lifted Jimmie by the legs and pushed him over his

shoulders. Jimmie landed on the ground stunned by the maneuver, but

he didn =t bush, he stood up and went after Isaac again. AGod, what =re

you doin =.@ Isaac shouted at him.


79/173

J.V. Rosario

79

AAnd goin = to kill you, @ shouted Jimmie.

The three other boys were screaming and cheering for his best

pal, Jimmie, AGet him, Jim, @ they cheered, AKick his butt, @

The other football players stopped what they were doing to

come see the scramble between the two brothers. One of the youngestcoaches just stood there watching them fight, as if was okay for them to

do so. Mr. Gonzales showed up then, he pulled Isaac by his uniform

and threw him to the ground hard, while putting a hand on Jimmie =s

chest to stop him from continuing.

AWhat =s goin = on here, @ said the heavy set man.

AHe started it, @ said Francis Creamy.

AYeah, he did, @ caroled the Schmidt boy.

AI didn =t, @ Isaac tried to said but the deputy didn =t let him speak.

AI had deal with a lot of people like you; @ he pushed Isaac again

to the ground, AYou =re out of here. @ The coach sentenced Isaac, AI don =t

want you here, boy. Take you stuff off and leave them in the duck-out.

And hit the road . . . A the man finally said.

AGOOD,@ Isaac shouted back, AI don =t want to play for you or

with this bunch of Jackasses.@

He threw the football equipment right


80/173

The Time Key

80

there in front of the man and runaway. His entire former friend just

watched while Jimmie =s mafia laughed hard as Isaac ran through the

middle of the football field.

AYou better behave, @ said Mr. Gonzales; AI can call the Feds for

you. They will be happy to know what happened to you during the

invasion. And they will like to know what they pale boy gave you after

they took their spaceships. @ The man uttered to Isaac as his other

football players watch, and the boy ran away from him.

ACoach, what did you mean by that? @ Jimmie asked Gonzales.

Deputy Omar Gonzales didn =t respond to Jimmie inquiry, he kept

on yelling at his players so they could go back to practice. He observed

in the distance Isaac running away from him. . Something shrunk the

man =s heart at that point, in away he felt guilty.

Isaac didn =t want to go to the Sherimans = home then, he hated

Jimmie and he disliked his skinny mom even more. However, Uloe was

already in the filthy house and he didn =t know how to runaway with his

young alien friend. He was tight to the relative comfort of the home.

Where would he go? How could he let Uloe live in as a runaway after


81/173

J.V. Rosario

81

everything that happened to in the beasts' spaceship? He didn =t want

that for the boy that idolized him so much. Isaac loves Uloe like the

brother his parent never gave him.

So as the sun went down, turning into a huge reddish ball of fire

and burned between the few Autumn clouds on the horizon, the all-American boy waited the Voltran =s bus to show up. The vehicle was

going to pick him up in front of the Handy Way gas station in the center

of downtown Pierson and then take his destination in DeLeon Springs.

Both towns were two specs on the map, unimportant for those who

passed through highway seventeen.

Pierson, the smaller of the two, got a new Middle-High School;

politics affected all decision in the School Board, so millions of dollars

were pored on a town with the population of 5,000 souls. Teachers

were reluctant to teach at Taylor Middle-High; it was too far away from

the main town in the county.

Isaac liked the school then, it was small and Elisa was always

there for him. But lately things were getting more problematic for him,

Bobby left to be with his real parents and even though he wouldn't


82/173

The Time Key

82

admit Isaac missed him very much. After the Ttenbanis = invasion the

two boys needed each other as much as two brothers could.

By the time he got home Uloe was already sleeping, too early for

Isaac, but he understood why. Mrs. Sheriman had used the little boy to

clean the house, and he worked the entire day. Children Services had

planned a visit to the home and she didn =t want to look bad in front of

the area supervisor. They were coming to check the home and the

conditions the four kids she have under her care in those days.

Isaac covered his young friend, as he always did when he could

not sleep, he felt sorry that Uloe didn=

t have a better life here on Earth.Uloe knew very little about his parents, when the invasion in his planet

happened he was very young, a sister of his put him in a transporter

with a friend so he could escape from the Beasts. But, they were caught

by the merciless animals and he was sent to their moon. There, Uloe

was put in the list of too young to work for them, so he and another boy

escape inside the sphere, and runaway to the cave were he found Isaac.

Although, Isaac thought that Uloe was unhappy in the

Sherimans = foster-home, he was mistake. Mrs. Sheriman took the little


83/173

J.V. Rosario

83

boy under her wings and he liked to be around her, she was the only

mother figure he ever had then. But, Isaac wanted a better home for

him and for Uloe, he wished then to be back with the Burnsides, they

were better foster-par

the time key

Documents