Wendy Messes with Time 4

Chapter 4

A Journey To Remember

Wendy let out a gasp and staggered back when she saw her duplicate. Is… is… is that really her? And where did she come from?

Wendy started to speak… that is, the Wendy in the Potty.

“Where am I? Is… is this the day I found the fountain? Are you me from the past?”

Wendy not in the box was surprised. Who was this stranger that looked like her? What did she mean by ‘from the past’?

With a groan, Muddy Wendy got up. She grimaced and frowned, as if she knew something bad was going to happen.

Suddenly, Box was on top of not box, and punching her in the face. Tears were flowing down Box’s cheeks as she picked up Not-Box and started spinning her around.

Not-Box was thrown into Cathy’s new machine and it fell over with a slam. The door swung shut and sparks flew out from the hinges.

Before Not-Box could start calling herself Wendy again, the Machine hummed and shook, throwing her around. She jerked and spasmed, felt stretched and contorted, and after almost an instant, it stopped.

The door creaked open.

A hot jet of air wafted in and hit Wendy. She coughed, being able to breathe easier than ever. What did the machine do to Cathy's house?

She looked around at the steaming jungle of plants surrounding her. What had happened? Did Cathy’s machine destroy the world as she knew it? Or is it some type of great plant growth solution (because they really should sell it)?

Wendy went out and glanced around her, trying to find what had happened. Nearby, a bush shook and Wendy called out Cathy’s name.

“Cathy? Cathy? Are you there? Heh heh, yeah, this machine works great… real funny joke, Cathy.” But Wendy was met with silence.

The bush shook some more until finally a monkey dashed out past Wendy. Definitely not Cathy.

Wendy tried to see anything but trees. Eventually, she had to climb up on the Machine to look around. Being just barely higher than the tree tops, Wendy could see all around.

Over one way was some sand that was most likely a desert. Over another way was some water like a lake or ocean. And if she looked inland, she saw a small area without trees and smoke coming from the middle.

Wendy gasped with shock. That would be people! The only sign of civilization in this crazy wild world.

Wendy re-checked the position, climbed down, fixed her bow, and started walking.

Wendy Messes with Time 3

Chapter 3

The Machine

Apparently, the machine breaking was what was supposed to happen. Why Cathy would want the side to come off, Wendy didn’t know, but she did know that Cathy loved it.

“It works! All my hard work has paid off! That day of welding was not wasted.”

“What happened?” Wendy asked, supremely confused “And how does the water do anything?”

Cathy sighed at Wendy’s ignorance. “Can’t you tell? It is a self opening, pure Ytterbium, spherical Porta-Potty! Now, people will no longer have to touch the gross handle, or worry about not being in contact with Ytterbium! Your water acted as the perfect energy source, saying that is has more energy than a nuclear reactor with the size of a normal alkaline battery.”

Wendy was stunned by the silliness of the invention. Is it even safe to be around Ytterbium? Is that even real? Cathy confused Wendy’s shock with wonder and amazement. She leaned over to Wendy and whispered in her ear. “And we know how much energy you need to unstick the door.”

Wendy laughed. Now she understood completely. Cathy was a lunatic. A crazy, raving lunatic. She turned around to leave and walked straight into the Porta-Potty.

With a loud slam, Wendy fell to the ground. How did the thing get there so fast? She lifted herself up and glanced back at Cathy.

Cathy’s mouth was open and drool was coming out. She was staring at Wendy and half collapsed against her machine. Wait, what?

Wendy spun around again and looked again at the machine beside her. Where did this come from? Did Cathy really make 2? The door squeaked open (automatically, which Wendy thought was nice) to reveal a strange huddled figure. It looked strangely familiar.

They brought their head up slowly, as if unsure where they were. The stranger was splattered with mud and had a torn pink bow on their head.

They were Wendy.

Wendy Messes with Time 2

Chapter 2

Cathy the Genius

Wendy sat down after her long hike and started leafing through her contact book, searching for someone who could help her understand the strange liquid she found in the forest.

Soon she reached Cathy, her friend who just graduated college with a degree in chemistry and science. Wendy got out her phone and dialed the number.

Cathy wasn’t there, so Wendy decided to check her house. They lived in biking distance of each other, but she decided to ride her horse Saxophone there.

With a few clips and a few clops, Wendy was able to tie up her horse and knock on the door. No one answered, but she saw lights coming from Cathy’s laboratory and decided to let herself in.

The shiny metal key was hidden in the hanging bush, but Wendy was able to find it quickly. It slid smoothly into the lock and revealed the dark halls of Cathy’s house. Wendy replaced the key in its original spot and entered.

Cathy’s house was dark and dusty, with only the path to the kitchen, front door, and basement clean. Wendy followed the sounds of welding and the flashing lights to Cathy, disliking her house.

Cathy was busy welding something, so Wendy politely looked through her trinkets until the sparks stopped flying. When the mask flew up, Cathy jumped, surprised by Wendy’s presence. She quickly calmed down though, used to Wendy breaking and entering.

The bag was brought out and Cathy grasped it eagerly. She poured it out into a large test tube and began examining it. A frown formed on her face.

“It is some type of liquid, most likely water.” Cathy said dissapointed. But, Wendy didn’t believe that.

“Look again.”

And so, Cathy scrutinized the ‘water’ more, before eventually touching and tasting it. She cried out in shock at the amazing abilities it possesed.

“This is amazing! I must study it more!”

So, the old microscope was brought out, dusted off, and fitted with a slide of the fluid.

But, Cathy wasn’t able to tell it apart from normal water, other than the fact that it was cleaner. And so, Wendy was sent home until Cathy could deduce what she found.

Saxophone whinnied as Wendy fit their saddle on.

“You’re right Sax. I probably should tell her about the mystic glowing fountain in the forest.” And Wendy went back inside.

But, Cathy had already figured out what the stuff was and eagerly started explaining it to Wendy.

“This stuff is water, just not in the usual state.

My theory is that it has mixed with many dangerous chemicals, each one nulling the rest out.

It was then subjected to extreme energy, vaporizing the water beyond vapor, beyond plasma even. How it managed to do this, I don’t know, but I do know that it somehow managed to absorb all of the energy and restore itself to a liquid state.

When touched, it leaks minute amounts of energy, enough to heal a hurt person or animal, but not enough to harm them. Sort of like instant, on the spot vitamins, or something like that.

But, the best part is that it should be just perfect for my newest invention!”

While boring Wendy to death with her speech, Cathy was busy pouring the liquid into the machine she was working on when Wendy had first come in.

The machine began to hum and shake, giving signs that the water really did possess the qualities that Cathy said it did. A light flickered to life. The shaking died down to a gently vibration. A metal panel on the side clicked and swung open.

“It works!”

Wendy Messes With Time 1

Wendy Messes with time

Written by Jake Swartwout

Chapter 1

The Gurgling Fountain

Wendy was heading out on her usual hike around the mountains. She tried to stay active, and this was her favorite way to do it.

She was dressed in her favorite hiking shoes and her favorite pink bow. Her light blue eyes were full of adventure and she could feel that today was special.

Wendy jumped from rock to rock, slowly moving up the mountain trail. She jumped again, this time aiming to reach the top of the Big R, a silly nickname she made up for a huge rock she found. She missed and was slammed against the side of the rock.

Wendy fell to the ground, bruised but okay. She crawled out, looking for the trail.

As she walked, Wendy tried to blink the fuzziness out of her eyes, to find where she was. Had she strayed that far from the trail?

She walked and didn’t recognize anything around her. A new rock, an unknown tree, a undiscovered bush.

Wendy stopped pushing her bruised body along and took a drink from a stream. New energy flowed through her, healing her wounds and clearing her sight.

Something must be in this water. Wendy searched around for some explanation to the strange healing. Was it real? Is there magic at work? Or is there just wild mushrooms in the water making her hallucinate? Maybe she somehow dead and dreaming.

Wendy decided to go and find the source of this brook. That would have the answer. She got up, full of new energy and set off to satisfy her craving for knowledge.

The river wound about, again and again. It passed by giant trees and leafy bushes, all seeming to do better than they should be. Maybe this stream was magic. The plants certainly crowded around it.

The trickle of the stream slowly grew louder, and finally Wendy reached the source.

Sitting in the middle of the forest, was a fountain. A 3 tiered fountain made of shining white quartz, speckled with silver and gold. The water was spilling majestically out the top, down the fountain, and away into the forest.

Wendy was shocked, but was able to recover enough to inspect the fountain. Like most fountains she knew of, this one was spewing water out of the top, and it was falling down into several quartz bowls. But, instead of draining out of the biggest one, it was instead flowing out and over the rim, soon to be lost in the forest.

Since the water coming out of the top obviously wasn't coming from the base, Wendy assumed that it was coming from the ground, maybe a natural spring some random stranger decided to spruce up and leave to rot.

Wendy wondered why the stranger left the fountain, unless they didn't realize its healing abilities. Luckily, Wendy did. She grabbed her water pouch, flooded a nearby bush, and filled the pouch to the brim with the new water. She screwed the cap securely on, then set off back home, missing the sounds of the shriveling bush.

And so, after close to an hour of wandering and searching, Wendy finally found somewhere she recognized and was able to return home.