By Emily, age 14, Alberta
"What is it?" I asked myself.
It was carefully packaged with cotton balls and bubble wrap. I picked it up and examined the gift. It was shiny, that's for sure. It was a watch with six black buttons and one red one. I pressed the red button. A rush of colored wind came through the open doors and windows of my house and started to circle around me. I wanted to scream, but I couldn't. The wind circled faster and faster, and then all of a sudden, it stopped.
After a long pause, I finally stuttered, "Wha...w...what was...that?"
"Wa?" said a small voice.
I slowly turned around to see who was behind me. I could tell that she had gotten dressed by herself this morning. She had on one blue sock and one red sock, her skirt was backwards, and only half of her hair was tied up in a ponytail.
"Mac?" I was in disbelief. She was shaking. She had seen everything.
"What was that?" she asked me.
"Um...nothing," I lied. I was panicking. I didn't know what to say.
"Mac, can't you see I'm busy?" I questioned.
"It's Mackenzie!" she corrected. I rolled my eyes.
"Right, right, go away," I said.
"Fine!" And she left, without another word.
I sighed. I should have handled that better, but I needed answers about this watch thing. I didn't have a choice. I needed to ask my older brother for help, so I went downstairs and knocked on his door--the one with the sign: "GENIUS AT WORK." But I changed the word "genius" to "nerd." Man, did I get punished for that! I knocked softly.
"Billy, are you in there?" No answer.
"What are you doing?" said a voice behind me.
I jumped, and there he was. He was short for his age and didn't look like my "big" brother. He wore a sweater vest and neat pants, and he didn't care if his hair wasn't the coolest around.
"Um, can you help me Billy?" I asked. He smirked.
"No!" he said and walked away. I rushed after him.
"Billy, please, you gotta tell me what this is."
He turned toward me, rolled his eyes, and took the watch from my hand. He scanned the item with his eyes.
"Time, year, date?" he questioned. Then he looked up.
"It's a time machine!" His eyes gleamed. I grabbed it from him.
"Then why didn't I go anywhere when I pressed this big red button?" I asked. Billy smiled.
"Because you didn't enter where you wanted to go."
"Oh." I blushed.
"So..." Billy nudged me. "Where are ya gonna time travel to?"
I thought about this for a while. I could see my future and fix it if I didn't like it. I could go to the Old West, the day of my birth, Mom and Dad's wedding, the time of the dinosaurs...
"I know!" I screamed.
I ran upstairs to my room and closed the door behind me. I entered the time, date, and year. I put the watch on my wrist and pressed the red button. My windows burst open, and a strong gust of the colorful wind came through and circled me.
I looked at my watch. 3...2...1.
A bright light seemed to spark from my watch. Everything was quiet. My eyes were shut tight. I could only hear my heart beat and my breath shuddering. I slowly opened my eyes.
"It worked!" I squealed, "It worked...I'm here!"
As fast as I could, I ran to the living room, jumped on the couch, and turned on the TV. The host said, "Up next...
iCarly!"
"Yes! I didn't miss it!" I said.
I had time traveled back in time to watch the
iCarly show. I'd missed it because I had answered the door.
Ding Dong. It was the doorbell. I looked at the door and laughed.
"No way, I'm not getting that." I looked at the watch on my wrist. "I already got one."
