The Tables Have Turned

      As Lucy the starry Kacheek read this, her book opened at the binding, revealing a spray of brilliant light, blinding her of her surroundings. All she could hear was the sink running downstairs, where her mother was making dinner. Suddenly, it was gone. Silence.

      When she opened her eyes, she was in a bedroom much like her own, but in some way different. She stood up shakily, frightened of what had just happened. She walked to the closet and opened the door. Instead of seeing her neatly piled clothes there, toys and children's clothing came tumbling down on her. Lucy shook everything off and stumbled to the door. She opened it ajar and peeked her head out. She saw her normal hallway, but there were many differences. Lucy, being a complete freak of neatness, ignored the most notable difference and thought, Oh my goodness! Who would let a main hallway get so dreary and dirty? Certainly no one in MY family! She crept along the dusty carpet and saw with disgust the dust rising with every step and a sliver of light along the way, making all the dust visible, floating in the stuffy air.

      Lucy turned and finally saw the most upsetting thing about her strange home. At the end of the hall, there was no wall. None. Nada. Zip! The sun was setting behind a large oak tree in front of the opening. That's weird... where did that tree come from? And where is the wall!? As you might imagine, the little Kacheek was starting to freak out. She continued down the hall to where her parents' bedroom was. As she walked, she glanced at the walls. She noticed all these strange pictures of standstill images of Maraqua, Mystery Island, and just beautiful scenery of Neopia, but they were in black and white. Arriving at the door, she pushed it just a tad, making it creak like it hadn't been used in ages. Everything was different. There was no bed, no built on bathroom, only a concrete floor with box after box of storage. Lucy was starting to realize this was NOT her house, well, at least not when SHE was living in it.

      Lucy, her sisters Christina and Jessica, her brother Adam, as well as her mom and dad, moved into a nice, big house in Faerieland seven years prior. Before that, she had lived in five different places and had been in seven different schools. Her father had a job that moved them all over. He thought it would be best for his family to finally settle down. And he did.

      From the looks of it, this was her house at least thirty years before she had ever been here. Looking down, Lucy realized she still hadn't let go of her book. What kind of book takes me back in time? How am I going to get back to the present? Lucy turned frantically, terror rising fast, wondering what in the world she was going to do in this situation. In her panic, she ran back to her bedroom. While doing so, the book slipped from her paw. Instantaneously she was whirled to the present time.

      Everything was back to normal. Her bed, her shelves, her closet. She ran into the hall to find no wall missing. Everything was fine. Heart beating fast, Lucy called for her mom. "Mom!"

      "Yes, honey?" she called up from the kitchen where the sink was still running. "Is anything wrong?" Lucy could hear her coming up the stairs, her voice sounding louder with each step taken. "You sound upset. You alright?"

      "Yeah, fine. Just a little tired. I must have fallen asleep while reading," Lucy said with a convincing smile.

      "Okay hon." She smiled. "Get some rest, then wash up. Dinner'll be done soon."

      "Sure," Lucy slurred, kind of dazed. "I'll do that." As her mother's footsteps disappeared, Lucy grabbed the mysterious book still resting on the floor where she had dropped it and set it on her bed. She cautiously opened it to investigate. "-grab on and let me take you on a heart-pounding adventure that you will never forget."

      What kind of weird magic has the power for me to read this passage and be transported back in time? It just doesn't make sense! Lucy thought. "What have I gotten myself into?" she muttered. I guess I'm about to find out. She took hold of the book, and then she was gone.

      As Lucy went swirling in time, little to her knowledge, the world she was leaving came to a complete stop. The little Kacheek had frozen time without even realizing it. When she landed in the past, this time there were voices. Lucy thanked Fyora that she hadn't landed in front of them. As she moved to the door, it opened and the group of Neopets entered. One of them screamed when she saw Lucy. Another shouted, "Intruder!"

      The Neopet who seemed to be leading the group was an old camouflage Aisha. She stepped toward Lucy with narrowing eyes and asked her, "Who are you? How did you get in here?" The old Neopet's yellow skin was starting to fade in age, but she still had fabulous green eyes. It looked as if she was strict. Her mouth was a thin line and her eyes only slits now.

      "I-I-I... ummm-"

      "Did Marcus let you in?" she interrupted rudely, "because I told that stupid Grarrl that the group was full. You'll have to wait outside."

      "No! Marcus didn't let me in. I just-"

      "Well then how did you get in?" The strict Aisha looked Lucy over. "You aren't even a prospective buyer. You're just a kid," she observed. "You should go back to your parents."

      "What year is it?" the Kacheek asked suddenly.

      The old Aisha looked taken aback. "Well ummm... It's 1997."

      "That's the year my parents looked for housing. Maybe they're here!" she muttered to herself.

      "What are you talking about? And why in Neopia do you not know what year it is!? Now please, leave. There is a very long line of Neopets outside waiting to view this house." The strict lady side-stepped Lucy, motioning to her group to follow her.

      Lucy scurried into the hallway. This has to be YEARS later than the last time! she thought as she saw the pictures on the hallway walls that were no longer black and white, but perfectly intact. Why would the book bring me to a different time? she mused.

      She walked outside to see exactly what the Aisha had described: a long, long line of families waiting to be shown the beautiful house. Lucy began to scope the crowd. A few seconds later, she found what she was searching for. Near the middle of the line was a pretty Desert Kacheek with a tall Fire Kacheek beside her. They were her parents eight years before. She remembered clearly when her parents left, leaving her in the care of her older siblings. Her brother being 15 at the time, had a major party for what seemed to be his whole neoschool! Judging by the time right now, people were starting to arrive.

      Why did the book bring me to this time? Why did it bring me to the other time before? Does it want me to change something? I don't get it. Lucy pondered. She stepped behind the tree and dropped the book. And as before, she swirled through time to her present. She landed and went upstairs to think. Little did she know, a horrible surprise awaited her.

      When she arrived in her room she was greeted with an unexpected sight. Her perfectly neat, organized room was tossed. Her clothes were thrown everywhere. Her mattress turned over. Everything was disheveled. Nothing was in its place. As Lucy bent down to pick up her sheets, she saw a shiny piece of paper float to the floor. She scrambled to pick it up. It was written fast and sloppily. "Meet me under the Money Tree at 4 Bring the book."

      Later that day, the little starry Kacheek waited shivering underneath the Money Tree in the middle of Neopia Central. She heard steps and looked up, she saw a checkered Techo in a trench coat with the collar pulled up and a detective-like hat, walking toward her. Lucy started to back away but the Techo sped up. He grabbed her arm and said in a rasping voice, "Wait."

      "What do you want with me?" she whispered.

      "Come with me. We need to go to a safer place. Follow me." The two Neopets walked a few miles through a dilapidated neighborhood that must have been vacant for years. The Techo finally came to a stop and knocked on the door three times. A candychan opened the door and whisked them into the house. "Sit down," the Techo ordered. She did, as did he.

      "First of all, to start off, I am sorry about your room." That of all things was NOT what Lucy was expecting. He continued, "I am also sorry about all the secrecy. Do you have the book?"

      "Maybe... why do you need it? Who are you?"

      "I am Detective Manson and that book is the key to many things."

      "Fine, I have it, but I want to know everything."

      Manson started to chuckle. "Just my luck, I got a curious one." He paused and sighed. "Okay, if you want to know, I'll tell. You see, there have been many strange things happening. Like, it is recorded that a woman was murdered, but then a few months ago, a woman with the same name came to the station. This brought up some questions. We looked through our files, but there was no murder of her on the file, only a burglary. But, some officers had BEEN to the funeral. We started to investigate and of course that led us to the book. Our sources traced it down to you. Now I am going to have to ask you, where did you get it?"

      "Ummm... well..." Lucy stuttered. "I just got it at the library. It didn't have a title..."

      "How did you check it out?"

      "Ummm..." A knowing face dawned on the detective.

      "I see... you stole it."

      "You make it seem so bad. I was just stuffed in the science fiction section. I was intrigued. It was obvious it wasn't actually a library book."

      "Okay, now I must know what has happened with your experience." And with that Lucy told Detective Manson her story.

      The detectives never found out what caused such a strange book. Lucy never knew what she was meant to do, because it was taken from her. And no one ever knew that the book was supposed to end up in Lucy's hands, and when confiscated, history was altered.

The End