An Adventure Across Space

“What are we doing here?!” I yell over the roar of the boiling ocean.

“Having fun!” She yells back.

“You call this fun?” I ask.

“Yes, yes I do.” I roll my eyes while trying not to fall into the water. We’re hanging from a rope bridge over boiling hot water only thirty feet beneath us. I can feel the heat rising from beneath us and it’s making my hands sweaty. I speed up so that I can make it to the other side of the land before my hands slip and I fall.

Ellery is behind me and seems to be having the time of her life. She had mentioned going to the ocean before, not the boiling seas of Armazor. She’s always persuading me into these situations without really explaining anything. I’m still not exactly sure how she convinced me that this was all real.

It started when I was going to pick up groceries and a beautiful girl walked up to me in the streets. She stopped in front of me and smiled. I was about to start talking to her when she punched me, in the jaw, hard.

That girl was Ellery.

* * *

“What was that for?!” I asked dropping the bags I was holding and rubbing my jaw.

“You’ll know soon enough, goodbye Aksel.” Her mouth had changed from a smile to a frown and she walked off. I quickly picked up my bags and was about to run after her only to find that she had disappeared. I looked around the crowd for any sign of her but decided to just shake it off and return back to my house.

When I reached my apartment on the fourth floor, of one of the cities many apartment complex’s, I still couldn’t get that girl off my mind. Her curly brunette hair and her bright blue eyes made her hard to forget. And then there’s also that little part where she punched me.

I set my things on the counter and started putting the food away. It was only my second week in the apartment and it was still empty. There were boxes stacked against the far wall waiting to be unpacked. The only thing I had unpacked was my small tv, a bean bag chair, and a bunch of paper plates and plastic utensils. The carpet was an ugly brown and green pattern and the walls were a pale cream. I sighed at my surroundings before reaching for the paper plates, only to discover that they were gone, which meant another trip to the store.

I grabbed my keys from the hook by the door and walked out of my room and down the four flights of stairs. The convenience store was only three blocks from the complex so it wasn’t a long walk. The hard part was trying to cross the busy city streets which were always jampacked with cars. When I managed to escape the hustle and bustle with my life still intact, I felt it was an accomplishment.

I made it across the street by dodging in between cars, bikes, and people, only being honked at twice. The convenience store was the fifth building on my right and was built with dull red bricks. The inside was always cold because they always left the door open, even in the winter. The isles were always packed with kids buying candy and soda and it was always the loud. Because of all the tourists that come to New York City all the prices were jacked up which means everything was about double the price that it was back home.

I entered the store and headed to one of the back isles where they kept the plates. I decided to buy two sets because I went through them fast. When I turned around I ran into a beautiful girl who looked familiar. I helped her pick up her things after apologizing several times. When we stood up I instantly knew who she was. Her hair was blonde but she had the same bright blue eyes. It was the girl that punched me earlier in the streets.

“Do I know you?” I asked.

“I don’t think so. Why?” She responded.

“About an hour ago you randomly came up to me and punched me, I was just wondering if you had a reason for doing that?”

The girls eyes became wide and she smiled. “What?” I asked a little concerned.

“No, I didn’t punch you, well I did, but in the future. Hi,” she sticks out her hand for me to shake it. “I’m Ellery.”

I wearily take her hand and shake it. “Aksel.” I said. “What do you mean you punched me in the future. It was an hour ago.”

Her smile became wider. “For you it was, but for me it was in the future, and if I punched you it means you come with me.” She grabs my hand and pulls me out of the store, making me drop the plates I was holding.

“Wait, what? Where are you taking me?” I asked as she pulled me down the street and into a side alley. She didn’t answer until we stopped by a door and she let go of me.

“My name is Ellery Osbourne and I’m a time traveler.” She said it like it wasn’t the stupidest thing in the world.

“You’re a what?” I asked making sure that I had heard her right.

“A time traveler. I know it’s hard to believe but it’s true. And you come and travel with me!”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because I punched you. But I didn’t punch you, future me did, and I only punch those that travel with me.”

“Do you do a lot of punching?”

“Surprisingly yes.” She smiled and opened the door, showing me what was inside. In the middle of the room was a car. A black ‘67 Chevy Impala to be exact.

“You travel through time in a car?” I asked walking up to it and running my fingers along the smooth surface.

“It’s not a car. It’s a time machine.” Ellery had come up behind me without making a sound. I jumped when she spoke. She laughed and I glared at her. Her laugh was soft and sweet, like the laugh of a child.

“It sure looks like a car to me.” She pulled out a remote of some sort and pressed a button causing the car door to open. Except it didn’t open outward like you’d expect on this kind of car, it opened up, like on a Delorean. Ellery walked in, just barely bending her head to fit through. I followed her into the car and stood shocked.

Inside was a room, bigger than the one we had just come from. “Told ya it’s not a car.” I slowly walked in, running my hands against the cool and rough surface of the walls.

“It’s huge.” Is all I was able to say.

“Yep. I love it in here!” Ellery put her hands up and started twirling.When she stopped she looked at me. “So where do you wanna go?”

“What?”

“For your first trip, where do you wanna go?”

“How do you know I’m going to go with you? Because you punched me? You could’ve just punched me because I didn’t go with you.”

“Nope. If people don’t want to go I don’t make them. But if you come with me, then you’re going to get punched.”

“Where can this thing go?” She perked up at the question and ran around the console type thing in the center of the room.

“Anywhere, anytime.”

“Anywhere on Earth?”

“Anywhere in the universe.” She smiled, showing her pearly white teeth.

“Okay,” I nodded slowly and bit the inside of my cheek. “I’m coming.” Her smile became wider as she ran to the open door and pulled it down.

“Where would you like to go, Aksel?”

“A different planet. Not in our solar system. Somewhere far.” A smile was starting to spread across my face. I was starting to get excited, despite my skepticism.

“You got it!” She started running around the console and messing around with levers, and buttons, and whatever else she had on the thing. The machine jerked and she laughed, holding onto the console. Not expecting the sudden jerk, I stumbled backwards and ran into a railing that circled the console.

Within minutes, everything stopped and Ellery ran to the door. “Where are we?” I asked walking up behind her.

“Not sure, put it on random.” She looked at me and smiled. “Wanna find out?”

“Of course.” I helped her push the doors open and we stepped out simultaneously.

“Oh I love this planet!” She said starting to run around.

Surrounding us were a bunch of strange multicolored plants. The dirt, at least I thought it was dirt, beneath us was a bright vivid purple and the rocks were either striped or plaid. I looked back at the machine to see that it was replaced by a giant orange tree. The only one around.

“Where’d it go?” I asked. Ellery looked up to see what I was talking about and looked back down to continue inspecting the plant she was looking at.

“It’s still there, just changed. It’s called a Chameleon Circuit. It allows the machine to disguise itself into something from the surroundings so it can’t be found. Have you seen these flowers?!”

I walked over to see what she was looking at. “Yeah, fascinating. Where are we?”

She stood up and looked around. “From the looks and taste of it, I’d say we’re on the twin planet of Armazor.”

“Which is?” I asked waiting.

“Claborats.”

“Oh of course.” I said sarcastically. “What are we doing here?”

“You asked for a planet not in our solar system. Here ya go!” She stuck her arms out, gesturing to everything around us.

“Okay, but what’s so special about this place?”

“Nothing much. Other than the life and the colors. This place has colors unknown on Earth.” She points beneath us. “This purple color, it’s called quashnot.”

“What about the life?”

“Oh wonderful people! Great cooks. Love new people! And they’re fun!” She took off in a random direction and I followed her without hesitation.

"Where are we going?!" I yelled at her.

"To get food!" I didn't respond but kept running after her. In a matter of minutes we reached a small town. At the entrance we were greeted by a woman that towered over both of us. Ellery looked up at her and smiled.I looked up at her in awe

“Aksel, it’s not nice to stare.” Ellery said smiling at me.

I shake my head and smile at the tall woman. “H-hello.” I managed to say.

“Hello humans.” Her voice was high and squeaky and it made me cringe a little. 

“How may I help you?”

“We would like to get something to eat please. Can you show us to your closest restaurant?” Ellery said, not even reacting to the voice.

The woman turned and started walking. Ellery smiled at me and ran after her and I followed both of them down a street and around a corner where we were seated in an outdoor restaurant . The woman stops at our table and pulls out a notepad and pen. “What would you like to eat?” She asked.

“We don’t have menus. What is there to eat?”

Ellery leaned across the table to me. “You just order whatever you want, they can make anything and it will taste better than anything you’ve ever eaten before.”

I thought for a minute about what I wanted and finally came up with the most cliche food for a guy. “I’d like a cheeseburger and fries please.” She looked at Ellery.

“And I would like strawberry and banana crepes please.” The woman nodded and walked away.

“What’s so great about the food here?” I asked once we were alone.

“I told you, it tastes better than anything you’ve eaten before. Just wait.” I sat in silence waiting for our food as Ellery walked around and talked to all the people.

When the food finally came, I called Ellery back over and she ran with a smile to her seat. She set her elbows on the table and rested her head in her hands, staring at me.

"What?" I asked a little uneasy.

"I just want to see what you think. Go ahead, eat." I cautiously raised the hamburger to my mouth and took a bite. I nearly drooled at the taste in my mouth. The different flavors and of the hamburger blended together perfectly, enough so that I didn’t want it to be end. I opened my eyes and smiled at Ellery.

“This. This is awesome.” She smiled back at me before digging in to her crepes. We ate in silence as we enjoyed our food. When we finished, I ran after her back to her machine and watched as she ran through the trunk of the tree. I slowly walked up to it and put my hand on the bark. It went through. I pulled it out before pushing the rest of my body through, feeling the tree bend around me.

“Where to now?” I asked when I reached the inside.

“How ‘bout an alien ocean?” She smiled as she leaned against the console.

“Why not!” I was really starting to enjoy being and traveling with her. Her bubbly personality made it almost impossible not to.

Ellery smiled and started typing into a keyboard. Strange symbols appeared on the screen above her. “What are those?” I asked, pointing at the screen.

“Letters. They’re from my home planet.” She said this like there was nothing wrong with it.

I looked at her shocked. “You’re an alien?”

“Yeah. I didn’t mention that?”

“No. No you did not. That would’ve been good to know.”

She looked at me. “Would it have changed your decision to come with me?”

“I don’t know cause you didn’t tell me! But… probably not…” She smiled.

“We’re landing on Armazor. The ocean here is a blast!”

I leaned against the railing that encircles the console and waited for her to announce our landing. It only took a few minutes. She didn’t actually announce it though, I knew we had landed when she took off to the door and ran out. I followed her with a smile on my face. When I ran out, I turned back to look at what the machine had changed into and found a giant rock. This time it wasn’t the only one so I thought it might be harder to find.

I turned around, putting the machine to the back of my mind, and ran after Ellery to find her standing on the edge of a cliff looking down at a river. “Why’s it boiling?” I asked.

“These are the boiling seas of Armazor.” She looked up and smiled at me. “And we want to get over there to get to the ocean.” She pointed across the chasm to another piece of land.

“How are we supposed to do that?” She points at a rope a few yards.

“We climb.”

“No. No way. I am not climbing across that over that.”

“Yes you are, and you’re going first.” She laughed as she pushed me towards it. 

“Come on Aksel, it’s fun!” I slowly grabbed onto the rope and started swinging myself across, Ellery followed shortly after.

And that’s how we ended up how we are now, with my hands sweating. I’m only a few yards away when one of my hands slips and I’m dangling on by my fingers. I can feel Ellery speed up, causing the rope to shake. When she reaches me, she lets go with one hand and holds it out to me. I grab it and she helps me pull my hand back to the rope and secure my other hand.

“Isn’t this fun?!” She yells over the rushing water beneath us.

"No! And yes. But mostly no!" She laughs and I smirk as I continue.

"You're almost there Aksel!"

"How am I supposed to get up?"

"Swing your legs up and over!" When I reach the land, I swing my legs until I'm holding onto the rope with my hands and the land with my legs. Ellery comes up behind me and helps push me up with her legs. I then helped pull her up until we were both standing on the land.

I follow her down a path and through a bunch of trees. I start looking around at our surroundings. We're walking through a forest full of life, both wild andplant. I run my fingers across the smooth silky petal of a bright purple flower. The trees around us are as white as snow and the giant leaves above are as big as my torso. I turn around to look at the scene that we're leaving behind and run into Ellery when she stops. I turn around and see that we are now standing on a beach facing a bright blue ocean filled with waves.

 I smile and reach over to take Ellery's hand. She looks up at me and smiles as I pull her away towards the water. Her wavy brown hair flows behind her as she runs. I kick off my shoes so that I run on the soft sand beneath us. We're both laughing by the time we reach the water and run in fully clothed.

-Ashley Wilson