Chapter 4 – High Hopes

1/26/2020 9:30 AM

Ryan awoke the next morning with a tearstained face and sore eyes that felt like they were glued shut. Prying open his eyelids, he rolled over to look at his clock. It read 9:30 AM. “It’s a good thing today is Saturday,” Ryan mumbled to himself, still half asleep. Ryan clumsily rolled off his bed and almost fell on the floor. As he stood up, a sudden wave of dizziness hit him and he flopped back into a seated position on the bed.

Forcing himself to stand more slowly this time, Ryan again rose to his feet. Thumping barefooted to his bedroom door, Ryan fumbled for the doorknob. Finally opening his bedroom door, Ryan saw something white catch the bottom of his eye. Ryan bent down and picked up a note. Opening it, Ryan found his sister’s neat handwriting gracing the note’s surface.

Dear Ryan,

I heard you crying last night through my bedroom wall. Are you okay? I am going shopping this morning with mom. I will be back later today if you want to talk about anything. I am always here for you

With all my love,

-Lucy

Ryan’s eyes teared up at his sister’s loving concern. She cared for him so deeply. He did not deserve her. “Where would I be if not for her?” Ryan wondered. Drying his eyes, Ryan clumped down the stairs and prepared breakfast, then went about doing his homework.

Later that morning, Ryan heard the front door open and close. Wondering if his sister and mother were home, Ryan slowly crept to the dining room doorway and poked his head around the corner. Spotting Ryan’s inquisitive face, Ryan’s dad, Professor Davis, called out “Is Mrs. Davis home?” His bright green eyes were brimming full with excitement.

Now, it is important to know Ryan’s relationship with his father had always been anything other than loving. For starters, The Professor was always more interested in science and his work then raising his son and daughter. Mr. Davis pretty much let Ryan and Lucy fend for themselves, never really involving himself in their lives. In fact, Ryan’s dad frequently forgot when their birthday’s were and did not care anyway. To Professor Davis, his children were simply two more people to forget about as he pursued his “all-important research.”

“No,” Ryan replied in response to his father’s earlier question “Mom and Lucy are out shopping.

“That’s unfortunate,” The Professor replied, his mind clearly on other matters. “There is something I wish to tell her about.”

“Come into the dining room and you can tell me about it,” said Ryan as he strode into the dining room with his father in tow. Ryan waited for his father to take a seat then took his seat while listening intently to his father.

“You know what we have been working on at the lab right?” asked Mr. Davis.

“No, I don’t believe you have ever told me,” said Ryan.

“Oh, well we at the lab have been working on an inter-dimensional portal.”

“Cool!” exclaimed Ryan, his interest now genuinely piqued. “How does it work?”

“It is supposed to be pretty secret so I can’t tell you all the details. However, I have recently made a breakthrough in the final calculations. We successfully made a tear or rift in the fabric of time and space through gravitational warping. We can now send a small person through with a weight or mass of a little less than 130 lbs.”

“Wait,” interjected Ryan “since it is a tear through space-time could you send a person through time?”

“Y-yes theoretically,” hesitated Ryan’s father.

“Could you test your device on me to send me back in time?”

“We could, but time travel is extremely risky and complicated… how far back would you want to go?”

“Just one day.”

“Ok, I suppose that would not change much since it is only one day and we do need to send a person through to report what traveling through space-time is like. But are you absolutely certain you want to go?”

“I am.”

“It is incredibly risky for you.”

“I know.”

“Alright, when you’re ready to go let me know, but we should go today.”

“I want to write a letter to my sister before I go.”

“Okay… and son?”

“Yes?”

“Why would you want to do this?”

“My best friend is dead, a group of people at School want to kill me, and almost no one loves me. If I stand a chance at reversing these things, I have to take it.” Leaving his father mulling over his words, Ryan pulled a piece of paper from his binder on the table, and wrote a letter to his sister.

Dear Lucy,

Dad just told me about what he and the people at the lab have been working on. They have created a device that can send a person through time and space, allowing for inter-dimensional travel, or to let a person time travel. That’s why I have decided to travel back one day to prevent Michal from dying in the car crash. I am sorry for not consulting you, but if I even have a chance to save Michal I have to take it. However, the device is just a prototype still in testing and it may not work. In other words, you may not see me again. If that happens, I just want you to know I have always loved you and always will.

~Sincerely,

Ryan Davis

Folding the letter and placing it on his sister’s bed, Ryan’s eyes blurred and he felt tears course down his cheeks. Swiping them away and taking a deep shaky breath, Ryan turned and strode to his room, taking with him his wallet and a photo of his sister along with the knife his sister gave him. Briskly walking down the stairs, Ryan told his father he was ready to go. He then was driven away from his house in his father’s car and rode toward the lab.

The car ride was a silent one. The professor was silent, mulling over Ryan’s decision and the preparations to send Ryan back in time. He had already called the lab to announce that he had found a subject for their test. Ryan was buffeted by doubts, and regret leaving his sister like this, but he was excited for what the future might bring.

Finally, Professor Davis’s car arrived at the lab. It was a tall, sprawling, industrial steel and glass building. Ryan’s dad strode to the door with Ryan following. The Professor then typed a code into a keypad on the door, and verified the code with his fingerprint. With a quiet hum and click, the door lock disengaged and the door powered by motors swung open. Ryan then took his first step into the unknown.