Late For Dinner
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“But, Dad! I’m not making this up, I swear! You have to come see this!” Joey pleaded as his voice cracked like so many other 12 year old boys who were entering puberty.
“I’m tired of your overactive imagination, Son. This is Saturday, and I have things I need to do while I’m home from work.” After seeing the disappointment overshadow his son’s face, he added, “But if you help me with the weed eating we’ll go later.”
Joey smiled with relief, and then ran to get the weed eater from the garage. His dad got on his new John Deere riding mower he bought as a present for himself for his 40th birthday earlier in the spring, and began mowing the acre lot.
Once the mowing and weed eating were finished, Joey and his dad, John, went inside their four-bedroom suburban ranch-style house. John and his wife, Lisa, bought it when they were first married fifteen years earlier, and it had served them well while raising their two children. Joey was the oldest, and then came Sam (short for Samantha) four years later.
“You’ve finished the mowing already?”Lisa asked John in a surprised tone.
“Yes, I had some help from my buddy here,” John answered as he mussed Joey’s blond hair. “Joey wants me to come with him to some kind of mysterious place he found this morning, so as soon as we get cleaned up we’ll be leaving for a while.”
“Mysterious place? What has our son been up to now?” Lisa asked with a giggle.
“I’ll soon find out. We should be back in plenty of time for dinner,” John answered.
“Don’t be late. You know how I hate to still be cleaning up in the kitchen after seven O’clock,” Lisa said.
John and Joey washed up then got in John’s Ford Ranger truck and headed off for an experience unlike anything they were prepared for.
“Take a right at the next turn off, Dad,” Joey said excitedly. John followed his son’s instructions and found himself on a narrow dirt road he had never noticed before.
“I don’t remember ever seeing this road. How did you find it?” John asked.
“My friend, Brandon, said they only made the road recently. There have been a lot of military trucks and black SUVs traveling on it. That’s why I wanted to check it out; to see what’s down there.”
“Down there? What exactly is this place you’re going to show me?”
“It’s like an underground tunnel, what little bit I could see from where I was standing,” Joey answered.
“Well, I didn’t see any government post warning people to stay out, so I guess it will be okay,” John replied.
After driving a couple of miles the road came to a dead end. John parked the truck, grabbed his flashlight from the glove compartment, and the two disembarked.
“It’s this way, Dad. Hurry! You’re not going to believe this!” Joey said as he ran ahead.
John followed his son through a narrow path which led into a mysterious, isolated area.
Approximately a quarter of a mile from the truck, Joey stopped and pointed, “It’s right over there, Dad. Come check it out!”
They walked cautiously up to what looked like an opening which had steps leading down underneath the earth's surface. John looked around the stairway curiously as he espied the cables attached to the wall and extending below.
“I don’t know about this, Son. It looks mighty strange down there.”
“It looks like an underground railroad, right here just a few miles from our house!” Joey said excitedly.
“Okay, let’s take a look.”
John pulled out his flashlight and started down the steps with Joey holding on to his shirttail.
Once they descended down the steps John was amazed to see train rails which curved into the mountain’s belly.
![[Image: 8PPxmlO.png]](http://i.imgur.com/8PPxmlO.png)
“I don’t guess I’ll need this flashlight; looks like people have been down here and left the lights on,” John said as he placed the flashlight in his pocket.
John continued, “You know what, Son? I had some friends in the military who told me stories about underground railways, or shuttles, or something, which they used during secret missions. They said the car they rode in traveled at ridiculous speeds. You could be on the other side of the country within an hour.”
“Wow! That’s fast!” Joey said in amazement.
After walking some distance along the tracks, Joey saw something on the ground which looked like a strange rock. “Hey, Dad, look at this.” He reached down to pick it up, and then handed it to his dad. It was the strangest rock John had ever seen. It had etchings carved on it which looked like ancient symbols.
![[Image: lmiCHZA.png]](http://i.imgur.com/lmiCHZA.png)
John stood there studying the rock. "This reminds me of the Roswell Stone I saw a documentary about on TV last year. It had different symbols, but it was shaped very similar to this one,” John said as he examined the stone. “It was thought that the Roswell Stone came from a place… umm… not of this Earth,” John continued. “It had magnetic qualities and was made of an unknown compound.” Before he could continue his story, John heard a loud swishing noise in the distance, and it was approaching them at an alarming rate of speed! “Someone’s coming! Hide, Joey!” John shouted.
They hid under some old boards that were stacked up against the side of the tunnel, just in time to see a shuttle that could hold up to seven or eight people come barreling down the tracks. It stopped just a few yards from them. John and Joey watched through the cracks in the boards as several men in military attire stepped out of the car.
“You say you think you dropped it in this area, Major?” asked an older man with graying temples and frown lines embedded into his forehead.
“Yes, I’m certain. It has to be here somewhere,” the Major answered as he scanned the ground carefully.
After what seemed like an hour to John, the men gave up the search and headed back to the shuttle car.
As they were about to embark, John overheard the two men talking. “We have to find that stone, Major! It could change the entire future of our planet and beyond if it gets into the wrong hands!” the older man scolded.
“Affirmative, Sir,” the Major replied in a worried tone. “We’ll come back with more advanced equipment and do a thorough search. We’ll find it, General, don’t worry.” The shuttle door closed behind them, and the car took off back the way it came.
“What the hell?! Joey, did you see that?!” John asked in a tone of disbelief.
“Yes, Sir, I did. The car just disappeared into thin air before it reached the curve!” Joey replied in a shocked tone.
“I’m glad you saw it too; I thought I was losing my mind for a minute!” John said.
John started walking towards where the car vanished as if he needed to inspect the area in order to believe his own eyes. Joey followed close behind.
And then…
There was a flash of light so bright it knocked them both unconscious.
John opened his eyes to find himself lying in a strange place with knee-high dead weeds, and eerie wooded surroundings. He was overcome with confusion as to how he got there… then he remembered his son. John jumped to his feet and saw Joey lying a few feet away. He was moaning as he entered back into a state of consciousness.
“Good god! How did we get here?!” John asked himself out loud. As he scanned the area, he saw a large structure which boastfully sat at the top of the hill, hidden behind a layer of misty fog. It looked as if it had been a place where royalty had lived in the distant past.
![[Image: P3d6u8A.png]](http://i.imgur.com/P3d6u8A.png)
John motioned for Joey to follow as he started toward the magnificent structure. As they approached the large stone stair steps leading to the porch, John saw the exterior was made of stone and plaster, which had areas of deterioration. It looked as if it was built in the 17th century, but it was still in good condition, considering its age.
“Dad, I… I don’t want to go up there. I want to go home now,” Joey said in a quavering voice.
“Well, Son, first I have to figure out where we are and how we got here. I think we entered a time warp, or a portal back there. That’s why the train car disappeared.” John looked up at the sky and sighed. “It looks like a storm is approaching; we need to take shelter inside.” After noticing Joey’s reluctance, John continued, “Come on. Nothing is going to get you, I’m right here.” John was trying to reassure his son as best he could to keep him calm, although he didn’t feel too sure about this place himself at the moment.
John cautiously opened the large squeaky door and shined his light inside. “Good thing I brought this light, after all,” John said.
The front room was in disarray with old furniture strewn about, and wall boards stacked up in the floor along the sides of the wall.
“Whoever lived here needed some lessons in tidiness, didn’t they, Son?” John said laughing, trying to lighten the mood.
Joey looked at his father with a smirk.
After settling into an old wooden chair John found stacked on others, he glanced at his watch and noticed it had stopped running. “Your mother is going to be furious if we’re late for dinner, but it looks like we might be here a while.”
As darkness approached John and Joey got as comfortable as possible and settled in to wait for the storm to pass.
All was quiet until…
“What was that?!” Joey asked in an alarmed tone as he rose quickly to face the loud footsteps coming down the old, winding stairway.
John didn’t answer at first, but sat with his head turned, listening for the footsteps to continue.
“This is an old house. It was probably just some old boards settling. Get some rest while you can; it’s a long walk back to the truck… if we ever get out of here,” John replied.
“But, Dad! What- what if it’s a - a ghost?!” Joey stammered.
“Settle down! You’re too old to believe in ghosts; no such thing as ghosts,” John said, sounding as if he was trying to convince himself as much as Joey.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Father and son both jumped to their feet in alarmed surprise as they looked over their heads in the direction of the noise… then they looked at each other, wide-eyed in the ghostly silence. John tried to hide his fear from his son. Then something else caught his attention from his peripheral vision. He slowly turned his gaze to see the tables moving, being stacked on top of one another by invisible hands. And the chairs they had been sitting on were stacked again too!
![[Image: SRVqrzE.png]](http://i.imgur.com/SRVqrzE.png)
Before John could react… “Get Out!” a loud demonic voice commanded which came from no one.
John could swear it rattled the old pane-style windows as the voice vibrated throughout the house! John grabbed Joey by the arm and rushed out the front door which led to freedom from their disembodied companion.
It was dark outside so John didn’t see the man in uniform at the bottom of the steps until he had run straight into him, knocking them both to the ground. John was pretty much in fight or flight mode, and the military man sensed it. “Whoa, calm down!” the man yelled. “Who are you and what are you doing here?” the man asked as he raised himself up from the ground.
“We seem to be lost,” John replied as he stood and brushed himself off.
“Civilians are not allowed here. So, tell me… HOW DID YOU GET HERE?!” the man asked in a demanding tone of authority.
“I - I don’t know. My son and I were investigating an underground tunnel that he discovered close to our house, and… I don’t know what happened. We woke up here,” John replied.
The military man eyed John up and down. “Well, the only way to get here is through a portal, and the only way out is to go back through it.”
The man seemed to be in deep thought as he turned his gaze toward the house. “You came out of there pretty fast. Something spook you, did it?”
“If that is what you call hearing footsteps, loud bangs, furniture moving by itself, and voices telling you to get out, then, yes, something spooked us,” John answered smugly.
“It wasn’t real. We do experiments using quantum physics in this house. We test our personnel to see how much fear they can withstand before sending them out on missions. Of course, the trainees don’t know that,” the military man said with a smile. “Something set the alarm off that someone was in the house. I was coming to check it out when you barreled out the door and knocked me down!” the man explained.
John let out a sigh of relief and said, “Wow! That’s some different kind of training you have there! I never had to go through anything like that when I entered the service.”
“This is a special kind of military service, Mister…uh…”
“You can call me John. And this is my son, Joey.”
The military man didn’t offer his name, or his hand, but only nodded his head. “So, it appears we have ourselves a problem. You came here through a portal and now you don’t know how to get back?” the military man asked.
“Yes, that’s about the gist of it,” John replied.
“Oh, wait a minute! You came through the portal in the tunnels.”
“Yes,” John answered.
“You didn’t happen to see a strange oval-shaped stone with ancient symbols engraved on it, did you?”
“Why do you ask?” said John.
“If we had the stone, I could open another portal and get you out of here,” the man answered.
John’s face lit up as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the stone, along with his flashlight. It was only after he turned on the light that he recognized the man as the one the General called, Major, back at the tunnels. “Is this what you are referring to?” asked John as he held the stone up and shined his light on it.
The Major smiled widely. “Yes, that’s it,” he answered as he reached for the stone. “Where were you exactly when you found yourselves here?”
“Just ahead in that field,” answered John as he pointed to the area.
“Come,” the Major instructed as he made his way through the grassy slope. John and Joey followed as directed.
The three reached the area where John and Joey found themselves in this strange, mysterious place, then John looked at the Major for further instructions.
“I’ll use this magical stone to send you back, but only if you promise to never speak of this incident to anyone… ever!” the Major instructed. “If you do, we will know, and we will hunt you down and…” The Major looked at Joey’s frightened expression and continued, “Just don’t do it.”
“It’s a deal,” John answered, “But, before we go, can you tell me what that rock is and where it came from?”
“That’s classified… Above Top Secret information,” the Major answered. “But, I will tell you this: It's not from this Earth. We discovered it among a wrecked alien space craft in the 1940’s and we’ve been experimenting with it’s powers ever since.”
John looked at the Major with an expression of skeptical disbelief. “You won’t have to worry about us saying anything; no one would believe us anyway.”
“That’s right,” replied the Major. “That’s why I said as much as I did. I know you would live the remainder of your life trying to find answers regarding the rock, and, frankly, we don’t need the public poking their nose in our secret business. Like you said, no one would believe you. You would be labeled a stark raving mad lunatic.” The Major chuckled at his response, and then continued, “Come over here and stand perfectly still. Concentrate on the tunnels where you were the second before you found yourselves here, and don’t allow your thoughts to wander.”
John stood with his arm around his son and gave the nod to continue.
“I haven’t used the stone for teleportation in a while, so… good luck. Here we go!” the Major replied.
After regaining his sight caused by the bright flash of light, John found himself back inside the railway tunnel with Joey by his side. “Come on, Son, let’s get out of here!” The two ran quickly out of the tunnel and back to John’s truck.
During the drive home John said, “Remember what the Major said, Joey… not a word to anyone! You understand, right?”
“Sure, Dad… I understand,” Joey answered in lost thought.
While John was entranced with his driving, Joey pulled out his cell phone and looked at the pictures he had secretly taken ... and smiled.
![[Image: RNJanWC_zpstzyafejk.gif]](http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q574/Solarius2015/RNJanWC_zpstzyafejk.gif)
John pulled into his driveway and he and Joey hurried inside. An old woman whom appeared to be in her seventies stood at the stove stirring a pot of beans. She turned and looked in disbelief at the two family members standing before her who had been missing for more than thirty years.
Sitting at the table was a beautiful young woman in her late thirties with long flowing blonde hair. ‘Sam’, John realized.
“I think the Major turned the dial up a bit too far,” John whispered to Joey.
“John… Joey!” Lisa said in a happy tone. She approached them with outstretched arms as she shuffled toward them. “You’re late for dinner.”
THE END
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“But, Dad! I’m not making this up, I swear! You have to come see this!” Joey pleaded as his voice cracked like so many other 12 year old boys who were entering puberty.
“I’m tired of your overactive imagination, Son. This is Saturday, and I have things I need to do while I’m home from work.” After seeing the disappointment overshadow his son’s face, he added, “But if you help me with the weed eating we’ll go later.”
Joey smiled with relief, and then ran to get the weed eater from the garage. His dad got on his new John Deere riding mower he bought as a present for himself for his 40th birthday earlier in the spring, and began mowing the acre lot.
Once the mowing and weed eating were finished, Joey and his dad, John, went inside their four-bedroom suburban ranch-style house. John and his wife, Lisa, bought it when they were first married fifteen years earlier, and it had served them well while raising their two children. Joey was the oldest, and then came Sam (short for Samantha) four years later.
“You’ve finished the mowing already?”Lisa asked John in a surprised tone.
“Yes, I had some help from my buddy here,” John answered as he mussed Joey’s blond hair. “Joey wants me to come with him to some kind of mysterious place he found this morning, so as soon as we get cleaned up we’ll be leaving for a while.”
“Mysterious place? What has our son been up to now?” Lisa asked with a giggle.
“I’ll soon find out. We should be back in plenty of time for dinner,” John answered.
“Don’t be late. You know how I hate to still be cleaning up in the kitchen after seven O’clock,” Lisa said.
John and Joey washed up then got in John’s Ford Ranger truck and headed off for an experience unlike anything they were prepared for.
“Take a right at the next turn off, Dad,” Joey said excitedly. John followed his son’s instructions and found himself on a narrow dirt road he had never noticed before.
“I don’t remember ever seeing this road. How did you find it?” John asked.
“My friend, Brandon, said they only made the road recently. There have been a lot of military trucks and black SUVs traveling on it. That’s why I wanted to check it out; to see what’s down there.”
“Down there? What exactly is this place you’re going to show me?”
“It’s like an underground tunnel, what little bit I could see from where I was standing,” Joey answered.
“Well, I didn’t see any government post warning people to stay out, so I guess it will be okay,” John replied.
After driving a couple of miles the road came to a dead end. John parked the truck, grabbed his flashlight from the glove compartment, and the two disembarked.
“It’s this way, Dad. Hurry! You’re not going to believe this!” Joey said as he ran ahead.
John followed his son through a narrow path which led into a mysterious, isolated area.
Approximately a quarter of a mile from the truck, Joey stopped and pointed, “It’s right over there, Dad. Come check it out!”
They walked cautiously up to what looked like an opening which had steps leading down underneath the earth's surface. John looked around the stairway curiously as he espied the cables attached to the wall and extending below.
“I don’t know about this, Son. It looks mighty strange down there.”
“It looks like an underground railroad, right here just a few miles from our house!” Joey said excitedly.
“Okay, let’s take a look.”
John pulled out his flashlight and started down the steps with Joey holding on to his shirttail.
Once they descended down the steps John was amazed to see train rails which curved into the mountain’s belly.
“I don’t guess I’ll need this flashlight; looks like people have been down here and left the lights on,” John said as he placed the flashlight in his pocket.
John continued, “You know what, Son? I had some friends in the military who told me stories about underground railways, or shuttles, or something, which they used during secret missions. They said the car they rode in traveled at ridiculous speeds. You could be on the other side of the country within an hour.”
“Wow! That’s fast!” Joey said in amazement.
After walking some distance along the tracks, Joey saw something on the ground which looked like a strange rock. “Hey, Dad, look at this.” He reached down to pick it up, and then handed it to his dad. It was the strangest rock John had ever seen. It had etchings carved on it which looked like ancient symbols.
John stood there studying the rock. "This reminds me of the Roswell Stone I saw a documentary about on TV last year. It had different symbols, but it was shaped very similar to this one,” John said as he examined the stone. “It was thought that the Roswell Stone came from a place… umm… not of this Earth,” John continued. “It had magnetic qualities and was made of an unknown compound.” Before he could continue his story, John heard a loud swishing noise in the distance, and it was approaching them at an alarming rate of speed! “Someone’s coming! Hide, Joey!” John shouted.
They hid under some old boards that were stacked up against the side of the tunnel, just in time to see a shuttle that could hold up to seven or eight people come barreling down the tracks. It stopped just a few yards from them. John and Joey watched through the cracks in the boards as several men in military attire stepped out of the car.
“You say you think you dropped it in this area, Major?” asked an older man with graying temples and frown lines embedded into his forehead.
“Yes, I’m certain. It has to be here somewhere,” the Major answered as he scanned the ground carefully.
After what seemed like an hour to John, the men gave up the search and headed back to the shuttle car.
As they were about to embark, John overheard the two men talking. “We have to find that stone, Major! It could change the entire future of our planet and beyond if it gets into the wrong hands!” the older man scolded.
“Affirmative, Sir,” the Major replied in a worried tone. “We’ll come back with more advanced equipment and do a thorough search. We’ll find it, General, don’t worry.” The shuttle door closed behind them, and the car took off back the way it came.
“What the hell?! Joey, did you see that?!” John asked in a tone of disbelief.
“Yes, Sir, I did. The car just disappeared into thin air before it reached the curve!” Joey replied in a shocked tone.
“I’m glad you saw it too; I thought I was losing my mind for a minute!” John said.
John started walking towards where the car vanished as if he needed to inspect the area in order to believe his own eyes. Joey followed close behind.
And then…
There was a flash of light so bright it knocked them both unconscious.
John opened his eyes to find himself lying in a strange place with knee-high dead weeds, and eerie wooded surroundings. He was overcome with confusion as to how he got there… then he remembered his son. John jumped to his feet and saw Joey lying a few feet away. He was moaning as he entered back into a state of consciousness.
“Good god! How did we get here?!” John asked himself out loud. As he scanned the area, he saw a large structure which boastfully sat at the top of the hill, hidden behind a layer of misty fog. It looked as if it had been a place where royalty had lived in the distant past.
John motioned for Joey to follow as he started toward the magnificent structure. As they approached the large stone stair steps leading to the porch, John saw the exterior was made of stone and plaster, which had areas of deterioration. It looked as if it was built in the 17th century, but it was still in good condition, considering its age.
“Dad, I… I don’t want to go up there. I want to go home now,” Joey said in a quavering voice.
“Well, Son, first I have to figure out where we are and how we got here. I think we entered a time warp, or a portal back there. That’s why the train car disappeared.” John looked up at the sky and sighed. “It looks like a storm is approaching; we need to take shelter inside.” After noticing Joey’s reluctance, John continued, “Come on. Nothing is going to get you, I’m right here.” John was trying to reassure his son as best he could to keep him calm, although he didn’t feel too sure about this place himself at the moment.
John cautiously opened the large squeaky door and shined his light inside. “Good thing I brought this light, after all,” John said.
The front room was in disarray with old furniture strewn about, and wall boards stacked up in the floor along the sides of the wall.
“Whoever lived here needed some lessons in tidiness, didn’t they, Son?” John said laughing, trying to lighten the mood.
Joey looked at his father with a smirk.
After settling into an old wooden chair John found stacked on others, he glanced at his watch and noticed it had stopped running. “Your mother is going to be furious if we’re late for dinner, but it looks like we might be here a while.”
As darkness approached John and Joey got as comfortable as possible and settled in to wait for the storm to pass.
All was quiet until…
“What was that?!” Joey asked in an alarmed tone as he rose quickly to face the loud footsteps coming down the old, winding stairway.
John didn’t answer at first, but sat with his head turned, listening for the footsteps to continue.
“This is an old house. It was probably just some old boards settling. Get some rest while you can; it’s a long walk back to the truck… if we ever get out of here,” John replied.
“But, Dad! What- what if it’s a - a ghost?!” Joey stammered.
“Settle down! You’re too old to believe in ghosts; no such thing as ghosts,” John said, sounding as if he was trying to convince himself as much as Joey.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Father and son both jumped to their feet in alarmed surprise as they looked over their heads in the direction of the noise… then they looked at each other, wide-eyed in the ghostly silence. John tried to hide his fear from his son. Then something else caught his attention from his peripheral vision. He slowly turned his gaze to see the tables moving, being stacked on top of one another by invisible hands. And the chairs they had been sitting on were stacked again too!
Before John could react… “Get Out!” a loud demonic voice commanded which came from no one.
John could swear it rattled the old pane-style windows as the voice vibrated throughout the house! John grabbed Joey by the arm and rushed out the front door which led to freedom from their disembodied companion.
It was dark outside so John didn’t see the man in uniform at the bottom of the steps until he had run straight into him, knocking them both to the ground. John was pretty much in fight or flight mode, and the military man sensed it. “Whoa, calm down!” the man yelled. “Who are you and what are you doing here?” the man asked as he raised himself up from the ground.
“We seem to be lost,” John replied as he stood and brushed himself off.
“Civilians are not allowed here. So, tell me… HOW DID YOU GET HERE?!” the man asked in a demanding tone of authority.
“I - I don’t know. My son and I were investigating an underground tunnel that he discovered close to our house, and… I don’t know what happened. We woke up here,” John replied.
The military man eyed John up and down. “Well, the only way to get here is through a portal, and the only way out is to go back through it.”
The man seemed to be in deep thought as he turned his gaze toward the house. “You came out of there pretty fast. Something spook you, did it?”
“If that is what you call hearing footsteps, loud bangs, furniture moving by itself, and voices telling you to get out, then, yes, something spooked us,” John answered smugly.
“It wasn’t real. We do experiments using quantum physics in this house. We test our personnel to see how much fear they can withstand before sending them out on missions. Of course, the trainees don’t know that,” the military man said with a smile. “Something set the alarm off that someone was in the house. I was coming to check it out when you barreled out the door and knocked me down!” the man explained.
John let out a sigh of relief and said, “Wow! That’s some different kind of training you have there! I never had to go through anything like that when I entered the service.”
“This is a special kind of military service, Mister…uh…”
“You can call me John. And this is my son, Joey.”
The military man didn’t offer his name, or his hand, but only nodded his head. “So, it appears we have ourselves a problem. You came here through a portal and now you don’t know how to get back?” the military man asked.
“Yes, that’s about the gist of it,” John replied.
“Oh, wait a minute! You came through the portal in the tunnels.”
“Yes,” John answered.
“You didn’t happen to see a strange oval-shaped stone with ancient symbols engraved on it, did you?”
“Why do you ask?” said John.
“If we had the stone, I could open another portal and get you out of here,” the man answered.
John’s face lit up as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the stone, along with his flashlight. It was only after he turned on the light that he recognized the man as the one the General called, Major, back at the tunnels. “Is this what you are referring to?” asked John as he held the stone up and shined his light on it.
The Major smiled widely. “Yes, that’s it,” he answered as he reached for the stone. “Where were you exactly when you found yourselves here?”
“Just ahead in that field,” answered John as he pointed to the area.
“Come,” the Major instructed as he made his way through the grassy slope. John and Joey followed as directed.
The three reached the area where John and Joey found themselves in this strange, mysterious place, then John looked at the Major for further instructions.
“I’ll use this magical stone to send you back, but only if you promise to never speak of this incident to anyone… ever!” the Major instructed. “If you do, we will know, and we will hunt you down and…” The Major looked at Joey’s frightened expression and continued, “Just don’t do it.”
“It’s a deal,” John answered, “But, before we go, can you tell me what that rock is and where it came from?”
“That’s classified… Above Top Secret information,” the Major answered. “But, I will tell you this: It's not from this Earth. We discovered it among a wrecked alien space craft in the 1940’s and we’ve been experimenting with it’s powers ever since.”
John looked at the Major with an expression of skeptical disbelief. “You won’t have to worry about us saying anything; no one would believe us anyway.”
“That’s right,” replied the Major. “That’s why I said as much as I did. I know you would live the remainder of your life trying to find answers regarding the rock, and, frankly, we don’t need the public poking their nose in our secret business. Like you said, no one would believe you. You would be labeled a stark raving mad lunatic.” The Major chuckled at his response, and then continued, “Come over here and stand perfectly still. Concentrate on the tunnels where you were the second before you found yourselves here, and don’t allow your thoughts to wander.”
John stood with his arm around his son and gave the nod to continue.
“I haven’t used the stone for teleportation in a while, so… good luck. Here we go!” the Major replied.
After regaining his sight caused by the bright flash of light, John found himself back inside the railway tunnel with Joey by his side. “Come on, Son, let’s get out of here!” The two ran quickly out of the tunnel and back to John’s truck.
During the drive home John said, “Remember what the Major said, Joey… not a word to anyone! You understand, right?”
“Sure, Dad… I understand,” Joey answered in lost thought.
While John was entranced with his driving, Joey pulled out his cell phone and looked at the pictures he had secretly taken ... and smiled.
John pulled into his driveway and he and Joey hurried inside. An old woman whom appeared to be in her seventies stood at the stove stirring a pot of beans. She turned and looked in disbelief at the two family members standing before her who had been missing for more than thirty years.
Sitting at the table was a beautiful young woman in her late thirties with long flowing blonde hair. ‘Sam’, John realized.
“I think the Major turned the dial up a bit too far,” John whispered to Joey.
“John… Joey!” Lisa said in a happy tone. She approached them with outstretched arms as she shuffled toward them. “You’re late for dinner.”
THE END