The Time Travelers: A Christmas Story

This is an excerpt from The Time Travelers: A Christmas Story. The Time Travelers is a preteen story about five kids who accidentally travel back in time to see Grandma as a kid. The print book is available at Blurb.com (Eunice Korczak)  The digital version is free at Smashwords.com (Eunice Korczak)

“Open your eyes,” said a grown-up voice.

Everyone froze at the sound.  Whose voice was that? One by one each kid opened only one eye.  Then suddenly all eyes were open, peering through the Straws-and-Connectors construction. 

One by one, mouths fell open.  This didn’t look like Grandma’s library!

Leyton, the irrepressible, never quiet and shy Leyton, whispered very quietly, “Will, who is that lady?”

With a stunned look on his face, Will whispered back, “I don’t know, Leyton, but I don’t think we’re in Greenbush anymore.”

“We were traveling in time, not space,” whispered Garrett.  “We should still be in Greenbush, just in a different time.”  Being closest to the exit, he crawled out of the straws-and-connectors structure, and tugged on his pockets as though looking in them for some courage.  He must have found some. He looked at the lady and rattled off questions, “Who are you?  Are we in Greenbush?  Is it still 2011?”

The rest of the kids tumbled out as the woman watched, and Grant wondered if they looked as ridiculous as a bunch of circus clowns tumbling from an under-sized car.  Like Will, she had a rather stunned look on her face, so maybe she was more surprised than amused.

The woman didn’t look unfriendly, though, just a little disbelieving.  “Aren’t you children a mite young to be time-travelers?”  When no one had the courage to answer that strange question, she went on.  “I’m the Widow Malarkey.  No, this isn’t in Greenbush, but it’s near the town.  Are you from Greenbush?  And why did you ask about 2011? Are you traveling from that year?  Did you have trouble?  No one travels such short time periods.  It’s dangerous. Now, I’ve answered your questions, and it’s time for you to answer mine.”

With some trepidation, Grant stepped forward and said, “Yeah, we’re from 2011.  I guess you could say we had a spot of trouble, since we were just playing and didn’t expect to move through time in a toy construction.”

“Nah uh!” blurted Leyton. “I was driving, and I knew we’d go to a time when Grandma was a kid.”  Then he pulled his mouth to one side and asked the woman, “Are we in a time when Grandma was a kid?”

Grant rolled his eyes, “But Leyton, but we were going in our imaginations, not really going through time.”

“Uh, Grant, I think we really went through time, though,” said Will.