Rewind Girl - book one

Jenny watched as the sparkled blue ball bounced in slow-motion across the sidewalk. Her younger brother Randall giddily chased after it down the driveway. From the corner of her eye she saw the white SUV which would intercept the ball in about three seconds, almost exactly the same amount of time it would take her brother to catch up to it. In her mind, everything froze momentarily as she tried to yell ‘Randall, stop!’

But Jenny couldn’t breathe, couldn’t utter a sound. She closed her eyes tight and wished that something would stop him before he crossed the curb and darted between the cars parked there. A wave of dizziness passed over her and she felt the world drop out from under her. She waited to hear the sound of the skidding SUV followed by the nauseating crunch of her brother’s body impacting with the massive chrome and black bumper. She felt everything spin around her as if she was being sucked into a whirlpool, and then it all suddenly stopped. She felt an eerie calmness spread over her from her head to her feet, as if a warm light passed over the length of her body.

The next thing she was aware of was the feel of cool blades of grass tickling her cheek and earlobe, followed by a shadow blocking the warming sensation of the sunlight.

“Jen, are you okay?”

It was Randall’s voice, sounding like it was coming from a hundred yards away. She heard the rubbery ping of the sparkled blue ball as it bounced rhythmically; once, twice on the driveway. Randall’s voice came closer.

“Jen, what are you doing? Do you feel alright?”

She slowly opened her eyes, and felt the warm asphalt under her fingers, the soft manicured grass under her head and neck. She was lying on her back, half on the driveway and half on the lawn. Her brother was staring down at her quizzically and holding the ball above his head, eclipsing the sun in a clear, cloudless blue sky. A bright halo of light surrounded Randall and the ball, which made her squint as she tried to regain her senses.

“I … I don’t know. What happened? The last thing I remember, you were chasing the ball into the street, and Mrs. Jenkins was…”

Just then a car horn blipped lightly from the direction of the street and Jenny pushed herself up on her elbows in the grass.

“Jenny, are you alright?” the driver asked through the open passenger window as the white SUV rolled to a stop at the end of the driveway.

Jenny looked around, trying to understand what had just happened. Randall looked at her and blinked, as if nothing were out of the ordinary.

Mrs. Jenkins called out again, “I said are you alright, Jenny? As I was turning the corner, you looked like you just turned into a rag doll and flopped onto the ground. Is your mother home yet?”

Jenny laid her head back on the ground for a second, then rolled over onto her stomach and pushed herself up to her knees in the grass. The swimming sensation had passed, but now a deep throbbing in her head made her wince as she looked again at Randall and then at Mrs. Jenkins in her bright white SUV.

“I think I’m okay, I’d better go in and drink some water. Maybe it’s the sun?”

It was only late May, but already the days averaged eighty-five degrees and only a light breeze barely drifted through the neighborhood.

“I’d say so, you’d better go in the house for a while.” replied Mrs. Jenkins. “I’ll call your mother later to see how you’re feeling.”

Jenny waved thanks as the SUV drifted down the street, and she turned to Randall.

“You doofus!” he said as he bounced the ball towards her. “What’s wrong, you looked really weird for a minute, like you were in another world.”

Jenny caught the ball in her lap, then pressed her body weight onto it as she stood in the driveway. Things seemed different, her senses were more intense and the world practically buzzed with energy around her. As she held the ball, she felt every little speck of glitter embedded in the blue rubber as it reflected the dazzling sunlight. She heard every leaf rustle and every bird chirping in every tree on her entire block. Shadows seemed to dance and quiver and she smelled every individual flower blooming - even those in her mother’s garden in the back yard! She felt more than just a little scared and dropped the ball onto the grass.

“I want to go inside for a while. You have to come in too, until Mom gets home.”

“Aw, but you promised we could play outside until she gets home. Can’t you sit on the porch for a while? I won’t go out in the street and I’ll even get you a glass of nice cold water from the fridge.”

Randall was a good kid. She was grateful that he seldom whined, and even though they were a little over seven years apart in age they always seemed to get along fine between school and the time their mom got home from work. Unfortunately that meant she couldn’t spend time after school with other girls in her class; although occasionally a few friends would stop by their house for a while. Randall looked like he was about ready to run a full-out sprint to the kitchen, just waiting for her to accept his offer. How could she say no?

“Okay, you brat – we can stay outside until she gets home. But we’re going out back so I don’t have to worry about you so much.”

Randall picked up the ball and darted for the front door, while Jenny stood a moment and looked around, her senses slowly returning to normal. Even the throbbing in her head was beginning to subside.

“If there’s lemonade, I want that instead!” she shouted after Randall as the screen door drew to a close behind him. These last few weeks of the school year always seemed to drag on, sometimes she even lost track of what day it was. And every day that it wasn’t raining, she and Randall would wait outside in the front yard for their mother to come home.

Jenny walked to the porch and thought about the summer waiting just around the corner, and her thirteenth birthday just a few days away. She ticked off the days in her head – today was Friday, May eighteenth; her birthday was four days away on the twenty-second. Her father’s business trip ended on the twentieth, this Sunday. She opened the screen door and stepped into the front hall, her eyes adjusting to the dim light inside. She smiled as she glanced over at the dining room, thinking about having everyone around the table at dinner Sunday night. Lately her father was gone more often as he had to take on more clients at work. She walked into the kitchen and sat on a stool at the island in the center of the kitchen, sunlight streaming in through the skylight above. She noticed the calendar next to the refrigerator. Wednesday and Thursday had yet to be crossed off; something their mother did religiously as she fixed her morning coffee.

“Hey dweeb,” calling Randall by one of the many affectionate nicknames she’d given him. “Can you get the marker and cross the last two days off the calendar? I guess mom’s been too busy and forgot.”

Randall opened one of the drawers and grabbed the marker, pulling off the cap as he went over to the calendar. He looked once at the calendar and then back to Jenny. He snapped the cap back on and tossed it back in the drawer.

“It’s up to date,” he said matter-of-factly. “Remember, dad left yesterday and he’ll be back Sunday.

’But it’s Friday’, she thought to herself. Jenny felt a cold sweat wash over her, and her palms felt clammy as a swimming sensation swept over her again. She gripped the counter and looked at her cell phone sitting there. Hands shaking, she reached for it, dreading what she might see. There on the display it read Wednesday, May sixteenth. She put it back on the counter and tried to remain calm, but her mouth had gone dry and her body felt weak.

“Dweeble, are you playing games with me? Did you change the date on my cell phone?

“Yeah, right - if you caught me touching your phone I’d be doing your chores for three weeks straight. Besides the fact that I don’t know how, why would I do that anyway?”

“I don’t know. I guess something must have happened to my phone.” Jenny said weakly.

Jenny absent-mindedly clasped the stone hanging from the necklace her grandmother had sent her for her birthday. It felt warm in her hand, but the smooth irregular shape felt comforting and seemed to fit neatly in the curves of her fingers. She couldn’t wait to open the package when it came for her on Tuesday. Was that three days ago or yesterday? It was a beautiful fine gold chain with the most exotic green stone dangling in a gold filigree setting. It was a smooth, polished stone that seemed to change color as you turned it in the light. Sometimes it looked dark amber with flecks of gold, then she’d turn it slightly and it was deep aquamarine and turquoise. She remembered her grandmother’s warm laugh when she called her on the phone to tell her she’d already opened it; that she couldn’t wait a week ’til next Tuesday to see what was in the package.

“I knew you would love it the moment I saw it. I found it in a wonderful antique jewelry shop when your grandfather and I went to Antigua last month. The shopkeeper was this mysterious old woman who looked like she was almost as old as the island itself! She said that the stone had been in her case for fifteen years, but she knew one day the right person would notice it and purchase it for someone they loved.”

Jenny had flushed at her grandmother’s affection. When her grandparents came to visit each spring and fall, they usually stayed two weeks. Jenny looked forward to their visits with great anticipation. Now that they were retired, her “Nanna and Poppy” were traveling the world; Greece, Brazil, Tibet and finally Antigua in the last eighteen months alone. Apparently her grandfather had invested years ago in a company that had something to do with coffee; Java something-or-other. No, wait – it was computers, but the name made her think of coffee. Her grandparents loved gadgets, and they always had the latest digital camera or GPS or whatever. Before their trip to Greece they had purchased a mini HD camcorder. Jenny watched the videos over and over again, losing herself in the scenes; beautiful sunsets, colorful villages clustered on Oceanside cliffs, the ancient architecture and verdant hillsides of the ancient land a half a world away.

Jenny picked up her phone and called her grandmother.

“Hello, honey.” Her grandmother answered. “Two calls in two days! Why am I so special all of the sudden?”

“Oh, Nanna – you know you’re always special. Did I call you yesterday, too?” she asked, confused.

“Well of course, sweetie – you were so excited you couldn’t wait to open the box. And you wanted to open it while your dad was home. That was yesterday, right?”

Jenny felt a cold chill creep over her. Could it really be Wednesday…again?

“Um, yeah – right. I really love it, Nanna. It’s the most beautiful stone I’ve ever seen. Did the old lady in the shop say anything special about it - like, what kind of stone it is?

“Hmm, I think she did, now that you mention it. Wait, I think I wrote the name down somewhere because it sounded so rare and unusual.” Jenny heard shuffling in the background that sounded like her grandmother was looking through her handbag.

“Here it is – she called it ‘Chronozite’. She said there were only a few pieces in the world. She also said that to most people it just looks like a polished brown stone, but for the right person they would see variations of splendid colors by turning it in the light. I thought it was just a pretty brown stone, but I knew it was meant for you.”

“Did she say anything about it – like magical powers or anything?” Jenny inquired somewhat sheepishly.

“Oh, sweetie – I wish!” her grandmother laughed with a grace she alone possessed. “Wait, she did say there was an old myth that it belonged to a royal family who lived on the island years ago. I think she said that somehow it belonged to a tribal King’s daughter. Supposedly it helped save her brother from drowning in a rogue wave that hit the island when he was about your brother’s age. I can’t imagine how a stone necklace would fit into the story, but you know how some of those old legends change and get more elaborate over the years.”

The chill crept up Jenny’s spine again. She knew she had experienced – no, lived – two whole days that seemed to have been missed by at least two people. Something strange was going on, and she felt like her mind was spinning in a dozen different directions at once. She watched her brother in the back yard, then reached for the lemonade he had left for her on the counter. She gulped half the contents from the glass and tried to calm herself.

“Thanks, Nanna. That’s a cool story. Maybe I’ll Google it to see if anything comes up.” Jenny tried her best to sound cheery and carefree.

“Or you could try Wikipedia. Your grandfather loves that site – some evenings he’ll spend an hour just browsing there on his new iPad.”

“That’s a good idea. Tell Poppy I love him, and I love you too, Nanna. Bye-bye.” She sat the phone on the counter and looked at the stone in her hand. It was now a deep shade of crimson with lighter veins of lavender running through it. She walked to the patio door and slid it open, stepping outside into the warm evening air.

“Hey brat – whatcha doing?” she asked her brother.

“Just waiting for you to come out like you promised. Was that Nanna on the phone?” he kicked the ball to Jenny and she kicked it back soccer-style.

“Yeah, I wanted to ask her something about my necklace. She told me a really incredible story about it. It sounded like the lady who sold it to her made it up to make her want to buy it for me. I mean, I still love it, but she said it belonged to somebody in a royal family on an island a long time ago.” Randall kicked the ball high and Jenny jumped to rebound it off her head.

“It’s pretty for just a plain brown stone.” Randall said. “So it’s supposed to be really old, I guess? Like – older than mom and dad?”

Jenny laughed, and thought that her sense of what ‘old’ really is had suddenly changed. The stone on her necklace could have a history, and it might very well be the oldest thing she’d held in her hand. But she would look into that later, for now she just wanted to enjoy her brother’s company in this moment, waiting for their mother to get home from work.