'May you live in interesting times.' - Supposed Chinese Curse
I do live in interesting times though I wouldn't classify it as a 'curse'. You see, a Qui'arel ship struck and destroyed Earth's moon. Which caused a...bend/fracture in the timeline. I'm not a physicist so I can't explain it by throwing out terms like 'String Theory' or 'Quark-gluon plasma'. What I can give you is my theory on what happened.
Toss a pebble into a pond. See the ripples spreading out from the point of impact? The Qui'arel explosion was the point of impact but it didn't affect just matter. It affected time. And the effect rippled through time-space causing it to fold and flex until it drew me out of my time-line and into the one where I now live.
But that wasn't the first ripple. No, the first ripple happened back when I was about four years old and visiting my aunt and uncle at their beach cottage. Auntie had a headache and laid down with a cloth on her forehead. I played with my dollie in the middle of the braided rag rug in the living room. But the sun was shining and I could hear the ocean's ceaseless lapping at the rocky beach on the bluff below.
I thought uncle might be fishing there because he'd left wearing his special fly hat. I didn't know until years later that the colorful bits of stuff dotting the brim were flies to attract fish. I thought it attracted flies and kept them off uncle because they never bothered him when he wore it.
I headed to the stairs and looked down at the water. Uncle wasn't in sight but he often walked along the beach until he found the 'magic' spot. I grasped the hand rail and climbed down the steps until I reached the sand. Our beach wasn't like the pretty ones you see in the posters. It was strewn with rocks and bits of flotsam that was swept in from offshore. I could hear the gulls screaming overhead and the waves shooshing in and out. I could smell the fishy-salty tang of the ocean.
I knew uncle was probably just beyond the curve of the beach and I played a game of dodge with the waves. I actually cheated a bit because I had new pink tennies and I didn't want to get them wet so I'd leap back whenever the waves came within two feet of me. Just as I neared the big rock, big enough for uncle to sit on and have room for his fishing bag, I felt a tingle on the back of my neck.
I turned around and saw a boy about my age. He wore funny clothes, kind of old fashioned and was bare foot. He held a wooden stick out like a sword and made a swishing motion that cut through the air. He had bright red hair that was a little long. His eyes were bright green. I'd never seen eyes that shade before and had to stop and stare. The boy kept playing by himself and I could see his lips moving as if he were talking to himself but I couldn't hear him. All I knew was that here was someone my own age and he looked like a nice boy. I called out "Hey, boy. You wanna play?"
He didn't seem to hear me so I called out again. That's when he turned those bright green eyes on me, surprise making his mouth go round like an O.
That was the beginning of my 'interesting' time. That was the first time I saw Devyn MacGregor.
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