June 10,  1888


My name is Lucy Maud Montgomery.  I do not like the name Lucy, so

I am called Maud.  I live with my grandparents, for my mother has passed

away and my father lives elsewhere on business.  Living on Prince Edward

Island with no other children my age, I have to find ways to entertain myself.  

Actually, I enjoy writing poems and short stories.  However, my

grandparents don't completely approve of my hobby.  So, in this moment,

I'm outside breathing the fresh air of my backyard.  

I have always been a curious child, so when I saw the sparkling object

in the bushes, I didn't hesitate to investigate.  Pushing the leaves aside, I

peered into the hedge, gasping at what I saw.  It was an object I could not

give a name to, but it's metallic appearance startled me.  Carefully, yet

eagerly, I reached out and picked it up.  The box shaped object felt cool and

smooth, and it seemed to vibrate gently in my hands.  Observing it more

closely, I could make out a small screen, surrounded by little buttons that

seemed to blend in with the silver color of the mysterious object.  On the

small screen, the number 2,007 was displayed.  "That's strange", I thought,

"what a random number."  I gently ran my fingers over the flat buttons,

stopping over the widest one.  My heart skipped a beat as if it knew

something would happen if the button was pushed, but my mind didn't.  

My curiousity seemed to overwhelm my cautiousness, and I tried to resist.  

After all, wasn't it curiousity that killed the cat?  Still, I was wondering what

this alien object was doing here, and exciting possibilities were floating

through my head, when I accidentally pushed too hard.

It started with the vibrations in the box becoming more distinct, then I

felt it throughout my body.  I didn't have a second to regret my action before

everything went white and a dizzying feeling passed through me.  A wind

came from nowhere, tugging at my hair and skirts, and the ground beneath

me seemed to suddenly vanish.  All of it just got stronger: the vibrations, the

nausea, the wind.  I shut my eyes against it all, hugging the metal box close.  

Then as quickly it all started, it stopped.  The white seemed to fade away like

a dream, and color melted around me.  When it all cleared, I saw I wasn't in

my backyard anymore.

I looked around frantically for any idea of where I could be.  

Suddenly, something sped past me, almost knocking me off my feet.  "What

could move that fast?" I thought, regaining my balance.  Before something

else could whiz past me, I ran toward the grass, hiding under the largest tree

for comfort.  Feeling a little safer, I took in my surroundings.  Luckily, where

I was standing there were no people, however, I could make out moving

figures past  a large field of grass.  What seemed to be small children were

playing on a metal swingset.  I stared harder. A metal swingset?  I had never

seen a metal swingset before, only wood, so I didn't exactly know what to

make of this observaton.  Something else caught my attention, though.  To

my right, I heard a low rumbling sound, similar to the one that fast

whatever-it-was made.  I turned my attention toward it and could not

supress my gasp.  It was large, and it had four wheels made of a black

substance.  It was brown and had windows on all sides of it.  I could make

out the moving shapes of people inside.  This thing was for transportation, I

assumed, some sort of vehicle.  I watched as it pulled away from the spot it

was resting in before it shot down the smooth paved road.  If I could whistle

I would have, for that thing went insanely fast.  How?  I did not understand;

there was not a horse pulling it.  Drawing my attention from the other resting

horse-less carriages, I noticed a girl walking toward me.  She looked around

my age, with tan skin and two braids.  Before I could escape or anything,

she approached me.  "Hi," she said eyeing my clothes, curiosity gleaming in

her eyes.  Her voice sounded American, so I figured she was a tourist.  

What really surprised me however, was her clothes.  Not only was she

wearing a plain shirt, but she was also wearing pants.  "Uh, hello," I replied

awkwardly, then added, "why are you wearing breeches?"  She stared at me

for a moment, a smile spreading across her face as if she were holding back

a laugh.  "Breeches?" she repeated, "You mean jeans?"  I did not know how

to reply, all I knew was that my face was turning pink.  "You're the one to

talk," she continued, "What are you wearing?"  At that I looked down at my

clothes.  Sure it wasn't my best dress, but it was still in pretty good shape,

and these were my play shoes, of course they'd be a little dirty.  I looked

back up and realized what she was talking about.  Everyone else was also

wearing "jeans" and those regular shirts that I didn't know they made.  Even

the grown women were wearing pants, and some were even showing their

knees.  I suddenly felt completely out of place.

I noticed the girl was still staring at me.  "You're not from here, are

you?"  She finally asked.  "That depends.  Where am I?"  I replied.  

"Georgia," was the response, "2007".  Suddenly something tugged at my

memory.  2,007, that's what the little box said!  Wait.  Where was the box?  

For the first time since I was here, I noticed I wasn't holding the mysterious

cube.  I glanced around quickly, scanning the ground for its shiny surface.  

It wasn't there.  "Lost something?" the girl questioned. "Yeah," I murmured,

not stopping my search.  "So what is it?" she urged.  "A metal box," I

answered, pausing to look at her.  She looked back at me, silent for a

moment.  "Tell me about it," she finally said.  So, I did.  When I finished

explaining to her where and when I came from, and that at the exact moment

I pushed the button I was here, she smiled.  

"You don't believe me?"  

"I never said that."  

"Then why are you smiling like that?"  

"I just didn't think that  time machines were real."  

"Time machine?  That's what you think it was?"  

"Why not?  What else could take you from the year 1888 to 2007?"  

"Well, I guess, but it also took me from Canada to the United States." I

pointed out.  The other girl was quiet for a moment as she considered this.  

"Mmm... maybe, there's another time machine here.  You know, like the one

at your home teleported you to the location of another machine, which is

here, so to get home you have to find the one that's linked to yours."  She

paused, "It's kind of hard to explain..."  

I understood perfectly.  To get home I had to find the other time machine.  

Why should that be so hard?  It should be somewhere around here.  I

glanced up at the girl,  "So, are you going to help me?"  I asked hopefully.  

She nodded eagerly, "Yes, of course!  I'm not just going to leave you here."  

I smiled gratefully at her.  "So anyway, my name's Melisa," she then told me.  

"Maud," I replied holding out my hand to shake.  She was silent before

repeating my name.  "Yes?" was the response to having heard my name

again.  "Maud.  Lucy Maud Montgomery."  A surprised gasp escaped from

my throat.  "Th- that's my name," I sputtered, "How do you know my

name?"  A smile spread across Melisa's lips.  "Why don't you come with

me," she suggested, starting to walk toward the horseless carriages.  "Wait!  

What about the time machine?" I called, running to catch up.  She pointed to

the sky.  "It's getting dark, we can come back tomorrow.  You can sleep at

my house."  I agreed, with no other choice, and followed her toward the

large vehicles.


Later that same day,


The sky was black and the night was silent.  Melisa had introduced me

to her family who greeted me warmly.  Then she showed me around her

futuristic house where everything ran on electricity, including the high-tech

typewriter she was showing me.  Before, Melisa explained that it wasn't a

typewriter, but a "computer", however, the new word was hard to get used

to.  In fact all the new words were hard to get used to.  She keyed in my

name, which was displayed on the bright screen.  After clicking "search" a

huge list of books appeared.  "See?"  Melisa said, "You're going to be a

famous author when you get older."  I smiled.  So, my dream was going to

come true.  I read over the titles, Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea,

Anne of the Island, etc.  The list was so long.  I noticed other authors too,

and to my surprise they were mostly women!  I couldn't help but to be

embarrassed of the stupid question I wanted to ask, but I had to know.  

"How?  How are there so many women authors?" I asked.  Melisa gave me

a quizzical look before remembering where I came from. "Oh.  Well, in this

time, women have equal rights as men.  We can be doctors, lawyers,

anything we set our minds to."  

"Wow, a lot must have changed then."  Another stupid comment by

me.  "You think?  You just traveled a hundred years into the future."  My

face turned red as I reflected on my words.  My humiliation was soon

forgotten as another thought came into my head.  "So I'm famous right?  

You think there is a biography on me or something?" I questioned, my eyes

widening.  "Yeah, I know there are biographies about you, and plenty of

them, but I'm not going to show you.  You wouldn't want to spoil your

future would you?"  I sighed, but didn't object.  Being able to know my

future was an amazingly tempting opportunity, however, Melisa was right

about spoiling it.  I felt it was best I didn't know.  Suddenly, the computer

screen went dark and Melisa stood up.  "You ready to go to bed?" she

asked.  I yawned and nodded.  I needed to make sure I got enough sleep

for tomorrow.  We were going to look for my way home.  Hopefully we

would be successful.


June 11, 2007


We woke up at noon.  Last night Melisa and I stayed up later than we

had intended.  We had a lot more in common than I had thought.  I had

learned that she also wanted to be a writer, though she didn't like poetry as

much as I did.  This morning she let me borrow some of her clothes since

we were the same size.  Her father then drove us back to the park, along with

some scolding about how late we stayed up.  I smiled thinking about how

fun it was to be able to hang out with someone my own age.  When we

made it to the park, we went straight to the area I misplaced my time

machine, or to the place the other one should be.  


*3 hours later*

Melisa and I searched for three whole hours! I am unbelievably tired

and disappointed that with all the work nothing was discovered.  Melisa was

getting a little impatient as well so she decided to take a break and we went

to the "mall".  The "mall", as it was called for some strange reason, was a

HUGE shopping center with small rooms that took you from floor to floor,

along with moving staircases!  Of course I had never seen anything like it in

my life, and it was difficult to contain my excitement.  We were sitting in the

food court eating chicken sandwiches from a place called Chik-fil-A.  I

actually had two of the wonderfully delicious sandwiches.  "So, Maud, what

do you want to do about the time machine?" Melisa then asked.  I looked up

from my food and sighed, "I don't know, I really thought it would be at the

park."  Melisa nodded, "So did I," she agreed.  We were silent for a

moment.  "Maud?" she broke the silence.

"Yes?"

"Did you find the time machine at a park where you're from?"  

"No, actually, I found it in my backyard."

Another pause.  

"Do you think," Melisa started slowly, "do you think the time-machine might

be in my backyard?" I considered this idea, "Why not?  We can check it

out later. After I finish this chicken sandwich."


June 11, 1888


I was sitting in my backyard thinking about the day's events.  I went to

a world where those horseless carriges use gas that's $3 a gallon (who has

that kind of money?).  A place where women are treated as fairly as if they

were men, and they dress like it, too.  I thought about my future.  I was

going to be a famous author!  I think that excited me the most.  The fact

that anything was possible.  I buried the time machine, just feeling it was

something I had to do, and went inside.  The house was quiet, my

grandparents must've already been asleep.  Then I went to the table, lit a

candle, dipped my quill, and began to write.