Friendship and What Ifs

Andy picked up Morgan at five from Groovy Vibes. They pulled into the garage and got out of the car. Andy opened the door to the door to the house and took a few steps before he stopped.

“Wait.”

Morgan stood still wondering what was wrong.

“You have no idea how embarrassing it was to have my credit card declined. And in front of the girls!” Morgan heard Elaine’s voice although Andy’s mom was nowhere in sight.

“I told you not to worry about it. You spend too much money anyway,” Steve answered.

“You never let me know anything about our finances. I’m always in the dark!”

“What’s the point? You never think about money before you spend it.”

Their voices were coming from the bedroom. A door slammed. Andy resumed walking. He didn’t go to the kitchen or his bedroom. He walked out the front door. Morgan followed him. He sat down on the front step.

“It’s best to leave when it gets like that.” He leaned against the post on the porch.

Morgan sat down next to him. She had a number of questions in her head, but hesitated to ask them. After a few minutes of sitting and waiting Elaine opened the front door and stuck her head out.

“There you are. I’ll be at Grandma’s if you need me.” She closed the door before either Morgan or Andy could answer.

“Just wait here a few more minutes,” Andy said.

Elaine backed her car out of the driveway and she drove off without another word. A moment later Steve drove his car down the driveway and he pulled in front of the house and stopped. He lowered the window.

“You’re on your own for dinner. Make sure you are home by 10:00.” He raised the window and drove off.

“Where’s he going?”

“Country Club probably. He’ll be back tonight.” Andy stood up and opened the front door. “You hungry?”

Morgan wasn’t ...

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...to the top of the machine.

Morgan was used to playing in the Fantasy Universe where she was Kira of Elwyn, a warrior girl with magical powers and friends who would help her. She thought about sitting at her computer, Zaxon’s face on the screen and what he would say helping her figure out the next challenge in their shared quest. Did Zaxon miss her? Maybe he was worried about her. She reached into her pocket for her cell phone only to find two quarters and a dime.

No cell phone and no computer. No Fantasy Universe where magical beings lived grand adventures. And no Zaxon. He couldn’t miss her because he wasn’t born yet. Or maybe he had been and she was lost in another version of the past. What if she did something in 1979 that caused the future to be different? How could she know if her actions here would affect the future? Maybe everything would be different when