Young Writers Society

THE FINALE

Only minutes after Bo, Magnolia, Liam, and Levi began messaging each other in the present, each of them suddenly heard a knock at the door, and found that a letter was left for them, with a plane ticket enclosed in an invitation. The invitation was brief, but unmistakable.

Meet me at 1409 W Terrace, Milthes, OK
Saturday, 4pm
Tickets enclosed and paid for! Excited to see you.
-Adeline Hagen-Sommers

It was a little cryptic, but considering they'd been in the Oklahoma only moments ago, they all knew who the letter was from - and it was easy to explain how quickly it had gotten to them.

Time travel, obviously.

When each of them landed in Oklahoma, they all found themselves walking out to the departure station at about the same time. With surprise and confusion, they all greeted each other, comparing their invitations to one another's until they saw an old, vintage car roll up to the sidewalk and roll its window down. In the front seat sat Adeline - but she looked different. This Adeline was several years older. Her hair was not as bright red as it used to be, and a few wrinkles showed themselves on her forehead, but this Adeline was no less radiant than her past self.

"I see you guy's haven't aged a day," Adeline said with a smirk. "Get in!"

"Wait, you-you're--" Liam stuttered.

"And you don't look a day over 30," Levi said with a smirk in return. "Seems a little odd, considering--"

"OooOOooOnly a few years have passed," Bo interrupted, glancing at the people passing around them. There weren't many people gawking, but Adeline's old car was getting a few looks. That, and they probably looked like a peculiar group.

"Yeah, Adeline," Magnoila said with a sarcastic smile. "You look good."

"Is no one going to explain anything?" Liam asked as the others started piling their luggage in the trunk. "Wait, is this the same car?"

"Sure is!" Adeline said in a chipper voice. "Now hurry up so we can get out of traffic."

Liam and Levi quickly slid into the back seat and Bo opened the door for Magnolia to get in next to them. When she was good, he closed the door and hopped into the front seat next to Adeline.

"I'll explain things on the way over," Adeline said, glancing into the rear-view mirror. "But I want it to be at least a little surprise."

The nearest airport to the small town of Milthes was about an hour away, so Adeline had plenty of time to talk. Between the five of them, Adeline was the only one really having to play catch up, since, for the rest of them, they'd all seen each other only a few days ago.

Levi was the most exhausted out of the five of them since his connecting flights from Britain, to New York, to St. Louis, all the way into Oklahoma took almost twenty-four hours. About fifteen minutes into the drive, he fell fast asleep between Liam and Magnolia, but Magnolia told Liam that if Levi started leaning that she wasn't going to be his pillow. Liam seemed to begrudgingly accept it when Levi slouched to his side with his head on Liam's shoulder.

While Levi was fast asleep, Adeline started to tell them about her past twenty or so years in the past. It was strange to see her so soon (and so much older), but she seemed excited to tell them all about her time with the Sommers family, and Rosie - as she called her - in particular.

Liam went on and on about how hard it had been to explain to his parents that he was going on a sudden impromptu trip across the country, and everyone seemed to want to hear Levi's story of what he told his own family, but he was out for the count. But they figured they would hear it later.

Bo and Magnolia didn't have too much trouble since they were both living on their own. They just had to take some time off work to make it work out. Bo mentioned having to bribe a friend to cover his shifts, but he seemed to be joking about it more than anything.

As the drive went on, they watched as the scenery began to change, and it started to look a little familiar. The land was still flat, but up ahead they could see a small town.

Or at least, what would've been small in the present, but was much bigger than it used to be.

They passed a sign that read: Welcome to Milthes, and they all looked at each other while Adeline just sat quietly, grinning to herself.

"Are we going to Sommers' old house?" Liam asked.

"I doubt it's still there anymore," Magnolia said. "It probably got torn down because it's a fire hazard. It was really cluttered, from what I remember."

"And it had low ceilings," Bo commented.

"Hey Adeline, were people shorter 100 years ago?" Liam asked.

Adeline just laughed. "You really haven't changed," she said.

"That's because it's been like, a week!" Liam retorted, which only made Adeline laugh more, and Magnolia and Bo laughed too.

The laughter seemed to wake Levi up, though, and he stirred, looking around groggily.

"Are we there yet?" Levi asked sleepily.

"Almost," Adeline said, and the others couldn't help but notice that she was driving through the town, and not into it. She took a turn down a small, paved road that started winding out into the country. The fields of grass gave them a familiar feeling, and eventually, they spotted the farm in the distance. The old farmhouse itself looked almost exactly like they left it. Liam was the one to point it out first.

"You're taking us to the farm!" Liam shouted the obvious.

"I'm still confused on how Adeline's not a hundred years old," Levi said, still sounding half-awake.

"Oh, she explained that when you were asleep," Bo said. "Turns out, they kept the time machine. So Adeline just traveled to the future to meet us after spending a few years in the past. Not too complicated."

"But where's Rosaline, then?" Levi asked.

"You can't just ask that," Magnolia scolded under her breath.

"It's fine, Magnolia," Adeline said, shrugging, "I thinks she passed in 1992. Myself, on the other hand, died in 1995."

There was a small silence in the car as it pulled up to the front of the large farmhouse.

"So... who lives here now?" Bo asked quietly.

"My great-grandchildren, probably," Adeline said as if she said it everyday.

"Do they know we're coming?" Magnolia asked. "Sure would be a big surprise if they didn't."

"I checked. They're in St. Barts," Adeline sighed, "Apparently my family's St. Bart people now."

"St. Bart," Liam echoed under his breath.

"So your family is..." Levi trailed off as everyone started getting out of the car.

"Rich?" Liam finished for him.

"With fifty years of making some cash money with stonks," Adeline chuckled, amused with her own 21st-Century lingo, "sorry, haven't used words like that in a while. Anyways, some people might say we are."

-

The car came to a stop in front of the house. The group seemed to stare at it for a bit too long, considering it was a porch. Just a couple days ago, a family in 1943 greeted them on the porch. Now they were standing in front of it in the present, in the same car.

"It's like we were just here," Liam said, exiting the car. Bo helped Magnolia out of her seat.

"Seems like it was just yesterday."

Adeline chuckled at Levi's comment as she turned off the car. For her, it had been almost fifteen years since she had seen the others. Their wonder at the fact the farm was still here amused her to no end.

"Does anyone have a key?" Bo asked.

"I think there's one in that fake rock near the door," Adeline said, "That's where Dewey had one."

"Not finding any rocks here," Magnolia said.

"Can confirm," Bo echoed, and he walked up to the door handle, testing the lock.

"I guess we're breaking in, then." Magnolia said. "Well. No time like the present."

"You guys still have those lock-picking skills you used in the prison?" Adeline asked, half-expecting them to say no.

"You think I lost them so soon?" Bo asked with a laugh as he pulled out a pick from his pocket. "Kinda weird that we're breaking into your old house, but I'm down."

With that, he leaned down beside the lock and started picking at it.

"So, what's happened in the 2000s since I left?" Adeline tried to make conversation, "Not much, I presume."

"I did a lot of chores," Liam said unenthusiastically.

"Had a choco-taco on the way to the airport."

"I took a nap?" Levi offered.

"Oh, yeah. It's only been a week for you guys."

"I just went back to work," Bo said. "You know, like nothing even happened."

Finally, the lock clicked open, and with a little "aha!" Bo pulled the door open.

"Boom. Nothing broken, and we're in," Bo announced as he held the door open wide.

Magnolia slow clapped, and Liam and Levi joined in. Bo bowed dramatically.

"Nice job, man," Adeline said as she stepped inside the house. She stared at the room for a moment, "They've made some.. changes."

Liam looked around. The room was recently renovated, with basic grey couches and off-white walls. If he hadn't known any better, Liam would've thought they'd stepped into a show-home. "It looks... new?"

"Trust me, it wasn't Dewey, Rosie, or I that made it look like this," Adeline said, disgusted by her own relative's taste.

Adeline wandered over to the mantlepiece, examining the photos. There she was, with Rosie and their children. 1988. Besides that, there were no photos of Dewey or Dr. Sommers in the living room. Just cheesy pictures of Adeline's grandchildren and their kids.

Magnolia walked inside. "I'm guessing you don't like it?"

"This might be worse than what they did in the 90s," Adeline said, setting down a picture she had grabbed.

"Do I even want to know?" Magnolia asked.

"No," Adeline shook her head, "No, you do not."

Magnolia nodded solemnly in response.

"Anyways," Levi said, emerging from the back of the group, "Should we look around?"