Most nights start the same. I get ready for work while arguing with my sister Jewel. "How many times do I have to tell you there isn't a time machine hidden in the basement of the DMV??!?!?!"

For the record, this isn't a friendly debate. By this point all hell has broken loose because I've locked my sister in her room for sneaking out of the house in a spacesuit. I stay in the hallway as she jiggles the door from the other side, itching to get out like a wild animal.

"Where's your sense of imagination, Bronwyn? Your thirst for adventure? Since when did you turn into an NPR snooze-fest?"

Jewel really knows how to throw a dagger and she isn't totally wrong. Most people would rather watch paint dry then have a conversation with me, and I'm fine with that as long as my family's safe.

The thing is, Jewel and I used to be super close. In fact, we were inseparable, but things changed when I went to college. She started dating an older guy but things went south when he disappeared without a trace on an overnight fishing trip six months ago.

"I just need to go back and tell him not to go," Jewel pleads from the other side of the door. "What was he thinking? He's a vegetarian. He doesn't even like fishing."

By this point I'm in my uniform and really need to go. I use the knob as a mirror to fix my hair into a messy bun as I try reasoning with her one last time.

"I don't know what to say, Jewel. Sometimes life just really sucks, but Paul wouldn't want you risking your life over something that doesn't exist."

I wait by the door for a response. By now Jewel typically barks with a snarky comeback or punches a hole through the wall. All I hear tonight though are soft sobs, a yearning for a life that was swept from under her feet while blindfolded. She ultimately says nothing and for the first time ever I wonder if I'm finally getting through to her.

I look at my knockoff Apple Watch and realize I may actually be on time for work tonight. I usually get angry at Jewel for making me late with her shenanigans and should view tonight as a victory, however there's something about Jewel's silence that makes the world feel empty. Protecting Jewel has transformed me into a tyrannical cop who operates like an incompetent detective. The truth is, I have no idea where my sister got a spacesuit or how she thinks she can break into the DMV.

I go downstairs crossing my fingers that Jewel will stay in for the night. I see my dad passed out in the living room as Wheel of Fortune blares on the TV. He's turned into an every hour is happy hour kind of guy since this all started, I just wish he were a happier drunk. I nudge him and say he's on Jewel Patrol as I head out. As I approach the front door I hear robust applause coming from the TV. It looks like a lucky contestant guessed the famous movie quote on the letter board: "Even the tiniest of actions can change the future."

I step outside and walk to my car which is parked at the end of our long, dirt driveway. The night is so cold it's unforgiving and I shiver almost uncontrollably with each brisk step. As I dig for my keys I'm stopped dead in my tracks by a strange occurrence on the main road. A tinted, black Cadillac pulls up to our mailbox at the very end of the driveway. I hide behind a tree as the car window comes down and a hand about the size of a deli sandwich puts something in our box before driving away. I pause for a moment in sheer darkness not knowing what to do. Eventually I continue walking and the only sound heard for miles is the crinkling of dead leaves against my Doc Martens. I make it to my car and I'm determined to get out of dodge, but I can feel the mailbox glaring at me from twenty feet away. I decide to open the box where I find a small card addressed to Jewel. There's no return address but when I turn the card around it reads: "From Paul."