When I was a young boy, I saw my parents get killed. I must've only been ten years old. We were walking down the streets one night. We went to cross the street. Me being me, I ran across the street in fear of getting hit by a car. My parents took their time. That was a mistake. By the time they saw the car, it was too late. The car hit them. I screamed. The man driving the car got out and checked their pulse. I ran up to him. I got a good look of his face. Black ruffled hair, tan skin, pointy nose, green eyes. He looked scared. I was scared.

"You killed them." I whispered. He looked shocked.

"I-I didn't mean to." He said. His voice was husky.

"You did! You killed them!" I screamed. I was sobbing. I fell to the ground. The man patted my back and called an ambulance. I crawled over to my parents and sat next to them. Their skin was already pale, they were bleeding.

I can't remember the rest of the night very well. The rest was all a blur.

I didn't have any family to take me in, so my best friend's family adopted me.

After my parents died, I wanted to become a detective. I don't know why, but it just seemed like a good idea. So, that's what I did. I became more observant and smarter. My goal is to find my parents killer and then... and then... I don't know. I'll do something.

It's been ten years.

I never forgot his face.

I haven't had many problems... until recently. As I was growing up with my best friend, Aiden, he started to look familiar. Very familiar. I couldn't put my finger on it.

At the moment, I'm sat on my bed reading one of my favourite books. Sherlock Holmes. I hear a knock at my door.

"Ryan? Can I come in?" I hear Aiden ask.

"Yeah, the door's open." I yell back. Aiden walks in. I close my book at set it on my bed. Aiden closes the door. As soon as it clicks, he starts jumping up and down while he's squealing.

"Do I want to know?"

Aiden runs up to me, a huge smile on his face.

"Follow me. I want to show you something." I roll my eyes and stand up. He runs out my door, but I walk. He comes back through the door, grabs my wrist and drags me out the door despite my protests.

We ran to our basement. Correction: we ran to his laboratory.

At least, that what he likes to call it. Aiden loves to invent things, but he rarely let's me see his inventions. He lets go of my wrist and runs to a circular machine big enough for two people to go in.

"What is that?" I ask.

"This, my dear friend, is a time machine!" We're silent.

"Don't give me that blank expression. I'll prove it!" He opens the machine and hops inside.

"Get in loser! We're going shopping." I sigh and walk to the machine. I sit next to him and he closes the door.

"You can never resist a mean girls reference, can you?" I ask. He pushes and few buttons and switches a few switches.

"You got that right. I'm mean girls trash." He says.

"You don't need to tell me twice." He pushes me.

"Don't be rude. We are going shopping, though. In the 1800s." The machine starts up and lifts off a bit. Soon, we're flying through... I don't even know. Everything looks like cotton candy. Soon we're stopped in the middle of a weird basement. Except, it isn't our basement. The floor is covered with straw and the walls are wood. We step out of the machine and instantly the smell of something decaying hit harder than my last angry girlfriend. I plugged my nose.

"Dear god! What is that smell?" I asked. Aiden raises and eyebrow.

"We just traveled through time and that's your question?" He asks skeptically.

"Answer me!" Aiden shrugs.

"I don't know. Come on, let's go somewhere else."

"I thought we were going shopping." Our conversation was interrupted by gunshots, screams and crying.

"You know, that smell it suspicious. Let's get going."

We get back in the machine.

"Where to now?"

"Um... make it random."

"Ooookay." he pushes a few buttons and soon we're in cotton candy way again. We land in a place that seems more familiar. A street. I feel like I've been here before... I just can't remember when. We get out of the machine and walk around a bit.

"Shouldn't we cover it up?" I ask. Aiden waves his hand as if he's dismissing a class.

"Nah, we'll be okay." We spend the day shopping at random places I had no idea existed and long story short I have a cat ears headband now.

"We're pretty far from the time machine." Aiden says. I look around. I run over to a car.

"Come on." I yell. To him. He runs over.

"What are you doing?" He asks, his voice getting a bit higher. I take a paperclip and start to pick at the lock.

"Getting us a ride." I say.

"Dude! No. Besides, you can't unlock a car with a paper-" the door unlocks and I get inside the car. I unlock the passenger side.

"You underestimate my power." Aiden mumbles something I decide not to add. He get in.

"What, do you know how to hotwire a car?" He asks. I nod. I get under the steering wheel and take apart the piece of plastic containing all the wires. I find two red wires and strip them. I cross them. I search for a single brown wire. When I find it, I slightly touch it to the red wire until the car starts. I drop them instantly and and sit in my seat. Aiden shakes his head.

"Why am I surprised?" We drive down the street. After a few minutes, we see a little boy run across the street. Where were the parents?

"RYAN!" Aiden yells. I look in front of me to see two people, a man and women. I hit the brakes but it's too late. The kid across the street screamed. Aiden ran out of the car to check their pulses. The little boy ran to his parents.

The little boy has blond ruffled hair, brown eyes, tan skin and a missing tooth. I cover my mouth with my hand. That little boy is me. I- I mean- he whispers something and Aiden responds.

"You did! You killed them!" I yelled. Yell. He. Me. We. He falls to the ground and starts sobbing. Aiden pats his back and calls someone. Little me crawls over to my parents. Our parents? His? Damn, this is confusing. Little me closes his eyes and sobs some more. I can't process anything that's going on. Aiden gets back in the car. We don't talk.

"I killed them." I whisper. Aiden turns his head to look at me.

"And you took the blame." I feel tears threatening to fall down my face.

"I... I... "

"I want to go home." Aiden nods. I start the car up and drive to the machine which is a few blocks away.

We get in the machine and after going through cotton candy way, we're back in our basement. I get out of the machine. And sit down on the ground

"Come on. We're watching a movie and then never using that machine again." Aiden says.

"I don't forget." I say. Aiden sits next to me.

"You don't forget what?"

"I don't forget what you look like."

"Nothing much we can do about that."

"I know... this whole day has been weird. I need to watch a movie." Aiden nods and helps me to my feet. I honestly thought I would be more affected. Maybe I was wrong? Maybe this is a weird dream. Maybe this isn't real. The thought jogs my memory. This never happened. I still have parents. I'm just dreaming. Everything fades to black.

I wake up, panting. I look around. My room is black from lack of light. Dirty laundry scatters on my floor. I sit up and stretch. That dream seemed so real. I should've known when I successfully hotwired a car that that was a dream. I lay back down and go back to sleep.