It was hectic as everyone who was performing got ready and everyone who wasn't helped. I just sat on the stairs, watching them scramble around, practicing, getting props, and making sure they were presentable for 1949. Charlie was once again wearing a vintage dress and so were the kids who had previously worn modern clothes.

Charlie and Olive came up to me. They were both wearing matching red, white, and blue leotards. "You sure you don't wanna be in the show?" Charlie asked me.

"Yeah; we could put something through you or something!" Olive chirped.

I chucked. "Yeah. I'm sure. And I've only gotten a hole punched in me once and that was in my leg; I don't know what'll happen if I get something through anywhere else."

Both girls looked really disappointed.

"Hey let's go practice our routine again." Charlie placed her hand on the younger girl's shoulder.

"Okay." Olive said, allowing Charlie to lead her elsewhere.

At around 10:30, all 15 of us made our way into town. The place was very crowded; it looked like literally everyone in the entire valley was attending. Miss Cardinal somehow got us all through the crowd without anyone getting lost. She led us to the town hall, where the performers were all gathered; it looked the same as the children's home had looked just a few minutes before; people shouting at each other from across the room, people scrambling to get all their props and costumes together, people practicing their routines. I almost got kicked in the face by a ballerina as we made our way to the desk, where a man in a pinstripe suit was checking people in.

"Name of act?" He said when he saw us.

"We have six, actually." Miss Cardinal gave him a piece of paper. He looked at it, opened a drawer in his filing cabinet behind him, spent a minute ruffling through the papers, and handed the ymbryne a stack of number cards. "Thank you." She took them and ushered us all into a corner and began handing out cards. The only ones who didn't have an act were myself, Jacob, Raymond, Riley, Enoch, Claire, Horace, and Miss Cardinal. Everyone else was in ones, twos, or threes.

At 11:00, everyone who wasn't doing some sort of act was told to go out into the audience. We managed to get right up front somehow. Everyone seemed very excited. There were boys going back and forth on the outside of the crowds offering programs for a penny each. Venders also went back and forth selling candy, nuts, popcorn, and pop. We got two buckets of popcorn to share. It was below freezing outside, but I couldn't tell; everyone was huddled so close it felt like a suffocating Florida summer day.

There was an intense, ear-shattering roar of cheers as the man in the pinstripe suit came onstage with another man in a gray suit and a woman in a brown skirt and orange blouse.

"Alright alright!" The man in the pinstripe suit yelled into his microphone, making the crowd almost completely silent. "Welcome to the annual New Years Eve Cunningham Valley talent show, 1949!"

Another roar of cheers burst from the crowd.

"For those of you visiting, my name is Michael Nicket, your mayor. This lovely lady next to me is my beautiful wife, Caroline Nicket, and this is your Events Secetary, Martin Woice!"

Another roar.

"Enough chit-chat!" Mrs. Nicket exclaimed. "Let's get started!"

"Right." Mayor Nicket said. "Our first act is..." He looked at a long piece of paper. "Anna and Lizzie Forstee on their sweet little flutes!"

Two little girls, about ten and nine, skipped on stage carrying little silver flutes that glistened in the dull sunlight. They took center stage and started playing the flutes; it was a lively tune I was sure I'd heard before but couldn't recall the name. They were very good and received a bigger round of applause and cheers than the mayor.

About eight more normal acts took the stage before any of the peculiars; I had actually almost forgotten that they were the reason I was even here.

First, Mayor Nicket called George to the stage, recommending everyone cover their ears for this one. George walked on, looking kinda nervous. There was a pyramid of wine glasses stacked carefully and elegantly next to him. He lifted his chin and opened his mouth, allowing his ear-splitting shriek to stab at my eardrums; everyone other than George covered their ears. The glasses next to him shattered in a crystal implosion. He finally closed his mouth when all the glasses were broken; the moment he stopped the shriek, my ears buzzed. All the babies and young children in the crowd were crying.

"Jesus Christ!" The mayor exclaimed when George was off stage. "I'd hate to be his parents." He looked at the long sheet of paper. "Next up we have Bronwyn Bruntley and Sebasten Evergreen. And by the way, today happens to be Mr. Evergreen's birthday! So wish him a happy birthday if you see him later."

A car was driven on stage with a family of six inside, and then Bronwyn and Sebasten followed it. Then Bronwyn lifted the car over her head; the crowd gasped. Then Sebasten bent down and picked her up by the ankles, the car with the family still over Bronwyn's head. The crowd was silent as Sebasten put her down, and then she put the car down. When the car drove away there was a roar of applause.

After that, there were three more normal acts, then Millard and Janie did a short comedic routine, then there were five more normal acts, and Hugh made his bees go into complex shapes like the Eiffel Tower, toy soldiers, and even a girl's smiling face. After that, Emma did an insane fire-eating thing and twirled flaming batons above her head. I lost track of how many normal acts came between her and Olive and Charlie's complicated, technical dance routine; I don't think Olive's feet even touched the ground once.

After Olive and Charlie's routine, Miss Cardinal wasted no time getting us all back to the house. ("Can't have the normals asking us too many questions- even if they will forget about us tommorrow.")

By the time we got back, it was half-past three; we all put on layers of warm clothing and went outside to play. Even Miss Cardinal joined us in an intense snowball fight between the girls and the boys; we boys lost, but that doesn't matter. We demanded a rematch, but they beat us in that one too. Sebasten got so mad at that point that he punched a tree down, causing a small avalanche that just made us laugh.

Miss Peregrine's children said they had to leave at around five; Jacob pulled Charlie and me aside before they left.

"D'y'all want to come with us?" He asked.

"What exactly would that entail?" I demanded.

"Well, you could stay with us; explore loops around the world and such; and if your not interested in that, they also opened a peculiar academy; we go there."

"Uh..." Charlie said.

"But if you've had too much, we can drop you off back in Florida; you can go back to your mom and dad, and your normal life." He explained.

I weighed the choices. "Well... I don't wanna go back home; not knowing what I know now. But I think I need to get used to all this for a while before going deeper."

"Couldn't agree more." Charlie said. "We're staying here for a while."

"When are y'all gonna be back?" I asked.

"Well..." Jacob tapped his chin, deep in thought. "I think the day after tomorrow's our last day coming here for a while... If you have any questions or anything, just go into the present and text me- you do have your phone, right?"

I instinctively touched my phone in my pocket- it didn't work in 1949, of course, but I'd kept it in there anyway. "Right. Okay."

"And I'll forward you all the others' cell numbers so you can contact them if you can't get to me."

"Thanks." Charlie said.

We and Miss Cardinal's peculiars followed the others out to the loop entrance. There was a seres of lighthearted goodbyes and "see you soon"s as they disappeared into the present.

"So you're stayin' here?" Sebasten asked me as we walked back to the house.

"Yeah. For a while at least." I replied.

"So... You ain't gonna go live in the present?"

"Of course I am, eventually; I just don't really want to go back to the present." I said. "I would prefer to live here in 1949 forever to going back to my own time and living the life I was living before."

I must've struck a nerve; Sebasten pursed his lips and clenched his fists. He broke off from the rest, heading towards town instead of to the house. I followed him.

The talent show festivities were winding down by now and the crowds were scattered throughout the town.

On the outskirts of town, there was a shiny red pickup truck; Sebasten grabbed it by the grill and, with a slight grunt, sent it flying through the air.

"Did I say something?" I asked, going over what I'd said when we were walking with the others.

He breathed deeply and looked me in the eyes, his eyes fiery and intense, and spoke softly, "you don't even know what I'd give to be able to live in the present."

He didn't need to say anything more; I knew exactly what he meant; gay marriage wouldn't be legal in America until the 21st century; even if he left on New Years Eve, 1949, he would be an old man by the time he could get married; I couldn't imagine having to go all those years, unable to live freely as I wanted. My stomach tied itself in knots of pity. I decided to change the subject. "You'd kill it on American Ninja Warrior."

He glared at me again and moved towards another car.

"Well... Er... It's almost loop reset time; should we get back to the house or what?" I suggested.

He sighed, flung the car into the night, and, without a word, walked with me through the bitter cold into the woods.

____________________

There ya have it!

Love ya!

CC