Today on May 20th, 2018, I am going to a science convention. From what I’ve asked my friends, they find it to be very interesting. My friend Rose, has black hair, brown eyes, about 5’4, and wore glasses. Ava had all the features that Rose has, they practically look like twins. They are both science nerds. There could be some fun in these science stuff, who knows. 

They told me to wear something professional that way I fit in with everyone else there which in my opinion, I thought was useless. Nobody is going to care about what I wear and instead worry about themselves. 

I just say to them, “Okay, I’ll see.” However, that didn’t convince them enough. They all came over to my apartment to make sure I wasn’t lying to them. 

I’ve done that too many times to them. I went through a breakup about 6 months ago and I still haven’t gotten over it. I trusted him so much but then I came to find out every word that came out of his mouth was all fake. That’s probably why I started lying to people too. But right now, I was being truthful with dressing professionally for the convention. 

I guess wearing casual clothes would make me stand out more anyway. 

My friends gave me a black blazer with black pants along with black heels. 

“Couldn’t I just wear black shoes instead of heels, they are so uncomfortable,” I exclaim. 

Rose replies back, “Look, Lydia, you have to make a good impression among these people, they’re all either really smart or really rich, think about that.” 

“Right but I’m not thinking about the rich or smart people, I’m thinking about my own comfort.” 

Ava then says, “Hey I’ll bring some black shoes in my bag just in case but you have to wear the heels for at least an hour.” I think for a minute and give in. 

“Fine, I’ll wear them, but only if you get me some ice cream after,” I tell them. Ava says back. 

“Deal.” 

At 4 o'clock we’re all dressed up and ready to go. 

Us 5 takes one car and it takes about 30 minutes to reach the science convention. This science convention is held in the hall of a big university. 

These big doors are awaiting us and on the other side of the doors was just, wow. Ahead was a big stage with these cool lights surrounding it, making the theme very sci-fi. The chairs had a very unique design, unlike any normal chair. Many people stood close to the stage, waiting to present their ideas. 

I’m glad all my friends brought me here, it was already better than I thought. We all walk in, looking all around us mesmerized. We then sit in the line of empty seats towards the middle row. 

The first presentation shown was the first-ever time machine. That caught my attention right away. A scientist named Dr. Smith presented a time machine about 10 ft fall with bright blue lights all over the time machine. 

After the time machine presentation, my mind was still stuck on that time machine. I’m not sure whether it was the time machine or the one who presented it, Dr. Smith himself. 

After all the inventions were presented, everybody got a chance to meet all the scientists and inventors who presented their ideas. I had this weird urge to go up to Dr. Smith and talk to him. 

“Hey guys I’m going to go meet with the scientist that presented the time machine,” I tell my friends as I quickly start walking away. 

“Woah Lydia is in a rush, I’m glad we brought her here,” Rose says. 

I stand in a line where everybody is waiting to go meet Dr. Smith and talk about his time machine. I stand in line for 10 minutes and finally got to the front of the line. 

I go up to the desk and introduce myself, “Hi, my name is Lydia and I was fascinated by your presentation of the time machine, I’m wondering if you have gotten anyone to try the time machine yet.” 

Dr. Smith then looks up and says, “Actually I haven’t found anyone yet since everyone is too scared of the outcomes.” 

“I could try it if you want to,” I replied. Dr. Smith’s face lit up suddenly. “Would you be willing to?” “Yeah sure it doesn’t seem so bad,” I reply back. He then pulls out some kind of recording device. 

“Okay, now answer clearly, will you try this test trial on this time machine,” he asks with a smirk on his face. 

“Yes, I will do it,” I say to the scientist. 

I met up with the scientist, Dr. Smith, who built the first-ever time machine. I’m the first person to time travel through the time machine. After I agreed to do the test, I did all my research seeing all the possible outcomes through time travel, most of which aren’t good. But there is nothing worth living for anymore, so might as well just go for it. 

I enter the hospital, walking alongside Dr. Smith. I could feel my heart beating right out of my chest. Even though I volunteered to do this, it felt very nerve-wracking. It shouldn’t be that big of a deal however, I’m only going one hour ahead of time. 

We walked down the hallway and at the end of the hallway was a “DO NOT ENTER” door. 

Dr. Smith opened the door and behind the door was another door. But this time, you had to put a password combination in order to enter. 

He closes the door behind us and then enters the password for the door in front of us. Dr. Smith is the only person who knows the combination since he’s the one who came up with the whole idea of setting this up. 

The door then slowly opens with a loud creaking sound.

 In the room that’s on the other side of the door, was only a chair. Dr. Smith then opens the door all the way to reveal the time machine. 

It was absolutely fascinating. The time machine was about 10 ft tall with bright blue lights all over the time machine, just like the one shown at the convention. It had an automatic sliding door that was controlled through a remote control that Dr. Smith carried, also shown during the convention. 

“You can walk inside the time machine now Lydia,” Dr. Smith says. 

I take one step and stop right away. 

Dr. Smith walks up to me to reassure me, “It’s ok Lydia, you’ll be alright, it’s only one hour ahead, it's not too far.” 

For some reason, the reassurance actually helped me. 

I then felt more confident suddenly and walk ahead into the time machine. 

Right when I walk into the time machine, Dr. Smith shuts the door right away. He gave me a smile which wasn’t necessarily a smile, more of a smirk. I gave an anxious smile back. He gave me a thumbs up to make sure I am ready and I gave a thumbs up back. 

The lights inside suddenly glowed so bright that I couldn’t see anything but white. Just then, I felt my whole body shiver for what felt like 10 minutes. I couldn’t feel my face, my arms, my legs, anything. My whole body went numb. 

—

I slowly open my eyes and find myself in the time machine but the environment felt very very odd. The door opens itself and the first thing I notice is that Dr. Smith isn’t where he said he would be. In fact, there wasn’t even any chair in the room. 

There were spider webs on every corner with big spiders stuck on them. 

“Dr. Smith, are you here,” I yell out. 

No response. 

“DR. SMITH ARE YOU HERE,” I yell louder this time. 

Just then, I hear a loud rumble from the other side of the door. It made the ground shake beneath my feet. 

My heart beats faster and faster as the ground keeps rumbling. Then, in front of me, next to a door, there’s a calendar taped to the wall. 

I walk up to the calendar and the first thing I read on it was, “May 2078.” 

I stare in shock for about a minute.

 “THAT LIAR I SHOULD’VE NEVER TRUSTED HIM,” I shout out loud once I realize that Dr. Smith is a liar. 

How could he do that to someone, how could he do that to anyone? This reminded me of my previous relationship. 

I slam open the door with dust flying all around making my allergies start acting up a little. That didn’t even matter to me right now, what did was the fact that I was lied to, again. I know that I didn’t care about life too much, but I’ve never wanted to be more alive than I am right now. 

As I look outside, I immediately see the sky. It has this orange-ish, brownish hue. It reminded me of the planet Mars. 

I looked left and right, and there were no buildings whatsoever, no roads, no lights, there was nothing. 

“WHERE DID YOU TELEPORT ME, WHY DID I AGREE TO THIS, WHY AM I SO STUPID,” I scream at myself as the sound of my voice echoes in the void. 

Then suddenly, I hear another echo – that wasn’t my voice. “Hello,” I yell out, hearing my voice echo once again. 

About 5 seconds later I heard an echo shouting, “Hello” back to me. 

I start running as fast as I could towards the voice. I needed something or someone with me right now. I couldn’t stand being alone on what seemed like another planet. 

I run and run, for what seemed like forever. As I run, my lungs felt like they stopped working. I tried to catch my breath, but it was impossible. I wheeze and wheeze, hoping to stay alive. I kneel to the ground with my hands flat on the land, wishing to breathe some fresh air right now. Just then, my head hits the ground with a loud “THUMP.”

—

“Hello, hello wake up.”

My eyes open wide as I get up right away and catch my heavy breath.

“I’M ALIVE,” I exclaim between my heavy breaths.

“Yeah, you are, now tell me what you are doing here,” someone asks me.

I look at them, taken aback.

“Who are you,” I ask, slowly backing away from the person. 

“Marigold, who are you,” they ask back to me, with a similar expression on their face. 

“Lydia…,” I respond, still backing away.

“You know you can stop backing away, there’s nowhere else to go,” Marigold says with a grin on her face.

I look around the environment I’m in right now and yes, there’s nowhere else to go.

I stopped backing up, but I still had a frightened look on my face. 

“Can you tell me where I am right now,” I ask curiously, looking around.

She responds with, “You’re on Mars Lydia.”

“WHAT,” I screech.

“I’ve been here for 3 weeks Lydia, and I want to get out of here now, I want to go back to Earth, I hate it here,” Marigold says suddenly with tears forming in her eyes. 

Whoa, that went deep really quickly. But I understand her sorrow, being alone in a never-ending deserted land is depressing. 

“Don’t worry Marigold, I’ll make sure we get out of here soon,” I reassure her.

Why was I being the hero suddenly, that even bewildered me.

Marigold and I get to know each other better, such as who we are, what our lives were like before we ended up on Mars, and how we got here in the first place. Surprisingly, the way we both ended up here was from the same interaction. She met with Dr. Smith at a science convention that was happening in Canada, she liked him and his idea and ended up going with him to do his test, just like with me. However, one thing was different.

“Where did you end up when he first teleported you, Marigold,” I ask her.

“I just ended up on the ground with my face flat on the ground,” she says laughing.

“I actually ended up coming out of the time machine when I got teleported here,” I tell Marigold.

She suddenly stopped walking.

“Lydia, you realize that could be our way out of here,” she loudly yells at me.

I never realized that I could use that as my way back, how could I have been so clueless?

“Lydia, do you remember the way that you first came from when you got here,” she asks excitedly. 

I think for a minute, but nothing comes to mind.

“Nope, I’ve got nothing.”

We both walk along for 20 minutes, trying to think of a solution on how to get out of this deserted place. 

I became more and more hopeless, thinking there was no way out of this place. I tilt my head up, looking at the sky. I observe it, seeing what other planet’s skies look like. I immediately remembered something. 

I spin my head around in a 360 motion.

“Are you ok,” Marigold asks with a concerned expression.

To our right, I found the spot.

“When I first came outside, I noticed the sky had an orangeish-brownish hue but that’s only in one particular spot, the rest is just brown,” I say excitedly. 

“I still don’t know what you’re trying to imply,” Marigold responds, still confused.

“The spot with more orange in the sky is where the time machine is located I remember now,” I scream with joy.

“LYDIA ARE YOU SERIOUS, THIS IS BIG NEWS,” she screams along with my joy.

We both had such a big adrenaline rush that when we started running towards the spot of the sky, we didn’t stop until we got to our destination. It took us about 30 minutes before we could get a slight outline of the door in the distance.

“Do you see it Marigold, because I see it,” I say to her with a proud look on my face.

“Yep, I see it too, we’re too good at this,” she responds as we give each other a high-five.

We then continue running towards the spot for another 5 minutes and finally, we made it to the door. 

We instantly rush inside, and see the time machine we have been longing for. This was the first time where we were surprisingly happy to see that corrupt invention.

“Hold on Lydia, I just realized something,” Marigold comments.

“What is it,” I ask anxiously.

“Do you remember that remote control that Dr. Smith had, it was the only way to teleport in this time machine.

All my hopes and dreams instantly got crushed and it felt like my heart was being squeezed tightly. I walk with my head down to the chair, and immediately start sobbing once I sat down.

Instead of Marigold being miserable like me, she started walking around, observing every little inch of the walls and ground in this area. 

I continued sobbing, assuming that I’ll never get out of here. 

I watch the floor with a blurry vision, having a view of Marigold’s shadow looking for the remote control.

Marigold holds a rectangular-shaped item in her hand with a cheerful smile on her face. 

“Lydia, look at what I found,” she tells me. 

I look up, still saddened with tears smothered on my face. My expression completely changed once I saw what she was holding in her hands.

“NO WAY YOU FOUND IT,” I jump up in excitement yelling.

“Ask me how I found it,” Marigold teases. 

“How did you find it,” I then immediately questioned.

“Do you see the calendar taped up on the wall over there,” she asks me, pointing towards it.

“Yeah, that was one of the first things I saw once I got here,” I tell her while still wondering how she managed to find that remote control so quickly.

I was flipping through the pages of that calendar and on May 2079, there was a socket that the remote was in.

“Was Dr. Smith going to keep us both here for a year,” I questioned.

Marigold replied back with, “That’s what I’m thinking too now, this couldn’t just randomly happen, you know.”

I think about that smirk Dr. Smith gave right before he teleported me, I should’ve never trusted that face.

“Okay, let’s not think about that right now, the most important thing right now is to get out of here”

I stand up and brush against Marigold’s shoulder, standing right next to her.

I put my hand out in front of Marigold and then she puts the remote control onto my hand.

Through the screen I could see little bolts being lit every second, making the remote control warmer. Mars was already burning hot standing on the ground itself so having both my hands and feet burning didn’t make it any better.

I swipe through the screen, trying to figure out how to get back to earth. I swipe through the different planets that were listed on here, all which stated on the screen itself, “Cannot travel.” I had to swipe a few more times before I could find Earth. Once Earth popped up on the screen, I told Marigold to go into the time machine right away. I slowly step in with her, making sure there was enough space between us. I click the button on the screen that reads “Earth,” and after that, another screen pops up asking what date I want to travel back to. 

I put, “May 21th, 2018,” the day that Dr. Smith teleported me here. 

I press the button and all my body parts felt numb, just like when I was being teleported here by Dr. Smith, one of the cruelest men ever. 

From my fingers, all the way down to my toes, it felt like I was being pricked by hundreds of porcupines. Like before, it took about 10 minutes to get all the way back to Earth. 

—

I tentatively open my eyes as I start to restore some of my vision. Once I was able to think straight, I look to my left and see Marigold, still passed out.

I shake her rigorously, “Mari, Marigold wake up!”

She jolts up right out of her sleep and yells out, “Huh huh are we on Earth yet?”

“Yeah we are, now let’s get Dr. Smith arrested before it’s too late come on,” I scolded as I took her hand and helped her stand up.

Marigold was able to gain consciousness right away and ran straight towards the table. She immediately grabbed a pair of handcuffs that apparently, was on the table that I didn’t notice before.

“Come on Lydia, let’s go,” she declared.

“I’m coming, I’m coming, also where did you get those handcuffs from all of a sudden, it’s as if you knew they were already there,” I question.

We both rush out through the 2 doors of the room while we fast walk and Marigold explains, “Okay so whatever I explained to you on Mars was a complete lie and I’m actually a police officer who has been tracking him down for a while.”

My mouth drops open as we take a right in the hallway. 

“Are you serious, that’s so cool but so – freaky,” I commented.

“You know you are a good police officer when nobody can suspect you,” Marigold says with a cheeky tone.

We see a group of what looked like scientists down the hallway and I immediately spot that evil Dr. Smith.

Marigold sprints up to the group of scientists and states, “Dr. Smith, you are under arrest.” 

She puts his hands behind his back and puts the handcuffs around his hands and locks the lock.

Dr. Smith then shouts, “What I’m innocent, I haven’t done anything wrong, I’m being wrongly accused!”

I yell at him saying, “Oh Dr. Smith, you know what you did.” 

There were security guards besides the scientists who know Marigold well and helped lead Dr. Smith inside the cop car.

—

It’s May 20th, 2019. I haven’t told Rose and Ava that all this commotion has happened to me, and I plan on never telling them or anyone for as long as I live. Last year, it was on the front page news exclaiming, “SCIENTIST DR. SMITH ARRESTED FOR SENDING 2 WOMEN TO SPACE ILLEGALLY.” 

Marigold made sure that the news reporters or anyone at all, not know that we were the ones who were sent. 

From this journey, I learned to never trust anyone who I have just met right away, even if the idea of it seems sweet.