Building Blocks Read online

Who's going to believe that?"

  There was a strange logic to that, but it still didn't answer my question. Regardless, Doc seemed to be confident that we had nothing to worry about, so I gave up and let him do whatever it was he needed to do to get us underway. "Where are we going first?" I asked.

  "Well, I had planned for today to be more about getting you familiar and comfortable with the Chronopod. So where would you like to go?"

  I hadn't expected that, but I already knew the answer to his question. "Starwood Lake," I said. My favorite place in the world.

  Doc nodded. "Close your eyes, Herbert."

  I closed my eyes and waited, a strange exhilaration filling me. I couldn't believe I was going back. Starwood Lake was a childhood paradise for me. My grandfather owned a cabin along the eastern edge of the water. I spent countless summer nights along the waterfront learning how to skip stones and catch fireflies. On nice afternoons, Grandpa would take me to town and buy me a new toy boat or airplane. Then we'd get ice cream and go for a walk along the lake where the locals would tether their boats for cleaning or to be prepped for fishing or waterskiing. Nothing mattered when I was at Starwood Lake. I didn't have to worry about Mom or Dad or school or whether or not I was going to get to eat each day. Grandpa always took good care of me. I can honestly say that my memories of Starwood Lake are some of the happiest times of my life.

  A dull hum came from the Chronopod. Even with my eyes closed, I could see bright flashes of light. The room shook and shifted; I felt like I was losing my balance despite the fact that I was sitting on the bench. A moment of dizziness. Then a moment of nausea. More dizziness. The capsule was spinning. Or maybe I was.

  "You must choose a memory, Herbert," Doc's voice floated through my head. "You must focus on a single moment of time."

  I tried hard to concentrate. There were so many memories of Starwood Lake to choose from. I tried to think of everything I liked most. My mind zeroed in on an image of myself, as a child, sitting in front of Grandpa's old television—he clung to his long after holovisions had become the standard for home entertainment—watching cartoons. Behind me, Grandpa himself stood at the kitchen counter, frying up some bacon to go with the pancake breakfast he was preparing.

  Abruptly, the dizziness vanished. My balance returned in the absence of the flashing light, and I slowly opened my eyes. What I saw through the pod's window was breathtaking.

  Doc's voice was soft. "We're here."

  We sat amid the wooded area not five hundred feet from Grandpa's cabin. The sun was shining high above the treetops; it must have been nearly noon. The lake, beautiful and clear, reflected the surrounding coastline like a mirror. A momentary touch of wind created ripples barely noticeable to the human eye. Then it was gone, and Starwood Lake's surface was a sheet of glass once again.

  Everything was just as Doc had promised.

  "I don't believe it!" I told him. "This can't be real."

  "Would you like to see just how real it is?"

  Doc reached down and yanked the locking clamps free. A few button presses set the door into motion with a loud hiss. I removed the crown and stored it in the small compartment under the chair before I stood. But Doc had to talk me out of the capsule. The whole thing absolutely terrified me. What if my past self saw me? What if I saw him? Would he think anything of it? What if Grandpa saw me? Or even a cop? Climbing out of a space-age looking coffin probably would grab the attention of a cop or two.

  But Doc was already standing between the trees a few feet away. "It's alright, Herbert. Come on out."

  It was like stepping into a photo from my childhood. In fact, in many ways, that's exactly what I was doing! Everything from the smell of the lilacs to the bickering honks of the geese along the waterfront; it was all just as I remembered. "This is incredible," I murmured, gazing into the azure sky. But the fact remained that we were two strangers standing on Grandpa's property. "What if we're seen?" I asked.

  Doc pulled two belts from beneath the bench before he snapped the Chronopod's cover closed and secured the locking clamp. The hologram generator concealed the entire unit within the guise of an old tree. "No need to worry. Put this on," he said, handing me one of the belts, "but don't latch it yet."

  I didn't really understand, but I did as I was told. And when Doc connected the ends of his belt, he vanished. Like a candle being snuffed out, he disappeared right before my eyes.

  Of course, my jaw dropped.

  "What do you think?" It was strange to hear his voice right next to me without being able to see him.

  "That's . . . incredible!" was all I could get out.

  "Go ahead, buckle yours."

  The ends of my belt snapped together, and I watched with wide eyes as my own hands vanished. "How is this possible?"

  "They're military-grade invisibility belts," Doc explained. "I honestly don't know exactly how they work, but they essentially bend light around us. They'll keep us out of sight, but they won't mask our voices. So we'll have to keep quiet as we observe your memories. But we shouldn't have to worry about being seen."

  I had to ask the obvious question. "How in the world did you get your hands on military invisibility belts?" First the time capsule, now this?

  "There's no need to concern yourself with such things," Doc said with a chuckle. "I have some friends in high places, that's all. When you know the right people, all things are possible."

  A slight breeze blew, sweeping my memory back to my childhood days the way that only a cool spring breeze could. I closed my eyes and breathed it in, imagining that I was six years old again. It filled me with the desire to run to the swing hanging from the old tree on the other side of the cabin and let the magic of Starwood Lake suck me in all over again.

  "So, tell me about this place. Where are we?"

  At first, I didn't even hear him. The sights, the sounds, the smells; everything I'd cherished so much as a child and everything I'd missed so much as an adult was all right in front of me. It had been far too long.

  "Herbert?"

  I shook my head as I turned to face him, though I saw nothing but trees, of course. This was going to take some getting used to. "Sorry, Doc. I was just . . . I haven't been here in almost thirty years. I'm a little . . . overwhelmed."

  Doc's voice took on that soothing tone you'd expect from a shrink. "Where have you brought us?"

  "This is Starwood Lake," I said. "That's my grandfather's cabin over there."

  "Did you spend a lot of time here as a child?"

  "Not as much as I would've liked," I replied. "Mom and Grandpa never really got along. The only times she brought me here were when her fights with Dad got so bad that she'd leave him for a while."

  "Did she stay with you when you visited?"

  I shook my head, forgetting Doc couldn't see it. "No, she'd just drop me off and skip town. She often didn't tell Grandpa that I was coming. Sometimes she wouldn't even walk me to the door or check to see if Grandpa was here. I'd just knock and hope for the best, and he'd open the door to find me and my little knapsack standing there alone."

  "So this was sort of a refuge for you, then?"

  "You could say that, I suppose. Actually, 'refuge' would've been an understatement. Starwood Lake was a safe haven when I was young. I was safe from everything there. Dad's rampages, Mom's liquor, school kids, teachers, tests, fears, worries—they all vanished when I was with Grandpa. I could just be a kid. I was free to laugh, run, play, jump, or scream all day long. Nothing held back. I could just . . . be."

  "You've never mentioned this place before. I would've thought you'd bring something like this up during our sessions." He sounded surprised.

  "These days are long gone," I told him. "There's no point in dwelling on something I can never get back."

  It was strange to see the dirt compress beneath Doc's feet without being able to see the man himself. "We all dwell on our
pasts in one way or another. Most of the time it is for negative reasons—things we've done, haven't done, wish we'd done, and so on. To have memories of things we're glad to have done is a gift to be cherished and appreciated."

  I didn't tell Doc this, but the reason I try not to think about my memories of Starwood Lake is because they're good memories. I don't want them analyzed. I don't want them corrupted by the rest of my issues.

  "So," Doc continued, "which memory have we come to see today?"

  "I don't know," I admitted. "I mean, I remember the day, but only in brief images. I don't know if anything special happened on this particular date or not."

  "What made you choose this day to return to?"

  I thought about it for a moment. "I wanted an average day. I mean, every day here was special. So that's what I wanted. A typical day."

  I couldn't see him, but I could tell from his tone of voice that he had that warm smile on his face. "You lead the way. I'll stay close by at all times; don't worry about me. Just explore as you wish."

  My eyes were fixed on the cabin. "Can we go inside?"

  "If that's what you'd like to do."

  Bravery has never been one of my strongest points. "I don't know. Do you think we'll be discovered? Maybe we'd better not."

  "It's alright, Herbert." I felt his hand on my shoulder. "I won't put you in any situation I don't have complete control over."

  That didn't exactly calm my nerves. But at the same time, what kind of fool would I be to