Time Crunch

[Otis McNutt 395]

Tyler sighed as he quietly entered the gym of Hawthorne High School. A banner painted in a retro style proudly exclaimed "Welcome back Class of 1989!"

Tyler winced as he passed a wall a memorial wall dedicated to students lost, one picture in particular looked very much like him, the name Connor Black scribbled in gold letting.

Tyler Flynn walked to the door but didn't enter, all he really wanted to do was watch. Just to take in his friends one last time. His heart sank as they laughed and joked and carried on like nothing had happened, even Amy laughed.

Tyler left the Reunion and wandered a while until he made his way to the final stop on his journey, the Highland Park Cemetery. The final resting place of Connor Black was clean and well tended, a polished marbel Grave Marker with his name, and dates of birth and death celebrated his life with the phrase "A Life Wasted is so Lame!"

Tyler placed a KitKat bar on the headstone, and turned to leave when voices cut through the still night. "It's late Amy, maybe we should come back later." a frightened female said. "You're 43 years old Tiffany, act your age." Amy Wilde scolded. "Yeah Tiff, you know we can't call it a night without saying by to Connor." A male voice said.

Tyler crept away and hid as Connor Black's friends Amy Wilde, Tiffany Sloane, Jake Ryland and Herman Zeller walked into the cemetery.

"What's this?" Amy said holding up the candy bar. "I thought we'd agreed to come here together!" she said angrily. "It wasn't us Amy." Jake said. "Yeah we've been at the reunion all day."

Tyler stepped back and onto a fallen branch. The loud crack echoed through the silent night alerting the group to an intruders pressence. Tyler stood up, hood covering his head and bolted. "Hey you!" Jake shouted. As the hooded figure ran off Jake gave chase, followed by the girls and Herman bringing up the rear.

Jake jumped and tackled the mysterious eathesdropper to the ground. "OK who are you?" Jake asked removing the hood. "Oh my god!" Amy said. "Dude it's Connor!" Herman shouted. "Don't be stupid it can't be him, he's dead!" Jake said back. "Then who is he, Connors son?" Tiff asked. "I'm no one, please leave me alone." Tyler turned to leave. "Please don't go." Amy said.

Tyler stopped, as the hurt in her voice hit him. "Who are you?" she asked. Tyler sighed. "You weren't supposed to see me!" he said. "I shouldn't even be here." he added. "Who are you?" Jake asked. "My name is Tyler, but to you I was Connor Black."

"That's not possible, we saw the house explode seconds after you went inside!" Herman shouted. "How come you look the same as you did twenty years ago?" Tiff asked. "For you it was Twenty years ago, for me it was mere hours."

Tyler reached into his pocket and produced a small black object, it had a row of blue LEDs and a sophisticated touch screen.

It all began August 13th 1988...