Finding Her Time

Claire slid the back door open and entered her house. “Hey dad, I’m back,” she called into the kitchen.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning. When Claire had woken up that morning, she decided she really needed to take a run. It was a perfect morning for a brisk jog through the park.

“Good,” he called back from the kitchen, “I made pancakes this morning.”

As she entered the room to get a glass of orange juice, she shook her head, “I still can’t go over the fact that you can cook.” She stared at the large stack of pancakes on the table.

“There’s something that I wanted to tell you,” he said nervously, “It’s about the time machine.”

Claire moved to the table slowly and sat down. She placed several pancakes on a plate and drowned them in syrup. When she finally started to eat, she looked at her dad and motioned for him to continue.

“I don’t want you to be scared, but I’m going to be testing it today. I might not be home for a few hours and that’s because I’m going to be in a different time. I want to make sure it works,” he pronounced slowly.

Claire’s mouth went dry. She swallowed and began to beg him not to test the machine, “What if you can’t get back, Dad? Please don’t test the machine. If you can’t get back then I won’t have you anymore. I’ll be an orphan.”

She began to cry. So she was being a bit dramatic, she had a good reason too. What explanation would it be if she told government officials that she’s an orphan because her father wanted to test his time machine? She’d be sent to an insane asylum or a hospital or get tested for drugs.

“Don’t worry, honey,” her father patted her shoulder, “I’ve already done some small tests with Piccolo. Take a look at him. He’s here, and he’s perfectly fine. I’ll admit it though, he is a bit more nervous, but other than that, he’s still the same cat.”

Claire turned in her chair and stared at the cat. Piccolo, the silly beast, was sitting at his food dish looking back at Claire with his squished face. He did look fine, but Claire still didn’t
want her father to go through with his plans. “I’m still scared, Dad.”

“I know,” he responded, “How about I continue working on the machine and I won’t experiment on it until I’m absolutely sure it won’t break on me?”

“Thank you,” Claire whispered. They finished their breakfast in silence, each of them thinking.

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The week rolled on peacefully. It was a breezy Wednesday afternoon. Mitch stayed home sick from school so Claire went to all his classes and collected his homework for him. She returned home to put her backpack down and prepare a bowl soup that her father made that afternoon. Claire thought that Mitch would like the gesture.

Claire casually strolled into the Carlos’ kitchen where Lizzie was helping Stacy with her homework, and Heather was working diligently on her laptop. They all looked up when she entered. Heather got up and hugged Claire. “I haven’t seen you in a while,” she said warmly.

“That’s not my fault,” Claire jested, “I practically live here, you know. It’s you who’s been off doing her own thing.”

“Do you want to know how my date went?” asked Lizzie from the table happily.
With a rather clever look of mischief, Stacy grinned and began chanting, “Lizzie and Nicky sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G…”

“Cut it out, Stacy,” Heather warned, “I’m pretty sure that Claire didn’t come to hear about your date, Lizzie. She’s probably here to check on Mitch.”

“Yeah, I am,” Claire held up her container, “I brought him some soup.”

She got three rather concerned looks. All three sisters knew that Claire couldn’t cook to save her life. Heather was kindly thinking of ways to take the soup out of Claire’s hands and say that Mitch wasn’t hungry at the moment. Lizzie looked at it and had vague memories of black mashed potatoes from last Thanksgiving.

Claire laughed, “You all look like I’m about to poison him. Don’t worry; I didn’t make it. My dad did.” She left the kitchen laughing and went upstairs to hand Mitch his homework and soup.

As soon as she left the room, Stacy began to chant, “Mitch and Claire, sitting in a tree…”

“Do your homework,” Lizzie interrupted her. Stacy looked down and continued her multiplication sheet. Heather and Lizzie looked at each other seriously. Lizzie whispered to her, “Do you think they’ll admit that they like each other sometime soon?”

Heather shook her head, “They’re a bit slow. You know that. We both know that Mitch really likes Claire, but we aren’t completely sure that Claire likes Mitch.”

Lizzie sat up, “I could always ask.”

“No, you won’t,” Heather declared, “take it from somebody who knows from experience. If we want them to get together, we’re going to have to let them do it all on their own.”

“Fine.” Lizzie looked back at Stacy who was asking for help with a problem.