It was the perfect day; a breathtaking ocean view from the west African coastline, soft warm sand stretching for miles, a soda pop bottle in one hand and a fresh kabob in my other. As a seven year old kid, I didn’t think anything in my innocent world could make this beach vacation more magical.

I walked carefully, tiptoeing threw the fresh water inlet coming in from the roaring salt water inlet; the sunlight sprinkled around me and down over my toes beneath the clear water, showing off a very strange shimmery display…of gold. My eyes grew wide as I gazed down at the glistening display, sifted so perfectly within the water and sand. As if discovering what no other had, I looked quickly around before stooping and picking up the shiny gold piece. It was smooth and glowed a heavenly gold hue. I looked about and to my great surprise there were several more glistening pieces within the inlet bed.

I moved quickly, snatching each and every one of them up, plopping them delicately within my pockets which grew blissfully heavier by the minute. Finally, seeing no more, I smiled mysteriously, secretly knowing that I was now a very rich little girl…certainly capable of buying all of the kabobs and ice cream I could eat.

“Daddy!” I called out in a giggling hush as I ran to my dad’s side. “I found gold!” I said excitedly, reaching within my pocket and bringing out several pieces of my glorious treasure. Dad smiled as he reached down, taking one of the pieces from my hand to look it over in the warm summer light. “I’m rich, daddy!” I exclaimed, smiling proudly at my find within his hand. Dad gave me a look of amusement. “Honey…this is fool’s gold.” He answered, quickly explaining my disappointments. I furled my eyebrows, drawing my mouth to one side to show my disapproval of my dad’s unwelcomed news. Without saying a word, I shook my head and placed my golden treasures back into my pocket. I would find some way to show my dad he was wrong; my treasure would never be tossed back into the sea.

I spent the rest of the day enjoying my sweet, wealthy illusions…and it was glorious as all of the gold in all of the world.

A true, heart-pounding account of my cousin Timothy’s mind-warped day.

It was Fall. The leaves on the Georgia ground were brown with sparks of vivid shades of orange and red of leaves that refused to die.

Like many weekends at this time, it was tradition for my cousin and I to live our moments with our grandparents to spend our curiously eventful time. Our Grandparents lived at the time, within a large retirement community. In this community, the homes all looked very much the same, which lead to some serious confusion at certain points for our imaginative young minds.

As I was saying, it was a fall day, and as always, my cousin and I wrapped ourselves up in the great out-doors of the massive housing compound. As I fell into my own little seven year old world of saving all of the insects of the world, Timothy wasn’t so concerned about the crucial expressions of my efforts. Off he floated, unbeknown to me, disappearing for an hour before meeting me back at Grandma’s house.

“I just traveled forward through time!”

Timothy burst through the door screaming his declaration, his eyes wide, his breath fast and his voice shaky as he stood, terrified. I dropped the freedom crying cat within my arms as Tim began to explain with great alarm his epically traumatic event.

“I was walking through the woods.” He began. The trees starting looking all the same, but I thought I was going the right way to get back to the house. I saw this house and went inside, thinking I was back a grandma’s.”

Timothy took in a breath, wiping sweat from his face as he continued his terror laced tale.

“This lady that looked like grandma but way older, came to the door and said I could come in for cookies. So I sat down and drank some milk too, while she talked about life going on.”

“I thought it was grandma the whole time…just with more wrinkles, and I didn’t understand why she was treating me like a stranger. I figured out I time traveled and I had to get back again!”
Grandma stood by listening as Tim continued, a comical little smile in her eyes as he storied onward.

“So, to make sure she didn’t keep me in the wrong time, I waited til she left the room…and then I ran for the door at full speed and back into the woods. After a few minutes I was back here again…back to the right time.”

He grabbed a piece of candy as he shook his head. “Grandma…you wouldn’t believe how old you look then.” He said, shaking his head and eating his crunchy peppermint bite.