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Wooden Name
There we were, the four of us, playing a 2 on 2 futbol game right after eating pizza. The first one to throw up will be made fun of next day in class. Juan, without warning, sent the ball flying all the way to the heart of the river in a single kick. As we were descending the hill that led to the river, Giancarlos suddenly trip with a root, a very weird root. It had a “J” shaped and the right side was covered with algae. It looked like it was connected to a trunk. As we uncovered the algae, we found what the root really was. It was my name “Jorge” spelled in calligraphy and large enough to be seen from quite a distance. Just as my shock was sipping out, my wooden name suddenly split in half, as did the rock where it was. A small cave appeared before us.
-”This is too strange, we should go back” Darwin said.
-”Yeah, let’s go find our ball” I followed
-”Come on! This is incredible! Let´s go see what's inside the cave!” Juan laughed.
-”Sosa, stop saying gibberish, we have to finish the game, we are losing.”
-”You all are just scared, but fine, I wasn’t that much interested anyway,”
As we were turning around, the cave started to make a tremendous noise, it was as of the 4 winds were gathered and dived into the cave. It starting sucking in front of it. The force was too strong and so, Juan, Darwin, Giancarlos and I got sucked in.
When I woke up, I was back in my room. Was that a dream? How incredible, it felt so real.
However, something's odd. Everything around me, my toys, my clothes, everything is smaller. No…. I’m bigger? I ran toward the mirror in my bathroom and saw an adult grown man who was in his late 40s. I had a beard, a scar in the eyebrow and a tone up body. Just what the hell is going on? Where are my friends? Did we travel into the future?
Unexpectedly, my cellphone rang. It was the same old tone that I had before. It labelled “J Sosa” as the person calling me. Are you kidding?! I rapidly answered the phone.
“Juan, is that really you!? Where are you?!” I said.
“Oh my God, you finally answer! Lanza, its Gian, we have to talk, but not on the phone, meet me at the mango tree outside our school.” a low pitch voice said.
“Gian?! You sound so different, what is going on?” I interrupted.
“I´ll explain you everything” he said, and hung up.
After that, I went to check if there was anyone else in the house, however there was no one. So I took my bike and made my way towards my school. Maybe Gian knows what is going on.
Half an hour later, I arrive at the mango tree where the four of us used to play. Just below it, a man that looked also in his 40s was standing, waiting. I approach and ask
“Is that you Gian?”
“Lanza, I’m so glad to see you, I'll tell you everything that has happened.”
Gian told me that right after we got sucked in, he woke up in his room looking like an adult. When he did, he also received a call from Sosa. He explained that the cave took them to a world exactly like the one we lived in before, but there was no one other than us living here. Sosa was the first one to arrive. At that time, he was about 70 years old. He also told Gian that Darwin was dead, he died after reaching his late 90s. Apparently, each of us arrived at different time frames.
“I can’t believe this” I said
“I have been waiting for you for 10 years, your name was the one that was on the root, you can take everything back!” he excitedly said.
“What?” I asked.
“Hurry, let's go to the riverside.”
We made our way to that exact same place where everything started.
“Help me out” Gian said as he tried to stick the two halves of my name.
When I touched the wooden 3D calligraphy, a faint light appeared and started turning brighter and brighter, until it blinded all of my senses.
When they got back to me, I was vomiting pizza in front of my three teen friends, who were enjoying themselves playing futbol.
