she whisper-shouts. “Oh my gosh, you can come over all the time! It’ll be like you never moved! Yes!”
I write her name on the map and pop right back to her room. We spend the rest of the night testing out exactly how the map works. It seems pretty clear that if I write down someone’s name, I show up right around wherever that person is. Home gets me back to my room. For other places, I just name them, like Jenna’s kitchen pantry or Jenna’s basement or Jenna’s tire swing .
I do run into a couple of problems. At one point I start writing before I really know what I want to say. I know I want to try somewhere that
isn’t
on Jenna’s property, but close by. Somewhere else in the development. I start by writing the word “ Outside ,” but I’m still thinking about the next word and I guess I take too long because I end up
I have no idea where,
up to my knees in snow, in the middle of a blizzard. I quickly write myself back to Jenna’s room and promise myself to be extra careful…although I don’t account for my dyslexia. Close to dawn I try writing Dog park and only figure out I wrote God park when I end up on a path with nothing around me except this big rock. When I shine my phone flashlight on it, I see the words “Garden of the Gods.” When I write my way back to Jenna, she looks it up on Google. It’s a state park in Colorado.
Yikes.
The map’s dangers are pretty clear.
What’s not clear is why Dad gave it to me.
“Maybe he knew you needed more time back in Maryland?” Jenna suggests.
Maybe…but if that was the case, I’d have gotten the map
before
the diary. Back then was when I really needed Stillwater time. Now, even though I miss Jenna, Aventura’s home.
We don’t figure it out before dawn, and by that time we’re both zombies. I give Jenna a huge hug before I write myself home, and fall asleep immediately. I dream I’m a superhero, flying around the world and soaring into a situation just in time to save the day. I break into locked cars and pull out babies and dogs before they boil to death; I show up at the scene of tiny brushfires and put them out before they burn acres of land and houses; I appear at the top of Cinderella’s Castle and watch the Disney World fireworks from the number one ultimate location. The last one isn’t so much a superhero moment as it is really, really cool, but I wake up totally inspired. I text Jenna:
I have it! I am a superhero!
????? she texts back.
The map! I can go places and stop people from getting into trouble!
Jenna sends back a frowny-face emoji with the text Be careful…
I roll my eyes and tuck my phone away. I get that she’s worried about me, but I know I’m right. It makes sense. Dad believed my mission is to bring peace and harmony to the world. What better way to bring peace and harmony to the world than by saving people’s lives! I can be like a guardian angel! If Dad had someone like me show up the night of his crash and tell him not to drive, he’d still be alive today.
I want to get started right away, but then I realize it’s already four in the afternoon. I slept all day. Mom’s probably worried. I go downstairs and see that the house is empty, but there’s a note on the kitchen table from Mom saying she hopes I feel okay, there’s chicken soup in the fridge if I’m sick, and she and Erick will be home when they get out of the movies.
Perfect. I have time.
But how do I get to someone who needs me? The map doesn’t tell the future—it’s not like I can write on it, “Take me to someone who’s about to get hurt so I can stop it from happening.”
Can I?
I run back to my room and grab the map. I’m about to try it when I imagine myself appearing in a war zone, dodging bullets as I try to drag an injured soldier to safety.
Noble? Yes.
Terrifying and life-threatening? Also yes.
I remember the dog thing from my dream. That’s simpler and clearer. I write on the map, Inside a car with a dog locked in on a
I write her name on the map and pop right back to her room. We spend the rest of the night testing out exactly how the map works. It seems pretty clear that if I write down someone’s name, I show up right around wherever that person is. Home gets me back to my room. For other places, I just name them, like Jenna’s kitchen pantry or Jenna’s basement or Jenna’s tire swing .
I do run into a couple of problems. At one point I start writing before I really know what I want to say. I know I want to try somewhere that
isn’t
on Jenna’s property, but close by. Somewhere else in the development. I start by writing the word “ Outside ,” but I’m still thinking about the next word and I guess I take too long because I end up
I have no idea where,
up to my knees in snow, in the middle of a blizzard. I quickly write myself back to Jenna’s room and promise myself to be extra careful…although I don’t account for my dyslexia. Close to dawn I try writing Dog park and only figure out I wrote God park when I end up on a path with nothing around me except this big rock. When I shine my phone flashlight on it, I see the words “Garden of the Gods.” When I write my way back to Jenna, she looks it up on Google. It’s a state park in Colorado.
Yikes.
The map’s dangers are pretty clear.
What’s not clear is why Dad gave it to me.
“Maybe he knew you needed more time back in Maryland?” Jenna suggests.
Maybe…but if that was the case, I’d have gotten the map
before
the diary. Back then was when I really needed Stillwater time. Now, even though I miss Jenna, Aventura’s home.
We don’t figure it out before dawn, and by that time we’re both zombies. I give Jenna a huge hug before I write myself home, and fall asleep immediately. I dream I’m a superhero, flying around the world and soaring into a situation just in time to save the day. I break into locked cars and pull out babies and dogs before they boil to death; I show up at the scene of tiny brushfires and put them out before they burn acres of land and houses; I appear at the top of Cinderella’s Castle and watch the Disney World fireworks from the number one ultimate location. The last one isn’t so much a superhero moment as it is really, really cool, but I wake up totally inspired. I text Jenna:
I have it! I am a superhero!
????? she texts back.
The map! I can go places and stop people from getting into trouble!
Jenna sends back a frowny-face emoji with the text Be careful…
I roll my eyes and tuck my phone away. I get that she’s worried about me, but I know I’m right. It makes sense. Dad believed my mission is to bring peace and harmony to the world. What better way to bring peace and harmony to the world than by saving people’s lives! I can be like a guardian angel! If Dad had someone like me show up the night of his crash and tell him not to drive, he’d still be alive today.
I want to get started right away, but then I realize it’s already four in the afternoon. I slept all day. Mom’s probably worried. I go downstairs and see that the house is empty, but there’s a note on the kitchen table from Mom saying she hopes I feel okay, there’s chicken soup in the fridge if I’m sick, and she and Erick will be home when they get out of the movies.
Perfect. I have time.
But how do I get to someone who needs me? The map doesn’t tell the future—it’s not like I can write on it, “Take me to someone who’s about to get hurt so I can stop it from happening.”
Can I?
I run back to my room and grab the map. I’m about to try it when I imagine myself appearing in a war zone, dodging bullets as I try to drag an injured soldier to safety.
Noble? Yes.
Terrifying and life-threatening? Also yes.
I remember the dog thing from my dream. That’s simpler and clearer. I write on the map, Inside a car with a dog locked in on a
Similar Books
