Time To Go | Teen Ink

Time To Go

December 19, 2013
By CarlyRae GOLD, Cambridge, Maryland
CarlyRae GOLD, Cambridge, Maryland
13 articles 0 photos 14 comments

Favorite Quote:
We all carry these things inside us that no one else can see; they hold us down like anchors, they drown us out at sea.


The year is 2081. The world is in complete and utter chaos. As soon as kids turn thirteen, they are shipped off to the government until they are eighteen. Everybody must obey the government and not to anything to disobey them. That means they can’t create anything powerful to try to overthrow the government. They can’t have much spare time, and if the government suspects anything from you, they can barge into their house at any given time.

Mr. Mark Elliott likes to break all of these rules. He is a government favorite; he crafts new ideas, and builds those ideas into amazing inventions. He even built the hover board! AS soon as he builds something though, the government erases his memory. Luckily, Mr. Elliott has a daughter named Annabelle with a very excellent memory. She hides in the corner while her dad builds the contraption, then she writes down the steps and gives it to him after his memory is erased.

The current project her dad is working on is a portal. But see, the thing is, he’s supposed to be building this portal for the government; but he isn’t. Annabelle is thirteen, so the government is coming for her very soon. Two men from the government are actually supposed to show up at the Elliott household this afternoon, because the portal will be ready.

The doorbell rings, and Mrs. Elliott rushes over to open it. The two men outside flash their government badges and walk inside.

“May I get you gentleman something to drink?” Mrs. Elliott goes to the refrigerator and opens it.

“No, we’re fine,” they say in unison. “Excuse us though, but where is Mr. Elliott?” They look around the kitchen. “We would like to speak to him.”

“I’ll go get him for you.” Mrs. Elliott heads to the garage door but stops dead in her tracks as she hears them whisper “also, we would like to speak with Annabelle.” Mrs. Elliott goes through the garage door and calls to Annabelle “it is time.”

“All right Annabelle, you have about ten seconds before they bust through that door. I love you, and I will see you again. Now go.”

Annabelle whimpers, but says “I love you too dad,” and starts pressing buttons on the portal. The two men bust through the door and yell “get her!” They push Mrs. Elliott aside, and Mr. Elliott tries to give Annabelle more time by fending them off. As soon as the two men break free from her father’s grasp, Annabelle, and the portal are gone.

“Do you have any idea what you have just done?” screams one guy from the government. “We didn’t come to take your daughter for five years; we came to stop her from using that portal!” “We knew that you were going to have her use that portal to escape from us, but we weren’t ever going to take her. We need her, you, and your wife to help us in this crisis. With your daughter’s memory, your building skills, and your wife’s sweetness, you could have helped us stop the beginning of the end of the world.”

“Wha, what do you mean the end of the world?” stutters Mrs. Elliott.

“I mean, that we’ve gotten ourselves into a bit of trouble, and another nation is coming after us in less than two weeks with threats of nuclear bombs and sniper rifles.”

Mr. Elliott paces around the room. “And how do you suppose we stop them?”

“We create another portal, and hopefully stumble across your daughter; because that really is our only option right now,” pronounces one guy from the government.

“I still don’t understand how Annabelle can help with any of this,” replies Mr. Elliott.

“You see, Mr. Elliott, Annabelle has been blessed with a wonderful memory. Hopefully, if we find her, we can get her to go undercover to the other nation and memorize how to make nuclear bombs. That way, we can come back here, you can make them, and we can fight them off, and hopefully win.”

“And what’s in it for me?” asks Mr. Elliott.

“You get your daughter back, and we don’t kill you and your wife,” states one of the men from the government.

“Deal,” says Mr. and Mrs. Elliott at the same time.

“Great, we start tomorrow. I expect the portal to be done by then, or else, you know.”

“It will be,” declares Mr. Elliott.

The two men from the government leave. Mr. and Mrs. Elliott sit down at the dining room table. Mrs. Elliott takes a picture of Annabelle, and holds it close to her. Mr. Elliott stares out the window; “I love you, and I will see you again.” They hold hands, and cry while whispering her name.


The author's comments:
I created this story about four years ago, but I decided to revise it and actually turn it into a really cool short story.

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