My Backyard | Teen Ink

My Backyard

April 13, 2022
By Anonymous

The date is April 17, 2035 and I just bought my first house. My name is Amanda Goodwill and I am a 24 year old that lives alone. About 5 years ago I decided that I wanted to buy an actual house and the only one I could find was this small and old house. It was a fixer upper that's for sure. Anyway, that was the day that my life would change forever. But let's get into the story, shall we? I pulled up to the house and just got off of the phone with my mom. I said “Bye mom, love you!” and hung up. Once I parked my car there was this old lady standing on the porch.

As I walked up the lady said “Hello deary” in a shaky voice. “Oh hello! Are you the person selling this house? ” I asked. “Yes,” she said. “ Oh! Look at the time, I must get going.” she said in a hurry. “But wait! Is there anything that I need to know about the house?” I asked urgently.  But all she said was “Have fun.” and then got in a random taxi that just appeared and left. I just stood there for a minute trying to figure out what she meant by “Have fun.” “Maybe she left something in there, like a Tv! Or maybe a couch, something like that” I thought. Anyways I went to my car and grabbed all of my suitcases and bags and lugged them into my house. It was pretty empty when I walked in. “No Tv” I said out loud, a little disappointed. I set my stuff down and walked around the house a bit, since I had never been in it before. 

I looked at all of the things that would need to be renovated and well, there are a lot of things but I didn’t really mind doing it.  I then walked into the backyard and noticed something strange. There was a metal trap door in the back of the yard. “Huh, weird.” I said to myself as I walked towards it. There was a big wheel on the top of it and when I turned it the trap door opened up very slowly. Once it opened all that you could see in it was pitch black and these little white dots that looked like stars. I yelled “Hello!” but no one answered. I checked to see if there was a ladder but nothing was there. It was starting to get late so I decided that I would settle in a little bit and check it out in the morning. I called the pizza place and asked for cheese pizza and some cheesy bread with a side of olives and pizza. 

The guy on the phone sounded a little confused when I said that I wanted olives on the side but he just said “That will be $10.55” and I told him my address and hung up. I set up my air mattress and then grabbed my computer out of one of my bags and started watching a movie while I waited. The pizza guy finally came and I paid him and he gave me my pizza and just left. I just shrugged my shoulders and closed the door. But once I sat down and started to eat my pizza, I heard this rattling noise coming from the hallway. I quickly ran to the messy kitchen and grabbed a knife just in case. I then slowly walked towards the hallway and now the sound seemed to be coming from the bathroom. I yelled “Hello! I have a knife so don't move!”  but nobody answered. I slowly walked into the bathroom but no one was in there. I looked around for a minute but I didn't see anything in there. Since I was already in the bathroom I decided to go to the bathroom. First I had to put toilet paper on the handle thingy and when I lifted it something incredibly weird happened. 

The toilet rose up to the ceiling and beneath were these stone stairs that lead down to what seemed like a basement. I stood there for a minute in shock but decided that I was going to be brave and slowly walk down there with my knife. At first it was kind of dark but then there was a faint green glow. As I walked down it the green glow got much brighter and once I walked into the room I couldn’t believe what I saw. There was a humongous lab with chemicals, unknown breeds of animals, lightning rods, coils, all sorts of things that a lab would have. I looked to the right of the room and saw an animal in a cage and I realized that was what was making the noise. It was a bear and a cow looking breed with no name. “I’ll call you a brow.” I said to myself. Once I walked around the room a little bit I saw this big circle frame on the wall. There was a button on it so I decided to press it. Once I did it a bunch of blue liquid was swirling around in it, but it wasn’t spreading out like most liquid does. After some more walking around the room I saw these papers that the former owner must have written. After reading them I realized what was in my backyard.

I instantly ran up the stairs and out of the bathroom to my backyard and went towards the trap door. I reopened it and knew exactly what it was. It was a portal to different dimensions. “Ok, so there is a lab under your house and a portal that leads you to different universes.” I said out loud. Then I remembered what the old lady said, “Have fun.” Maybe she created all of this and just got too old. I looked down into the deep dark whole and jumped into it. As I was falling down there were strips of blue, dark purple, and black that seemed to go nowhere. It was all so crazy that I passed out and woke up in some random sunflower field. “Hello! Where am I?” I called out but nobody answered.  Once I stood up I saw this watch on my wrist and it read, 8:15 am. The watch then all by itself changed to “Earth #45” Maybe that is the universe that I’m in, I thought. The watch alson changed and said “48 hours left” which probably meant I had two days to be in this universe. Maybe the old lady found all kinds of different dimensions and named them also. Anyways, I started my hike out of the sunflower field and made it out to the small town. There were many cute shops and people and I didn't notice anything weird until I saw a few cars drive by. 

All of the cars had square wheels. “How do people live like that?” I wondered. After seeing the cars I tried to spot any other unusual things and saw that all of the doors were circular. It kind of reminded me of stepping through a portal. After a while I saw some other weird things and then I saw the weirdest thing of all, me. I saw myself walking around with a baby stroller and a toddler's hand in mine. I was so shocked that I just stared at her for a whole minute. Luckily she didn't see me. I quickly looked to see if I had money with me and I did so I went to a nearby dollar tree or what they called a “Moo Cow Dollar” and bought some sunglasses just in case I saw myself again. While I was there I bought some snacks, water, and some extra things just in case I needed anything for the night because I wasn't sure where I would sleep. I also bought a stroller to put my stuff in not realizing I would look like a homeless person. When I walked up to the cash register I put all of my stuff on the counter and handed him my money. When I gave him it he looked at me and said “Have you been locked away for a while or something, should I call the police?” he asked. I was really confused and said “What? No, why would you think that?” I said without looking at the cash register. Once I looked at the cash register I saw it read “12 dance moves”

I looked at the cashier and said “Dance moves? Is there no money that I have to give you?” “ Nah man, money got banned like, years ago so now you have to pay with dance moves so let me see ‘em.” he said. I knew that it would be embarrassing but I needed this stuff so I did the floss, then the renegade from a few years ago, and some other bad ones like the cabbage patch. Finally, he checked out all of my stuff and I immediately left. I walked out of the store with my stoller and the rest of my things when this creepy guy walked up to me and said “ Hi, how are you?” “Good” I said and tried to walk away but then he grabbed me and pulled off my watch! I ran after him leaving all of my stuff behind but I lost him. “What am I going to do?” I said to myself. I walked back to my stroller in sadness and found a bench to sit on so I could think about what to do. I tried to remember what he looked like, what he sounded like, what he was wearing but all I could barely think of anything. 

He had a black shirt and some black jeans, and a short stubble beard, and a black hat that said, “Strike Zone” So instead of sitting around waiting for something great to happen I set out to find the guy that took my watch. I walked around the small town which turned out to be called “Heartland” and still found nothing. I looked in every shop and every alley but found nothing. I checked over and over again just to make sure that nothing was there until I came upon Ellis St. There were two guys talking in a very secretive way and as I got closer I noticed it was the man who stole my watch! I slowly walked towards the guys and right as the “Strike Zone” dude was handing my watch to the other man I snatched it from him and quickly ran away. As I was running I put the watch in my pocket so I wouldn't drop it. I looked behind me to see if they were chasing me or not and of course they were. I kept running and running until finally I found an alley to slip into. I quietly watched them run past in confusion, and I slowly slid down the wall and took a deep breath and sighed. I put the watch back on my wrist and looked at how much time I had left in this dimension. 

 

 

 

The watch read “37 hours left” “Okay, 37 hours is enough time to have some fun and explore a bit.” I said as I wondered what I might find.  I walked around Heartland for a while since I somewhat knew where everything was. Every once in a while I also looked back and checked my surroundings just to make sure no one was following me. As I was drinking my coffee I heard a low hovering sound. As I turned around I saw a futuristic looking jet hovering above me. I looked up and said “Hello!” and the speakers said “Amanda Goodwill, surrender yourself and your watch to the OAU, or else you will face the consequences!” Face the consequences? What did I do wrong? “I mean no harm! I didn't do anything wrong!” I yelled in confusion.  Then a dozen guys in armor dropped down from the ship and ran towards me. I started running away and swiping through all of the pages on my watch to see if there was a weapon generator or something. I just kept swiping and swiping just to make sure and I finally came upon “Lightsaber generator” and quickly pressed on it. Out of thin air a bright yellow stick appeared and went straight into my hand. As one of the thugs came up to me I sliced him in half with my lightsaber. I just stared at his remains for a couple of seconds and another guy came up to me and I chopped his arm off. I tried to see how to put my saber away but there was no time. Another five of them came up and one pulled out a sword. He flung it at me but I blocked it with my lightsaber still in my hand. It made a “Cling” sound that faded away.

 After a while even more what I assumed were agents came down and charged towards me. I flung my lightsaber and sliced them in half for what seemed like forever. Once I was done fighting the ship said “Amanda, we will be back for you!” and zoomed out of existence. After the ship left I noticed that crowds of people were swarming around me with their phones pointed towards me and the damage. I heard the ice cream truck song playing which was weird to me that they would be driving around at a time like this but it was actually the police. I knew that I would probably be blamed and arrested for the damage so I simply just ran away. I found an alley to hide in while the police tried to find me and I looked at my watch and saw that I had one minute left in this universe. I don’t think I have ever been more grateful. 

I hid behind this dumpster while I waited for the time to run out. I kept seeing guards run by for what seemed like forever. Finally five, four, three, two, one. Instantly a black hole with stars and the colors purple, black and blue. While I was falling I thought to myself “After this, I will be home safely and be able to eat my pizza.” But then of course a bunch more of those thugs dropped down into the hole right before it closed. They pulled out their swords and started to attack me but I pulled out my lightsaber again and kicked their butts. It was kind of gross afterwards because they were just floating around in the streams of colors. I sighed in relief because I could see a little hole beneath me which looked like my backyard. Then another thug sneaked up behind me and punched me in the gut. I swung at him but missed. We awkwardly looked at each other for a moment and then he pushed me out of the hole and into another dimension.This world was very dark and was in all black and white except for all of the animals. I looked around for a minute trying to find a place to hide just in case they were following me. I saw a humongous bush and decided that it was the perfect hiding spot. Right as I got into my spot the thug dropped down from the sky. I peaked out of my bush just to make sure that he was gone but then we made eye contact. He instantly grabbed his walkie talkie and said “I found her, jump to Earth #12” and slowly walked towards me with the tip of his sword pointed towards me. I swiped through the pages of my watch  and found a laser gun. I clicked on it and it appeared in my hand. I jumped up and shot him but right after I thought I won and then an army of at least fifty guys appeared around me and said “Put your hands up! You are under arrest on behalf of the OAU!” 

One walked towards me and put handcuffs on my wrist. “Why are you doing this? Who even are you? I didn't do anything wrong! I have the right to know why I’m being arreste-” and then one of the guards knocked me out. When I woke up I was in what looked like an interrogation room and I was now handcuffed to a chair. I looked around the room but there were no places for me to escape. Then after a few minutes The wall opened up like a door and what looked like an officer came in and sat down in the chair across from me. He said “Hi” very awkwardly and I said “Hi, why am I here? I didn't even do anything.” 

'`Is your name Agnes Boyd?” he then randomly asked me. “What? No, I don’t even know who that is.”   I then said with a really confused look on my face. “How is that possible? You traveled here from another universe, yes? So how did you get to this universe?”  He asked.  “Well, I moved into this new house and there was a lab under my house and this hole in my backya-” “Your backyard?! Was there a trap door over it, a silver one?” he immediately asked. “ Um, should I be telling you this? Are you going to do something to me if I don’t? Or are you going to destroy my house?” I asked. “Well, I'm assuming that you want a nice answer so I’m not going to tell you.” he then said “Guards, take her away!” And that's when another guard came in and knocked me out. Once I woke up I realized that I was probably not going to ever get out of this place. I panicked and thought I was going to die. I just sat there and thought about all of my friends and family and what they would think when they realized I was gone. Was Agnes Boyd the old lady at the house? Did she create all of this? And that's when I realized she did create all of this. When I was looking through the notes I saw the name Angnes Boyd at the bottom of all of them and didn’t even think of it. 

That’s when I started to blame her. I got so mad and worked up about it because she created this mess and that's why these crazy people were chasing after me. She probably stole something from them and they must think that she is disguised as me. But I realized that I was getting angry at an eighty year old woman and tried to calm down. I started to think smarter and look around the cell for things I could use to escape. I looked down at my wrist and noticed that they took my watch.  But, I continued to stay calm and look around when I noticed there was a crowbar just lying there. Once there were no guards I would use the crowbar to escape but people were everywhere. I waited for hours and hours for people to leave and finally there was only one guard left. He had his headphones on and wasn’t paying attention so I quietly used the crowbar to break off the lock. I crept up behind him and knocked him upside the head. I knew that I couldn’t just walk out there in my normal clothes so I grabbed his uniform, glasses, hat, and badge so I wouldn’t be suspected. I saw the “Items” room and knew right away that my watch would be in there. I still had my crowbar with me so I used that to cut off the security camera. I had to search through a few bins since there were many prisoners here and finally found my watch. My hands were shaking but I put it on as fast as I could and 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and I black hole formed under me and I was back on my couch.



Similar books


JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This book has 0 comments.