Time Out

City

Um...

Welcome, stranger! 

I'm sorry... I don't know how you got here either. This place is really only meant for me. Mom calls it the Time-Out Zone. She puts me in here whenever I'm bad.

No, don't say that! She's not abusive. She's just a little strict sometimes. It's not that bad. She never keeps me here more than a couple hours. And that's when I've really messed up.

Mom says I need to control my powers. She's right, but practicing is such a drag. I hardly have any time to play with Tippy, my dog, or play Overwatch. I wish I could bring some games in here, but mom wouldn't allow it. She can see everything that goes on here.

My name's Maddie, by the way! Who are you?

Nice to meet you, Johnathan! How old are you?

Sixteen? I see! I'm thirteen, myself. Mom tells me I look mature for my age. What do you mean she's lying? My mom doesn't lie to me!

You're mean. I can't wait for mom to come and get us so that she can kick you out. I've been here half an hour, so it won't be long now. Mom wasn't that mad this time.

You're sorry? Good. You should be.

...

Oh. I guess I didn't explain my powers at all. Mine showed up earlier than usual; around when I was like 5. It kind of runs in my family. My dad-

What do you mean, where did they come from? They just show up. It's like puberty. Am I saying it right? Is it "pew-ber-tee?" Yeah, I thought so.

I guess you're really not from where I'm from. This place is kind of an in-between place, for all the different dimensions. Or something like that. I wasn't paying attention when my mom explained it.

But yeah, where I'm from, powers just show up when you reach a certain age. Sometimes you can make fire from your fingers, other times you can use mind control on people. There's a lot of rules on how to use them and they're really boring. My powers are really big too, so I have to do a ton of memorization every day. I actually have the flash-cards right here. Mom says I'm supposed to use this time to study them, but I study better when I have music. 

Basically, I can create different forms of matter and combine them in different ways. I can only create non-living matter, but mom says if I work hard, I should be able to create almost anything. That's why she's so strict, you see. She wants to make sure I don't misuse my power.

I used to a lot, when I was five. Sometimes I would accidentally cause matter to appear in someone's eye socket, or phasing through their bellies. I had to learn how to control it. One time I was playing with my best friend, Denise, and I got mad at her, and all of a sudden there was just a spear of metal right through her leg. I started crying cause I was so scared. Fortunately my mom got her healed and she went home. I never saw her again though.

It makes me feel kind of wistful. 

What? Don't worry! I don't do that kind of thing anymore! Besides, my powers don't really work here. I can't show you anything. 

I wish I had some music so I could show you what I listen to. Do you like Billie Eilish? She's the best! And she exists in your world too? Yes!

Yeah, apparently there are these different worlds too. I really hate science, but it's supposed to be like... time is constantly diverging due to chaos theory, creating all these different timelines, and the farther back in time the change is, the further away the dimension is. So basically, a world where Hitler got killed before World War 2 would be light years away, but a world where I only got a half hour time out is only a few blocks.

So there's really no way to number them all, so there's no way to tell where you came from. What were you doing before this?

Just walking? Wow. That's unlucky. Most people have to use complex machines or powers to jump dimensions. You just wandered right in. 

Well, maybe it's a good thing you're here. You seem nice! You could meet my mom if you want. She has really cool powers! She's one of the people who can fiddle with dimensions, like, she can make part of our dimension part of another, and the other way around too! Does that make sense?

Eh, it's easier to show it than explain it. I'm sure mom won't mind. 

In the meantime... what do you think of the whole city? Yeah, this is the best part of the whole thing. I don't know why mom likes putting me here for time out, but I'm not complaining. If you squint, you can see people and cars moving around up there! I wonder a lot if they can see us too. I wonder if they think we're strange.

You ever see that movie Inception? It's just like this! I loved that movie so much. Leonardo DiCaprio is hot! Maybe all this is just a dream world, like in the movie. Sure would be more exciting than this. 

So, yeah. Not a lot else to do. 

...

Wanna make out?

Hahahahahahaha! You should see your face. I'm kidding! Kidding! You're not that cute.

Oh! 

Looks like mom is picking me up! I can feel her presence here! You can't?

She's pulling us away! You feel that tugging sensation? You don't? But- wait! That might mean you're trapped here! See how my legs are starting to dissolve! That isn't happening to you! 

Don't worry! I'll talk to my mom and tell her you're trapped! She can help you!

We'll help yo-!

...