A Mysterious Past (on hold)

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

                        “I know it seems bad, but he was part of the test too, and he is actually a really good person. I met him here and he is from the past too! He had no idea how he got here either. He really is a nice guy.” Alicia said, laughing. She showed a large grin and said, “Trust me.” Mona yelled in frustration as she said in reply, “BUT IF HE IS ON OUR SIDE, WHAT WAS THE POINT OF ALL OF THAT?” Alicia, seeing how angry that Mona had become, decides to try to be a bit more sensitive and said, “Look. I know it may not make a lot of sense right now, but just give me a chance to explain it all. How about we go to the park down the street? I’ll explain there. It will be a lot calmer there and then I can tell you everything.” Mona let out a long sigh and agrees.

            The walk there was very quiet, and it took about fifteen minutes to walk all the way to the park. They arrived there and Mona sat down on one of the benches, staring up at Alicia. “I’m waiting for your explanation.” Mona sat still, waiting for Alicia to reply. “Okay.” Alicia began, “It all started a few weeks ago.” She began to pace around in circles as she continued. “I had just arrived here earlier that month, and I was just starting to finally understand basically the situation that I was in. I walked around for a long time, and during those first few weeks here, I have done nothing in my spare time but think. But as much as I continue to think about these things, I didn’t seem to be getting anywhere with this. So, that was when I came here,” she said as she motioned her arm, gesturing to all of the beauty of the nature around in the park. “When I found this place, I knew that not all was lost.” She walked over to a large statue and continued. “There used to be a little swing here. I sat down here, swaying back and forth, still thinking, when all of a sudden, it happened.” She sat down on the grass with her fingers gliding through each small blade of grass. Mona walked up to where she was and sat down beside her. Mona didn’t really understand what ‘it’ was, so she asked. And Alicia said in reply, “I was sat  on the swing and looked up at that statue. It wasn’t too out of the ordinary. It was a statue showing a few soldiers in a line, with their guns ready to fire. Some were standing high up, not afraid that there was gunfire supposedly coming their way, and others where ducking down below, trying to get the perfect shot. While others lie there, with only slight injuries, awaiting medical help. It was a very great statue. There was not one speck of dirt or mud on it.” Alicia stared down at the grass, as Mona sat so confused. None of this seemed important. Mona thought to herself, I don’t need you to tell me about the statue I can see it right in front of me. How is this possibly important at all?

            Alicia said, “I looked down from that statue for a few moments and then I heard something. It sounded like someone groaning. It sounded as if it was someone tired and just waking up. I looked all around but I didn’t see anything. Then, I looked up at the statue, and there it was.” Mona’s eyes began to widen in wonder. Alicia continued, “There, lying at the feet of the soldiers depicted in the statue, was a man.” Mona gasped in surprise. “How is that possible? You said that you only looked away for a few moments, so how did he get there?!” Mona didn’t understand. It wasn’t making sense. It was impossible for something like that to happen. Alicia smiled and said, “After lying there for a few moments, he sprung up and was looking all around him. He had no idea where he was. Then it dawned on me: What if he was from the past too? Just like me? It would explain how he just appeared there out of nowhere, but it was a bit early to jump to conclusions, so I figured I’d ask him a few questions. But before I could even say anything he ran up to me, and kept asking how he got here and where he was. He wanted to know why he wasn’t on the set of the movie he was filming and who I was. So I did my best to calm him down. I asked him a few questions. He too, was from the past. Apparently, he was a famous actor, and he was in the middle of shooting a new movie when he appeared here. Then I told him about what happened to me, and we decided to do a little research. We took a walk down to the library and looked for the computers. Once we found some, we looked him up first. “All I had to type was “Rinaldi Cooperson Actor vanished 1994” And a news article came up. It was in some online newspaper and there was two paragraphs on how the esteemed actor mysteriously disappeared not long after his career had just set off. An entire investigation was started, but ended about a year after he disappeared. Not a single clue was found. After awhole year, they didn’t find any evidence and a few suspected kidnappers, but each of them had alibis, also, they were thoroughly searched, but nothing led to them at all.” Mona was shocked. “Wait,” Mona said as she scooted over next to Alicia. “So let me get this straight: Rinaldi used to be famous, but for some unknown reason, he got poofed to the future?” Alicia smiled. “Well, I wouldn’t say ‘poofed’, but basically, yes.” Alicia said, “He somehow wound up here, just like I did.” She sat here for a moment, staring at the ground, thinking. Breaking the silence, Mon asked, “But if that was what came up for Rinaldi, what happened with you?”

Alicia quickly glanced up, and a look of mixed emotions was shown in her expression. She replied, “Well, I wasn’t a name as well known to the public as Rinaldi was, but that was for a very special reason.” She showed a proud smile that had just a hint of sadness, and continued. “You see, back in my day, I was the sneakiest one around and I knew just about everything that went on in that town. Every theft, every murder, and every other crime that was committed in that town, I knew about. But not many people knew about me.” She nudged the tip of her hat down, and leaned back against the leg of the bench behind her, feeling confident, as Mona sprang up, shouting, “YOU WERE A THIEF?” Immediately, Alicia began to laugh. “You think I was a thief? Oh, far from it, my friend. Very far from it. In fact, I helped catch many thieves. I caught quite a few murderers too.” Mona was a bit confused. “Were you an undercover police officer?” Mona asked, trying to make another guess. “No,” Alicia replied, “I was a detective. An undercover detective, that is.”