The Imagination Machine

Chapter 2

        "The button!" Courtney yelled, thrashing to try to free her brother from the clutches of her arms. "Press the red button!"

 At first Rudy couldn't comprehend what she was saying. Then, lifting his arm, he spotted the red button on his wristband and slammed his hand down on it. Not a moment too soon. Just as Courtney was sure she'd soon be lunch for the dinosaur, a brilliant flash of white invaded Courtney's eyes. After regaining her vision, Courtney realized that she was once again lying on the cold stone tile of her laboratory, her face buried in Rudy's hair. For a minute, all she could see was brown until she lifted her head.

 Rudy didn't stop whimpering until Courtney un-wrapped her arms from around him and took off both of their wristbands, which were still attached to the machine. Courtney recoiled as Rudy shoved the heels of his hands hard against her chest.

 "What was that for?" he demanded, seething.  "You think that was funny?"

 Courtney grabbed her brother by the shoulder and shook him. "Calm down. I'm going to explain but I need to you tell me something first. Now this is very important. Before, when I told you to imagine a game, what kind of game were you thinking about?"

 Rudy scratched his head. "I was thinking about that one game where all the animals were trapped in the jungle. "

 "Were there dinosaurs in the game?" Courtney asked patiently.

 "Yeah," said Rudy, squinting up at her. "Hey, the wolf and the cat I saw. You're not trying to say those are-?" Rudy's sentence broke off as he stared at her in disbelief.

 Courtney nodded proudly. "Compliments of my new experiment. All you have to do is think of a game and you can enter it in real life."

"But we almost died!" Rudy protested.

"That's what this is for." Courtney picked up the wristband and pointed to it. "As soon as you want to get out of a game, you can press the little button and-"

"I get it," Rudy interrupted impatiently. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"You'd probably have never agreed to do it if I told you what it was for." Courtney said. "Now you don't have to bother me whenever you're bored."

Rudy's face brightened. "I can come in here whenever I want?"

"No. I'm moving the machine over to our room," Courtney said.

 "Shouldn't we tell mom and dad about this?" Rudy asked.

 Courtney bit her lip. "No, I want it to be a surprise for them."

 The truth being that Courtney knew they most definitely would not approve of her new experiment. Courtney may have blown up things, accidently set the house on fire, and burnt a hole with a strong chemical through the Galloway's new dining table,  but entering another world was in a separate category.

 Rudy didn't seem to accept this explanation.

 "And what's the real reason?" 

 Courtney shrugged. "If mom and dad find out about this, they won't let us use it. We already nearly got killed once. They'll make us give it up. Do you want that?"

 Rudy threw his arms around the machine. "No way. This thing is awesome. "

 "Exactly. So if mom and dad ask, I got you this." Courtney took a Lego set out from under the lab table that she'd bought at a store downtown.

 Rudy grinned and nodded before turning to help Courtney lift the machine.  "Hey, I think the clock's broken. It said five forty-eight when I came in here, and it still says five-forty eight," Rudy said, looking at the clock.