“Wait, wait, I’m not ready! I’m trying to get this poem … oh crap, forget it!” Amanda slams her notebook shut. Her nostrils flare. She rubs the tip of her nose to halt a sneeze. “Uh, yeah, hi.”
SHARON: Hmm. Did I catch you at a bad time?
Amanda shrugs. “Sort of. Look, can we just get this interview over with? I still have to study for a math test, and you know how much I suck at math.”
SHARON: I totally get it. Okay, tell the readers what subject you do like.
“That’s easy – gym – especially if we get to go outside. Unfortunately, living in White Pines where winter feels longer than summer, doesn’t always allow for that.” Amanda kicks at the ground, her sandal flies off. Sighing, Amanda retrieves her sandal. “I also love, no wait, breathe poetry. It’s the one thing I shine at. I’ve even been published in the town paper, the White Pines Weekly. I guess that’s why I was picked over the others to be the Timekeeper Scribe.”
SHARON: Slow down, Amanda. You need to explain to everyone what a Timekeeper is first.
Amanda arches her chestnut brows. “Sorry. My bad. Okay, make yourselves comfortable, and I’ll try my best to explain.” Amanda walks over to a towering oak tree situated at the boundary of White Pines Elementary School and squats down underneath it. She lets her body relax against the gnarly bark, kicks off her other sandal and pulls her long, single braid away from the back of her neck. “Comfy? Good. What I’m about to share with you is a secret, so you can’t tell anyone. Not that anyone would believe time travel is possible, ‘cause I sure didn’t. That is, I didn’t until it happened to me. Yeah, you heard right, I’m a time traveler – er, correction, I mean I’m a Timekeeper. That’s a little different.”
SHARON: Really? How?
“I don’t get to go into the past whenever and wherever I want. I’m summoned, along with four of my classmates, the local white witch and a history professor, by a time portal we dug up called the Arch of Atlantis. BTW, you’ll get a chance to meet the other Timekeepers all in good time.” Amanda grins. “Pun intended.”
SHARON: Don’t get cute. Continue please …
Amanda clears her throat. “Okay, here’s the skinny version, a Timekeeper’s job – our prime directive – is to protect the past, keep it from changing, no matter what. Even if you don’t like how it ends up in the history books. And that’s the hardest part. Not interfering. Just keeping history as real as it was written. And sometimes that sucks.”
SHARON: So, tell us what being a ‘Last’ Timekeeper means.
“It’s not as ominous as it sounds. We’re supposed to be Earth’s last chance to restore the balance in the time period where this evil douche-bag named Belial chooses to slither in. Lilith told us that we don’t accomplish our mission – in the form of a riddle written by yours truly – then all of what we know will be rewritten the way Belial wants. And that’s the scary part. Evil would triumph over good.”
SHARON: Hold up, Amanda, explain who Lilith is, please.
Amanda sighs. “We met Lilith when we were pulled through the Arch of Atlantis by a radiant light. Believe it or not, she exists in Atlantis, or what’s left of it. She’s the guardian of the seventh Arch of Atlantis and Fiftieth Magus of the Arcane Tradition. I know it’s a mouthful, but that’s what she told us. And who’s gonna argue with a 12,000 year old woman? Lilith also said that we’re to be part of a greater good – whatever that means – to secure hope for a new tomorrow. Yeah, right. No pressure there.”
SHARON: Ha! I bet that upcoming math test trumps being a Timekeeper!
“I wouldn’t say that.” Then Amanda grins. “Now, if only there was a way to ditch Jordan Jensen in the past …”
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