História The Camera: P.1 - Chapter IV: A Boatload of Trouble

“Dinners done, my friends,” Julia said as she wiped her hands off with a red, light grey, and white wash cloth. She then took off her white apron and folded it up and put it in the cupboard.

Phillip was sitting on the flower decorated couch with his head resting in his right hand palm. Amy walked over to the couch and gently put her hand on his left shoulder.

“Hey grandpa, it's time to get up. Julia finished dinner,” Amy whispered to Phillip.

Phillip awoke suddenly with fear and confusion. He looked around the room wondering where he was. He grabbed Amy by her left hand and yanked her closer to his face.

“Who the--hell--are you? And where am I?” Phillip snapped as he let Amy’s hand loose of his tight grip.

Amy quickly backed away and tripped over a toy truck that was lying on the wooden floor. She fell and hit her head on the floor. Julia dropped everything and ran over to Amy who was lying on her back disorientated.

“What happened? Are you alright dear? Let me get you some ice. Be right back,” Julia said.

Amy lifted herself up with her elbows. She sat up and rubbed her head. Marcus and Ashley both ran over and apologized for leaving the toy truck on the ground.

“Sorry mama. It won't happen again,” Marcus said guilty of leaving the toy on the floor.

Julia came back from the kitchen with a rag with some ice in it. She started dabbing Amy’s head with the ice pack. She asked if Amy was okay. She started checking Amy for any cuts or injuries on her arms and neck, but there was nothing there.

Julia then wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.

“Pww, that was close huh? I thought you got hurt. Are you okay Amy? Do I need to call an ambulance?” Julia worried as she sat next to Amy on the floor.

Amy then stood up and walked over the dining room table. She pulled out a chair from the round, dark brown table and sat down. Everyone else walked over to the table and took a seat. The table had enough room to seat four people.

“I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting guests. If I knew ahead of time, which I did, I would have prepared for it,” Julia stated.

Amy rubbed her head again and set the rag with ice back on her head. She looked at Julia tired and confused.

“What'd you say? I thought I heard you say you knew we were coming. How? Who told you we were coming?” Amy demanded.

Julia began to shed sweat from her forehead. She looked around at the rest of the family. Amy’s family was looking right back at Julia waiting for an answer. Julia stood there for a minute. Then she got mad and put the dish of casserole down on the table.

“Okay you want your answer? I'll give you your answer. Egor. That's your answer,” Julia snapped.

Amy and Wally both looked at Julia. They remembered that the store owner of that antique shop was named Egor. He was the one that sold them the camera. Amy stood up in shock. She was having an anxiety attack.

“So--you mean to tell me that we could have been going back home this whole time. Do you have the camera? Did Egor give you one? I'm confused,” Amy snapped as she crossed her arms and huffed. Amy was fierce and angry at Julia, their new friend.

“So this is how it all began, okay. The year was 1940, so two years ago. A man named Egor approached me one day while I was walking down the streets of Queens and asked if I knew what a tinkerer was. A tinkerer is someone who is able to travel back in time through vintage artifacts and objects. Such as yourselves with that Test Model 1925 camera. Anyways, it was that exact day that I became a tinkerer. Believe it or not, Egor is the last remaining tinkerer. He is the father of all tinkerers. He traveled back to my time and told me that you had purchased the very camera I gave him as a thank you for allowing me to become a tinkerer. But one day when I was asleep, Egor came to me again in distress and asked me if I had seen a man in a suit walking the streets of Queens. And, in fact, I did--quite a few times. One day I was walking to work and he waited for me to exit the building and followed me all the way to work. Turns out, that the man in the suit was Egor’s evil brother-in-law, John. John wants all tinkerers to himself so he can have the power to go back in time to bring terror on the world. Egor hasn't been able to travel back here since then. He's been too afraid of getting caught by his brother who is trapped in this time period for all eternity, unless he kills each and every last tinkerer known to man. So I'm not holding you against your will, I'm asking you to stay so we can bring down John and save the remaining tinkerers. So that's the whole backstory. Are you happy now? Now I'm not in the mood to eat. I'll be in the bathing room if you need me. Goodnight,” Julia snapped as she walked off and down the hallway into the bathing room.

The family stood there in shock. They couldn't believe that Egor was a time traveler. Amy turned around facing the family.

“Maybe we’re tinkerers too. Think about it. Maybe the camera purposely sent us back here to help save the tinkerers and defeat John,” Amy stated as she started to think of a plan to help Julia and Egor.