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Malou’s Adventure
M
alou was a very beautiful young bear. She had soft brown fur and big brown eyes.
She loved to dress up in her favorite outfits and hang out with her friends. One day, she decided to drive to the big shopping mall on the other side of town to get a special outfit. Her friend Lyla was having a big birthday party with a Back to the 70s theme. Malou always had the best outfits and wanted to find the perfect look to impress her friends. She also wanted to find a good present for Lyla. They were after all, the best of friends. Malou jumped in her cute little Prius and away 1
she went. Another thing Malou loved to do was drive. Her dad had taken her to do go kart racing all the time and even signed her up for a stunt driving class for her birthday last year.
She closed her eyes until the dizziness stopped then opened them up to look around her car. She pushed her door open and got out to make sure that her car was not damaged.
Malou loved to race and really see what her little car could do. As she drove along the winding road, she got up to just enough speed to start drifting her car from side to side. She looked in her rear view mirror to see her tire tracks on the road.
But as soon as she stepped out, she saw something very strange.
She smiled but as she looked ahead, she saw a little family of ducks crossing the road in front of her.
In front of her was not her blue Prius but instead sat a Volkswagen Bug.
“Oh no!” She exclaimed. She spun her wheel hard to the left and found her car spinning in circles to the side.
It was yellow with orange and pink flowers painted on it. The car was adorable to be sure but Malou couldn’t understand how she had gotten in this car. And where
She spun and spun but fortunately missed the family of ducks who waddled and quacked their way across the street. After what seemed like a long time, the car slowed down and stopped spinning in circles. Malou was very very dizzy but thankful that she wasn’t hurt. 2
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was her car for that matter!? She circled the car and looked at the tracks. She touched her head to make sure she hadn’t bumped it but she was ok. That was when she noticed her reflection in the window. What was she wearing?! She touched the tie dyed tank top she had on. “Where did this come from?” She whispered. Then she brushed her hands across the brown leather skirt she was wearing. Then she noticed that her shoes had turned into knee high white boots.
For a moment, she thought about how perfect the outfit would be for Lyla’s party but then she shook her head. This was no time to think about parties. She got back into the car and tried to start the engine. She had to go somewhere to figure out what happened. But the car wouldn’t start. She tried again but nothing happened. She sunk her head low. Her mom was going to be so mad at her for driving like she did. Then Malou heard a noise. It was the sound of a car pulling off on to the gravel behind her. Out jumped three young bears about her age, all wearing the same strange clothing that she was. The driver walked right up to Malou’s window and tapped on it. Malou looked for a button for the window but all she saw was a strange lever that she had to crank to lower the window. “How strange!” She thought. She smiled sheepishly at the young handsome bear and she smiled back.
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“Having some trouble?” He asked. She nodded but she didn’t know what trouble to tell him about, the car that wouldn’t start or the fact that she wasn’t even in her real car at all. Without a word he marched to the front and lifted the hood. Within a couple of minutes he had the car all fixed and told her to start the engine. Voila. It hummed to life. He dropped the hood and Malou got out. “Thank you so much! I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t helped me.” She said. The handsome bear smiled and looked down at his feet.
“Hi, I’m Rainwater and these are my friends Savannah and Davy.” Malou nodded at them each. “My name is Malou.” She said with a smile. “Malou? Wow far out name!” Savannah said. “You don’t look familiar. Are you new in town?” “Uh no, my family moved here in 1999. I’ve lived here my whole life.” She replied. The three laughed and Malou looked confused. “1999, good one.” Davy said with a grin. “No really, my dad moved here after he got a job at the computer developing company and my mom followed him with my older sister.”
“It’s nothing.” He said. His two passengers walked over to join them and introduced themselves. The lighter blond bear waved and spoke first.
She said with a frown. She couldn’t understand why they were laughing at her. They stopped.
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“Comp..computer?” Rainwater said slowly. They were looking at Malou as if she was an alien.
“How did you get here?” Davy asked with wide eyes.
“Yea… why are you guys laughing at me?” She asked. She was grateful for their help but she wasn’t ok with them teasing her.
“Well I was driving to the mall to get an outfit for my friend’s party and I swerved because I saw a family of ducks crossing the road. My car spun around a few times and then I was suddenly here in these clothes and this car.” She explained.
“We were laughing because you said you moved here in 1999.” Savannah said looking at Malou with concern.” “Why is that funny?” Malou asked. “Because... it’s 1972.” She replied. “What? No… It can’t…” She said. Davy looked at Malou and thought of an idea. He sat in her car and turned on the radio. They listened at the DJ said “Hey there, welcome to the show. Today is July 2nd 1972 and we are bringing you the best hits of the week so don’t turn that dial!”. She shook her head. “How could this be?” She thought. “What year did you think it was?” Rainwater asked. “2015.” Malou said slowly. The three looked at each other. “I am from 2015…” 8
“Groovy! They have parties with us as the theme!” Savannah said and the others nodded. Malou looked concerned. How was she ever going to get back to the year 2015? She didn’t even know how she had gotten here and she was going to be late to the party and now she was stuck in history! “Oh Malou don’t worry. Be happy!” She said brightly. Malou looked at her with a small smile. Davy stepped forward and put a paw on her shoulder. “We were just heading to the peace parade 9
on Main Street but I have to go make a stop at my daddy’s shop. If you give Rainwater and Savannah a ride, we can help you find a way back to the future.” He said. ‘I think that you have spun through a wormhole. I have read a book about this. It is like a tunnel with two ends, each with separate points in space time,’ said Rainwater mysteriously. He seemed so certain that he could help and Malou was curious about what the town looked like way back then. She nodded and the girls cheered. They piled into her VW bug and started driving along the road. They listened to the top hits of 1972 and Malou surprised the two girls when she sang along with the songs. “These songs are still on some radio stations in the future. They are called “the oldies” and my dad loves them.” She explained. The girls giggled. Malou drove her new old car down the road and was surprised by its stability. She raced and the girls let the wind blow through their fur.
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It was a beautiful day for a drive with the windows down. When they got to Main Street there was a huge crowd. Malou parked and the girls pushed their way to the front for a better view. Malou got to see, first-hand, a parade of giant floats in all different designs. Her favorite was a giant rainbow peace sign. The float that followed had flowers all over it and they tossed beaded necklaces into the crowd. The girls all made a peace sign with their fingers and nodded at the people on the floats. The crowd cheered and sang along with the music. After the parade the girls found Davy who was at the back of the crowd. They all walked back to her bug and Davy followed in his truck as they drove to a wide open parking lot that was behind a giant store. “Ok so I think the key is to spin your car while thinking about the time you want to go to. When you spun last time, you were thinking about your friends 70’s party so this time just think about 2015 then speed and spin your car.” Davy explained. 11
Malou nodded then gave her knew friends each a hug. Then she climbed into the driver’s seat and buckled up. With another nod, she hit the gas and sped. When she got to just the right speed, she pulled the emergency brake and spun the steering wheel hard to the left. Her car spun around, disappearing from her friends’ sight. She spun and spun then finally she stopped. When she opened her eyes, she was back on the road. She could hear the ducks quacking and she saw that she was in her Prius again. Had it all be a dream? But then when she looked in the mirror she saw that she was still wearing the tie dyed shirt and leather skirt. She had the perfect outfit for the party. And she had unlocked the secrets of time travelling.
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