Dead+Silence

//By Brooke//
 * Dead Silence**

Next to him on the couch lied the transmitter that would reveal all. He didn’t dare touch it for he had no idea how it worked. The old man walked back into the room with a box in his hand. He began: “This box will help you in your quest to save man-kind, but don’t reveal this to anyone.” The old man gave him the box and said “good luck Charlie.” Charlie took the box and silence surrounded him as he walked out of the old mansion. He walked down mainstreet box in hand, not even glancing up from it. The realism had not yet set in that he held the key to the past. As her neared his apartment, he took one quick glance behind him at the dead streets. He wondered if they would ever be full of life like they once were. He turned back and pulled out a key from his pocket, and unlocked the front door. The lights in the apartment suddenly fluttered to life. He prepared himself for the long night that was to come; grabbing his last bits of food and water. He set up by his bedside and opened the box. A big circular remote was sitting at the center. It was a complicated remote with numerous buttons and dials everywhere. Charlie looked puzzled, wondering how a remote was going to save the world from what fate had brought upon it. He took out the remote carefully studying it, looking for any directions or anything giving him a clue to how it works, with the thoughts of why the old man could not do it himself. Charlie figured there had to be another piece that the old man did not have. A little opening appeared on the bottom of the remote. Examining it closely, he realized he had found the reason the old man could not do it himself. The opening was shaped like a serpent. Clearly the maker of this device wanted to be sure the user was the correct one. Charlie paused. He remembered the serpent inside the watch his grandfather had given him. He shuffled over to the closet hoping the watch was still there. Sitting neatly on a box Charlie found it. Walking back to his bedside, butterflies were growing in his stomach and his mind was racing a million miles an hour. Shaking in hope and fear Charlie broke open the watch carefully removing the serpent. He couldn’t help but wonder; could it really be that easy? Placing the remote on its side, he gently put the serpent into the opening. It was too small. All of his excitement wore off and he sank down in his bed. All of the thoughts in his mind died and new thoughts of dismay took there place. What now? He thought to himself. He sat thinking and studying the device for hours. The sun was beginning to rise when all of the sudden he jumped out of bed in excitement. “The blue one at the store down the street,” he exclaimed! In high hopes he raced down the street towards the store. It was just opening so there was still a good chance it was there. Studying the three blue ones that were there, he could not decide. Finally he bought all three hesitantly, knowing he had little money, and darted home. There he placed the smallest one first, but it was slightly too small once again. It was coming down to the last two. He slid the medium sized one into the opening and it was a perfect fit! Excitement ran through his veins, as he flipped the remote over, looking at the lit up dials. Now all he has to do was figure out how it works. Looking over it he decided this was going to be a big challenge, with his shortage of money throughout the U.S. Charlie walked outside to the once lively streets and sighed, because of the absence of people. He searched around for the shops that were open to buy any food possible with his few dollars he’d saved from the start of the depression. Three blocks away a small bakery was open, so he walked in asking a man for some bread. The man was getting a loaf of bread when all of the sudden it hit him. A code on the bottom of the box he was given. He raced out of the store not even thinking about the bread the man was getting for him. At his apartment, he grabbed the box at his bedside and looked at the code. A mix of numbers and letters were written at the right side. On the remotes left side there were keys of the numbers and letters. He quickly typed them in. On the screen the words “what time period” appeared, so he typed in the year of 2009. Then it was time to type in the date, and he remembered the day the congress met about African aid, so he typed that date in and hesitantly pressed enter. Wind brushed against his face, as a huge hole appeared in the floor. He remembered the holes he’d seen in numerous movies about time travel. Closing his eyes he leaped into the giant hole. With the blink of an eye the hole snapped shut and re-opened in a park where Charlie appeared. Not comprehending what happened he got up looking around him with a puzzled expression. Finally after much contemplating he realized that the time travel had worked. He was in Central Park. Taking a glance at his watch, he cringed in fear knowing the meeting started in a half an hour. Within two seconds Charlie was in a dead sprint for the building in which they were going to be meeting. As he arrived a young man told him to stop, asking him where he was going. Out of breathe he replied “to the meeting,” and sprinted off hoping the guy would not follow him. The room was filled with some of the most influential people of this time period, but soon enough three body guards surrounded him. Charlie did not fight it, but simply asked if he could have one moment to say something to the people in the meeting room. One guard opened the door and began to ask something Charlie could not make out. Finally the guard signaled him in. Charlie took a seat at the far end of the table opposite from the president. Charlie began by saying thank you, and went on to say that giving the amounts of money away to Africa was going to cause a depression. He showed them the chart he wrote up showing the decrease of profit in the U.S. They looked amazed by his statistics. Charlie kept going on and on. Suddenly the President silenced him, and pondered for a moment shaking his head in approval while signaling the body guards to escort Charlie out of the building. Confused Charlie took out the remote deciding to go back to present day and see if his speech worked. He dialed in his time period and returned in his apartment. Everything looked different. Excitement grew in his stomach, as he looked out into mainstreet where life was all around. Charlie took a sigh of relief, sat down, and turned on the T.V.