After a long day at school, Rosealie came home and threw everything in her room. She remembered that her mother wanted her to change her sheets, so she went to the linen closet in the hall to get new sheets, fresh and pink.

Rose opened the closet and walked in because her sheets are always on the top shelf. As she was on her tip toes, the door slammed shut behind her, leaving her in complete and total darkness.

Rose quickly grabbed the sheets and turned around. When she grabbed the handle, a shock of electricity surges through her fingertips. She reflexively jumped back and hit her head on a shelf, knocking pillows down.

Rose hesitantly reached for the handle. She winced away as she grabbed the knob. No shock this time. When she opened the door, the hallway seemed unusually dark. Rose thinks it’s just her eyes and continued on to her room.

Rose threw the sheets on the bed and headed to the kitchen for a drink. She stopped abruptly when a strange noise came from her bed. She wheeled herself around to find a strange lump in her bed. Another noise, a grunt, emerged from the lump, Rose stepped closer. When she got within a foot from the bed, she grabbed the corner of the covers and ripped them off the bed to unveil the mysterious lump as a girl.

“Mom?” the girl said.

Rose froze. Her mind moved in slow motion. There is a strange thing…no, girl in my bed. And she wasn’t there a few minutes ago.

“Mom? Is that you?” the girl asked again.

Rose frantically searched the room for any trace of her things. The only thing she recognized was a picture of herself, but it was in black and white.

“Um…I…uh…”

The girl finally rolled over to face Rose.

Rose screamed. The girl screamed. They both quiet after a few seconds and stare at each other, a virtual mirrored reflection.

“Who are you? Why are you in my house? Standing in my room?” the girl asked, a hint of hysteria in her voice.

“I…I…I’m not in your room. You are in mine!” Rose stuttered after a few seconds of silence.

“My name is Amber Rosealie Williams. And I am 100 percent sure that you are in my room. Not the other way around.”

Her name caught Rose off guard. Amber Rosealie Williams was her great-grandmother who died almost a month ago. Her eyes watered involuntarily.

“Amber? Rosealie? Williams?”

The girl looked at her in disbelief. She noticed the tears spilling over Rose’s eyelids.

“What’s the matter? You are crying.” Amber asked as she pats the bed beside her, indicating that Rose should sit.

“What year is it?” Rose asked, unintentionally ignoring her question.

“It is 1943.”

Rose quickly did the math in her head. She shook her head back and forth in disbelief.

“What? What is it?!” Amber asked impatiently.

“No. I’m completely crazy. I just bumped my head too hard in the closet. I’m hallucinating. It can’t actually be…” her voice trailed off because Rose is deep in thought.

“WHAT??!!” Amber yelled and pulled Rose out of her own world.

“Ok. Gosh. Calm down. I’ll tell you, but you can’t call me crazy.”

“Fine. But tell me your name first.” Amber said, calmer now.

“My name is Rosealie Amber. And I think that you are my great-grandmother.” Rose explained, waiting to see what kind of reaction she would receive.

Amber was quiet for a few minutes, contemplating this.

“Well. That would explain why you are acting this way, Rose.” Amber said.

“How did you know…,” Rose started.

“…that you prefer to be called Rose and not Rosealie?” Amber finished her question. “Because I never really liked Rosealie either. And if you are really my great-granddaughter, I figured we would have something in common.”

“Wow. Ok. So, I’m really not crazy. I’m glad.”

Amber was quiet for a moment. Since they were so much alike, Rose knows that she was planning something.

“What are you planning?”

“Well. We don’t know why or how you got here. But you were sent for a reason. And until we figure out what that reason is, you could do me a favor.”

“What kind of favor?” Rose asked, semi-following what Amber was planning.

“Well, I’m not feeling well, and since we look exactly alike…”

“You want me to go to school for you?” Rose asked.

“Well…basically. I mean, you could if you wanted to. You could meet my friends and George. He is so great!”

Amber noticed Rose’s reaction to George’s name. Her smile faded.

“You guys…um. I’m not sure I should be telling you this, but…um…you guys fall in love. I mean…l-o-v-e love.” Rose admitted, keeping the whole truth to herself to avoid permanently changing the future.

“Really? Oh that’s great! Is he…you know, the one?”

Rose faced in internal conflict. She knew that if she revealed the entire truth, her future would be completely different, possibly nonexistent. But she couldn’t keep something like this from her.

“Yeah. He is the one.” Your just not his one. Of course Rose doesn’t say the last part out loud.

“Yea! Oh, now I’m so excited.” Amber gushed.

“Ok. So, um. You want me to go to school for you tomorrow?” Rose asked, thankful for the topic change.

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Yeah. School. It’ll be easy. You should have fun. But remember my name is Amber. You’ll know who my best friends are, Emily and Katie.”

Rose smiled at the mention of Emily and Katie. They were like second and third great grandmas.

“I take it we stay friends for a long time?” Amber asked, noticing Rose’s reaction.

“Yeah. Really good friends. I don’t think I’ll have a problem talking to them.” Rose chuckled.

“Ok. So you just have to pretend to be me tonight when mother comes to take my temperature. And in the morning and all day tomorrow. I’ll write down my schedule for you. Do you have any questions?”

“No. I think I can handle it. But you’ll have to pick out my clothes.”
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The next morning, dressed in 40s style, Rose walked out of the house with ‘her’ schedule in hand. Amber had said everything would go according to plan, and so far, she was right.

The bus stopped where Amber said it would. Rose climbed on, instantly recognizing Emily. Rose took the seat beside her, thankful to be with someone.

“Ok. Amber? Are you ready for today?” Emily asked facing her with a giddy smile on her face.

“Um…for what?”

“For George. Remember? He said he would take you out of class this afternoon, remember?” Emily looked worried. Amber would know exactly what Emily was talking about.

“Oh, yeah. That’s no big deal.” Rose answered coolly, or so she thought.

“No big deal? Are you kidding? He is taking you to the doctor, remember? Wow. Being pregnant must mess with your memory.”

Rose froze at the word pregnant. She quickly did some math in her head and realized that Amber is pregnant.

How could she forget to mention that to me? That must be why she’s at home sick, her parents don’t know. I can’t go to the doctor. I’m not pregnant. Why would she do this?

Rose quickly came up with a plan. By the time the bus arrived at school, Rose knew exactly what she was going to do, even though she shouldn’t.

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“Amber? Amber. AMBER?!” the teacher yelled.

Rose snapped out of her day dream. She was too busy thinking about what she was going to do to George to pay attention in class.

“Amber? You’re leaving. Someone’s in the front office to pick you up.” The teacher said.

“Ok. Thank you.”

Rose quickly gathered all her things and left the room. She stumbled through the school trying to find the front office. After 10 minutes, she succeeded.

George was waiting in the hall outside the office. She recognized him instantly, even though she has never seen any pictures. Her grandmother looks almost exactly like him.

“Hey babe. You ready?” George asked nervously.

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

They were in his car for 15 minutes before Rose decided to start talking. She has planned out exactly what she’s going to say. She doesn’t want to leave any time for him to say anything.

“George. I need to tell you something. And I need you to just listen. No talking. Ok?”

“Um…ok.”

“I don’t want to be with you anymore.”

Suddenly the car veered into the other lane. George was shocked, not looking at the road, but at her. Rose knew that they were going to crash; an eighteen wheeler was headed straight for them. Rose also knew that she did what she was sent back in time to do, keep her great-grandmother from marrying George since he ruined her life. Now Rose’s future would change, but at least she would still exist.

The eighteen wheeler was laying on the horn. George didn’t notice. Rose was bracing herself for the impact. She was suddenly whirring through time, the horn still echoing in her ears.

Rose was safely back in her linen closet. The eighteen wheeler left safely decades behind her.