The Fateful Events of Ima, Time Traveler

By Avery Knaub

Ima is something called a Timetraveler. No ordinary human can see her. She observes life in her dimension, being sure that she leaves no trace of her existence along the way. However, when a boy is about to face his death at the whip, he looks right at her and calls for her to help. Ima doesnt know how he can see her, but she does know that he needs help. Ima and the boy she rescues, Sebastian, go on a perilous mission to find out exactly why she is visible to him and how fate has plotted their journey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 30, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499040661

Avery Knaub

Avery Knaub lives with her family and her playful little dog in Omaha, Nebraska. She enjoys drawing, reading, playing the viola and piano, playing video games, and writing. She will graduate from high school in 2019. Avery is fascinated with ancient cultures and likes to write stories influenced by those eras. Her dream is to create many stories, showing different worlds and ways of thought.

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 by Avery Knaub.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2014911194

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-4990-4064-7

                Softcover        978-1-4990-4065-4

                eBook             978-1-4990-4066-1

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 09/30/2014

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Contents

Chapter 1: An Arrival

Chapter 2: A Cornered Rat

Chapter 3: A Tale of No Other

Chapter 4: Escape to a New Land

Chapter 5: Unexpected Things

Chapter 6: A Problem

Chapter 7: Morning’s Light

Chapter 8: Chivalry Broken

Chapter 9: Things We Care About

Chapter 10: New Plans

Chapter 11: The Meeting

Chapter 12: Emotions

Chapter 13: Soon Farewell

Chapter 14: Over

Chapter 15: The Dawn of a New Day

For Makenna

Chapter 1

AN ARRIVAL

Where to next? Ima wondered to herself. Go to the past! Past yelled in Ima’s head. Nonsense, go to another dimension, Infinity cut in.

That’s impossible, Ima thought, even though she knew they wouldn’t reply. They didn’t really exist, but yet they did. Besides, they don’t usually answer to mortals. I’m going to the future, she said, and thought of the future. She felt her atoms dematerializing, and her essence leaving.

Ima was a time-traveler. She wasn’t exactly sure what her gift was for, but it was there, and she used it. She’d been to the 1920’s, 2300 BC, and beyond, anywhere in the world. No one could see her, because technically she was never born. However, she was alive and had a face. It was a timeless face, the one that you couldn’t quite put an age on. She knew that she was young. She still was mortal, only living to a certain age. Right now she was sixteen.

Her atoms reconnected and she was at the outside of a bland market square. This future in Ima’s dimension was bad. She could only stay in her dimension. There could be other time travelers, wandering the planes of their slot.

In this place, people live almost like ancient humans. There wasn’t electricity for the most part, and people wore plain beige clothes. The air was thickly polluted.

Some men were holding a teenage boy, about sixteen, and cuffing his hands. People all around were yelling, almost chanting, Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!

Please, no! he was yelling. He searched the crowd for someone with sympathy. A man raised the whip. No!

Ima didn’t like watching those things. It reminded her of how cruel, how animal-like people were. But she was an observer and couldn’t interfere in these things.

The teenager looked across, straight at Ima. It startled her, as if he could see her. Please! Help me! You! He was yelling for Ima. She turned around and looked for a pedestrian behind her. Girl with pink hair! They’re going to whip me to death!

He’s skitzo! someone laughed.

Ima had pink hair. It was the shade of magenta, but it didn’t matter. That boy could see her. She had to help. But if she did, the future might change, for the better or worse. She didn’t even know what he did to deserve this punishment.

Hesitating, she ran towards the circle of people. Without touching them, she agily jumped around each person. A man had a knife in his pocket. Quickly and carefully, she took it.

The boy had rope tied around his wrist. Ima could easily cut through that. She began sawing. Thank you, thank you, he sighed. From the angle, people would think that he had somehow sliced his way through, so she wasn’t concerned.

Then, there was the crack of the whip.

Ah! he cried in pain. Time was running out, and Ima needed some answers from the mysterious dirty-blond boy.

Get up, she ordered, with none of the kindness she usually would have thought she would use if she could talk to people. She put the knife in his hand before he got on his feet. He stood, his arm around her shoulder. The knife clattered on the pavement. Then, they ran. People were yelling to get him, some running after.

Ima and him went into an alley. Thinking quickly, she pulled out some boards and ducked behind a hole in the wall. The boy got to his knees, wincing, but crawled through.

The two stayed deathly quiet, even as Ima did her best to cover the hole. They heard yelling, people wondering where they went. It was more than five minutes later where the noise faded and grumbles of, We’ll find the kid later.

Finally, someone spoke. It was the boy. You are resourceful.

I’ve picked a few things up. She looked at his eyes, or at least the shine of them. Her mint-green eyes seemed to glow. She asked the next question harshly. How can you see me? You aren’t a… a… They can see you. She didn’t want to reveal her secret if he wasn’t a time-traveler.

Of course I can see you. I felt your hands. I’m not skitzo, although I think I seriously alarmed the town, his eyes slightly narrowed in the dark. He lightly laughed at his humor.

You shouldn’t be able to, I’m… different, she hissed.

"If for whatever reason I am not supposed to see you, which I have no idea why, and right now I don’t really care. My back really hurts, the boy said as politely as possible. My house is far away, and I don’t know if I can make it without being spotted. You need to help me; you’re fast."

There was a pause. Reluctantly, Ima nodded her head. She knew with all her heart that this was a fatal idea; that time-travelers should never interfere with anything, but she felt sorry for him. She wanted him to live. He was the good guy, Ima could just tell, even though she knew none of his story.

By the way, he whispered, my name is Sebastian.

Ima paused, now feeling insecure. She had never really interacted with a person that could see and hear her. At the same time she was confused by feeling vulnerable just by giving her name. She looked and saw Sebastian’s eyes had lost their glisten.

Sorry, he mumbled.

My name is Ima, she finally spoke. There was another pause, but his eyes sparkled again. She then uncovered the hole in the alley, and crawled out. Once Sebastian had surfaced as well, she hoisted his arm over her shoulders. Which way is your house? she asked, not bothering to be quiet. It freaked him out, though. It’s fine, they won’t hear me.

It’s to the east, he pointed. Right across the market square. We can probably hide between the buildings.

She nodded, and pulled him forward slightly. She peeked around the corner of the alley. She gasped and ducked back. There are people everywhere out there. I don’t know how you’ll get through.

Don’t you mean both of us? he asked with a puzzled look.

They can’t see me, she reminded him.

We could go up the buildings, he suggested. He pointed to a ladder on the side of a building in the alley.

Your back. . .

If it means getting home still alive, I don’t care, he reassured in a firm tone. C’mon. He grabbed one of the rungs and began to ascend. Ima followed. Three quarters up, he stopped.

What? she asked worriedly. He had winced with each step he took. Was he hurt?

Fire escape. Connects to each building. He pushed in the wall, and a giant square appeared. There was a handle indented in.

He pulled it, then climbed in. She crawled after.

It’s dark, Ima mumbled. Her eyes glowed like cats’ once again.

Yeah, well come on, Sebastian remarked. He probably didn’t try to be rude, but he wanted to go home where it was safe. He lead her through the dark space.

Do you know your way around? she asked nervously.

Yeah. My friends and I would come up into here when we were younger. He then added, "We usually brought a candle, though.

The two crawled through the space, then down another ladder to the outside wall.

Alright, Sebastian said, somewhat optimistically. Now we just-

You! a woman yelled. I found him! It’s the murderer! Sebastian!

Sebastian stood, wide-eyed. It was only a matter of time before the whole town was on him. And, now that Ima knew what he’d done, would she help him? Slowly, he turned his head toward Ima. She looked surprised, but grabbed his arm and pulled him forward.

Run! Ima yelled. She and Sebastian propelled forward. She gracefully dodged people passing by, while he hastily bumped into pedestrians, who clawed vigorously at him. At one point, he nearly tripped and fell. Their grasp faltered, but her other hand grabbed his arm and tugged. He surged toward her, and his arm went around her shoulder again.

Kill him! a man screamed. She looked back again, for only a second, but saw quite the sight. Only a few people who looked to be from the government were trying to hold the crazy people back, while only two others sluggishly chased after them.

They ran further and further down the street, into