A Glitch in Time

By Lois Farley-Ray

Asil tried to lead a normal nine-year-old life. No matter how hard she tried, she just didn't fit in. Bounced from one foster home to another made life tough. This didn't diminish her positive attitude. One day on her way home from school, she heard a disembodied voice. The voice told her to watch the sky. She witnessed an unearthly phenomena that no human had ever seen. This one event changed her life in ways she could never have imagined.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: May 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781641384858

Book preview

Chapter 1

A time glitch flashed across the clear sky of Michigan. Ten times brighter than lightning it was and faster than a wink.

App was monitoring the glitch’s progress on the screen. It was his job to be sure no humans witnessed it. It was an easy task to follow the evasive procedures necessary to distract humans from seeing it. Once the procedure was under way, he watched the girl intently until she turned to chase her homework across the yard. When she appeared on her way, App smiled and nodded his head at this success. The monitor flashed a brightness that made him blink his eyes. The light traveled across the sky from the west to the east and was gone in a heartbeat. It always amazed App every time he witnessed it.

Instantly there was Blat . . . Blat . . . Blat . . . App covered his ears against the sharp sound of the buzzers as the blinking of the warning lights filled the room with splashes of color.

Oh, muddle! muttered App. What the heck happened? Everything seemed to be going smoothly just a second ago.

Chaos increased as startled apprentices came scurrying to their posts from all directions. Hey, App! Is this the real thing or is this just a drill? was shouted at him as the apprentices entered.

What was that? bellowed Time Glitch Master to his apprentices. There seems to be a blip on our time meter. That should never ever happen! In all my years as a Watcher, there have never been any blips on the screens. What or who was that BLIP and why did this happen?

Chapter 2

At the corner of the International Date Line and the Equator in the middle of the Pacific Ocean exists a small jungle-covered island. It has been there since the earth began. On this island, the Time Glitch Master, better known as G-Master, and his apprentices maintain their continual watch. Their job is to protect humans from time glitches, or was it protect time glitches from humans? No one knows which way is correct, they just know that never the two should meet.

In the center of the control room, the Boss stood. He watched over the apprentices. He has been in control of the Time mainframe forever. G-Master is an odd little man in appearance. He stood only four feet tall. His tiny green eyes appear bigger than his face when seen through his thick wire-framed glasses. The warning sound upset him. His shock of orangeish-red hair stuck straight out of his head, much like that of a dandelion just before the seeds blow away. His hair had a life of its own. It danced around his head in waves. If the situation was different, App and his fellow apprentices would have laughed to see G-Master’s hair, but not today. No, this was not the time to laugh; this was a very serious matter, and something had to be done.

The warning buzzer summoned all apprentices to duty. They began pouring in from everywhere. Surfer Apprentice came directly from the surf; water was still running off his hairy legs, leaving a stream of water on the floor. Pinky Apprentice, having just jumped out of bed, zipped into the room in fuzzy pink slippers and pink curlers in her hair. Hiking Apprentice’s boots left muddy prints on the shiny linoleum floor. Office Apprentice dropped markers, pencils, paperclips, and other such office supplies as he entered. All normal protocol was forgotten, or maybe ignored, in their hurry to get to post. They pushed, shoved, tripped over each other, and argued as they assembled in the control room. Once they had obtained their posts, their eyes were glued to the monitors, and they awaited G-Master’s orders.

G-Master checked the monitor closest to him. He barked at the apprentices, Check all monitors! Where did that Glitch stop? We have to locate it before it is too late!

Eyes sharp, everyone, blasted G-Master, continents roll call!

G-Master listened intently to each apprentice as they answered him.

Asia.

Clear!

Africa.

Clear!

App sat nervously waiting for his continent to be called.

Antarctica.

Clear!

Australia.

"Clear!

I am in so much trouble, whispered App to himself. What is he going to do when I have to answer NOT CLEAR? Sweat broke out on his face.

Europe.

Clear!

Clamping his eyes shut, App was hoping to make the blip disappear. He opened them again, only to see the blinking warning light was still on his screen. Oh no, I’m next, just stay calm. App silently shook his head.

North America! roared the boss.

Taking a deep breath, App wheezed out, NOT Clear.

WHAT was that? Speak up, boy, this is no time to play around.

APP tried to speak again. NOT CLEAR. That came out a little louder.

Don’t make me come over there! warned G-Master.

NOT CLEAR, choked App.

"Not clear, not