“The tunnel of time will appear in another minute or so. I’m not strong enough to be able to travel through time on my own power. But, now that I’ve had the chance to meet you in this time, I will do whatever it takes to learn how to travel through time using my own powers! And when I do, I promise you that I will return and I will teach you how to do it as well! It will become very useful when you start writing for the school newspaper, daddy!” Nate said to Peter.

“Wow! You knew about my job at the newspaper?” Peter replied in shock.

“I’m from the future, daddy! Of course I know that! And you will also have the ability to travel through time, but only to the past. But this is past for me, for I am returning to the future. So I will always be able to come back, without needing a magical time tunnel!” Nate responded.

Ryan and Peter looked at Nate and they were both in shock. But they didn’t have time to respond, for there was a sound of a loud, violent wind on their lawn. Suddenly a large, ten-foot tall tunnel materialized in their lawn. A portal to the future had opened, and Nate started walking towards it, followed by Peter and Ryan.

“I guess this is goodbye, dad…” Nate said, as he clearly became saddened for a moment. Ryan and Peter took turns giving Nate a hug, followed by Ty and Dustin.

“I’ll be back… I’ll come back before you know it! Be happy! SMILE! I WILL RETURN!” Nate said to the group, as everyone began to cry. Ryan got on his knees so he could look into the tunnel, sitting behind Ty and Dustin, who held on to Peter, who was standing in the middle.

Nate slowly turned towards the tunnel and walked about a quarter of the way. The tunnel appeared to be about a hundred feet long.

About one quarter of the way, Nate stopped and turned around. He had a sad look on his face and waved, while Peter and Ryan waved back.

“Go on, Nate. Go on home. Please say hi to your mother…” Peter whispered, as he felt himself losing the battle against the tears. “I will see you again, in another twenty years…” Peter calmly thought to himself.

“No, dad, I will be back before you know it. I’ll be back, sooner than you think. And next time, I won’t need this tunnel, believe me…” Peter heard Nate saying in his eyes. He heard Nate’s voice inside of his head, which only made him cry even harder.

Then Nate slowly turned around and began to run towards the other end of the tunnel, where a very bright light was shining. Nate continued to run, until he was just beyond the half way point, when he slowed down. The boy then stopped one last time and slowly turned around, facing his father. But this time, tears were running from Nate’s eyes as well, as the boy began to cry harder. Then for a split second, it seemed as if Nate was about to run back to Peter, when he heard a familiar voice coming from the other end of the tunnel. It was a soft, female voice. It was the voice of Nate’s mother.

“Nate! Nathaniel!” the woman shouted.

Nate quickly turned around and faced the other end of the tunnel.

“Mom… MOMMA! I’m coming, momma!” Nate yelled back, as he began to walk towards the end of the tunnel.

“COME HOME, NATE!” the woman shouted back. There was a silhouette of a woman that was looking through the other end of the tunnel, but Peter could not see her face because of the bright, white light that was shining in the background. Then there was a voice of a man, which sounded very familiar to Peter, Ty, Ryan and Dustin.

“HURRY, NATE! IT’S TIME TO COME HOME!” the voice shouted through the tunnel.

“Oh my gosh, that’s YOU!” Ryan said, as he looked at Peter. “That is you, but in the future, Peter!

Peter and Ty recognized the voice of the Peter from the future! All four of them were in shock, but they felt happy at the same time, for they knew that Nate was in good hands.

Nate began to run towards the end of the tunnel. He leaped up and flew the last part, until he reached the end. Then when he finally made it, they heard another familiar voice.

“You made it! WELCOME HOME, NATE!” the voice said, which clearly sounded like the voice of Ryan, but from the future.

“That’s you, Ryan!” Ty said to Ryan, who was astonished to hear himself speak. Ryan continued to look intently at the other end of the tunnel. Ryan finally got to see the face of Nate’s mother, who was Peter’s future wife, for just a split second. “Oh my gosh… I know her… I know who Nate’s mother will be…” Ryan whispered. Peter immediately turned to Ryan in shock. But Ryan couldn’t say anything, for the woman’s power prevented Ryan from telling Peter who she was.

“I’m sorry, Peter. I can’t tell you who your wife will be…” Ryan said with a sad look on his face.

“That’s alright. Some things are better kept secret…” Peter responded. Just at that moment he heard Nate’s voice for the last time.

“GOODBYE, DADDY! I LOVE YOU!” Nate shouted. Immediately the tunnel began to fade away until it had disappeared into thin air, leaving the guys standing out on the lawn as they were looking out on the empty street.

There was a moment of silence among those who were there. A deep feeling of sadness overcame everyone, when it became clear that Nathaniel Karlowski has traveled back to his own time, which was thirty years in the future.

“He’s gone… I can’t believe HE’S GONE! I’ve NEVER had SO MUCH FUN in my ENTIRE LIFE!! And now… he’s gone! My best friend is gone…” Ryan said, as he began to sob out loud. Ryan got up and quietly walked into the house and went up to his room, still wearing the jersey that Nate had given him just an hour earlier.

Ty and Dustin surrounded Peter, who had a hard time keeping his posture. They embraced him, as they slowly walked back into the house.

“Don’t worry, Peter. Nate is in good hands! He came here and he had a wonderful time! I’ll bake some fresh chocolate chip cookies for everyone…” Dustin said, while trying to console Peter a little. Ty and Peter walked up to Peter’s room, while Dustin went to the kitchen. Several neighbors stayed around, but most of them began to walk back to their homes. The sky slowly began to turn gray as a rainstorm made its way over the area. •