✡ Prologue
✡ A Thousand Years — Time Travel
prologue
1: promise
05-01-1995
The sky is golden orange, the sun is setting. It's 5th January, the five-year-old boy's birthday. He giggled to himself as he grabbed another handful of sand to bring back home. The playground is now empty, every child went back home for their dinner. As his shadow grew fainter, the tiny bag he have in his hands grew heavier. He scopped up as much sand as he can with his tiny palms, and in the bag they go.
" I'm going to make my very own sand playground at home! " His eyes sparkled with excitement, the thought alone was exciting enough. The boy could hardly sit still, his hands busy, as he wobbled around the playground.
" Hey, that little boy over there. "
The child looked up, curious. " Me? "
" Yeah, that's you. Come here. " The mysterious looking old man gestured for him to come closer. He carefully dropped the bag of sand he have collected and made his way to the weird stranger. He's just like a gaint compared to the tiny boy. He bent down, and used his winkled filled hands to carress the latter's head, " How obedient. It's your birthday today, right? "
Nodding his head, the kid can't help but to stare at the other's snow white messy hair. He had never seen anyone with that kind of hair style, it's an eye opener for him. As the old man straightened his back, he smiled, " I'm here to give you an awesome birthday present, the best of the best kind of present you'll ever recieve in your entire life. "
" What is it? " The boy broke into a smile, his eyes not leaving the stranger for a millisecond.
" A long long time from now, the world will fall sick, and many people will die. " He paused for a while before adding, " You don't want that to happen, do you? " The tiny head shook vigorously as he sternly agreed with his cute voice, " Of course not. "
The story teller then continued, " If so, from now on, you should start on a mission, would you like that? " Excited and interested, he showed the elderly his best puppy eyes, " Yes please! "
His white cloak flew with the wind as he laughed at the adorable kid infront of him, " Very well, you will need to start saving the Earth by saving resources. Reduce, reuse, and recycle. Don't waste food or electricity. Not only these, but you'll need to spread this message to your family and friends too, okay? If you promise to help save the world, I'll be back one day when you're older and take you on a journey you'll never forget. "
Although he can hardly understand anything he just heard, he immediately showed his pinky finger, " I promise! "
The old man quickly wrapped up his meeting with the boy now that he have gotten what he came here for. " One last thing, you can't let other people know that we met, okay? "
" Okay! "
Showing the child his last few teeth, he nodded, " Then I'll see you again, sandboy. "
" When? "
" Soon. "
The sky is golden orange, the sun is setting. It's 5th January, the five-year-old boy's birthday. He giggled to himself as he grabbed another handful of sand to bring back home. The playground is now empty, every child went back home for their dinner. As his shadow grew fainter, the tiny bag he have in his hands grew heavier. He scopped up as much sand as he can with his tiny palms, and in the bag they go.
" I'm going to make my very own sand playground at home! " His eyes sparkled with excitement, the thought alone was exciting enough. The boy could hardly sit still, his hands busy, as he wobbled around the playground.
" Hey, that little boy over there. "
The child looked up, curious. " Me? "
" Yeah, that's you. Come here. " The mysterious looking old man gestured for him to come closer. He carefully dropped the bag of sand he have collected and made his way to the weird stranger. He's just like a gaint compared to the tiny boy. He bent down, and used his winkled filled hands to carress the latter's head, " How obedient. It's your birthday today, right? "
Nodding his head, the kid can't help but to stare at the other's snow white messy hair. He had never seen anyone with that kind of hair style, it's an eye opener for him. As the old man straightened his back, he smiled, " I'm here to give you an awesome birthday present, the best of the best kind of present you'll ever recieve in your entire life. "
" What is it? " The boy broke into a smile, his eyes not leaving the stranger for a millisecond.
" A long long time from now, the world will fall sick, and many people will die. " He paused for a while before adding, " You don't want that to happen, do you? " The tiny head shook vigorously as he sternly agreed with his cute voice, " Of course not. "
The story teller then continued, " If so, from now on, you should start on a mission, would you like that? " Excited and interested, he showed the elderly his best puppy eyes, " Yes please! "
His white cloak flew with the wind as he laughed at the adorable kid infront of him, " Very well, you will need to start saving the Earth by saving resources. Reduce, reuse, and recycle. Don't waste food or electricity. Not only these, but you'll need to spread this message to your family and friends too, okay? If you promise to help save the world, I'll be back one day when you're older and take you on a journey you'll never forget. "
Although he can hardly understand anything he just heard, he immediately showed his pinky finger, " I promise! "
The old man quickly wrapped up his meeting with the boy now that he have gotten what he came here for. " One last thing, you can't let other people know that we met, okay? "
" Okay! "
Showing the child his last few teeth, he nodded, " Then I'll see you again, sandboy. "
" When? "
" Soon. "
2: present
05-01-2000
He walked tiredly into his room and plopped himself down on the comfortable bed. Burying himself under the warm blankets, he reached out his right hand to turn off the light. As the room plurged into total darkness, his hand s it's way back under the blanket again. The room was silent, the house was silent, the neighbourhood was silent. He was about to drift into dreamland, when his eyes suddenly flew open.
" Psst. "
The boy heard weird noises coming from his window. Scared, he wanted to ignore it, but the noise just won't go away.
" Pssttt. " There it goes again.
After some time, the 10-year-old finally gathered his courage to go and take a look. Slowly and carefully, he peeked out of the window. Out there in the cold, stood an old man. White messy hair with a weird looking cloak. He frowned, why does he look so extremely familliar?
The stranger saw his tiny head poking out of the window, and immediately called out to him, " Hey, can you come down now? " Shocked, the boy quickly ducked under the window. He never intended for the old man to spot him, and he mentally slapped himself for being so careless.
He was about to escape back into his bed when the voice speaked again, " Do you not remember me, sandboy? "
Sandboy? He rummaged through his memories, should he have remembered the old man? That's when something suddenly clicked inside him, " It's you! " He jumped up from his squating position and exclaimed, wide-eyed.
The old man smiled, nodding his head in the process, " Yup, it's me again. "
The boy excitedly rushed out of his room and out of the front door. In less than a minute, he's standing downstairs with the old man, " You were the weird man at the playground! You said we would meet again soon, but it's been so long! "
The man laughed, " I'm sorry for taking so long. "
The boy pouted at his seemingly insincere apology. He stuff his hands into his big white pockets at the side of his big white cloak and pulled out something, " Since you fulfilled your promise, I'm going to fufill mine too. "
" What promise? " The younger one seemed to have forgotten all about the deal they made, and so the other reminded him, " You promised to help me save the world by saving resources remember? Now that you did, I'm going to bring you out on a birthday trip. "
" I did? "
" You didn't waste any food and turned off all electric appliances when not in use that night I met you, and nine young girls that was suppose to die that week, survived. " Still confused, the boy stared at him weirdly, since when did he became a life saviour?
The old man then continued, " Using this machine, we will be able to go whenever we want, and today, let's do some travelling together! "
Excited and interested, the boy threw away his unhappiness and gave the old man his best puppy eyes, " Yes please! "
He walked tiredly into his room and plopped himself down on the comfortable bed. Burying himself under the warm blankets, he reached out his right hand to turn off the light. As the room plurged into total darkness, his hand s it's way back under the blanket again. The room was silent, the house was silent, the neighbourhood was silent. He was about to drift into dreamland, when his eyes suddenly flew open.
" Psst. "
The boy heard weird noises coming from his window. Scared, he wanted to ignore it, but the noise just won't go away.
" Pssttt. " There it goes again.
After some time, the 10-year-old finally gathered his courage to go and take a look. Slowly and carefully, he peeked out of the window. Out there in the cold, stood an old man. White messy hair with a weird looking cloak. He frowned, why does he look so extremely familliar?
The stranger saw his tiny head poking out of the window, and immediately called out to him, " Hey, can you come down now? " Shocked, the boy quickly ducked under the window. He never intended for the old man to spot him, and he mentally slapped himself for being so careless.
He was about to escape back into his bed when the voice speaked again, " Do you not remember me, sandboy? "
Sandboy? He rummaged through his memories, should he have remembered the old man? That's when something suddenly clicked inside him, " It's you! " He jumped up from his squating position and exclaimed, wide-eyed.
The old man smiled, nodding his head in the process, " Yup, it's me again. "
The boy excitedly rushed out of his room and out of the front door. In less than a minute, he's standing downstairs with the old man, " You were the weird man at the playground! You said we would meet again soon, but it's been so long! "
The man laughed, " I'm sorry for taking so long. "
The boy pouted at his seemingly insincere apology. He stuff his hands into his big white pockets at the side of his big white cloak and pulled out something, " Since you fulfilled your promise, I'm going to fufill mine too. "
" What promise? " The younger one seemed to have forgotten all about the deal they made, and so the other reminded him, " You promised to help me save the world by saving resources remember? Now that you did, I'm going to bring you out on a birthday trip. "
" I did? "
" You didn't waste any food and turned off all electric appliances when not in use that night I met you, and nine young girls that was suppose to die that week, survived. " Still confused, the boy stared at him weirdly, since when did he became a life saviour?
The old man then continued, " Using this machine, we will be able to go whenever we want, and today, let's do some travelling together! "
Excited and interested, the boy threw away his unhappiness and gave the old man his best puppy eyes, " Yes please! "
3: peter pan
05-01-3000
" You see that little girl over there? That's also one of the girls you saved. " The old man smiled as he pointed at a tiny girl playing with the sand in the playground. However, the one that caught his attention was the girl on the swing. The young boy stared at the girl as she giggled when a boy, a year or two older than her, pushes the swing forward in full force. They seemed like they were having so much fun, and that was when he decided to make some new friends.
Smiling from ear to ear, he rushed forward, wanting to join in the fun, but his smile was soon replaced with a sad frown and a cute pout when the old man pulled him back, " Where are you going? Didn't I told you to never leave my side while we're here? "
The boy sighed as the other reprimanded him for the upteempth time for the exact same reason.
" But I want to play! "
Softening, the man lowered himself to the boy's eye level, " It's dangerous, you are not to interact with anyone here except for me, do you get it? If anything goes wrong, we'll get into a lot of trouble! "
Even as he was getting scolded, he just can't peel his eyes off the kids nearby. He sighed again as the elder continued, " This is not like home, you don't belong here. If you get lost or get caught, nobody can save you. So don't try to run away again, okay? "
The boy stole a quick glance at the two kids again, and this time, he met eyes with the girl for a split second. It seems like she is curious about the two weird strangers at the other side of the road too. He quickly looked away from the girl to faced the old man again, agreeing reluctantly, " Okay, I get it. "
Glad, the man patted the boy's head, " Now that's a good boy. "
The boy fiddled around with his fingers as he looked down at the ground, dejected to be prevented from playing. The old man grabbed hold of the tiny hand and led him away from the playground. The duo continued their little journey on foot for a few more minutes before the old man stopped in his tracks.
Turning around to face the boy, he smiled, " It's been almost a day, let's get you home now. Your parents will be worried. "
" Why? I can stay longer! My parents are never at home! " The boy whined, trying to stay with his new found friend longer. Depressed, he looked away, " I'm always at home by myself, they never cared about me. They wouldn't be worried, not one bit."
Shocked, he kneeled down and gently told the boy, " I'm sure they do care, they're just too busy to play with you. "
" No one is ever there for me. "
" You have me, sandboy. "
" And you're sending me away. "
Smiling, he said, " No one is ever alone. "
The boy looked at the man with tears in his eyes, " I am alone. "
" Every boy is a Peter Pan, and I'm sure you'll find your Tinkle Bell one day. "
" You see that little girl over there? That's also one of the girls you saved. " The old man smiled as he pointed at a tiny girl playing with the sand in the playground. However, the one that caught his attention was the girl on the swing. The young boy stared at the girl as she giggled when a boy, a year or two older than her, pushes the swing forward in full force. They seemed like they were having so much fun, and that was when he decided to make some new friends.
Smiling from ear to ear, he rushed forward, wanting to join in the fun, but his smile was soon replaced with a sad frown and a cute pout when the old man pulled him back, " Where are you going? Didn't I told you to never leave my side while we're here? "
The boy sighed as the other reprimanded him for the upteempth time for the exact same reason.
" But I want to play! "
Softening, the man lowered himself to the boy's eye level, " It's dangerous, you are not to interact with anyone here except for me, do you get it? If anything goes wrong, we'll get into a lot of trouble! "
Even as he was getting scolded, he just can't peel his eyes off the kids nearby. He sighed again as the elder continued, " This is not like home, you don't belong here. If you get lost or get caught, nobody can save you. So don't try to run away again, okay? "
The boy stole a quick glance at the two kids again, and this time, he met eyes with the girl for a split second. It seems like she is curious about the two weird strangers at the other side of the road too. He quickly looked away from the girl to faced the old man again, agreeing reluctantly, " Okay, I get it. "
Glad, the man patted the boy's head, " Now that's a good boy. "
The boy fiddled around with his fingers as he looked down at the ground, dejected to be prevented from playing. The old man grabbed hold of the tiny hand and led him away from the playground. The duo continued their little journey on foot for a few more minutes before the old man stopped in his tracks.
Turning around to face the boy, he smiled, " It's been almost a day, let's get you home now. Your parents will be worried. "
" Why? I can stay longer! My parents are never at home! " The boy whined, trying to stay with his new found friend longer. Depressed, he looked away, " I'm always at home by myself, they never cared about me. They wouldn't be worried, not one bit."
Shocked, he kneeled down and gently told the boy, " I'm sure they do care, they're just too busy to play with you. "
" No one is ever there for me. "
" You have me, sandboy. "
" And you're sending me away. "
Smiling, he said, " No one is ever alone. "
The boy looked at the man with tears in his eyes, " I am alone. "
" Every boy is a Peter Pan, and I'm sure you'll find your Tinkle Bell one day. "
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