Life Bros

Chapter 5

We left off with Michael and Henry discovering a secret passageway in the library and thus discovering a hidden underground laboratory.
As they are searching for clues, someone walks in and they quickly hide under a desk hidden in the shadows.
***

The footsteps got closer. Soon, they could make out a pair of light brown old worn out shoes approaching the desk that they had just been standing in front of.
They couldn't see who it was from under the desk though.
The two friends did their best to stay quiet, that is, until a spider crawled onto Michael's shoulder.
Michael yelped and jumped up banging his head on the table and knocking it (along with everything on top of it) to the ground.
Michael sighed in relief, as he finally got rid of the spider but Henry froze in place.
There, just two feet away from them, stood Mr Miller.
"I'll uh... have you two clean that up." He said gesturing towards the mess Michael made.
"My surveillance camera caught you trespassing so I already knew you were here. We haven't got much time though we-"
"Hold it there, Mr Miller!" Henry interrupted "What is this place!? What did you do to us? Why does Tuesday keep repeating itself?"
"Well, if you would just let me explain! I used you two as an experiment for my invention." He pulled out a clock. "This is a time machine. Tuesday kept on repeating itself because of a small glitch, but now I know how to fix it! And since you two are here, you can help. I need to go back in time to see my friend Barnaby. He disappeared years ago without a trace!"
"What's in it for us?"
"Well for starters, you won't keep repeating Tuesday till the day you die. Because although everyone else and everything else won't have changed once you wake up to the same day, you two will keep growing older because the time machine doesn't affect you."
"Is that a threat?" Henry glared.
"Do you want things to go back to normal or what? If yes then help me, PLEASE!"
Henry glared awhile longer before giving in and nodding.
"Thank you!" Mr Miller said with relief clear in his voice.
"Michael hold this." He emptied the green oozy stuff from earlier onto his hands.
Michael looked at it in horror and tried not to gag.
"This way you won't break anything else while I'm gone." He then turned to Henry and gave him directions on how to connect the clock to the time machine.
"... And then pull this lever when I say the words: I wish you well." Henry nodded in understanding, and the professor went to stand in a cylinder that they hadn't noticed earlier.
"I'm ready. Press the red botton!"
Henry did as he was told and Mr. Miller's body soon evaporated into many particles that they vanished.
Then Henry and Michael saw him appear on screen, walking towards the library entrance.
He walked towards a small table with a young man about Henry and Michaels age.
He had longish dark brown hair falling over his forehead as he appeared to be struggling with some homework.
Mr. Miller approached him slowly, his hands were shaking ever so slightly.
"Barnaby?" The young man lifted up his head hearing his name.
"Who... George? Haha. Nice costume man, but it's not Halloween just yet!" He patted him on the shoulder and offered him a chair.
Mr Miller took a seat and said,"It's not a costume," then proceeded to pull out a picture that they took together two years after the current year (1992).
Barnaby smirked at his old friend thinking it was another one of his complex jokes, but when he looked at the picture his smirk left and his face went serious.
"You... you aren't joking." he picked up the picture.
Then he looked up at George and laughed, "How'd you build a time machine without breaking it? You've always been the clumsy one!"
Mr Miller laughed along.
"SHHHHHH!!" The librarian hushed them.
"I... I came back in time because ... Three weeks from now you leave without a trace and I never see or hear from you ever again." Mr Miller said as his face fell with sadness.
Barnaby sighed, then looked around as though making sure that no one was eavesdropping on them. He bent down and whispered something in Mr. Miller's ear.
Mr Miller's shoulders slumped as Barnaby stood back up.
"Ah... so that is why you left.
Is there nothing that I can do?"
"I wish there was, old man." Barnaby sighed in reply as he started gathering his things and stood.
"Well." he smirked. "At least I get to see that I won the bet, you practically bald man! Hand over them twenty dollars!" Barnaby laughed. Mr Miller smiled and laughed with them, as they swung an arm around each other's shoulders and walked out together.
"It was good seeing you again," Mr Miller said with a smile. "Yeah, I'm gonna miss your clumsiness." Barnaby laughed.
The two laughed again and then Mr. Miller gave the signal Henry was waiting for to bring him back to the present time "I wish you well... Barnaby".
And just like that, he disappeared leaving Barnaby awestruck as the computer screen turned black, and Mr Miller reappeared in the laboratory.
"I'll take that off your hands now, Michael." he chuckled.
He was taking away the green slimy thing and then walking over to Henry. "Well done." he smiled at him.
"Just press that blue switch and all should go back to normal.
There's an elevator just over there."

***

"So.... tomorrow will be Wednesday... Any plans?" Michael asked as they headed towards the tennis court.
"How about we don't get expelled?" Henry laughed.

The End