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Added a picture in Chapter 3, using my Flinstonian knowledge of Paint.Net (The poor man's Photoshop) to try to get a dreamy feel to the shot.

Chapter 4 should be up in the next hour. Chapter 5 might take a bit longer to post. I noticed a continuity problem that needs to be fixed, and I might actually take a break and have some fun with it and add a thing or two, since it's not a serious chapter.

Leaving out the song lyrics actually brought the word count to under 3200. I'm happy. I get happy with small accomplishments, what can I say?

Oh, and once I got rid of all that "late 80's" content, I've managed to play for over a half-hour with NO multi-colored ribbons! (I had to take a break to check the Net for something.) I think the newer pictures, though stupid me STILL forgot to change the size settings, will look a bit more relaxed. It's easier to take pictures when you're not afraid that your game will decide to get multi-colored on you at any given moment. You can actually MOVE people and things around!

Thanks for the encouragement, by the way!

Chapter 5

Again, it must be the urn. That was it. Something concerning the urn or the incense could help him get back to his time. But how? Ryan said good-bye to Chris, ran home, got the urn and his backpack, and ran someplace where he hoped he could find answers: Mrs. Babcock's house.

This was no dark, secret, surly mad scientist's lair. It was bright and cheerful, just like Mrs. Babcock herself. Almost everyone liked Mrs. Babcock. She was a sweet and smart lady in her mid-30's who made cookies for neighborhood kids and adults, and didn't mind listening to their problems. And she didn't just nod and pretend to listen, like many people did. She was one of those special people who really did listen. She just happened to have an unusual profession: she was an aromatherapist. At least that what her business cards said. Ryan was never sure exactly what she did. He didn't even know what Mr. Babcock did at all. Mrs. Babcock's husband wasn't home very often. All Ryan knew was that Mr. Babcock traveled on business around the world, and during his travels, picked up supplies for his wife.

Mrs. Babcock smiled when saw Ryan at the door. "Ah, Ryan. I haven't seen you in a long time! How is everyone?" She looked happy to see the urn. "Oh, so your Mom gave you my Memory Urn? Great! I knew she probably took it by mistake instead of the Health Urn."

Huh? He followed Mrs. Babcock into her living room and looked around, noticing several different urns and trunks in the room. He wasn't in this room very often. Most of the time, everyone who visited Mrs. Babcock hung out in her kitchen or in her backyard. "Health Urn? Memory Urn?" He knew he sounded stupid.

Mrs. Babcock pointed to a yellow urn on the floor by a trunk. The incense had a strong citrus scent. "Yes, Ryan, the Health Urn. This one takes you back to a time, up to a month, before you developed a specific health problem. For instance, if you threw your back out like your mother just did, you could go back in time to a few hours before you lifted that box incorrectly. Then you could fix your mistake before it became a big problem. Saves you stress and money and keeps you healthier. I lend it to close friends like your parents."

She looked at the other urns in the room. "Each of these urns allows you to travel back to a certain, limited point in time for different reasons, or they can help detect and lessen a problem."

She showed him a lavender-colored urn. "This one has lavender-based incense in it. It's a Sleep Urn. If you have trouble sleeping, it can help you feel more restful. It can help ease many physical problems, such as migraines. Not all physical problems, I'm afraid, but most. But that's not all. It can even take you back in time, up to a couple of weeks, if some event has been causing your sleeplessness, and can help you resolve a problem. For instance, if you said something stupid during a job interview that cost you the job, it can help you say the right thing this time around."

She frowned at Ryan and the urn he had placed on the floor by his feet. "Most of these urns, though, are pretty simple. They apply to one situation, and you can go back only a couple of weeks, at best. The Memory Urn is a lot more advanced, and can even be dangerous. I am the only one who has used it. "

Ryan confessed, "Not anymore, Mrs. Babcock. I need your help. Please!"

Chapter 6

After Ryan explained what happened, Mrs. Babcock offered him a peanut butter cookie, and the two of them sat down at her kitchen table. "Dear, didn't you read the book that came with the urn? It pretty much explains everything."

"No. My stupid sister was the one who found the urn and lit the incense. I have no idea what this thing does."

"You might want to tell your sister that it's always good to read the instructions before trying something," Mrs. Babcock sighed. "Then let me sum it up: You revisit points of your past using scent and music. The urn tries to help you if you have a bad memory you need to sort out. Or it helps you relive a good memory because sometimes, good memories can help get us through bad periods in our lives."

Ryan wasn't quite sure what she meant. "Uh … what?"

Mrs. Babcock explained, "Do you have songs that trigger certain memories? You know, like remembering a song playing in the background the day you first met someone? Well, if you burn the incense in this urn and touch it while listening to the song, you can go back to the memory the song reminds you of, see things more clearly, and even help you do something about the situation, if you choose. It can be any song from any era, as long as it reminds you of something in your life. You won't be going back to Ancient Greece, for instance," she laughed before turning somber again. "But you can see one reason why it's dangerous, don't you?"

She nibbled her cookie before continuing. "If someone evil got hold of this urn, he or she could use it to hurt someone. That's why there is only one urn. Ever since it went missing, I've been praying that no one who has no idea of what it does uses it. I guess that prayer wasn't exactly answered."

"There's one more problem," she admitted. "I didn't work out every kink in this urn yet. Sometimes, the urn takes certain lyrics literally. It's an urn, not an English professor! If you associate a song like Shaving Cream with a particular memory, you might find yourself cleaning up shaving cream for a while.. Though sometimes, a literal translation isn't a bad thing when fulfilling a wish."

"I hope not in my case," Ryan admitted. "But how do I get back to 1993?"

Mrs. Babcock looked at Ryan intently. "Well, I may have good news. I don't know. You need to have a song somehow … on CD, tape, vinyl record, whatever… that triggers your most recent memory, and play it while burning the incense and touching the urn. That will help you go forward to that time. You may miss a couple of hours or days, but at least you'll be in 1993, not 1991. The problem is: do you have such a song on you? I don't think we share the same musical tastes, unless The Move triggers memories for you."

Ryan thought for a moment. Suddenly, he remembered something. "Yes! I think I do!" He burrowed through his backpack and pulled out the CD that Steph had told him to give to Angele. It had the song that Angele was humming on it. He stared at the song titles listed on the disc.

Suddenly, he grinned. "OK, got something! But, um … do you have a CD player?"

Mrs. Babcock laughed. "Yes, I do. As well as a radio, a phone and indoor plumbing! Really, Ryan!" She handed Ryan an oven mitt. "Here. No need to burn your hands! But let's get going. I hope you don't mind leaving this CD here for a while, though."

Ryan put on the oven mitt and shook his head. He figured that he could go back to Mrs. Babcock's house to retrieve the CD when he got back to 1993, before Steph found out that he didn't have it. He and Mrs. Babcock went into the living room again. She inserted the CD into her player and he sat down on the floor, putting the burner between his legs. She lit the incense before stepping backwards, and he again touched the burner, gently with the oven mitt this time.

He hesitated. "I have some questions. For one, what's in this incense? It stinks! How does using it get you to time travel? And there's nothing in it that's going to make me sterile or get me arrested or anything, right?"

Mrs. Babcock chuckled. "You're quite inquisitive! Good. If you're that curious, maybe you can work for me when you're older and learn a few things, if you're really interested. But to answer your questions now: the exact ingredients are a secret, but the incense is a blend of different herbs with different properties. The dominant herb in this is rosemary. Rosemary is for remembrance."

She added, "Yes, there is something special in it that causes the time travel, and the urn has a special sort of clay that helps carry this out, but everything is all natural, and nothing is illegal or harmful to your body. You won't turn purple or not be able to have kids or anything like that. Anything else? You'd better make it quick, though. Someone is coming in five minutes to borrow the School Urn. He has a huge test tomorrow, and he's worried."

Something else bothered Ryan. "If I change something in the past, can that harm the future?"

Mrs. Babcock hesitated before replying. "It depends. Nothing at all may change. If you warned a friend about drinking too much and the friend continues to drink, there is nothing you can do. It's not like the movies, where every little change leads to some big consequence. Sometimes, you change something, and all that happens is that it makes you smile when thinking about it later. And even if there is some huge change, some huge changes are good, aren't they? If you cautioned a friend about trying to beat a train on the railroad tracks, and the friend listened and saved his life as a result, I don't see how that's such a bad thing. You still have your friend." She added, "Though be warned: some changes indeed cause negative consequences. I don't think I have to spell that out. That's why using this urn is so unpredictable, and I have used it rarely myself.

"Now, think about the song lyrics and the memory, and hopefully, I'll see you in 1993, and you can give me back my urn."

Ryan listened to the song lyrics and concentrated on the moment when Angele was humming the song Ordinary World by Duran Duran. The CD was "The Wedding Album". He was a little relieved and very nervous when he started to feel like he was fading out again.

When he came to, Angele was shaking him, looking relieved. The Other Side had just finished playing on the radio. "You creep!" Angele exclaimed. "I thought that smell knocked you out, and I'd have to call an ambulance!" Ryan got up. When Angele got up and turned her back for a moment, he removed his oven mitt and backpack, and quickly put the burner on a coffee table.

The doorbell rang, and he went to answer it. Chris and Steph were both at the door, along with Matt, and both girls looked pretty upset.

As Sam would say on Quantum Leap: "Oh, boy!"

_____________________________________________________

Author's Notes

1. I've given up entirely trying to prevent these double spaces between the paragraphs. I haven't the foggiest why it's happening, and even less of an idea of how to prevent it. I've even edited it in the HTML section, and there STILL is double-spacing between the paragraphs. If I have time later, I'll try to play with it. Sometimes, it seems that I can fudge the paragraphs into place.

2. In case you haven't guessed, yes, Mrs. Babcock practices magick and is also a scientist. And I picture her as a Wiccan. But I have tried just about everything I can NOT to stereotype her. She is well-known in the neighborhood, not unattractive, with a bright-colored house and an bright-colored outlook on life. She is caring and loving. She is married, and actually in the game, has a kid, though you don't see him in the story. She does not practice black magic. She believes in the power of nature and the senses to heal. She is not crazy and does not poison little children. Actually, she's a really nice person!

One of my best friends is a Wiccan, and by the way, a male. The last thing I would do is to dis any religion, and I tried to treat his with respect. I hope I did so.

3. Whoa, Nellie! Sorry for all those typos. I THINK I fixed most of them. If I missed a biggie, please let me know. I'm kind of hurrying with posting this, though NOT with writing it. Actually, I had the first draft written days ago, but have revised it a few times since then. It's just trying to find time to sort the writing details out that I've missed (and yes, I use spell check ... a lot of typos are word omissions and stuff the spell checker doesn't find) and take the pictures, in-between all sorts of other things in RL. How DO you people who write longer stories manage to keep them updated regularly while working around RL crap that, of course, messes things up? I'm trying to get this done within a week because at the rate I'm going, I don't know when I can update things, so I try to do what I can when I can.

I respect you writers of longer Sims stories!

4. Thanks. Melysa! Actually, I was trying to write in that vein with just a bit of a Back to the Future nod, and a tiny bit of a darker edge . Something I wouldn't be embarrassed to have my 14-year-old daughter read, but not something syrupy chirpy. I don't like chirpy.