A Brighter Tomorrow: My Journey with Julie

I pick up my computer and put it on my desk before slumping back into the window seat. Just then, the cushion shifts under me and I reach down to adjust it. But when I do, I feel some hinges where the seat meets the wall. Does the seat open? I toss the cushion onto the bed and sure enough, I find the bench seat is hinged. I lift the lid and peer inside. There’s dust and cobwebs, and I find a dangly peace-sign earring, a nail clipper, a rainbow hair ribbon, and a half dollar from 1975. It’s like a little time capsule.

I tie the rainbow ribbon around my ponytail and put the other treasures in my pocket. I’m about to close the lid when something shiny catches my eye. It’s a ring with a big black stone. I pick it up and close the window seat to sit down. I slip the ring on my hand, and as I admire it, the stone begins to lighten in color. Is it one of those mood rings? Then the room starts to spin. I close my eyes and try to make it stop. Then my stomach drops and I feel like I’m falling. I land with a thud and open my eyes.

I’m still sitting on the window seat, but everything has changed. The room looks like my room, but my stuff has been replaced with someone else’s. Beaded curtains across the window and a canopy is hanging around the bed. On the bed is a colorful bedspread. Next to the bed is a chair in the shape of a giant egg and a matching ottoman. A lava lamp is on the desk next to an old-fashioned record player and tape recorder. On the dresser is a picture of a family. Two parents, a teenage girl, and a girl around my age. The girl has long blonde hair and a little braid down one side with sparkling brown eyes. A second photo shows the same blonde girl with her arm around the shoulder of a pretty Asian girl. Alphabet stickers decorate the border and spell out JULIE + IVY = BEST FRIENDS. Could this be the blonde girl’s room?

How did I get here? I was sitting on the window seat in my new room one moment and then I ended up in this strange place. Did I fall down a sort of rabbit hole like a Alice in Wonderland? I return to the window and open the seat to peek inside. Now I see it’s filled to the brim with books and stuffed animals. How could I possibly fall down through there? I close the lid and sit down. Across the street, I see a house painted with bright purple and turquoise trim, but I swear just a few minutes ago it was green with white trim. And even the trees look different. They’re smaller. This morning, I could hardly see the green house through the canopy of tree branches. Now the trees are tiny little things that hardly take up any room on the sidewalk.

I glance down at the mood ring which is now a cloudy amber color. It’s almost as if the transformation happened when I put on the ring. I slip it off and suddenly I’m spinning again as if I’m turning cartwheels. Then, just as suddenly, the spinning stops and I’m back in my old room again. I look out the window and the house across the street is green and white, not purple and turquoise.

The clock on my laptop says 12:35. It’s been at least five minutes since Chloe and I made a wish together, and yet…

I open my hand and stare at the ring in my palm. Is it really a mood ring? It sure seems to do a lot more than show moods. It shows other places. What would happen if I put the ring on again? I have to try. I slip the ring on and feel the spinning sensation again. When I crack open my eyes, sure enough I’m back in the strange room with the purple house across the street.