It was a normal Saturday afternoon at the mall with my best friend. I wasn’t expecting anything unusual. This is something we do a lot. We did this nearly every weekend, in fact. 
            “Hey, look at this shirt, Molly,” Rosie to me while we were looking through my favorite clothing store. “I really like it.”
            “Me too!” I replied. “I need to buy that.” 
            I searched in my pocket for my money, checking to see how much I had left. I counted it but didn’t have nearly enough to buy the shirt. 
            I sighed and looked at my friend. “Great. I don’t have enough. I can’t buy it.”
            Rosie brought her voice down to a whisper. “Just steal it, Molly. No one’s looking.”
            I looked at her like she was crazy. Me? Steal something? I would never even dream of…
            But the more I thought about it, the more intriguing the idea became. I did really like the shirt. And Rosie was right. Nobody was in the store except for the manager behind the counter, and we were safely hidden behind a rack of clothes. 
            “Okay, I’ll do it,” I whispered back to her.
            I pulled my bag off of my back and Rosie grabbed the shirt. She began to stuff it into the bag and zipped it back up. I put it on my back with a smile on my face. 
            But my smile quickly faded when I turned around and was met face to face with a tall man with a bald head and a mustache. He was wearing a name tag that read “Mike, Manager.”
            He smiled in a friendly way and said “Hello, ladies. I couldn’t help but notice you putting something in your bag there. Mind if I see what it is?” 
            Rosie immediately said “No, it was nothing, I swear.” 
            I, on the other hand, sighed and reluctantly admitted “I stole a shirt. I’m sorry. I’ll put it back.” I unzipped my backpack and took the shirt out. I handed it over to the manager. 
            “Thank you. But that does not excuse the crime that you were about to commit. What’s your name?” 
            “Molly…”
            My heart was beating rapidly and I heard a ringing in my ears. Was I going to be arrested, or would this go on my permanent record? I didn’t know. I’d never done anything bad like this in my life. 
            The man continued speaking. “Now, Molly, I don’t have to get the police involved if you don’t want me to, as long as you do me a favor.”
            “What is it?” I asked timidly. 
            “Be at my house tomorrow at noon and I’ll tell you.”
            He pulled a slip of paper with an address scrawled messily across it. 
            He winked then walked away. 

            “You can’t go!” Rosie nearly yelled as we walked through the mall. 

“I have to… I said I would. And he promised not to get the police involved if-”     She cut me off. “Getting arrested is much better than going to some creepy dude’s house! He looked pretty sick and perverted! What if he… You know- wants to do stuff to you? Or what if he kills you?!” 
            I just shrugged. It was pretty creepy, this whole thing. 
            Clearly, I couldn’t tell my parents that this strange man asked me to come to his house to do a favor, whatever it was. That would entitle me to tell them about stealing the shirt. I’d just have to go tomorrow and pray that I make it out alive. 

            At noon the next day, I made my way to Mike the managers home.

            His house was small and the windows were dark. The place looked abandoned.  The grass in the front lawn was dead with weeds popping up all over the place. 
            I made my way up the three cracked concrete steps. I was shaking badly as I knocked on the door. 
            About twenty second later, the door creaked open. 
            Mike stood there wearing only a bathrobe and slippers. He smiled in a cynical sort of way and said “Hello, Molly. Thank you for coming.”
            I just nodded my head once. He moved from the door way, allowing me to come inside. 
            He waved his hand, indicating for me to follow him further into his home. 
            He opened a door at the end of a hallway. 
            “You can head down there,” he directed me. “I’ll be there shortly.”
            Inside the door were stairs leading into a basement. I hesitantly climbed down the steps. It was completely dark down there. 
            The only sound was my own, uneven breathing. What have I gotten myself into? I shouldn’t have listened to Rosie. This was going to be my last few minutes alive, I thought. I’d never see daylight again. I’d never see my family and friends again…
            Suddenly, a light flicked on, revealing an extremely messy basement. I turned my head to see Mike walking down the stairs. 
            When he reached the bottom, he said “Let me explain what I need you for. I am working on something and I need it to be tested. Since I need to control it, I need another person, which is you.”
            He walked over to a large mound covered in a sheet. He pulled the dusty sheet off of it. I’ve never seen anything like it. It was something only seen in sci-fi movies. It was all silver metal with colored buttons, lights and levers on it.
            “W-what is that?” I stammered. 
            “It’s a time machine,” Mike explained. 
            “Really?” I had a hard time taking that seriously. 
            “Yes. It should work now. But I need you to test it to be sure.” 
            “You’re not going to hurt me?” I blurted out unintentionally. 
            He laughed. “No! Is that what you thought? I was never planning to hurt you! Now come over here and stand on here.” Mike pointed to a small, metal platform. 
            I stepped onto it, apprehensively. This seemed unreal. There was no possible way I could time travel. 
            Mike pressed a bunch of buttons in a complicated pattern and the room around me began to dissolve until it was pitch black. When the lights came on, I was back in the mall with Rosie. I was in my favorite store a few moments before I stole the shirt. 
            “Hey, look at this shirt, Molly,” Rosie said. “I really like it.”
            “Me too!” I replied. “I need to buy that.” 
            For some reason, I counted my money, even though I knew what I would find.
            “Great,” I said again. “I don’t have enough. I can’t buy it.”
            “Just steal it, Molly,” Rosie whispered. “No one’s looking.”
            “Nah, I don’t want it that bad,” I smiled. I knew what had just happened, what Mike had intended for me to do.
            “Okay, what ever you say.”
            We turned and headed out of the store. As we did, I caught sight of Mike. He was looking at me. He smiled and winked. 
            I mouthed the word “thanks,” and left the store with Rosie.

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