The Time Capsule

Chapter 14: Ibis Sparrow

Chapter 14: Ibis Sparrow

Mrs. Sparrow sipped her tea, lightly placing the saucer down as she opened her late-night reading. 'My Ghost Husband' looked like one of those novels one would pick off the dingy shelves at the airport or a railway station, the man holding the swooning woman on the cover. Of course, Ibis Sparrow delighted in these as she viewed her own life as a fairytale, and was convinced that nothing could shatter the illusion. Even her name was something romantic. 'Ibis Sparrow' or 'bird bird' as James somehow liked to tease her. A pang resounded in her heart of her missing husband, who she now presumed dead after all these years. The pang of sentiment was quickly replaced by the fear of her daughter's safety. The wooden clock on the mantel chimed half past five and she instinctively looked towards her, only sighing when it didn't open. James had been gone for many years now, he was well late for curfew. 

She dusted off her apron and headed to the kitchen to make her signature lasagna, the oven steaming warm, but suddenly, a ghostly blue light caught her eye out the window. The only problem was that the gleam was coming deep in the forest and certainly in a dangerous area. She whistled to the crackling radio to 'In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning' as she bustled around the kitchen like a bird, dismissing it as a trick of the light. Nothing could ruin this perfectly ordinary day. 'In the wee small hours of the morning, that's the time you miss her most of all. 

But suddenly a gunshot rang out in the distance, quite literally knocking Ibis out of her fairytale. Was it a neighborhood shooting? Had the nutters found their way here? Angelica! She must be in the tree house with Jillian and with no one to protect her. Debating, Mrs. Sparrow went to the kitchen again and opened one of the drawers, taking a key. The golden surface had faded over time, but it still had scratched with black lettering and, to Mrs. Sparrow's surprise, was glowing golden. 

"James...the only time you said it would glow..." Ibis held the key close to her heart. "Is if you came home. My heart's greatest desire. My love...where are you? Where did you go?" 

It had been years since he had said this to her, but Ibis recalled this like it was yesterday. She gave a scream of surprise as the walls of the house rippled around her, the key glowing more than ever, the very walls and brick of the house changing with reality. Suddenly, there was another door in front of her that she had never noticed before, marked 'Lower Basement.' 'Only in times of the greatest need to the disaster of the world. Whichever comes first,' was scrawled below it. 

"You never were the best at hiding dangerous things, were you, my love?" Ibis chuckled softly. "Not quite the end of the world, but I will do whatever it takes to prevent that from happening. For our daughter's sake." 

She slowly pushed the door open and climbed down the old wooden stairs, coughing from the piles of dust. How long had it been since this door was opened? Perhaps since James had last been here ten years ago. This must be his secret lab, she realized as she saw all the spare parts for green circuit boards and wires that she couldn't figure out in her dizziest daydreams. His desk of never ending drawers and files glowed with a green light and a drawer on the top was labeled 'top top top TOP secret, never open unless of complete and utter disaster,' and was rattling back and forth, on it's own accord. 

"What would you do?" Mrs. Sparrow chuckled, his voice echoing 'open it.' "Yes. Yes, of course you would. It's not stealing, technically. Oh my god, am I breaking and entering??" 

She darted forward and yanked the drawer open, closing her eyes in case it was something horrifying...but it turned out to be a futuristic gun. Made our of leaves that looked like they would shatter on impact. The leaves glowed green and the gun turned into a pristine white instrument one would use in a video game. And there was a letter on it, a blue 'W' with the symbol of the universe radiating out from all sides.