The Protagonist:

When the bell rings, teenagers talk to each other in the high school cafeteria. Everyone starts to make their way to class except for Harper, at Everyone Talks About You High. That is not the school's actual name, but what she calls it, as Harper is a loner at this school and has been ever since she started. Only one other person could get her to open up, and he moved far away from her and the city in which she lived; Rowan was his name, and since he left, she has decided it is not worth getting to know anyone as they go and leave you behind just as her dad did when he died in the war.

Harper had been sitting there after everyone had left for class, and a teacher noticed her staring into space. "Harper, are you alright?" the teacher asked. The question snapped Harper out of her daydream, and she said, "Yes, Mrs. McKinney, sorry, I did not realize lunch was over." "It is okay; just hurry to class before you are late." Harper hurriedly put everything in its proper place and rushed to class. She was excited when she realized there were only two more classes until spring break!

At the end of the school day, Harper was walking home and noticed a small crowd around an individual. Harper entered the crowd and saw an older man lying on the ground just off the street. The people looked at him as if they were in a daze. Suddenly, she noticed that everything was at a standstill! Nothing was moving, no sounds, no laughter, nothing! The old man had a wrinkled face, no shoes, and torn clothing. The clothing looked as if they were military fatigues like the ones my dad used to wear when he was in the military. The old man spoke to her, "Harper! This is for you!" The old man gave her a ring and disappeared. When the man disappeared, everything started moving again; the people began talking, and the traffic started making sounds again. It was as if time stood still for at least a moment! She placed the ring in her bookbag and did not give it another thought until she made it home and told her mother everything that happened that day.

Harper took the ring out and showed it to her mother. "This looks like a ring your father used to wear! It was his call ring from high school." Harper's mother took the ring from her hand and looked over it like a jeweler. This is your father's ring! He had his name engraved in the band right here, see! Harper's mother returned the ring to her, and Harper looked it over. She noticed the name Harper R. Donavan inside the band. A series of questions entered her mind as she tried to understand who the man was and how he got her dad's ring. Her mother broke the silence and said," Your father was working on a military experiment when he went missing during the war. The man could have been your dad, but without seeing him myself, I would not know." Her mother thought for a second and then said. "I know!" Just then, Harper's mother went upstairs, and Harper followed closely behind her. Harper's mother opened her closet and took out a book. "This book is our family album. We kept photos of family from the past and a few of you when you were younger." Mother opened the family album and started turning the thick pages until she found what she sought.

"Here it is. this is your father just before he went missing." Harper swallowed hard just as she looked at the picture. "I can't believe it!" said Harper. "This is the old man who gave me the ring!" thought Harper. "This man gave you the ring. Didn't he?" "Yes?" Harper stated, confused. "Your father was in his twenties when he went missing, so was it really him? Oh, well, we will probably never know." Harper remembered when he went missing. She was seven years old and was in first grade. It was the most heart-wrenching time of her life.

Harper dropped the topic as she grew tired of talking about it, but she did decide to wear the ring. She was surprised to find it fit her index finger. The remainder of the night was typical for Harper: She and her mother read a book after dinner, and Harper usually got some homework help from her mother, but considering it was spring break, she did not have any homework. After finishing her book, Harper kissed her mother's forehead good night and got ready for bed. She was tired and fell asleep when her head hit the pillow.

As Harper slept, the ring started to radiate a red glow. The longer the night progressed, the brighter and brighter the ring got. The ring's light became so bright that it filled the room and looked like night had turned into day. The light woke up Harper, but as soon as she woke up, it stopped radiating through the room. With a groggy voice, Harper asked, "Who is there?" Getting no response, she quickly went back to sleep.

The following day, Harper got up feeling fully rested and refreshed. She went into the bathroom, where she did her morning ritual of showering, brushing her hair and teeth, and applying makeup. When she was done, she went downstairs, where her mother usually had a full breakfast on the table for the both of them. Not this morning, however! There was no indication of her even being in the kitchen. Thinking this was odd, she went to her mother's room, where she discovered her mother had not slept in her bed. Harper's stomach started growling, so she returned to the kitchen and fixed breakfast for herself because she had no idea where her mother had gone. "Odd, mother would leave without saying anything to me!" she thought.

After breakfast, Harper went outside to see if the neighbors were doing their usual routine; no one was there. So, Harper went into the house, took her car keys, and drove down to the store where her mother worked. "Where is everyone?" Harper yelled loudly! She went around until she came to a carnival. The rides were moving, but no people rode in them. Gaming booths were set up, but they needed someone to work at them. Harper went to the largest park she could think of, but no one was there. She decided to go to the shopping mall. The biggest one in the city. "There are always people there!" she thought. After spending thirty minutes in the car, she finally reached the mall. There were cars in the parking lot, and euphoria overwhelmed her as she thought, "Okay, someone here can tell me what is happening!" Harper parked her car and went into the mall. No one was there when she went into the mall at the entrance. She walked around the mall and sat down in the rest area when tired from all the walking around. She sat there trying to understand what was happening, until she heard a man say, "Hello!" Harper turned her head and said, "Hello, who is there?" She heard footsteps getting louder and louder. The closer they became, the more nervous she got.

The old man who gave her the ring appeared before her. "Hey, you gave me this ring, didn't you?" "Yes, I did. I hoped you would wear it as it transported you into this place." "Where is this place?" asked Harper. "I call it the in-between place." "In-between what?" "This place is between time and space, but it is actually between dimensions, " the old man said. "This place looks normal but without people. Who are you?" "I'm the owner of that ring you are wearing." "You are Harper R. Donavan? My father? How can that be?" "Nearly anything is possible here. We are not in any reality but in a middle, almost timeless place. My name is Harper R. Donavan, but I'm called Ron, and my middle name is Ronnie, but no, I am not your father." "Why did you bring me here?" "I brought you here to ask if you wanted your father back?" "Of course, I want him back! What kind of a question is that?" "A legitimate one," said Ron. "All anyone has to do is come to this realm to get long-lost relatives back. Everyone is going to want to come here!" "No, that is not how it works. You lost your father during an experimental project he was working on in the military. Correct?" "That is what my mother has told me." "When your father came here, he was stuck here for a long time, and now we are both stuck here. The only way I can get back to my correct dimension is if your father gets back to his! With my help, we can find him together and get out of this place." "I don't think that is a problem," said Harper. "Why do you say that?" "Because that looks like my father running towards us from that direction!" Harper points in the direction behind Ron, and Ron spins around, and the other Ron is heading their way. This Ron was a younger version of the old man who gave Harper the ring that brought her to this place. The young man stops beside Ron and says, "You must hurry up. They're coming!" The younger version of Ron states in a frantic voice.

"Harper, I need the ring!" said the older Ron. Harper takes off the ring, gives it to the older Ron, and then he gives it to the younger Ron. "This person is Harper, and she is from your time. Put this ring on and take her hand. Go back to your house, and when you go to sleep, you should be back in your own dimension, as should I. Now go before we all get caught!"

The younger Ron and Harper ran to her car and got in; she turned the car over, and they started heading back towards her house. Along the way, they have a conversation; "Harper? Was that your name? I have a daughter with the same name. She was named after me, and my friends call me Ron." " I know you look like my father, but I did not get to know him very well, as he went missing when I was seven years old." "My daughter was seven when I stepped into that portal at the military base. You must be the older version of my daughter," said Ron.

"Be warned, I am from where you have been missing most of my life. If we go back, you may follow that same timeline. You might be returning to the future rather than returning to the past where you are from." "That possibility has been running through my head ever since I stepped into that damn thing!" We arrived at my home just as I felt he was about to ask about my life." As soon as the car stopped, we got out and went into the house. "You still live in the same house that all three of us used to live in." "Mother had a tough time with your disappearance, so yeah, we still live in the same place. You know, I thought you died in the war! That is what mother told me. It was easier to say that than you disappeared into oblivion. Possibly less hurtful, too!" said Harper. Ron searched the house, looking for something, remembering how things were or seeing how Harper and her mother's lives went without him. The remainder of the day was filled with silence as they wanted to ask questions and figure out how they ended up like this but remained silent as the truth may have been scarier than any story made up in their mind.

As Harper lay on the couch staring at her father sleeping in her mother's recliner, her eyes became heavy, and she soon fell asleep. The ring started eliminating the red glow throughout the room again and lit it like the sun. Harper was so tired this time that she did not wake up to it; instead, she felt like she was being carried. She opened her eyes and saw her father carrying her up the stairs. Curious, Harper opened her eyes and looked up at him, and he said, "Go back to sleep." She did not fully

understand why he was carrying her; she fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, Harper woke up to the sun shining into her room, dogs barking, and birds chirping. She did not hear these things when she was in another dimension. She was excited to know she was back, but when Harper opened her eyes, she noticed her room was different! "Wait, this is the room I had when I was seven years old! What!" She jumped up, ran into the bathroom, and noticed the bathroom looked different, too! "I remember asking for a bathroom with sea horses on the wall." thought Harper. She could not believe her eyes; she was seven again, but Harper had her memories of when she was a teenager. "How could this be?" she exclaimed. "How could what be?" asked Ron. "Do you remember anything from the day before?" exclaimed Harper. "I remember everything. "You and your mother will have a vacation without me because I have to work on a new project, and I won't go through the portal as they found someone else to go." Harper lets out a sigh of relief as if she were holding her breath. Harper's mother walks into her room and speaks. "What are the two of you talking about?" "I was just telling Harper how blessed I am to have two incredible, beautiful women in my life."

"Spring break comes and goes, and Father is still with us. I don't know how or why things ended like this, but Father doesn't remember anything about our adventure in the other dimension. Did it happen, or was it all a dream? If it was a dream, I would never have wanted to wake up as I have seen life without him, and I wouldn't have wanted to go there again." Harper is speaking loudly to the universe!