1. Suddenly, a man whom neither of them had ever
seen before appeared out of nowhere. "My name is
Gordan, Mr. Gordan to you. I'm your new teacher,”
he said. “I see you‟ve signed up for the talent
Jasmine Runs Out of Time: A competition,” he went on. “Excellent! I‟m in charge
this year, so I want all the talent I can get.”
Choose Your Own Adventure Story
By the Middle School Word Lovers Club Ashley snorted. "Remember what happened last
time you tried something like this?" she said.
Jasmine had no idea who had signed her up for the
contest. How could she compete in a talent Yes Jasmine remembered all right, she had
competition? She didn't have any talents! She rehearsed for ages but when she got on stage she
suspected treachery, and her worst enemy Gizz was froze. Gizz had then thrown a tomato at her.
probably to blame. He knew Jasmine couldn't sing. Everyone had made fun of her (including Ashley).
Or dance. Or balance turtles on her head while Her face, as she remembered, turned red as that
reciting the Gettysburg address, like that weird kid tomato.
last year. As she looked at the short list of
contestants, she thought, „Yeah, that looks like
Gizz‟s handwriting. He never could spell my name Luckily, before Ashley could say more, the bell
right.‟ rang and Mr. Gordan shooed the girls off to class.
"Hey," said Ashley, coming up behind her. Before Jasmine got to P.E., though, she happened to
notice that Gizz's locker was open. When Jasmine
looked inside, she saw a large box-like thing
Jasmine just kept staring at the list, trying to ignore labelled „TTM,‟ and in small print: „Theatre Time
Ashley. Since she was the meanest girl in the Machine.‟ “What the heck IS that?” wondered
grade, though, of course Ashley just had to say Jasmine aloud. “Why does Gizz have a „time
something. machine‟ in his locker?”
"Ummm... why did you sign up for the talent She opened the box, after first looking around to
competition? No offense, but you have the talent of make sure no one was watching. It was full of
a stick," said Ashley. packing peanuts. She dug around until she found a
small booklet labelled Instruction Manual.” She
Jasmine felt the urge to reply which she couldn't flipped to page 1: “How to use this device.”
resist, "For your information Ashley, I didn't sign
up at all. Somebody else did- and I think it might be If you want to read the manual, go to part B.
Gizz. He's always trying to embarrass me."
If you suddenly hear someone coming and hide in Gizz’s
locker, go to part C.

2. From the instruction manual:
Welcome, to the magical world of the TTM, the
Theatre Time Machine. We are very glad to know
that someone has opened this book and is about to
discover how to act, sing, dance, and much more!
You may even want to beat some of your enemies
in the audition for a musical, or even a talent show.
Simply hold the packing peanut that is colored read
and get inside of this mechanism and as you hold
the peanut say to yourself 'There's no adventure
like performing' and of you go! Sorry to say, the
TTM does not let you choose the time or place you
go to- it chooses itself. It may take you to some
Part B place like Beethoven's performance, or the first
By Ella performance of Romeo and Juliet. You can never be
positive if you will a member of the audience or
performing yourself.
Once you get to your destination leave the box
where it landed and go about your business. When
the time comes hold the red packing peanut and
say 'There's no thing like performing' once more-
but don't forgot, only the red packing peanut works
for this.
I must warn you that other people might be already
in the TTM and there is a chance you might
encounter somebody from your own time period.
If you choose to use the TTM, go to Part D
If you choose not to use the TTM, go to Part E

3. Jasmine jumped into Gizz's locker. Eww! What was
she sitting in? Jasmine looked down to try and
see. It was some kind of syrup. Now something hit
her in the head. It was the syrupy substance
again. Jasmine hoped that who ever was outside
would leave soon so she could get out of the locker.
"Jasmine! where are you?" Oh no, it was Kira, a girl
in her P.E class. "Are you in here? There is no use
hiding from the mile run."
Part C Jasmine had to get out of Gizz's locker. She heard
footsteps getting farther away, and when she heard
By Harriet the hall door close, she sprung out, still holding the
box.
She put Gizz's "time machine" in her own locker
and then ran out to P.E. When P.E was over she
hurriedly put the box in her backpack and ran
out. At lunch she hid in a corner of the library and
opened the box once more to see that the actual
machine was gone but the instructions were still
there! In the box was more of the syrupy substance
that she had found in Gizz's locker! This was very
peculiar!
If you taste the syrupy substance, go to Part F.
If you decide to throw the whole thing away, got to Part
G.

4. Shoving the instructions into her pocket, Jasmine
reached into the box and sorted through a great
number of peanuts of all sorts of colors—some
colors she had never seen before and had no words
to describe. After some debate about a crimson-
tinted peanut, she finally found what was
undoubtedly a red packaging peanut.
“There‟s--there‟s no thing like performing” she said
quietly.
“I‟M SORRY, I COULDN‟T CATCH THAT,” said a
booming, robotic voice, seeming to come from the
peanut itself.
Part D
“There‟s nothing like performing!” yelled
By Sabrina Jasmine, quite annoyed at this point.
A loud crash entered her ears and seemed to
bounce around her skull until she lost
consciousness. When she awoke, she saw only a
flower in a field. It was such a vibrant orange, with
petals like raindrops… It was the most beautiful
thing she had ever seen. She couldn‟t decide
whether to pick the flower or let it sit in peace--
either option was dreadful in its own way. To leave
it there, never to be seen again by Jasmine‟s eyes, or
to take it away from its peacefulness… for some
reason, the hardest decision of her life was trying to
decide whether or not to pick that flower.
If you pick the flower, go to Part H
If you don’t pick the flower, go to Part I

5. The kids cheered, but Jasmine's heart fell to her
stomach. She was no expert in any of these
subjects! But as she walked to get a drink of water,
she saw Gizz running with a box labelled
DO NOT OPEN, and dropped it in a small hole in
the gym wall.
Jasmine curiously walked to the box and opened it.
Inside were a bunch of gizmos and gadgets. She
Part E picked up a paper and looked. On it was a
By Akhila blueprint of... a human?
Jasmine frowned, and took the box into a secret
place under some stairs. Sighing, she put the box
Jasmine put the box back in the locker and walked down. Suddenly, a raspy voice echoed in her head,
away to gym class. In her mind though, "You know you want it... dahhling"
pictures of what she could do with the Theater
Time Machine floated in her head. She shook Jasmine stopped and looked around. A small cat
them out her mind and opened the door to the darted into the room looked at her, and said,
locker room, changed, then walked into the gym "Follow me." It darted of as quickly as it came.
class, where the coach was informing the kids about Jasmine looked from the hallway to the cat, as it ran
the upcoming unit. into to the gym.
He cleared his throat and said, "Well, you lucky If you want to follow the cat, go to part J
kids do not get a PE unit this time. You guys
instead have the choir teacher, drama teacher, and If you want to examine Gizz's box more closely, go to
the creative arts teacher help you with your projects part K
for the talent show."

6. “S@$4,” Jasmine moaned out.
Part F
By Selin “What?” her mom asked yet another question.
“Om nom nom,” Jasmine said as she tasted the Jasmine couldn‟t answer, for she had passed out on
syrupy substance. It tasted sweet, like lemons and the floor.
sugar. Jasmine immediately finished all of the
syrupy substance and decided to give it a name. “911! 911! What‟s the number for 911? Wait, I
This stuff should be called, S@$4, because it tastes like
remember it now.” Jasmine‟s mom quickly dialed
sugar that is sold at $4 stores, she thought.
911, asking for an ambulance.
Jasmine stood up and walked out of the The ambulance screamed up to the door a couple
library, taking the box with her. There were only a of minutes later. The paramedics rushed into the
few drops of S@$4 left, which Jasmine immediately house and lifted Jasmine onto a stretcher, carrying
ate. She grabbed her backpack and ran her out of the house and into the ambulance, which
home, feeling a bit queasy. As she ran, she felt speeded off towards the hospital, leaving Jasmine‟s
sicker, like she was going to throw up. As soon as
mom alone again.
she reached her house, she opened the door and ran
to the bathroom, throwing up in the toilet.
“Where am I?” Jasmine asked, looking around as
she woke up. One of the paramedics stabbed her in
“Jasmine? Is that you?” her mom asked, coming the arm with their finger. “Ow, what was that for?”
towards the open bathroom door. she asked.
Jasmine moaned out a yes. “I needed to test and see if your nervous system
was damaged.”
“Oh my, what happened?” her mom asked in the
perfect imitation of those creepy moms that are “Well I can tell you that my nervous system is
showed on TV, the ones that seem to be living in perfectly fine right now, thank you. Why am I
the past all the time. here?”

7. “You passed out at your house.” Suddenly, the whole room spontaneously
combusted, fire roaring from the air conditioning
“What? I only got home a minute ago!” thingy in the corner. Jasmine shrieked like a little
girl and ran around, trying not to catch on fire.
Jasmine looked around and saw that the door was
“Well, your mother called and said that you had completely free of fire. Running, Jasmine headed
passed out, so here you are. We‟re at the hospital towards the door, and then doubled over coughing
now, so shush.” after she exited the room. Jasmine threw up on the
floor and continued running, other patients
“Have you eaten anything weird lately?” a nurse scurrying to get away.
asked as Jasmine was loaded onto another stretcher
and brought into a clean room. Jasmine spotted an old lady standing near the door
of her room, unable to go any further due to the
Jasmine nodded. “I ate some S@$4 a couple minutes way she was shackled to the bed, like a dog.
ago,” she confessed. Jasmine could see that the old lady was about to
catch on fire.
“S@$4?”
If you talk to the old lady, go to part L
“Yeah, I have some right here.” Jasmine handed the
nurse a small speck of S@$4 that had been on her If you try to save the old lady, go to part M
finger. The nurse immediately took it and rushed
out of the room, going to go test to see what the
S@$4 really was.
Jasmine lay on the bed, waiting for the nurse to
come back. Then, abruptly, she heard a loud hissing
sound. Curious, Jasmine stood up from her
bed, still feeling a bit dizzy, and walked around the
room, trying to find the source of the noise.

8. Jasmine didn‟t know what to do with the syrupy
stuff, but knew that she would get in trouble if
someone caught her with it, so she just threw away
the “time machine box.” It felt good to get rid of
someone else‟s property.
Jasmine still had to think about what to do about
the talent competition, though. She didn‟t want to
get embarrassed like last time. Maybe Gizz would
think of another way to humiliate her. Oh well; she
was just going to have to toughen up.
On the way to her last class, Latin, Jasmine decided
Part G that maybe her friend Mica could teach her a talent.
Maybe she could learn to play the piano, or sing
By Shriya and maybe even dance. Learning to draw and paint
would be a dream come true. Jasmine‟s spirits rose
as these ideas swarmed around her head. She was
feeling awesome until she reached her Latin class…
and that‟s when she froze with fear as she saw
Gizz. Her worst mortal enemy. He was talking to
one of his friends. Anger stirred inside her as if the
world was going to explode.
If you decide to talk to Gizz, go to Part O
If you decide to run back and find the time machine, go
to part N
If you find the time machine and decide to use it, go to
part D.

9. Jasmine did not know what he meant, but nodded
anyway, and he let her inside. She walked along a
long corridor. At the end there was a throne and
Part H sitting in it was a chipmunk. "I believe that you are
By Harriet here because you picked the sacred flower
of Eutamias amoenus,” said the chipmunk. “Are you
aware that there are serious consequences for
After pondering this question for a long time that?"
Jasmine decided to pick the flower so that she could
remember its beauty. Jasmine still couldn‟t believe this was real. Instead
of answering the king‟s question, she asked, "Where
As she picked it, she heard a loud booming voice is this place?"
similar to the robotic one from the peanut
shouting,"You have picked the sacred flower and "Can't you see that I was talking?" huffed the
now you shall pay!!!!!!!" chipmunk king. "Besides, you have to know we are
in a wonderful place that you can only get to by
This took Jasmine by surprise and she could not get using a TTM."
out of the way before she was hit by a swarm of
chipmunks that came out of nowhere. "Protect the "I thought that it was a time machine," said Jasmine.
flower! Protect the flower!" they chanted as they
scooped Jasmine up and carried her away.
"Yes,” said the king, “a THEATER time machine.”
He waved his paw around. “This is like a play that
When the finally set her down they had come to a you may see in a THEATER, but much better
town. This is a very strange place, thought because it is also like real life.” He squinted at her.
Jasmine. At the time she did not think about it but “You must have not finished the instructions.
the chipmunks were about the same height as she
was!
You‟ve done „theater‟ and „machine‟ but not „time,‟
so go on now and work out how to get time."
They dumped her outside of a large
building, where there was a guard who asked, "Are
you here to see the king?"

10. And so Jasmine left the palace, dug the instructions
out of her pocket, and began to read again. She
realized that there was an afterwards that explained
how to get the „time‟ element to work. She was still
holding the flower and decided to leave it, so that
she did not get into any real trouble (the chipmunk
king was easily distracted, but she didn‟t want to
find out what the consequences were—even if this
were just a play).
The way to get „time‟ was to turn a dial on the
machine and say “cookybullitsaya-
chipmunkandwentintothe-futurewithafrog” while
holding down a button. Jasmine did this and felt a
similar sensation to when she had gone to the
chipmunk land, but this time when she awoke she
looked around and saw that she was backstage at
her school‟s theater. She knew it was her school
because all the equipment around her had
„property of‟ labels with her school‟s name added.
As she was trying to figure out what to do, she
heard voices onstage.
If you go see what’s happening onstage, go to part Q
If you try to use some of the equipment around you, go to
part S
If you leave the theater and head for gym class, go to part
E

11. Gordan wasn't quite as nice as all the other kids
thought. "So where are we, then?" she asked him.
Part I "You read the manual. You're going to be in the first
By Sela showing of Romeo and Juliet. Break a leg," Mr.
Gordan said with an evil smile as he clutched his
Jasmine sat in a far corner of the field, and was red packing peanut. "There's no adventure like
admiring the flower when she heard a voice performing," he said, and was off in an instant.
say, "Well, if you want to go anywhere you've got
to at least stand up." Now, despite wanting to be a performer, Jasmine
had terrible stage fright; even she knew this about
Jasmine knew exactly who it was. "You are the herself. However, she also knew that she had to
worst packing peanut ever!" she shouted. learn something while she was here so found her
way across the flower field to an outdoor theater
"You probably don't even know where you are yet. she swore hadn‟t been there when she landed.
And if you turned around, you would know I'm
not the packing peanut." When she got there, a tall man noticed her red
packing peanut and pulled her aside. "Do you want
Could it be? Jasmine wondered. Could Gizz have to be in the audience?" he asked, noticing Jasmine
really been sent to the same place as me? Is it really trembling with fear.
possible?"
Jasmine nodded. The man slipped a ticket into
Jasmine turned around, prepared to see Gizz's face her hand. "Don't tell anybody about this--most of
but, instead, saw Mr. Gordan, standing at the edge them have to pay a fortune."
of the field. He was wearing some hideous costume
and behind him was a group of about a Nodding again, Jasmine hurried into the theater.
hundred other people in similar costumes. She was busy looking around at all of the
decorative artwork when she heard the stage
Jasmine was getting the feeling she was going to be manager calling, "Red peanut! RED PEANUT!!!!!"
in a performance. She also had the feeling that Mr.

12. Jasmine stared down at her red peanut (which was
suspiciously silent) and just knew it had to be her
he was calling. She stumbled through the busy
crowd and went over to the manager, who turned
out to be the same man who had given her the
ticket.
"Our lead actress just backed out- and we need you
to take her place," he said.
"You mean you want me to play Juliet?" Jasmine
was honored and horrified at the same time.
"Will you?"
Jasmine knew what she had to do.
If you agree to play Juliet, go to part Q
If you don’t want to play Juliet, go to part S

13. she saw a town below her; a town divided into two
sections. One side looked like a paradise, and the
Part J other looked like… well, let‟s just say not very
By Liv pleasant.
Slowly, Jasmine started creeping after the cat, and Discovering that if she swung her feet down, she
saw that he was walking towards a wall. Right went lower in the air, Jasmine decide to land on the
when the cat was going to hit the wall he paradise side. As she came down over a park full of
disappeared! big, quiet trees, green grass, and flowers, she saw
the cat; it was also landing in the park.
“Oh my gosh! How did he do that?!” Jasmine
exclaimed aloud, a quiver in her voice. She was As he landed, the cat nodded to the man standing
starting to have second thoughts about this. Maybe on the flowery grass, welcoming visitors to
she should just get out of here and grab lunch at paradise. He was wearing a long, flowy robe, like a
Subway. toga, and he was completely bald. “Thank you
Winston,” said the cat to the man.
Then she thought of Gizz, and how he always
laughed at her and told her, “Don‟t be such a “You‟re welcome Gizz,” said the strange man
baby!” named Winston.
Jasmine clenched her fists and took a step forward. “Oh my goodness! Is Gizz is a cat?!” Jasmine said to
“I‟ll do this,” she grumbled to herself, “but that cat herself in a half scream-whisper. Touching down
owes me a lunch, after.” behind a tree, she peeked out at the cat, who was
still talking to the man. “It can‟t be Gizz,” she
Stepping through the wall, she saw the most muttered to herself. “That‟s bologna.” She still felt
peculiar sight. The cat was flying, and so was she! doubtful, though.
Everything was flying, even her socks! When
Jasmine finally got up the courage to look down,

14. Jasmine debated for a while, then thought about
making a trap for the cat that was supposedly
named Gizz. She wasn‟t sure about it, though. How
would it even work? Maybe she should just talk to
Winston once the cat had gone.
If you decide to set a trap, go to part W
If you decide to talk to Winston, go to part T
If you decide to pick a flower, go to part H

15. Poking through the gizmos in Gizz‟s box, Jasmine
pulled out something that looked like blue
steel, with a lens on one end. Looking through the
lens at the wall next to her, Jasmine gasped. She
could see right through the wall! Right into the
girls‟ locker room--and was that Gizz? Right next to
Jasmine‟s locker?
Slowly the view through the wall started to fade.
Jasmine couldn‟t let it fade; she needed to know
what Gizz was doing near her locker. But there was
nothing she could do about it—the lens didn‟t work
anymore. Maybe because she wasn‟t Gizz. Jasmine
Part K started to cry. She wanted answers and she wanted
By Khadija them NOW!, but she knew moping around would
not help.
Standing up with total confidence, Jasmine decided
to search for the cat instead of messing with the
box. When she peered down she saw golden
pawprints on the floor leading to the High School
Conditioning room. She hated going in there, with
all the ugly sweaty boys. "GROSS!" she thought. But
she knew what she had to do.
If you go into the conditioning room, go to part V
If you head for the girls’ locker room, go to part U
If you see the cat and decide to follow it, go to part J

16. “Goodness only knows what she‟s hallucinating
now.”
Part L “She said we were about to burn up,” said the bed.
By Rebecca (inspired by Hannah)
“You are in so much trouble, I can‟t even begin to
“You have to get out of here!” Jasmine shouted to describe it,” the old lady told the bed, then turned
the old lady as the flames started licking around the to Jasmine. “Jasmine, there is no fire. You are in the
feet of the hospital bed. “If we both grab the bed, school library, where you collapsed after tasting the
we can carry it with us!” temporeplasm.”
Before she could grab the bed, though, the old lady It was hard for Jasmine to think over the roar of the
turned to it and said, “Now look what you‟ve done, fire. Why wasn‟t she running away?
Gizz.” “…Hallucinating?” she managed, casting a glance
around at the inferno. The curtains at the end of the
Oh lord, she’s insane, thought Jasmine. That must be corridor were no more than an ashy web and the
why she was locked to the bed; so she couldn‟t vinyl floor tiles were bubbling as they melted from
wander away. “You‟re about to burn up!” Jasmine the heat, but somehow the fire had not reached
screamed. “We have to get out of here!” them yet.
“Well, how was I supposed to know she‟d taste the “You tasted the temporeplasm from the time
temporeplasm?” the bed complained. machine,” the old lady explained. “The time
machine that Gizz—” she glared at the bed, “—stole
from me in the future, where we both belong.”
Jasmine blinked, hands frozen before they could
touch the bed. Oh no. Now she was going insane!
The fire crackled hungrily about them, the light “Who are you?” Jasmine wanted to run. Every fiber
shifting in shades of red and orange. Her skin felt of her being told her to run, but by now, there was
tight and hot. no escape. The flames were encircling them, as if
saving the best for the last.
“Well, she did,” the old lady said to the bed.

17. “Mr. Gordan, of course. Gizz came to get me when
he heard you‟d collapsed—the only good thing he‟s
done in three days.” Again the old lady glared at
the bed. “He knew I was the only one who could
help you. Temproreplasm was never meant to be
eaten—it‟s part of the activation mechanism for the
time machine. If you ingest it, your body tries to go
to all sorts of different times at once, which of
course it can‟t do. The pressure starts scrambling
your brains, and you get hallucinations.
“Here.” She held out her wrinkly, liver-spotted
hand. “Take my hand. If you can focus enough to
hear me, maybe my touch can anchor you enough
to bring your mind back to our reality.”
If you take the old lady’s hand, go to part P
If you turn and run, go to part R

18. feeling it got when the world grew quiet beneath
the gentle, cold quilt of snow.
Part M Why wasn‟t she colder, though? She‟d only been
By Rebecca (inspired by Hannah) wearing a hospital gown. Looking down at
herself, Jasmine saw that she was now wearing a
“Quick!” Jasmine shouted to the old lady. “Get on heavy, full-length coat of white fur. Her feet were
the bed and I‟ll push it!” Thank goodness, the bed warm in wool-lined boots, and her hands were
had wheels. deep in shearling mittens. All of which Jasmine was
glad for, but…where heck was she? What had
happened?
Tremblingly, the old woman crawled onto the cot
with Jasmine‟s help. The fire roared around
them, hot and hungry. People were screaming and Since there seemed nothing for it, she started
glass was shattering. They had to get out fast! walking, her feet crunching in the snow, the flakes
still soft and cold against her face. Through the
trees ahead she thought she could see a light—a
Jasmine grabbed the end of the bed, then abruptly warm, yellow light rather high up; a
doubled up as another searing cramp ripped building, perhaps? Ducking under a dark bough of
through her. She threw up once again— spruce, careful not to disturb its layer of snow, she
stepped into a clearing and saw a wrought iron
And when she looked up, the fire was gone. Not lamppost rising improbably from the drifts.
only was the fire gone, but the old lady was
gone, the bed was gone, and the hospital was gone. Jasmine blinked. This was all…a little too familiar.
In fact, she was outside, in a forest…and it was Where had she seen this before…? She was just
freezing. trying to think when she heard snow crunching
beneath feet, and before she could turn and run, a
Jasmine‟s head spun. On her cheeks she could feel faun appeared in the lamplight.
the soft, cold kisses of snowflakes, the evergreen
boughs about her drooped beneath white scarves of “Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” Jasmine said.
snow, and her breath misted white as the flakes. She looked at the faun. “Mr. Tumnus, right?”
Everything had that mysterious, not-quite-real

19. Jasmine put her hand to her head, as if trying to
The faun wrinkled his brow. “Who? Just how many keep all the information in and force some sense
times have you thrown up, Jasmine?” out of it. “What was that word you said? Tempore-
something? And who are you, really?”
Well. That wasn‟t in the book. “Uh…what?”
“I‟m Mr. Gordan, and we are currently in the school
“Thrown up.” Coming nearer, the faun peered into library, where you collapsed after you ate the
her eyes before she could back away. “It‟s the only temporeplasm from the time machine—which was
way to get the temporeplasm out of your system. stolen from me by Gizz, though that‟s another
The more you throw up, the closer you‟ll come to story.
getting back to your own reality. Where are you
now?” “Anyway, temporeplasm is the mechanism by
which the time machine works, and it isn‟t meant to
“Uh…Narnia, I think.” be ingested. Instead of taking your body to other
times, it just takes your mind, which leads to super-
realistic hallucinations. And I‟m afraid there‟s no
The faun blinked. “Really?” cure but throwing it back up. Here, take this.” He
handed her a little bottle that said, „Drink me.‟ “It
“Well, there‟s snow, a lamppost, and you‟re a faun. won‟t be pleasant, but it will make you throw
I‟m thinking yes. Are you going to ask me to tea?” up, and we‟ll get you back to your true reality.”
“Tea and temporeplasm unfortunately don‟t mix,” If you drink the potion, go to part U
the faun said with a sigh. “It‟ll probably take you to
a British manor house where a murder has just If you don’t drink the potion, go to part T
been committed in a locked room at
Christmastime, or something. No, I‟m afraid you‟ll
just have to hang on until you‟ve thrown it all up.
But if you‟re in a good hallucination now, it
shouldn‟t take much more.”

20. "She's right," Ashley said to her friends, and they
went running off to Mr. Gordan‟s room.
Part N
By Sela Jasmine looked through the garbage but the box
was nowhere to be found. Unfortunately, she was
so desparate to find it that she didn't hear Gizz
coming up behind her.
Jasmine raced back to the trash can in front of
"Nice try," he said smugly.
Gizz's disgusting, syrupy locker, only to find
Ashley and all of her friends standing in front of
it, talking. Jasmine needed the box and instructions Jasmine whirled around and saw Gizz holding up
before she would know how to find the machine! the time machine. Then he walked up to his
locker, opened it, reached inside, and pulled out
the box.
"Hi," Ashley said to Jasmine. All of her friends
"That's not going to work," he said.
started laughing again. "What happened to your
pants?"
"Is that even legal? To own time machines, I
mean." Jasmine was skeptical.
"Uh... nothing..." Jasmine stammered. How could
she get to garbage? "You know, Ashley, Mr.
Gordan told me that someone dropped out of the Gizz just smiled an evil smile. Then his phone rang.
talent competition, and he needed someone who "Yes?" Gizz answered. "Oh, hi... yeah... of
could sing and dance. I told him that if anyone course, you're the police... no it couldn't be a better
could do it, it was you." time..."
Jasmine knew now was the time.
If you grab the time machine, go to part V
If you grab the phone, go to part W

21. dumbly at the spot where Gizz had been. Nobody
else seemed to have noticed Gizz vanish, not even
the person he had just been talking to. But everyone
Part O present noticed when Jasmine toppled into a desk
and yelled randomly. Scornful stares arced from all
By Hannah directions as the other students glared at her.
“Nice move, idiot,” someone sneered.
A slight snarl curled Jasmine‟s face. Here was the
source of this disturbing and bizarre day, standing
“See a ghost? Maybe the ghost of your deceased
right here in front of her. Even if Mica did teach her
brain?” another girl cackled, inciting laughter from
an amazing talent, this stupid, selfish, cruel moron
everyone else.
Gizz would probably figure out a way to ruin the
talent show for her-- and therefore the rest of the
school year. “G-G-Gizz!” she spluttered, still pointing. “Gizz
was right there! But he just… disappeared!!”
This had to end. Now.
“Um… sure,” snickered a boy from the corner.
Taking a steadying breath, Jasmine marched across
the Latin classroom to where Gizz was holding “And just who is this “Gizz”, exactly?” Gizz‟s
court with his following of idiotic cronies. She was friend said, sketching air quotes around the name
behind him, mere inches away, and he didn‟t seem of the person he‟d just been talking to.
to have noticed her approach. She reached out a
hand to tap him on the shoulder and give him a Jasmine‟s mind was a whirl of confusion. She had
piece of her mind, but before she could do to get out of there. Racing for the door amid further
so, something very unusual happened. torrents of laughter, she staggered down the now-
empty hallway, pausing at the end. A deserted
Gizz abruptly vanished. classroom, used only for periodic parent seminars,
lay ahead of her. She lurched into it, seeking
somewhere dark and quiet to figure out what the
Jasmine staggered backward and crashed into a
heck was going on.
desk, horror and confusion lancing through her
mind. She let out a wordless yell of shock, pointing

22. She shut the door behind her, plunging the room “It‟s all the fault of that idiotic child, Gizz,” Gordan
into total blackness. This was better. Nobody would said, half to himself. Seeing Jasmine‟s blank
find her in here. She stumbled to the most distant expression, he elaborated. “He found my time
corner of the room and sat with her back against the machine, you see, and he‟s been going back in forth
wall, her head in her hands. A tear trickled down in time, altering history left and right. At the
her cheek. Nothing made sense! Why had this day moment, you‟re in one of the alternate realities he
turned out so strange? And what had happened to created, in which he himself does not exist.”
Gizz??
Seeing Jasmine‟s blank face, he smiled reassuringly.
“Oh, dear,” said a familiar voice from the darkness.
“I know, it‟s rather complicated. You should try
“Stumbled upon an alternate reality, have we?” taking my Advanced Temporal Theories class in
your senior year. We talk about this sort of thing all
Jasmine screamed, leaping to her feet as adrenaline the time.” He took a large watch out of his
surged through her. She felt along the wall behind pocket, looked at it for a moment, and put it back
her for a light switched, found one, and flicked it in. “Time is running short,” he muttered. “I‟d better
on. explain this quickly…”
On the other side of the room, regarding her “Explain what?” Jasmine interrupted. “Can you
sadly, was Mr. Gordan. please tell me what‟s going on here??”
“Wh-what?” breathed Jasmine. “A bit,” said Gordan. “Basically, some sort of
anomalous temporal bubble, possibly created by
“An alternate reality. You‟ve been tripping over you touching the temporeplasm--”
them all day,” sighed Gordan. “Or didn‟t you
notice that your friend Ashley didn‟t find it strange “The what?” asked Jasmine with a frown.
when I appeared in front of you earlier today?”
“Temporeplasm. A side product of time travel.
“I…I guess I didn‟t…” stammered Jasmine in Remarkably similar to syrup. Anyway, you touched
response, sinking back to the floor. Gordan took a the temporeplasm in Gizz‟s locker, correct?”
seat next to her.

23. Jasmine nodded weakly.
“Well, I believe it‟s caused you to be immune to the
effects of Gizz‟s messing with the space-time
continuum. While the world changes around you
according to his influence, you remain the same, the “Gizz. He‟s from the future too. Didn‟t you ever
only one aware that anything strange has wonder why he had such an unusual name?”
happened. I myself am the same way, of
course, having invented the Theatre Time Machine Jasmine hadn‟t ever wondered that. She just figured
myself.” his parents had a weird sense of humor.
“Why is it called the Theatre Time Mr. Gordan got to his feet, offering Jasmine a hand
Machine, anyway?” Jasmine inquired, trying to to help her up. “Now, I need your help to restore
process all this. “How does it have anything to do the universe to its proper state, and hopefully
with theatre?” rescue Gizz from his current unfortunate
circumstances as well. Will you join me?”
“I‟m from the future, you see,” he stated calmly, as
though merely saying he was from east Redmond. If you take his hand and agree, go to part P
“And we are very interested in theater in my time.
So I invented this time machine. Theater technicians
were supposed to be able to use it to study the If you scream “no way!” and run from the room, go to
architecture of whatever time period the play came part R
from and create historically realistic sets and
costumes. It worked wonderfully, too, until
someone stole it.”
“Who?” said Jasmine, caught up in the story like a
fly in a spider web.