PLAY ON

by Marilynn Halas

  Maggie made one last plea. “Dillon, and Danny too, need you now like they did the night of the accident. You were there for them once; don’t let them down now.”

  Rosa turned to Michael and looked right through him. “I will show them what I can and you will help them. You have used my gift for profit. Now you will use it to restore balance to what you once destroyed.” Michael only nodded. Ryan marveled at the way this old woman reduced Michael, the most powerful man in the world, to an afterthought. When she spoke again, her voice was like rolling thunder.

  “Let the condor and the eagle fly together.”

  Señora De La Joya stood and held out her hands. Everyone joined hands and the room began to spin. The golden swirls grew warmer and warmer, and soon it felt as though they were hurtling toward the sun. Maggie shut her eyes, and when she opened them again a moment later, they were all standing in a field at the mouth of a dark cave. Ryan recognized the place in an instant. Any business traveller would. Newark Airport rose in the distance. “We’re in New Jersey???”

  “This is a crossroads of time. Enter here and travel between the dimensions, but you must know where and when to go. I have shown you all I can. There will be a cure, but it is for Michael to show you.” Rosa spoke as they stood outside the cave. “I can show you only where to begin. Michael must be the one to take you to the time you need to access. Only then can the balance Michael altered be restored.”

  Back at his mom’s place Danny and Dillon were up talking all night. They had a lot to say. At about five in the morning, they realized they needed to know more; there just had to be more information. How did Danny and Dillon get split up? Dillon was waiting at Ryan’s place when Ryan got back from his run an hour later.

  November 29, 2011

  Ryan told them everything, and for the first time since the whole mess had started, things were beginning to make sense to Dillon.

  “Your mom brought you to us across time. I think Danny stayed in 1985 and grew up from there. Now, even though you are twins, Danny is still eleven years older than you today. Get it?”

  Danny and Dillon nodded, but of course Ryan could only see Dillon. Ryan continued.

  “Now that everyone’s time travel is out in the open, we just need to figure out how to use it to find the cure.”

  Dillon was thinking out loud again. “Danny and I are brothers and we were born to bring together the spirit and the physical? That lady, Rosa, she said that, right? Condor and eagle, spirit and physical, balance. . . . Okay, so let’s get it done.”

  Ryan admired his son’s enthusiasm, but couldn’t help but think he was being naïve. “I don’t think it’s that easy.”

  “Yeah, it is exactly that easy. We’ve been doing it for months now. The only difference is that from now on, we go on purpose, not just by accident,” Dillon said.

  Danny rubbed his eyes.

  “Danny, what is it? Are you okay?” Dillon looked worried, and Ryan wished he could see what was going on.

  “That Leber’s thing, it’s hereditary, right? Oh man, I’ve been blind all along. Not literally, but I just couldn’t see the forest for the trees. I can’t believe it’s been in front of me this whole time.” The moment he said this, a light came on all around Danny. Dillon could see the glow, but everything else was too bright to decipher. Danny looked around at a new world. He could still see Dillon and Ryan, but now he was surrounded. Joe was there, and Rosa too. Had they been there all along? Who were all these others? Danny looked around him and saw where he was for the first time.

  It was as though knowing about his brother and seeing the community of support around them really helped Danny open up to the possibility of help from both dimensions. Now, looking into the light, Danny realized he had never been alone.

  December 1, 2011

  Clint and Sara were just about as busy as they had ever been.

  “Looks like a white Christmas may not be completely out of the question if this week is anything to go by,” Sara said, laughing.

  The barn was undergoing a complete transformation from working stable to party central, and Clint had to admit that he loved it. Maybe that counselor had been right after all. He really did feel better after writing to Danny. He might even agree to play Santa this year. Sara and Clint worked into the night, but that was fine; it was exciting to be a part of all the fun.

  Things in New York were decidedly less festive.

  Dillon’s head hurt again. This time both eyes were burning and he wished he could just sleep. He wished he could take a break from his own life. Dillon didn’t for a minute think that wish was a side effect of time travel; he figured it was more likely a side effect of being a teenager. When his cell phone started vibrating, he opened one eye to check it out. It was a text from Marie and it made Dillon feel much better.

  “YES. I’ll go to Starlight w/U! :)”

  Dillon flew off the bed and cheered. “Yes!” Things were looking up again.

  December 2, 2011

  Dillon was playing the guitar again. An old love song filled the air. In the other room Ryan and Maggie stopped what they were doing and just listened. He had no way of knowing that they had sung the same song years ago. It was its own kind of time travel to hear it now. Maggie wondered if Dillon had any idea how his music affected people. Maybe that was the destiny Rosa De La Joya was talking about.

  Dillon played a while, and then just as he was reaching for the high note at the end, he screamed. Maggie and Ryan flew into his room to find him on the floor in agony. He clutched his eyes and rolled on his side. The guitar lay beside him and the soundboard was split down the middle from the fall. Dillon peeled a hand away from his eyes and felt the break in the guitar. It was a fast trip from agony to panic.

  “My guitar! NO!” Dillon shrieked and his parents tried to calm him down. “Oh God! I can’t see! Where is it? I can’t see!” The doctors had warned them that this insidious disease moved fast, but they had honestly believed they would have more time.

  Maggie held him and Ryan reached for the guitar. He would never be able to say why he did it: in that moment he acted on sheer instinct.

  The soundboard was held together by one slim piece of wood. Looking at it from the inside out, Ryan could hardly believe his own eyes. There was a brass plaque mounted inside the soundboard. On it was the most beautiful thing Ryan had ever seen:

  September 13, 2046

  “I got it! Get him up. I know where we have to go! I’ll get the car.” Maggie didn’t know what he was talking about until she saw the plaque.

  “Dillon, you need to listen to me. Everything is going to be all right now. Just trust us. You will be fine.”

  December 3, 2011

  They drove through the night with only two stops: one to pick up Thomas and one to get Michael. By the time they got to the field, Dillon was pale and covered in a cold sweat. His mother worried about him making the trip, but she worried more about what might happen if he didn’t. It was rare that Leber’s Disease affected the heart, but when it did, it affected it severely. She knew her son was starting to have trouble breathing and that all she could do was pray they would make it in time. It was the first time she appreciated the speed of Ryan’s car.

  They carried Dillon into the cave and looked expectantly at Michael. He nodded and said that only one of them could follow. Maggie wanted to go because she was a nurse, but Ryan couldn’t risk losing both of them.

  “There will be help where we are going. I swear to you, I’ll bring him home,” Ryan tried to smile. With that he, Michael, and Dillon disappeared into the cave. They had only gone a few yards when Dillon heard Danny.

  “Hey,” Dillon panted, “where you been?” Michael thought Dillon was delirious, but Ryan knew better.

  “Danny, tell me we got this right,” Ryan’s voice trembled.

  Danny ran beside Ryan and helped to carry his brother through. Before long, they reached a tunnel and Dillon worried that if this tunnel was anything like the others, the
y would never make it through in time. It was getting harder and harder to breathe, and his lips and fingers were already tingling from the lack of oxygen. They ran forward, and the ground slipped out from under them.

  Here we go, thought Dillon as they fell into the abyss.

  Danny knew they would get there quickly because they were surrounded: Uncle Joe, Dillon’s grandparents, Danny’s relatives, and crowds of others were all there and surrounding them in a circle of light. This was nothing like the trips Danny and Dillon had taken alone.

  September 13, 2046

  When they landed, it wasn’t onto a pile of bones or broken glass like before: they landed on a plush Aubusson rug. Ryan stood up, sure they must be in some sort of parallel universe. Michael was so comfortable, it was almost as if he had been there before.

  “Dillon! Where are you?” Michael bellowed. Dillon was confused. Were Michael’s eyes affected? Dillon was still on the floor right beside him, gasping for breath.

  A man burst into the room. He had a commanding presence and a confident air as well as gray hair and a muscular build. He lifted a now-unconscious Dillon from the floor to a bed in the center of the room. Ryan followed, unable to take his eyes off his son.

  “Can you help us? Do you know what to do?” Ryan was fighting a rising panic as Dillon’s body began to seize.

  The voice that answered him was vaguely familiar but Ryan didn’t have time to place it. “I know exactly what to do. What took you so long? I thought you would get here much sooner. His muscles are seizing up and our window of opportunity is closing.”

  Michael stepped back and watched in fascination as the doctor placed oxygen over Dillon’s face and an IV into his arm. A moment later the seizing stopped, and Dillon became deathly still.

  Now it was Danny’s turn to panic. “Oh no. No, sir. I did not go through all this to drop-kick you into my world. Damn it, you need to live for both of us you selfish little . . .”

  Danny was shocked when the doctor told him to knock it off.

  “You can hear me?”

  “Yeah, and so can Dillon. He’s going to be fine, and he doesn’t need flack from his brother right now. He just needs to breathe.”

  Ryan noticed that the doctor seemed a little winded and guessed it was just from all the excitement. Still, the doctor’s hand shook when he applied a second syringe to the IV. A few minutes later Dillon stirred. He mumbled something that only Danny understood. He was calling for Marie. Yeah, he would be just fine.

  “You’ll have to stay here for the night. I don’t think he can travel for the time being. It will be a few hours, but he’ll be okay. His sight may take a little longer, but he’s already on his way.” With that the doctor sat down at a desk, looking exhausted.

  “I don’t know what to say. Thank you doesn’t seem like nearly enough. Can I ask? How did you know we would be here? Who are you?”

  The doctor looked Ryan in the eye and smiled. He didn’t have to say a word. Now it was Ryan who had to catch his breath. He was looking into the eyes of his own son, only now, they were just about the same age. The older Dillon had gray hair and the same green eyes. A moment later he stood to embrace his father. The way Dillon hugged him was so tender that Ryan couldn’t help the tears in his eyes.

  “Dad, it’s so good to see you.”

  Ryan had to sit down. This was so far beyond weird: his own son looking as old as Ryan was. “Dillon, are you doing all right? Is this your home?”

  “Yeah, Dad. I’m doing great, especially now that I know that I’ll eventually make it here.” Dillon gestured over to his teenage self, asleep across the room. “I’m a doctor now.”

  Dillon felt like he was cheating. It wasn’t fair that he could see his family like this. Millions of people wished for this, but only a few could do it. He wanted to tell his dad that he had travelled all over South America and merged North American technology and research with South American alternative and herbal practices. He wanted to tell him that they had cures to all kinds of diseases now and that breakthroughs were happening all the time. He wanted to tell his dad that the answers had always been right there in front of them, but it had taken years to see them.

  He wanted to tell his dad to stay home on the twenty-fifth of June, 2020, but he said none of these things. Instead, he showed him an old family picture. Ryan saw himself and Dillon along with a beaming Maggie with two grandchildren on her lap. The young woman in the picture bore a striking resemblance to Marie.

  September 14, 2046

  There was no doubt about it. It was the longest night of Dillon’s life, at any age. It wasn’t a good idea for Dillon to be out of his own time any longer than he had to, but he was just starting to come around. This was the tricky part. Dillon was awake, but he still couldn’t see.

  “Danny? Dad? Is anyone here?”

  They were at his side in an instant.

  “We’re right here and you’re going to be just fine. How do you feel?” Ryan asked.

  “Okay, I guess, you know, apart from being BLIND!”

  “Dillon.” The doctor’s voice was calm and commanding. “Your sight will return very soon. Just try to relax. Maybe this will help.” With that the doctor put the guitar into Dillon’s hands.

  “How can this be? I broke it. But I know this is my guitar.” Dillon was confused and distracted, and that was fine.

  “Actually, I broke it. I had the soundboard opened and I installed the plaque you found inside with the date on it. It was the one place I could be sure you would find it. I just wish you had found it sooner.”

  “Yeah,” Dillon said. “Me too.” His sight was starting to return and he could make out some shadows. “I think I see something, shapes, or shadows or something.

  “You know what they say, right? Never fear the shadows because it just means that a light must be shining nearby.” Doctor Dillon was smiling at his own comment. Ryan was admiring his son’s awards and wishing he could ask him how everything would turn out. He ventured to the window and gasped at what he saw. It was New York City as he had never seen it before: no power lines, no exhaust, and a warm glow from every light.

  “Crystals. That’s how I know they are going to work.” Michael was looking out too, and he was practically levitating with excitement. “These babies will revolutionize the world. We don’t need oil any more; we have our own self-sustaining power supply that actually protects the environment instead of threatening it. I feel like Ben Franklin and Thomas Edison all rolled into one.”

  Ryan couldn’t resist. “I’m just curious. How will you get around the massive security glitch? You know, when it just sucks up everyone’s information for public use?”

  Michael looked annoyed. “I’m working on it. I still don’t think it’s such a big deal. Privacy is so pre 9/11 anyway. I’m sure it’s completely out of fashion by now.”

  Dillon was grinning from ear to ear. He looked right into his own green eyes. “I can see! I can see. Holy smokes! Are you me?” Doctor Dillon smiled and nodded.

  “If I wasn’t you, I would never have known to send you the message in the guitar or work so hard to find the cure to our little problem.”

  Dillon only wanted to know one thing. “Did Marie and I have fun at Starlight?”

  Everyone laughed and even Dillon realized it was a stupid question. Of course they had had fun. Duh.

  The rest of the day was spent in a weird kind of family reunion. They learned that string theory was a well-accepted concept in this time and that some people, like Dillon, had a natural aptitude for hearing and even traveling between dimensions. In fact, there was a movement afoot to try to use string theory to visit heaven, under the hypothesis that heaven was just another dimension. So far, not so much progress. Danny could have told them that.

  Soon it was just about time to head back. They got ready to go back to the field and Doctor Dillon called for a car to be brought around. It was hard to say good-bye even though they knew they would meet again. Dillon sat for a mom
ent behind the desk that would one day be his and saw his future family picture on the shelf. Yeah, they definitely had fun at Starlight.

  Finally it was time for the two Dillons to say good-bye. “Guess I’ll see you in the mirror. Do me a favor, will you? Try to find a cure for going prematurely gray,” teenage Dillon joked.

  “Play on, kid. I promise, it matters.” It was surreal for Ryan to watch them hug each other. He turned away with a tear in his eye, and that was the moment Ryan saw the piece of paper that would change the rest of his life: his own obituary was in a frame behind the door.

  Doctor Dillon knew it was a lousy thing to do, and he knew he couldn’t tell his dad that he would never live to see the world he had just visited. Still, he didn’t want him to keep wasting time. Everyone knew he and Maggie belonged together, and Doctor Dillon hoped this was the nudge his dad needed to make the next years really count.

  December 3, 2011

  This time they ran through the tunnel trying to keep up with Dillon, and it was Ryan and Michael who were panting. Feeling like an expert when the ground beneath them began to shift, Dillon dived in and felt like a cliff diver instead of a lead balloon. When they landed, they expected to find Maggie and Thomas waiting for them. Instead, they found Rosa.

  “Each of you has received the gift of time that was not yours and knowledge that you didn’t earn. That is a privilege not to be wasted.” She looked right at Ryan, and he nodded. “I have a message for all of you. You are loved beyond anything you can imagine, and now you must share the gift you have received. It is your destiny to bring this light to others.”