Mumnesia Read Free

‘Look, just . . . just calm down, OK?’ I beg.
‘You’re starting to freak me out!’
    ‘
I’m
freaking out!’ she squeals.
    ‘But
why
?’
    ‘Because I – I must’ve TRAVELLED THROUGH
TIME!’
    She looks at me, her eyes wild and confused, then suddenly
bursts out laughing.
    ‘Is . . . is this a joke?’ I say uncertainly.
‘Because I don’t get it.’
    ‘No!’ She insists. ‘It’s not a joke!
Yesterday when I went to bed it was 1985, and now . . . I’m
in the FUTURE! This is AWESOME!’ She gazes round the room.
‘Is that a
television
? It’s
enormous!’
    #OMG. She’s finally flipped.
    ‘And what’s this?’ She picks up a DVD case
from the floor. ‘
X-Men
. . .’
    ‘Um, I have no idea how that got here,’ I lie
automatically. ‘Kimmy must’ve lent me the wrong
movie. By accident.’
    ‘It’s a
movie
?’ Her eyes widen as she
pops the disc out. ‘Cool!’
    ‘
Cool?
’ My heart pounds in my ears. Mum
absolutely
hates
superhero films – she says
they’re mindless violent fantasies. ‘Who are you and
what’ve you done with my mother?’
    ‘I’m so sorry!’ she cries. ‘I thought
you knew – I’m Sharon Miller, nice to meet
you.’ She shakes my hand. ‘But I don’t know
where your mother is. Sorry – I just got here.’
    What?
My mind feels like it’s about to explode.
Is she having a nervous breakdown? What should I
do
?
    She gazes intently at the DVD. ‘
Totally
space
age. Can I take one back with me?’
    ‘Back?’
    ‘Yeah. I mean, if I can take stuff – I don’t
know how time travel works!’ She laughs. ‘My science
teacher said we couldn’t – or was it shouldn’t?
– travel through time, because of the danger of creating
rifts in the space–time thingummyjiggy – so
he’d totally flip out if I brought this into
school!’
    ‘
School?
’ I stare at my middle-aged mother.
‘How
old
are you?’
    She straightens her shoulders. ‘Twelve.’
    My eyebrows shoot upward. ‘
Twelve
?’
    She nods. ‘Why? How old are you?’
    Suddenly all my panic turns to rage. ‘Oh, I
get
it. This is all some kind of twisted role play to show me how
immature I am? Nice one, Mum. Funny. Not!’ I snatch the DVD
off her and shove it into my school bag, my cheeks burning. I
can’t believe I
fell
for that!
    ‘Wait,’ she says quietly. ‘You’re my .
. . my
daughter
?’
    ‘According to my birth certificate.’ I scowl,
yanking the zip closed.
    ‘Oh my . . .’
    Something in her voice makes me turn.
    ‘For real?’ she says, all colour draining from her
face.
    My heart skips. If she’s acting, she deserves a flipping
Oscar.
    ‘Mum, seriously . . .’ I swallow hard, and my
voice is barely a whisper when I say, ‘Are you
OK?’
    ‘No!’ She shakes her head frantically.
‘I’m not supposed to travel within my own timeline!
What about the space–time thingummyjiggy?’
    OMG, she really, truly, thinks she’s
time-travelled
? I bite my lip. Is that even
possible
. . . ? I try to remember what we learned in
physics – if only I’d paid more attention!
    ‘I mean, of all places to time-travel to – of all
the people to meet!’ Mum clasps my hand. ‘I
can’t believe you’re my
daughter
! But how did
you
recognize
me?’
    My jaw drops.
    ‘Of course – you must’ve seen old
photos!’ She smiles suddenly. ‘Dad’s always got
his Polaroid camera out. It’s, like,
so
embarrassing.’
    ‘Um . . . it’s not from photos,’ I say
slowly.
    She frowns. ‘Then how?’
    I take a deep breath, then lead her to my wardrobe –
with its full-length mirror . . .

6 SHARON
    A blood-curdling scream rips from my
throat. ‘What’s
happened
to me?’ I back
away from the mirror in horror. ‘I’m OLD!
Majorly
old! Like, at least twenty-five!’
    The girl snorts. ‘And the rest!’
    ‘I . . . I must’ve somehow
transported into the body of my future self!’ I frown at my
ancient reflection, then gasp in disgust as my