Mark carelessly took at a baseball glove sitting on the cluttered, messy floor of his bedroom, and pushed the button again on the device.
There was a brief flash of light, and the baseball glove disappeared!
Mark quickly looked back to his Mom and saw her still standing in the doorway of his bedroom – but now a completely changed woman.
She looked older now... or perhaps more like someone who hadn't aged as well in this reality as she had before. Her skin was tanned, wrinkly, and a bit leathery – like someone who had spent too much time in the sun.
The most drastic change however was evident in her clothes. Gone was her professional, ladylike business attire. She was now sloppily dressed in an over-sized baseball jersey, a pair of bluejeans with faded grass stains rubbed into the knees, and a dirty pair of tennis shoes. Her hair was wild and unkempt, but mostly hidden beneath a baseball cap.
“Well hurry up, Mark!” she said. “Get your hat and let's go, or I won't buy you nachos and hot dogs.”
“Wh-What?” stuttered Mark, clearly confused.
“Oh, fine,” laughed Mom. “I'm too soft a touch. You can still have nachos and hot dogs. I was just kidding, tiger! A growing boy needs his breakfast. But seriously – quit lollygagging! First pitch is in just over an hour. Let's go, let's go! Hustle!”
Mark scratched his head in confusion, but quickly found his own baseball cap, put it on, then surreptitiously slipped the futuristic device in his pocket... and then cluelessly followed Mom down the hall.
“So... no school today?” he asked.
“What?” she laughed. “Are you crazy? The home team is just four games away from winning the regional pennant! I took all you kids out of school. This is history in the making, Mark. If we win the next four games, then the semis, and the regional tourney, it'll be on to divisionals... and then we go to state! Oh, you kids are going to skip school and see every last one of these games. No ifs ands or buts!”