It was a hot day in late August, and Sierra was soaking up the last few weeks of her stay at Grandma Betsey’s while visiting the town library. In a town as quaint and old as Grandma Betsey’s, there wasn’t much room for exploration. However, on a blistering day like that day, the public library with its newly installed air conditioning system was the obvious choice for Sierra.
And so, Sierra found herself sitting at a table in the middle of the building, staring at a stack of novels in front of her. Unfortunately, the library, being as ancient as it was, had not received any new additions to its system of books since the year 2000, and most of the decently-interesting books were yellowed and falling apart.
Sierra’s eyes were lazily scanning the area when suddenly, a certain book caught her eye. It was placed on a silver stand and had a photo of Martin Luther King Jr. on it. She peered at a small description underneath the book and realized that today was the 50th anniversary of MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Curious, she picked up the book and opened it. Inside were photos she had never seen before. After reading a single page, Sierra was intrigued. An idea sailed into her brain, and Sierra found her hands opening the enigmatic journal and flipping to an empty page…
Upon opening her eyes, Sierra observed and heard an overwhelming crowd of people in front of her. She quickly stood up from her sitting stance as multiple young children rushed past her, squealing with joy. Sierra took in her surroundings and made mental notes on the clothing style, atmosphere, and attitudes of the people around her. She knew that she had, once again, been swept into the past, but she had no idea as to what time period. She finally gave up on guessing and approached two nearby girls.
“Hi, this is a strange question, but what’s the date today?” Sierra hesitantly asked.
One of the two girls spoke. “It’s August 28th,” she replied without blinking an eye.
Sierra was surprised that the journal had sent her back to the same day as she had been in the present time. Of course, in a past year, though.
“And…the year?” Sierra added reluctantly.
The two girls looked at one another in perplexity, but then the other girl spoke.
“August 28th, 1963,” she answered.
So she had not just traveled back in time to the same date as her present situation, but in fact, exactly fifty years earlier! Sierra awkwardly smiled and thanked both girls.
Just as she was about to walk away, one of the girls asked, “Are you going to see Dr. King speak? Do you want to walk over with us?”
Dr. King…Martin Luther King Jr.? Sierra realized in astonishment. She whirled around and eagerly responded, “Yes!”
Both girls smiled, and the girl with the blond ponytail replied, “Great! We are about to head over there right now.”
Sierra followed the two girls over and learned more about each one along the way. She learned that the first girl’s name was Kim and that the second girl’s name was Michelle. Both girls were from Massachusetts but had come with their church to hear Dr. King speak. Sierra noticed that Kim was white, while Michelle was African-American. Strangely she also saw some sort of resemblance in herself to Kim, but she couldn’t quite pinpoint the exact element of familiarity.
After several minutes, the three girls reached their destination, the Lincoln Memorial. Sierra noted the mass of people starting to assemble and was fascinated to see just how many people had traveled to hear Dr. King speak. Soon enough, the event started. Several different people spoke, but it wasn’t until Dr. King took the stage that Sierra found herself fully and truly focused on the person who seemed to command the crowd’s attention. Throughout his speech, Sierra was both stunned and awed to be a member of the audience of such an important historical event. Dr. King kept a composed and confident demeanor as he gave a speech that was both compelling and powerful. Though he only spoke for less than twenty minutes, lines such as “Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children” were forever imprinted in Sierra’s mind. She eventually realized that this speech was, in fact, his renowned “I Have a Dream” Speech, which made the situation all the more surreal and astonishing. When Dr. King finished his speech, there was deafening applause among the audience. Sierra, too, found herself both amazed and lost for words in describing her admiration for Dr. King.
The crowd began to disperse, and Sierra turned over to her two new friends. She was about to ask them what they thought of Dr. King’s speech when suddenly, a shrill scream shot through the air nearby. Sierra whirled around and saw a brawl starting to take place close by. Very soon, other people joined in to separate the two people fighting, but things quickly turned violent. Michelle yelled for Kim and Sierra to follow her, but Sierra soon became separated from the two girls. As she frantically tried to decide what to do next, Sierra spotted an outhouse in the distance. With a heavy and conflicted heart, she bolted for the shack, opened the door, and closed her eyes.
When Sierra awoke from her time travel, she realized that she was not at her grandmother’s home but still in the local library. A librarian passing by informed her that the library would close in five minutes, and Sierra took that as her cue to exit the building. When she returned to Grandma Betsey’s house, she headed straight for her bedroom. A lot had occurred that afternoon, and Sierra needed to process the events. She pondered upon the wisdom from Dr. King’s speech, re-lived the chaos that had taken place right before she left, and regretted leaving Michelle and Kim behind—without saying goodbye. Sierra wondered where Michelle and Kim were now and if they had been able to remain friends. With such thoughts weighing heavily on her mind, Sierra walked downstairs to the living room, where Grandma Betsey was sitting on the sofa, looking at a family album. She sat next to her grandmother and closely peered at the black-and-white photos of Grandma Betsey’s family. Then, out of the blue, Sierra spotted two startlingly familiar girls.
“Grandma, who is that girl?” Sierra anxiously inquired, pointing at a black-and-white photo.
Grandma replied, “Why, that’s my younger sister and her best friend,” Grandma Betsey’s finger moved underneath the photo. “As a matter of fact, this photo was taken exactly fifty years ago, August 28th, 1963. They went with our church to hear Dr. King speak,” she added.
That faded but distinct polaroid that Grandma Betsey was pointing at was of the two girls Sierra had befriended, Michelle and Kim…
Photo Credit: https://www.npr.org/2010/01/18/122701268/i-have-a-dream-speech-in-its-entirety