The date was December 12th, 2012. The grass was green, the air was unsullied and the birds hummed courteously. There wasn’t a cloud in the azure sky above Tomorrowland. The small white houses appeared to blush under the sun’s golden rays, which bounced off the blissful faces of small children. Lotte, an orphaned nun, was teaching them to read. Across the street of Carter Hill was a young paperboy.
“Scientists build time machine! Read all about it!” he called with enthusiasm. People gathered around skeptically.
“They’re going to test it today!” someone said. An unintelligible murmur emerged from the growing crowd.

Not far from there was the Tomorrowland Research Center. The center’s projects were immensely classified, so it was surprising that their latest project was declared publicly.
The atmosphere in the Research center was tense. People were running about frantically. It was nearly one hundred and five degrees in the crowded, windowless room.
“Dr. Lloyd, speed it up! We’re getting ready to go!” Dr. Mariel Smith hollered. They were preparing to test the time machine for the first time.
Dr. Jack Lloyd was saying farewell to his wife, Denise, who held their daughter in her arms. Tears were racing down her pale cheeks uncontrollably.
“Everything is going to be okay, I’ll be back later today.” Dr. Lloyd assured her. He kissed his daughter’s forehead and then turned to look into Denise’s red, swollen eyes. “Just look to your heart and I’ll be right there with you.” He said, brushing a gold strand of hair out of her moist face.
“I love you, I’ll be waiting for you no matter what happens.” Denise said, embracing him for the last time.
“Dr. Lloyd! Come on already!” Dr. Smith howled again.
Dr. Lloyd smiled halfheartedly at is family, and then ran down the hall before he could think twice. After going through consecutive doors, Dr. Lloyd reached a smaller hall where he was given a sanitized bodysuit and an oxygen helmet. Behind him was the amorphous time machine. He stared at his work in awe. The machine was made out of simple metal, undecorated. The scientists at the Tomorrowland Research Center feared that any beautification or paint that might fall off of the machine would revise the time to which they would travel. Dr. Lloyd climbed into the machine through a door that was about the size of a rabbit hole.
“Launching when ready.” Said Dr. Jackson Kurt, the captain of the mission.
One by one the five scientists, including Dr. Lloyd, twisted their fingers into thumbs up. Dr. Kurt bolted the door. A few seconds passed in silence until the machine began to shake gently. The scientists were studying the extinction of the dinosaurs. They were able to find out that some sort of radiation caused their death. For their first journey through time, they longed to solve the mystery and go back to what was the Yucatán Peninsula exactly 65.5 million years from that day.
The machine roared and began shaking vigerously as they drowned into previous years. The scientists’ bodies slammed against the walls of the machine vulnurably, causing miniatue holes in their suits. Before anyone could pray that the hystaria will end, the machine stopped shaking with a powerful thump and turned fell to it’s side, making the scientists topple onto one another. They all cried out in pain, too shaken to move.
“Lloyd, you bastard! you’re crushing my leg!” Dr. Smith screamed venomously.
“Very well, then. This trip is already a success.” Dr. Lloyd spat back at her.
“Come on guys, lets try to be professional.” Dr. Kurt said, struggling to sit up. He strained towards the bolted door and snapped it open. He scrammbled out first, “Now, all of you listen. You have to remember not to touch a thing! Anything you do, anything you touch can change Tomorrowland. We are here to observe, nothing more.” Dr. Kurt explained. The scientists nodded, they had heard Dr. Kurt state this over one hundered times before.
Another scientists climbed out of the machine. “Well, I’ll be damned,” he said, placing his hands on his hips, “Will you look at that?”
Dr. Lloyd was eager to get out and see what was outside. He squeezed himself through the door. The ground he stood on was a dark mehogany color. It’s texture was sandy, but it was smoother, like poweder. The sky wasn’t visible, for flakes of red dust danced everywhere. The air felt warm and humid on the small spots of bare skin that were exposed from the gashes in the scientists’ armor. The dust reluctantly fell to the ground. Dr. Lloyd’s jaw fell open. They were in a crater, possibly a few hundred meters deep and a few kilometers wide.
“Did we miss it?” Dr. Smith asked.
Dr. Kurt shrugged. “We’ll have to climb and find out.” He said, looking into the sky, which was a pleasant indigo with thousands of stars draped all around.

It took the scientists about six hours to hike up the slick wall of the crater, dragging the time machine behind them. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they reached the top, everyone except Dr. Kurt.
“I don’t understand! My calculations were all right. There’s no way…” Dr. Kurt muttered incoherently, not cooperating with the others’ wishes to sleep.
He paced back and forth, not understanding. For miles and miles all that was visible was the red dust that enveloped the whole land. There was a dead triceratops in the distance along with a few other decaying creatures.
“What do we do now?” Dr. Lloyd groaned.
Dr. Kurt rubbed his forehead. “We go back and try again.” He decided.
Everyone sighed and climbed back into the machine. “Reset the time to exactly one day ago.” Dr. Kurt ordered. Dr. Smith began to reset the numbers on a remote.
“Um… Dr. Kurt?” Lloyd asked reluctantly.
Kurt raised his head in acknowledgment.
“I told Denise I would be back in a day, I would like to keep this promise.” Lloyd said, biting his bottom lip.
Kurt narrowed his eyes, “My comrade, this could change history, it could contribute to Tomorrowland’s knowledge for the greater good! It is more important.” He said in frustration.
Lloyd furrowed his brow, “Tomorrowland doesn’t need to be altered, it is a wonderful place.” He argued.
Kurt clenched his jaw, “Lloyd, I ask you to cooperate or I will have you never return to your wife.” He said through his teeth.
Lloyd winced, “Are you threatening to leave me here?” he asked, appalled.
Kurt raised his chin, “I will do what is expected if one is to betray Tomorrowland.” He declared.
Lloyd said nothing. He looked down at his feet, trying to imagine a better Tomorrowland. Considering that Tomorrowland was an honest and crime free place, an improved one could be nothing inferior to heaven.
Once again the ship shook, and eventually skidded to a stop. They climbed out once more. Everyone moaned as they realized that they were in the same crater again.
“Try again! Try again!” Dr. Kurt demanded.
Everyone cussed under their breaths and punched in an earlier date. The results were the same.
“Try one hundred years ago! One million years ago! I don’t care!” Dr. Kurt commanded, now slightly hysteric.
They tried again and again, always ending up in the same place. After going back in time an additional 6 billion years, the five scientists requested to announce the trip as a failure so that they could go home. Dr. Kurt punched deep into ground. Dr. Lloyd circled the crater a few times. He grabbed a handful of dust and let it slip through his bruised fingers. He raised his eyebrow in speculation.
“Do you not find it a little bit strange that we never actually saw an asteroid or meteor?” Lloyd asked no one in particular.
Everyone exchanged several accusatory glances and then looked at the time machine. It all made sense.  
“What a waste of time!” Dr. Smith yelled, kicking the machine subsequently.
“Of course, it is completely accurate! Foolish of us to think that the machine’s landing wouldn’t cause an immense amount of radiation! Let alone a crater!” Said one scientist.
“Everyone back into the ship, now! We have no idea how this has altered Tomorrowland! It is a disaster!” Dr. Kurt gasped in horror, all the blood racing to his head.
The scientists ran back into the machine anxiously. The image of Dr. Lloyd’s wife and his baby lingered in his mind vividly as he prayed that they were okay. The time machine roared to life. Moments later, it crashed again. The scientists threw their helmets off and burst the door open. A loud murmur was coming from the outside.

The date was December 12th, 2012. There were few strands of grass on the ground, the air was thick and polluted and the deafening roar of a siren rang piercingly. The blue sky was hardly visible due to the smoke in the city streets. There were rows and rows of tall, dull buildings.  Many people gazed at the scientists in confusion and terror. The scientists mirrored their appearance. They ran about the streets, but they couldn’t spot the Tomorrowland Research Center. A young woman lay on the ground near one of the buildings, hugging a ragged blanket. She was Lotte. Her face was covered in dirt. A box lay near her that said, “Please donate, God bless you.”
Dr. Lloyd ran to her, “Lotte! What happened?” He screamed.
The homeless woman flinched and stepped back a few steps, “I don’t know you.” Lotte said, clenching on to her blanket.
Dr. Lloyd stared at her frightfully and then snapped his head to look at Dr. Kurt, who was motionlessly staring in the distance.
A golden object caught Lloyd’s attention. He saw Denise’s golden hair. She was standing where he had left her, their daughter in her arms. Her blue eyes were still red and swollen, but she was smiling. Lloyd marched towards her and cupped her face in the palm of his hand, “Denise?” he said carefully, “What are you still doing here?” he asked.
Denise looked at him in confusion, “I’m waiting for my husband,” she said, staring off into the distance. “He promised to come back,” she assured herself.
Dr. Lloyd’s eyes grew moist. He looked around for something memorable. Behind Denise was a sign with bright yellow words that said: “Welcome to the Land of Today.”