As I set the earrings into my ear, the world seemed to rotate around me. I gasped and tried to stop the spinning, but failed. The room spun faster. It seemed to leave me, and I watched it go. The first thing I noticed was cold. It was biting into me, stinging my skin. Next, I noticed my head was aching. Had I hit it on something? As long as I was thinking normally, I should be fine. Did I know my name? Emma Smith. My age? Twelve. At least I didn’t have a concussion. But the last thing I remembered before this was putting the earrings in my ear. Now I was here. Wherever I was, it wasn’t my room. I looked around. It seemed to be winter. At that moment, I realized I was lying in the snow and quickly jumped to my feet. My casual T-shirt and jeans had been replaced with an uncomfortable dress that looked and felt like something worn long ago. I felt my head and learned that I was wearing some sort of bonnet. I desperately wanted my normal outfit back, but it was nowhere in sight. Squinting to see through the sleet, I noticed a small town on the horizon. Opposite it was a river. I set out towards the town. The town was full of people braving the cold, all dressed in the same old fashioned clothing. Could I have time traveled…? Needing an explanation for all this, I walked up to a man and asked,” What’s going on?” The man stared coldly back at me. “I was minding my own business until you so rudely interrupted me,” he sniffed. Well. He was stuck up, annoying, and not helpful at all. I decided to ask him the date anyway, to prove I hadn’t traveled through time. Unfortunately, he was strutting away. I chased after him, nearly tripping over my long skirt. When I reached him, he looked less than pleased. “What do you want?” he growled. I fiddled with my sleeve. This was scarier than I thought, but I desperately needed this information. I took a deep breath. “I want to know the date.” “It’s December fifteenth, 1776. Kindly don’t bother me again, little girl,” he sneered. I froze. “No. It isn’t scientifically possible.” declared one half of my brain. “Who says everything has to be scientific?”argued the other. This was all just too much. If it was 1776...I’d deal with that later. If I wasn’t, I had no idea where I was. My brain instantly started listing terrible things that could be happening, and I shuddered. Trying to distract myself, I decided to explore. Minutes later, I found myself on the outside of town. In front of me, I saw an array of tents. I had no idea what they were until it clicked. If it was 1776, it was the middle of the revolutionary war. I must be looking at an army camp. After looking around, I noticed a group of women and children outside the main camp. Why not ask them for information? When I reached the group, I noticed a girl who looked around my age. She seemed friendly enough. My shoes crunched through the snow as I headed toward her. She must have heard me coming, because she whipped around and her dark hair flew out of her bonnet. When she noticed me, she smiled and cried,” Yes!” “Hi?” I squeaked. She lowered her voice,” Sorry, I just cannot believe that there’s a girl my age here. I’m Rosanna! Who are you?” Now I felt bad. How did I tell her I wasn’t going to stay? “I’m Emma,” I replied. “Hello!”Rosanna replied brightly,” I’ll show you around. You look nervous.” She never seemed to stop talking, which made me nervous, but she was my only ally right now. It couldn’t hurt to go along with her. Rosanna showed me her tent, the cooking tent, and a bunch of other tents. I wasn’t really paying attention until I heard her say,”George Washington’s tent.” “What?” I asked her,” The George Washington?” “Yes the general. Want to talk to him? He’s my distant relative,” replied Rosanna,” Let’s go!” “No! It’s ok.What tent is that?” I asked her, trying to get out of it. “You won’t regret it,” Rosanna insisted. I knew I would regret it, but I followed her anyway. When we reached the tent, we could hear voices inside. “The troops need something to boost their morale,” someone said. “Maybe we could head south,” wondered another. “How would that help them?” questioned someone else. I couldn’t make out anything else they said, but a few minutes later two men left the tent. Rosanna led me inside. “This is Emma,” she explained, “We have some ideas for your army problem.” We do? I didn’t think I had any. “Yes?” asked George Washington,” What are they?” Rosanna nudged me and whispered “Tell him!” “I don’t have one!” I whispered back. “Yes you do!” I didn’t, but I needed to say something. Panicking, I blurted the first thing I could think of, “You could go across the river with the army,” “I might try that, and I could-” “ Surprise someone!” Rosanna interrupted. “I suppose,” said George Washington. A week later, I was woken by a noise. Rosanna was standing over me, holding a candle. I had been staying in my own tent, and as far as she knew, I had an older brother in the army.
She was skeptical, but went along with it. “Come,” she whispered, “ I want to show you something!” “What?” I asked, half asleep. I sighed, blinked several times, and followed her out of the tent. It was beautiful here at night. It was so dark that I could see the Milky Way. The moon was almost full, and the moonlight reflected off the snow. It was breathtaking, and I wished I could take a picture of it all. Hurrying me along silently, Rosanna led me to the bank of the river. She pointed to a section of the riverbank that looked around fifty yards from us.. “Look,” she whispered,”Boats. They are going to cross..” I saw what she was talking about. There was a cluster of large flat boats and canoes tied against the bank. “George Washington is using our idea?” I asked, surprised. “I think so,” Rosanna answered, staring at the boats. Even when we headed back to the camp, I could tell she was thinking about something. The next morning, Rossana wasn’t at breakfast. I suspected she was off talking to George Washington. I started getting worried when she wasn’t at dinner, and decided if I didn’t see her in the morning tomorrow, I would start searching. I couldn’t sleep that night. Could something bad have happened to Rosanna? I left my tent and walked to the river bank. Someone was sitting in a tree, staring out at the water. I walked closer. It was Rosanna! “Rosanna!” I called. “Hi!” She yelled back and jumped down from the tree. I noticed she was wearing pants instead of a dress. “Where were you all day?” I asked her. “I was getting things ready. That is why I’m wearing pants. I brought some for you, too. I talked to George, but he won’t let us go with him. I spent the whole day looking for things to help us. I gathered pants, warmer clothes, and blankets. I need to find more tomorrow. Can you look for a good way to cross? They’re crossing on Christmas night. We have two days,”she explained. “Wow. So you want to cross the river with the army? I’ll try and find a way across,” I told her. “Meet me here tomorrow night,” ordered Rosanna. In the morning, I ate my breakfast and walked to the river to try to find a way to cross. I eyed the artillery boats. They looked like the perfect way to cross the river. Well, not perfect. There was no shelter in case of snow or wind. The water also looked frigid. It was entirely possible someone could fall in, catch hypothermia, and die. I bit my lip at the thought. “But,” whispered a small part of my mind,” Don’t you want to have an adventure? You can’t just go back to Rosanna with nothing, either. Give it a try!”
