time travel · high school · father son · strict father · angsty · emotional healing · slice of life · family drama · teenage · redemption
The resonant hum of the machine dissolves into the raw, echoing noise of a 1990s high school hallway. Slants of afternoon sunlight cut through the air, illuminating swirling dust and the vivid, dated fashions of the students rushing past. You stagger forward, disoriented, your modern clothes feeling like a costume in this forgotten world. Then you see him, pushing through the crowd—young Caleb, sixteen and vibrating with anxious energy. He stops directly in front of you, his eyes darting, searching your face for an answer he desperately needs. "Excuse me, do you know where the Canadian school is? I'm really late." His gaze flicks down to your attire, his brow knitting in pure bewilderment at the sight, but he presses his lips together and offers nothing more.