Lost in Time

In a small town, there lived a young traveler named Zainab. She was not like other travelers. Zainab loved adventures. She liked to walk in forests, climb hills, and find strange paths no one else dared to explore.

One sunny morning, Zainab put on her sneakers, a red jacket, and her favorite baseball cap. She packed a sandwich, a bottle of water, and her phone. Then, she went hiking in the woods near her town.

As she walked deeper into the forest, she saw something strange behind the trees. It looked like a bright circle, floating in the air.

“What is that?” Zainab whispered.

She stepped closer. The circle began to glow and made a soft humming sound.

“It looks like... a portal,” she said. “Should I go in?”

Zainab smiled. “Why not?”

Without thinking twice, she stepped through the portal.

Suddenly, everything spun around her. When the spinning stopped, she found herself in a strange place. The sky was clear, the air smelled of hay, and people wore long dresses and armor. A knight on a horse rode past her. A market nearby was full of people selling fruits, bread, and cloth.

“Where... am I?” Zainab said.

She looked at herself. She was still wearing her modern clothes—sneakers, jeans, and a cap.

Everyone around her stopped and stared.

“Hello!” she waved, trying to be friendly.

A big man with a hammer stepped forward. He wore a leather apron and had a gray beard.

“Can you tell me where I am?” Zainab asked.

“You are in Greenvale,” the man said. “Who are you, and where do you come from?”

“Um... New York?” she said, unsure.

“New... what?” he frowned.

Zainab looked around. There were no cars, no streetlights, no phones. People were using horses and carts. She pulled out her phone to take a picture.

As soon as she raised her phone, the villagers gasped.

“What is that thing?” someone shouted.

“Is it magic?” another asked.

Zainab laughed. “No, no. It’s just a phone. It takes pictures and makes calls.”

The villagers whispered and stepped back. The village leader, an old man with a staff, walked forward.

“You must be a sorceress,” he said.

“No, no magic,” Zainab smiled. “Just technology.”

Before she could explain more, the air around her shimmered again. The portal appeared right in front of her.

“Wait! I just got here!” she said, but it was too late.

The portal pulled her in again.

Zainab landed with a thud in a hot, sandy place. She brushed herself off and looked around. There were tall pyramids, palm trees, and people wearing white linen clothes. She was now in ancient Egypt.

“Oh boy,” she said. “From knights to pyramids.”

A man carrying a basket of stones stopped and stared.

“Who are you?” he asked. “Why are you dressed like that?”

“Oh, this? Just my casual clothes,” she said.

She walked a bit and saw a beautiful temple.

“I think that’s a bathroom,” she mumbled and walked in.

Suddenly, guards shouted, “Stop! That’s the temple of the gods!”

“Oops,” she said and ran out.

Even with the trouble, Zainab met kind people. She gave a child her sandwich and shared water with a camel driver. Everyone thought she was very strange, but they liked her.

One evening, as she watched the sunset behind a pyramid, the portal appeared again.

“No time to rest,” she said. “Here we go again!”

She jumped in.

This time, Zainab landed in a dark cave.

“Where am I now?” she asked.

Suddenly, she heard grunting sounds. Cavemen stared at her. One of them tried to bite her phone.

“Whoa, easy!” she said.

She pulled out her lighter and lit it.

The cavemen screamed in fear.

“It’s okay,” she said. “It’s just fire. See?”

She showed them how to light sticks. Soon they were dancing around the fire.

Zainab smiled. “At least I helped someone today.”

But the portal wasn’t done with her yet.

It came again, bright and loud.

Zainab sighed. “Let’s see where I go now.”

She was sucked in once more.

Now she found herself in the middle of the ocean on a wooden ship. The sky was blue, the sails were high, and men with swords were shouting.

“Pirates?” she whispered.

“Who goes there?” one pirate asked.

“Hi, I’m Zainab. I’m... just passing through.”

The pirates were confused, but they gave her some food.

“You want some rum?” one asked.

Zainab laughed. “No thanks. I like juice better.”

She sat with them and listened to stories of treasure and sea monsters.

“I wish I had more time here,” she said.

But of course, the portal appeared again.

Back in she went.

Now she was standing in a city full of glass towers and shiny roads. Cars flew in the sky, and robots walked beside people.

“Woah,” she said. “The future!”

A robot stopped in front of her.

“Excuse me, miss. You look lost. Do you need help?”

“Yes, please,” she said. “I really need to go home.”

The robot nodded and pointed to a tall screen. The screen lit up and showed the portal again.

Zainab didn’t wait.

She ran and jumped through it.

With a flash, she landed on her living room floor.

She looked around. Her couch, her backpack, her sandwich box—everything was the same.

“I’m home,” she whispered.

She lay on the floor and laughed.

“I went to the past, the future, and even met pirates. All because of a glowing circle in the woods.”

Zainab sat up and looked at her phone. The battery was dead, but she didn’t mind.

“I think I’ll stay home for a while,” she said. “No more portals. And no more GPS.”

She stood up, walked to the window, and smiled at the sky.

“But what an adventure,” she said. “I’ll never forget it.”

And from that day on, Zainab kept her sneakers clean, her sandwich fresh, and her eyes open for anything strange. Just in case the portal returned again.

Because once you’ve been lost in time… you never really forget it.