“TOO LATE,” was written on the dusty board.
No one said anything.
Then the big machine made a noise.
KRRR… KRRR… DING!
The gears suddenly turned faster.
Much faster.
“I think we should go,” Emil said cautiously.
“Too late,” Leo murmured, pointing at the door.
It was gone.
Simply gone.
“Okay… I don’t like this at all,” Mila said.
Janitor Bruno looked around. Then he raised his broom.
“Herbert says we should stay calm.”
“Herbert should get us out of here!” Leo shouted.
Suddenly the light flickered.
Once. Twice.
Then everything became quiet.
Too quiet.
And then…
…something ran backwards.
A sheet of paper on the floor slid back.
A clock on the wall ticked backwards.
Tick… tock… tick… tock…
“Look at the clock!” Emil shouted.
The hands moved backwards.
Faster and faster.
“Time… is running backwards!” Mila whispered.
The machine grew louder.
KRRR… DING! DING!
And then something strange happened.
The children suddenly felt…
…that something was changing.
“Why is my backpack closed again?” Leo asked.
“I just opened it!”
Emil looked at his hands.
“My chalk is whole again…”
Mila gasped.
“We’re moving backwards!”
The machine stopped abruptly.
Silence.
Then writing appeared again.
This time directly in the air.
WELCOME BACK.
The door reappeared.
It opened slowly.
Behind it…
…was the school hallway.
But something was wrong.
The walls were freshly painted.
The posters looked new.
And from a classroom they heard a voice:
“Welcome to school, children!”
Bruno froze.
“That… is my old teacher.”
He swallowed.
“From 20 years ago.”