Chapter 2
Frederick, What a Man!

I sat on the curb, hung my head in my hands, then screamed. Possibly to let out some of my frustration, perhaps in hopes of getting someone's attention. Even now, two years later, I'm not sure why. When I had finished my long cry, I heard a quiet, male voice behind me. I jumped up and turned so quickly that the stranger fell over. I considered running for my life but he seemed harmless. It was a teenage boy, about the same age as me, maybe a little older. He was tall but not very muscular. He wore jeans, hiking boots and a thick wool sweater. His lips were smooth and a little pouty. His hair was blond and hung to his ears. The cool wind was blowing it in his eyes, which were a beautiful shade of blue. They were profound and when I stared at them I nearly lost my balance. For a moment, I almost forgot all about this place, under the bed, until the boy spoke again.
 "Where am I and who are you?" he demanded.
 I snapped back to reality, pulling my eyes from his. I took a moment to recompile myself and then found my voice. "My name's Andrea and I don't know where we are. I haven't the slightest clue as to where we are!" my voice crescendoed "I'm lost, lonely and scared. This place is worse than the spare bedroom. And I want to get home!"  When I finished I was yelling.
 He seemed a bit taken aback from my reply but he gave me an apologetic look and sat down beside me. I was a little embarrassed about exploding at him but I felt too miserable to care.
  When I calmed down I apologized to him and started again. "I was hoping that you would be able to tell me where I was." I exclaimed.
 "Same . . . " he began to say. "I'm getting freaked out. I mean, I barely even understand how I got here!"
 "Well, all I know is that I was in a spare bedroom and I noticed a rubber duck near the far wall," I began to say, as I held up the duck.
 "Then you felt weak and unstable and ended up blacking out?" he finished.
 "Yeah! That's exactly it!" I exclaimed.
 "Then," he continued, quite excitedly, "some strange beings in white clothes surrounded you, and started poking you with these instruments that resembled wrenches with motors." He stopped when I began to give him a questioning look. "Oh, wait, that was last week!" he finished, appearing entirely serious.
 I started to back away when he laughed.
 "Kidding! Kidding! No, really, it was a joke!"
 I nodded, but kept my distance anyway. Maybe that was why I almost lost my mind from looking into his eyes, they weren't really his eyes . . . I'd just have to be more careful. "Well, you're partly out of your mind, but you were right about the duck. So I'm guessing the same thing happened to you. Unless, that is, the aliens implanted something in your belly button that enables you to read minds . . ." I backed away another step.
 He moved in closer to me. "It was a joke! The same thing happened to me. See?" he said, holding up a duck that he took from his pocket.
 "That doesn't prove anything! You probably always carry around a rubber duck!"
 "Only on Tuesdays, and today's not Tuesday."
 "Uh huh . . ." I decided to drop the subject. "Anyway, any ideas on what to do now? We're alone in a foreign place that looks exactly like New York, only worse!" I replied.
 "Oh my God you're right!" he shuddered.
 We looked around for a second time, examining the situation. Tall sky scrapers with broken windows and some missing entire chunks right out of the side, as if some giant came and bit it off, surrounded us. They were everywhere and we could barely see the sun. That is, what was left of it. There was a fiery ball in the sky but it was dim, like a candle on its last few seconds. It looked as though it might go out any moment.
 It was quite overwhelming so we sat down a moment. He and I talked for a while, becoming better acquainted. It turned out that his name was Frederick and he had also been trying to get a rubber ducky.
 "Phantasmal!" He whispered to no one in particular. "But why us? And where are we?"
 His thoughts were interrupted by a piercing noise, a clutter of whirrs and beeps. We looked around but there were so signs of anything that could be making the noise. The sounds got louder and I held my breath. A machine rounded a corner. It was huge, twice the size of me, and shaped like a lamp. The kind you see sitting in your grandmother's bedroom. It was moving around on treads with spikes attached to them that ripped up the pavement behind it. I tried to look calm (I think I was developing something on Frederick) but when the thing started to head toward us, I screamed again. Frederick quickly covered my mouth.