It was exactly 12:00 PM, and I was sitting in science class, half-listening as Mr. James paced in front of the whiteboard. He was talking about portals—actual portals that could transport people across the universe.

“A scientist named Edward Smith created the first portal in 1976,” Mr. James said, tapping the board. “Once he went through it, he never came back.”

Liam, sitting behind me, snorted. “That sounds fake.”

“Don’t interrupt,” Mr. James snapped. “Legend says he teleported to a planet inhabited by aliens. They weren’t very happy about it.”

That night, curiosity got the better of me. I opened my laptop and searched for Edward Smith. Only one website came up—Space and Time Travel. It looked old, like it hadn’t been updated in years. But the article was clear: Edward Smith had vanished right in front of his wife, Mary. She told the town what happened, but no one believed her. The site also mentioned that the original portal was kept in a museum not far from where I lived.

The next day after school, I biked to the museum. It was quiet, almost too quiet. I wandered through the exhibits until I found it. The portal stood tall, surrounded by velvet ropes. It was bigger than I expected—metallic, with strange engravings along the sides. A small plaque read:

Portal Machine Created by Edward Smith, 1976

That was it. No explanation, no warning. Just a name and a date.

When I got home, I asked my dad if he could help me build a replica. He was an engineer, and after a few confused questions, he agreed. We spent the next day gathering parts and assembling the machine in our garage. It looked eerily similar to the one in the museum. I pressed a few buttons, but nothing happened.

“Maybe it needs batteries,” I muttered.

I rummaged through the junk drawer and found a couple of AA batteries. As soon as I popped them in, the machine lit up. Buttons glowed blue, but no portal appeared.

“Maybe it needs more power.”

I remembered the strange purple rock I’d found when I was eight. It had always sat in the yard like a decoration, but something about it felt… different. I grabbed it and placed it into the machine’s core.

The portal roared to life.

A swirling black hole formed in the center, pulling the air around it. I stared, heart racing. This was it. I typed in random coordinates and stepped forward.

The world twisted. Colors I couldn’t name spun around me, and then everything went dark.

I landed hard on rocky ground. The sky above was greenish-blue, with two suns casting long shadows. The air was thick and smelled like metal. I stood up slowly, brushing dust off my clothes.

“Hello?” I called out. My voice echoed strangely.

In the distance, I saw a structure—half buried, blinking faintly. I ran toward it, heart pounding. Inside, the walls were covered in alien symbols and flickering screens. A man sat hunched over a console, muttering to himself.

“Edward Smith?” I asked.

He turned slowly. His beard was wild, eyes sunken but sharp.

“You’re not one of them,” he said. “You’re human.”

“I found your portal. I came to find you.”

Edward stood, shaky but alert. “You shouldn’t have come. This planet—it’s alive. It watches.”

Suddenly, the walls pulsed red. A siren blared.

“They’ve found us,” Edward whispered. “We have to move.”

We sprinted through tunnels lit by glowing moss. Edward led me to a chamber filled with strange machinery.

“This is my emergency beacon,” he said. “I’ve been trying to fix it for years. It needs a power source—something strong.”

I pulled the purple rock from my pocket. “Will this work?”

Edward’s eyes widened. “Where did you get that?”

“Found it when I was eight. It powered my portal.”

He took it carefully, placing it into the beacon’s core. The machine roared to life, casting a beam into the sky.

“Hold on!” Edward shouted.

The ground shook. Light engulfed us.

And then—we were back. In my garage. The portal sputtered and died behind us.

Edward collapsed to his knees, laughing. “I’m home.”

I helped him up. “What now?”

He looked at me, eyes full of gratitude. “Now, we make sure no one ever goes through that portal again.”

My dad stood in the garage, frightened.

“Who is that man!?” He screamed.

“Uh dad,” I said. “I can explain.