The sunshine hit the ground after it shone through the gaps from the leaves on the tree. A red MINI Cooper was driving through the path which was full of sunshine spots reflecting everywhere on the ground, flowers, leaves, and even the red car itself.

Jane’s mother, Kelly, who was sitting on the passenger side in front of the car turned back excitedly and said: “Here we come Boston! Jane, don’t just lay in the backseat, sit up front and see how beautiful it is outside the car!”

“Ah, mom. Are we just gonna spend our whole spring break here in Boston?”, replied Jane. “But this is not where we are actually gonna stay; instead, we are going to a place called ‘Historical Vacation Resort’.” Kelly said to her daughter. Jane sat up reluctantly and leaned her body forward so that she could be closer to her mom, as to show her discontent. There was literally nothing fun, she thought. She was so excited when she heard that they’re going to Boston during spring break. Tall buildings, museums, long bridges across the rivers, a city that has both modern and traditional styles. But when they passed the downtown area and drove into a place where you could only see trees, Jane had a weird feeling. Then, she was told that their destination was actually a place close to downtown in Boston. A museum that was built in order to memorialize Phillis Wheatley.

“Alright, here we are!” Jane’s dad Cameron said while stopping the car.

“You are a lier, mom.” Jane uttered while rolling her eyes to show her unhappiness.

“Come on Jane, it’s not as bad as you might think. Just get out of the car and look around!”, Cameron said, trying to let her not be so down. Jane was the daughter of two historians but she had no interest in history at all.

“Fine, I will just stay in the hotel for the rest of the days.” Jane muttered.

Jane helped Cameron and Kelly move out the suitcases from the car. They were going to stay at a hotel whose name was “On Imagination”. It was an old building that only had two floors. But it was the closest place to the museum, which was right next to it. 

After Jane set up all the things in her room, she laid on the bed tiredly and felt a bad headache. It was a long drive, far from Kansas to Massachusetts. She just felt exhausted, and after a while, she fell asleep.

When Jane was woken up by the shinny sunshine rays going through the window, she opened her eyes and saw dust particles floating in the air. She looked at her watch and it was noon already. She sat up and decided to find something to eat for lunch. But what she didn’t pay attention to was the date below the time on her watch—— March 18th, 1784.

Jane went downstairs but there was no one to be found, not even her parents. Maybe they just went out to study and search for historical evidence about Phillis Wheatley, she thought. Then she went out of the hotel’s gate and she was shocked by what she saw in front of her. A dry and muddy path with the traces made by carriages, some grassland in front of the houses and all the things in similar condition made Jane feel like she was in an really old-time period.

Jane decided to have a look at the old house which was a museum for Phillis Wheatley since she was already out of her room. She walked toward the door of the house and stood in the front garden.

“They even grew some vegetables for this old museum? Weird.”, Jane looked down to all the plants on the ground and said. When she was trying to use her phone to take some pictures and send them to her friend, she found her phone hadn't any service. Then she decided to walk inside, but the door was closed. And there was no sign to show visitors the schedule about when it was going to open or close. So Jane knocked on the door. After a while, somewhat unexpectedly, the door opened.

“Hello, may I help you?”, a black lady with a soft voice said. Jane was shocked, she had seen a picture of Phillis Wheatley. Although it was only a portrait of her, Jane could still recognise that the woman standing in front of her right now, was indeed Phillis Wheatley. Jane could not believe her eyes, but thanks to some television shows that she’d seen before, she didn’t become really scared. Maybe she was already in the past, she thought.

“Umm…Hi, I, I can’t find my parents and there is no one in the hotel.” Jane wasn’t sure what to say but she just said it anyway.

“Hum, interesting, a hotel…” Phillis said it to herself in a low voice, “Well, it’s time for lunch soon. Do you want to have lunch with us?”

“Oh, that would be my pleasure! Thank you madam.” Jane couldn’t believe that she was invited by Phillis Wheatley; and even more, she was going to have lunch with her family. Phillis opened the door and let Jane in.

It was not a big house but it made Jane feel warm and welcome. Suddenly, a little boy ran out from one of the bedrooms. He literally looked the same as Phillis, thick lips, big eyes and curly hair but rather short. He ran to Phillis and hugged her waist.

“Mom, did we get a guest today?” the boy asked in a low voice.

“Yes, my boy. Could you get another set of tableware, please?” Phillis said that in a really soft voice.

“This is my son Jackson.” Phillis said to Jane. They smiled to each other and went to the dinning room.

“So are you here for a trip or something?” Phillis asked. Jane froze for a second and she was trying to find other excuse instead of just telling Phillis that they were here literally just to visit a museum which was built for Phillis.

“Oh yes, my parents wanted to spend a week to do some research, something about history.” Jane answered with an unsure tone.

“Oh I see. Umm, now let’s enjoy our lunch, shall we?” Phillis said seeming a bit of suspicious, but without saying anything.

After lunch, it was time for little Jackson to take a nap. But he insisted to let Phillis continue the story that she told him earlier. Jane offered to clean up the table and dishes since they had her for a meal, with the niggling boy swaying her arm, she finally agreed. Then Jane began to clean up the table. Since the house was not that big, she could clearly hear what the story was about when Phillis was speaking.

“That girl was pretty good at writing, specially poems. She had written lots of poems since she was twelve years old. She was really lucky that she didn’t need to do much housework and instead, had a chance to get a really good education. Her sister-in-law and brother in law helped her a lot when she was learning writing and other subjects. But there was one time that she almost had a fight with her family because of a particular poem.” Phillis told in a soft voice.

“Did they treat her really badly?” Jackson asked in a sleepy tone.

“Not really. The girl just found that a few of her poems were published in the newspaper without her consent. Then she found out the person who published the poem was her sister.” Phillis patted Jackson and continued to tell the story.

“Did the girl tell her parents?” Jackson asked. He hadn’t slept yet because he still held a curiosity about the story.

“Yes, but they didn’t believe her. She was just a little girl who was adopted by this family. And the one that stole her poems was their daughter. She was trying to tell the truth but no one listened to her. Then for several days, she refused to talk to her family and their relationship became really bad. So one day, she decided to leave. Leaving the family that she spent almost twenty years with was hard, but she left anyway. She went back to Boston again and began her new life…” Phillis paused and found Jackson was already fast asleep.

“Then she had this little boy who gave much more motivation to continue the rest of her life here.” Phillis said that in a really low and soft voice. She patted Jackson’s head and kissed him on his forehead. Jane had finished the cleaning work a short while ago. She was standing by the bedroom door and she was listening to Phillis’s story. She could feel that the girl in the story was Phillis herself.

“You can take a nap on the sofa if you want.” Phillis said to Jane.

“Oh thank you so much.” Jane answered in a sleepy voice. She did feel a bit of tired, so she laid on the sofa and fell asleep pretty quickly.

Jane felt a strong headache while she was sleeping. She felt as though she just had a long dream. And close to the end of the dream, she could still remember a boy’s voice saying to her: “Mom said you are from the future! Could you tell me what am I going to be when I grow up?” Then the sound disappeared gradually.

But this was the only thing that Jane could remember. She woke up in the dark and she could hear the sound of snoring from her dad which was from the room next to hers. She’s back. Or maybe she had never left, and all the things that happened were just in her imagination.