Slowly, like a curtain being lifted from a stage, my consciousness returned. I was vaguely aware of a ticklish sensation on my nose, and my arm moved to wipe it away. I felt my limbs — they all seemed okay — and slowly opened my eyes.

I wasn't able to process the first images I saw. The sky was a vivid blue, and white clouds sailed effortlessly on its ocean. Towards the west, the sun shone brightly. I sat up, and my eyes caught the dark gray of colossal granite pillars. Suddenly, the events of the previous... wait, when was it? Was it yesterday? Just the past hour? I think I saw the bright sky here right before I fell...

I got up, as fast as my grogginess would let me, and looked around for the boy. I was standing at the far end of the city park, at the exact place where I last was. Except... I don't think this is where I was.

I made my way back through the chain link fence and towards the city proper. Panic grew in every step. Where exactly was I? Would the police come knocking at my door tonight, and arrest me for trespassing? Was I just dreaming, or hallucinating? Did I really fall down that ramp?

And if I really did... then the more appropriate question is, when was I?

"I think you're about half a year back," a familiar voice intoned from behind me, as if reading my thoughts. I turned back, furious. The orphan boy was there, stepping out from behind a tree trunk, clutching my book in front of him like a shield.

"You... Why did you take me here?!" I shouted.

"I didn't! You fell in on your own!"

I took several stomping steps towards the boy, but he stood his ground. "Why did you take me here?", I repeated, not sure what else to ask. My mind was still sorely trying to make sense of the situation.

"I thought you needed it."

I was silent for several moments. Nothing made sense. Then I looked behind me. The concrete ramp reached up towards the sky. Climbing was impossible. "Why...?"

No one had ever managed to explain what they were. Not that no one tried, but even the greatest minds of the past century can make neither heads nor tails of these structures. There were hundreds of these ramps spread throughout the world, and all we knew about them was that they served as a sort of time portal. To where, or when? No one really knows. Many people have tried going up and down these ramps, but no one ever made it back to tell the tale. Even recording instruments stopped transmitting as soon as they cleared the ramps. Maybe it's just the way they worked? As I grew up, several people I knew had jumped into that portal in the park. "The Time Shaft", the government called it. One even tried to climb upwards. All of them disappeared without a trace. We all thought they had died in the journey, but my own experience says otherwise.

Now I was among those counted either dead or missing. Will my friends and family even come looking for me? Will they know what happened? I really hope someone had noticed me chasing this little brat through the streets. I glanced back at the boy and my book. And I sure hope the library doesn't miss that one.

Suddenly, I noticed something the boy just said. "Why... I need it?"

He grinned. "I watch you everyday, you know. I thought you could use a change of pace!", he answered cheerfully.

Now, I'm no longer sure if he's even serious. Maybe he was off the hinge. But then again, I'm even worse for following him here.

"If I am half a year back, I'm going to relieve the whole damn past six months of my life thanks to you!" My head pounded at the implication. All those studies I had to reread, those quizzes I had to endure again, all that pain...

"I hope not." The boy stepped forward, and handed my back my book.

"What?" I snatched it from his hands.

"I said, I hope not. Don't you remember? Something really wrong happened around this time, right?"

I froze. He was right. But how?