A Day With Portola - Chelsea Hernandez

I was in the Block around 10 am with my three friends Alexa Capiz, Carla, and Stephanie. When the strangest thing happened. I went into a store and there was a back door saying DO NOT ENTER!

"I dare you to go in" said Carla

I looked around to see of anyone was around. Surprisingly the door was unlocked. I went in when when someone slammed the door behind me. "Great" I said to myself. In a blink of an eyeI wasn't in the closet anymore. Everything was deserted. There were no houses, no highways, no "The Block". I started freaking out. In the distance I saw people. I started running towards them. Once I was near them I realized they were on horses and had another centuries clothes. They didn't look surprised.

"Are you lost?" asked a guy with a brown horse. He looked pretty young with facial hair.

"What happened with everything?" I asked confused.

They all started laughing at me as if I was mental.

"Well, I really don't know what you are doing but this land was just barely discovered. Oh, how rude of me, my name is Gaspar de Portola and this is Father Serra"

That is when I realized the closet was a time machine and I wasn't in my time anymore. I had learned about Portola, he was the first person to set foot on California soil and Father Serra helped build missions.

"Do you want to ride with us?" asked Portola after a while.

"Ummmmm sure" I said still confused.

We walked through the Santa Ana River. When the earth shook. The horses stumbled and we fell off.

"Well we can't build a mission here it might be dangerous." said Father Serra.

Later that day we played a game that we were on horses and we caught chickens. We even saw a bear he came so close if I reached out I could feel his beautiful brown fur. But Portola killed it. I refused to eat the meat, I actually cried for the poor bear.

"This gal is a weird one, just like the rest of them. She is starving yet she refuses to eat the bear meat even though it would have killed her." whispered Portola to Father Serra.

When he said that I thought this gal is a weird one just like the rest of them? Had more people come already? Others must have came before to this beautiful time where everywhere you were it smelled like oranges and where there were no houses and no cars.

In a second I was with Portola, the next I was in the closet. I got out and it was the same time around 10:00 am.

"Wasn't that AWESOME!?!" yelled Carla.

by

Chelsea Hernandez