“Jason come down here I have some very exciting news!” exclaimed Mrs. Telvey. Jason hurried down the stairs hoping for the best. Jason’s parents loved Shakespeare and whenever there was a surprise for him or his sister, Rachel, it always had to do with Shakespeare. Jason called Rachel and ran down the stairs.
“We are all going to see Much ado about Nothing, a play by William Shakespeare!” Mr. Telvey said full of excitement. Jason and Rachel let out a sigh. “Family bonding now, that Rachel is back,” Mrs. Telvey said.
         A year ago Rachel disappeared and was gone for about a week. She told no one where she went. And since then there was a lot more family bonding.
“Oh it will be fun,” Mrs. Telvey said trying to reassure them.
“Really, when is it?” Rachel asked.
“Why it’s Friday evening,” Mr. Telvey explained.
 “Why is it always Shakespeare?” Jason interrupted. The tall blond haired boy was not fond of Shakespeare, but loved The New York Giants. “Why can’t we go see The Giants? They are so much cooler. All you ever talk about is Shakespeare. Shakespeare this. Shakespeare that. I feel like that is all you ever talk about. Thees, thous, I don’t want to hear another word about this dumb Shakespeare guy!” Jason shouted. The next thing Mr. and Mrs. Telvey heard was the slam of Jason’s bedroom door.
“I can’t stand Shakespeare; he’s all my parents ever talk about. Why can’t we go see Eli Manning play?” Jason murmured to himself as he put in his headphone to his MP3 player. He sat by the window to watch the rest of New York City do as they please. The Telvey’s lived in an apartment building in New York City near Central Park.
 Jason rolled onto his back and pulled out of his headphones just as Rachel walked in. “What do you want?” Jason asked.
“It’s time for dinner,” Rachel responded.
“What are we having?” Jason questioned.
“Sloppy Joe’s” Rachel said
“Yuck!” They both said together laughing. Rachel and Jason were twins and they had everything in common, it was like they were clones. “I’ll be down in a minute,” Jason replied.
“Alright you don’t want it to get cold,” Rachel said sarcastically. They both laughed again. Rachel left, closing the door behind her.
        Jason got off his bed and put his MP3 player on his desk. He opened his door walked out and BOOM the door closed behind him. Jason quickly turned around searching for his poster covered bedroom door, but it was gone.
        The door to his bedroom door was gone. Instead there was a door opening into a dirty road, if it can even be called that. The other buildings on each side of the road were small plaster covered houses with thatch roofs. A man walking past Jason stopped staring at his red New York Giants sweatshirt and said, “Thou have a very peculiar looking tunic.”
“Oh it’s the New York Giants my favorite football team!” Jason replied. The man walked away as utterly confused as Jason was.
        Jason finally realized he was not in the twenty first century anymore. “What year is it?” Jason asked a woman walking down the road.
“It is the year of 1589,” the woman responded.
“Who are you?” Jason questioned the woman.
“I am Judith Shakespeare, daughter of Sir William Shakespeare,” Judith replied.
“Wow!” was all Jason could say.
“There is my father. Why don’t you meet him? What is your name?” Judith asked
“I’m Jason, Jason Telvey” Jason responded.
Jason and Judith made their way to William Shakespeare.
“Hello dear father,” Judith said as she greeted her father.
“Hello Judith dearest.  Might I ask who this young boy is?” Shakespeare asked.
“I am Jason Telvey, but just call me Jason,” Jason explained.
“This is Jason that Rachel told us would be coming,” Judith whispered to her father.
“Hello Jason, I am William Shakespeare, call me Will or Shakespeare thou doesn’t care,” Shakespeare replied.
“Where am I?” Jason asked William Shakespeare.
“You are in my hometown, Stratford on Avon, I am about to leave for London, would thou like to join thee?” Shakespeare asked.
“Say what? Oh, oh, sure I’ll join you,” Jason replied.
        Jason never really understood how to use thou or thee or what they meant. He felt awkward using them and responding to them. Honestly he didn’t actually understand Elizabethan or Shakespeare talk at all he knew one language, modern English.
“The carriage is here father, may we leave now?" Judith asked.
“We will be off on our way soon Judith," William Shakespeare responded.
“Now long will it take us to get to London," Jason asked.
“It shall only take three days," William Shakespeare said.
        Only three days Jason thought. Jason was wondering how long it would take him to get home, back to the twenty first century. Three days with mean missing dinner. He was wondering what is the family was thinking they were looking for especially Rachel.
“Come on Jason and Judith we must leave now and we will we are to get to London in time for the play," William said.
"What play are we seeing?” Jason asked.
“We are seeing one of my father’s newest plays, Much ado about Nothing,” Judith replied.
        Jason thought he was getting out of seeing that play, guess not. Well he might as well give this Shakespeare guy a chance considering he would be in a carriage with him for three days. Well maybe he won’t be as boring as my parents make him sound. Jason began wondering if he would ever get back to his time. Jason Telvey, the boy who wasn’t afraid of anything was homesick, he was afraid he would never get back to the twenty first century.
        Judith climbed into the golden carriage and sat down; William Shakespeare climbed in after her and sat down next to her. Jason climbed in last and sat down across from the two of them. The carriage was small but not to small and cozy with red velvet seats two on one side two on the other. On the outside there was a seat for a driver and in that seat was a small stout man with a dark gray coat on holding the reins to two beautiful black horses with a white star on their foreheads. They looked the same but the right one was slightly smaller. As soon as everyone was in the carriage it set off for London. Jason put his head against the window and began to wonder what his family was doing about his disappearance or if they even noticed. “If anyone noticed it would be Rachel,” Jason thought. At least there is an upside; Jason thought I don’t have to eat sloppy Joes. Jason soon was asleep in the carriage.
“Jason, wake up!” Judith said.
“Are we in London?” Jason asked.
“Hardly,” Judith replied. “We are at an inn in the country; we are spending the night there and will continue in the morning, besides, the horses need food and water,” Judith explained.
“Here is our room. Jason come with me. Judith make sure the driver get’s a room and that the stable boy takes the horses the barn and they get fed and watered, then come to the room,” said William Shakespeare.
“Alright father. I will,” Judith replied.
“Jason come with me to the room so you can continue sleeping, I have never seen a boy sleep that much.”
        Jason did not object to sleeping more. It must be at least ten o’clock in the twenty first century. Jason had recently found out that the world of 1589 had not heard of clocks. As soon as Jason lay on one of the four beds in the rather large room in the northern side of the inn he fell asleep within five minutes. Judith came in and took one of the other beds and soon William Shakespeare was fast asleep in the countryside.
“Jason! Jason! Wake up it is time to leave!” Judith called.
“Five more minutes please.” Jason groaned
“No, we have to leave now, my father and the driver are already settled, get up we have to leave!” Judith said
“Ok, ok, I’m up,” Jason said.
        Jason, Judith, and William were all in the carriage and off for London, The Globe Theater to be specific. Jason had discovered that William Shakespeare was more fatherly and Judith was bossy like Rachel in a way and that comforted him, he missed his sister, she would know how to get back into time.
        The carriage ride continued and soon they were at a new stopping point. Everyone got out and William Shakespeare got a room. After the horses were fed and watered and Will, Judith and Jason had eaten they got into bed, but this time Jason could not fall asleep. He had two problems, one was how he didn’t like Shakespeare and his parents loved him and how was he going to get back to the twenty first century. The first problem was solved, he had met Shakespeare and realized he is not boring and really is a genius like his parents said. He made new words, ones Jason used and he made up new sayings and new ways to say things. The second problem, however, was that he didn’t know how to get back into time. Jason didn’t get a wink of sleep, which was not good because they would finally get to London after three days of carriage riding.
“Come on young Jason, wake up,” Shakespeare said softly trying to get Jason up.
“I’m up,” Jason sighed.
“Let’s go the play will start soon after we get to London,” Shakespeare said.
        Everyone climbed into the carriage and they set off. Jason was tired and the sound of Judith and her father talking about his plays and the actors comforted Jason and he was soon fast asleep in the carriage on his way to London in 1589, Elizabethan England.
“Jason wakeup we are at the globe theater and the play is about to begin,” Judith called.
“I’m up Rachel… I mean Judith,” Jason said forgetting he was in 1589 and Rachel wasn’t here. Jason finally realized how much he missed hearing Rachel’s bossy voice telling him what to do.
        The Globe was probably the most amazing thing Jason had ever seen after the Giants Stadium. It was shaped like an egg and there was no roof but a shield over the players so they wouldn’t get wet but the groundlings would. There was a white flag flying, Jason had heard his parents say that that meant there was a play that day, Much ado About Nothing, the play they were there to see. As they walked in Will paid three pennies at the door and when they got to the stairs to get a seat on a bench at the third level he paid three more pennies and got a seat on a bench just as the play began. Jason was mesmerized how did just one man write this story? It was amazing, though Jason. Now it takes a lot of people to make a good movie but in 1589 it takes one man, a pen and a piece of paper to create a masterpiece.
        As the show ended Jason, Judith and Mr. Shakespeare got into a carriage and headed to his wife Anne Hathaway’s house. When they got to the house and walked into a room with many different smells. Anne was cooking dinner.
“Welcome, welcome. Go wash up and supper will be ready soon,” Anne greeted.
        When everyone was seated around the small square wooden table they prayed and began to eat. Anne had made stew and bread. It wasn’t exactly what Jason was used to, but it was good.
“Are you tired?” Anne asked Jason.
“Yes very,” Jason replied.
“Judith please show Jason to the empty room,” Anne requested.
“Alright mother. Come with me.” Judith replied.
        Judith led Jason to a small room just off the top of the stairs. It was crowded but cozy; there was a small bed and a candle stand. Jason took one look at the room and was thinking, “this is the size of my closet,” “well at least it’s something with a bed,” Jason muttered. He closed the door and climbed into bed and lay awake. He thought everyone else was asleep but he was wrong. William Shakespeare was up busy as a bee writing a poem about his dear son Hamnet, who had died from the plague. Jason reminded him of his son and a poem came to him and he was writing away.
        When Jason woke up he opened the door and walked down the stairs. At the table there was the breakfast Anne had made him. It was bread cubes in milk, a lot different than cereal but it was very good. The milk was warm and the bread was soft. Jason thought it was delicious. When he had finished heard his name being called.
“Jason could thou please cometh in here,” Will called, “I have something for thee.”
        Jason quickly walked into another room where William Shakespeare was and sat down on a wooden bench along the wall next to Will.
“You called me sir?” Jason asked.
“I have something for you,” Will said handing Jason a piece of paper with writing on it.
“Thank you sir, what is it?” Jason asked.
“It is a poem about my son, Hamnet. You reminded me of him.” Will replied
“I reminded you of your son Omelet?” Jason asked confused.
Will laughed “No my son Hamnet,” Will said.
Jason could not read Will’s handwriting so he just placed the poem into his pocket as a reminder of his time with Will-if he ever got back.
 "Thank you very much Mr. Shakespeare.” Jason said
"Like I told you before, call me Will or William," William asked.
“Ok,” Jason said.
“Would thou like to cometh with me to have a tour of the Globe Theater?” Will asked.
 “Sure, I would go,” Jason, replied.
“Let us go,” Will said, “but first change your clothes, you stink. Anne put a new pair on the bed for you.”
“Alright, thank you,” Jason responded
        Jason walked up the stairs and went into the small bedroom. He saw a pair of tan pants and a brown tunic with a black belt. Jason thought he had never seen anything more hideous. He put it on anyway. He checked the front pocket of his sweatshirt for the poem, thank fully it was in there. As he tucked his sweatshirt under his arm he walked out of the room and into the twenty first century, into his bedroom. There was a BOOM, Jason quickly turned around but the door to 1589 was gone. Jason ran down stairs to find his mother and father in tears, with Rachel trying to comfort them. Mrs. Telvey got up and ran to Jason and gave him a big hug.
“We thought you were gone!” Mr. Telvey exclaimed.
“So did I,” Jason muttered.
“I always knew you would come back,” Rachel said
 “Jason come in here,” Rachel, called from her bedroom, “You had mom and dad worried sick, where were you?” 
Rachel asked Jason in that tone that makes you really wonder what the person wants, it made Jason wonder if she already knew where he went and whom he met, did she?
        Jason figured Rachel was the only person who would believe him so he told her everything, including showing her the poem that was still in his pocket.
“I knew you weren’t gone for good,” Rachel said.
“How did you know?” Jason asked her.
“Because I did exactly what you did,” Rachel said.
            Jason finally knew where Rachel was when she went missing. 
 



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Not Much ado About Something, 6-8