Chapter 1: From 2017 to 1957

Written by Vincent B. Berkan and Heather Trousdale

It was a another peaceful day at Royal Woods Elementary School. And it had the right to be, because it was Grandparents day. All the grandparents of Agnes Johnson's student were there as well as her grandfather. Lincoln was very excited, he had Albert and Myrtle there and he got to meet the other grandparents of the students and Agnes. At that moment, Rusty was done with his turn. "Thank you Mr. Rhodes, now it's Lincoln's turn", said Agnes, "Then it'll be Chandler McCann's, if he manages to arrive...on time".

This wasn't the first time Chandler McCann was late to class. Chandler has always been a jerk towards Lincoln ever since Chandler used him to get what he wanted that time when he and Clyde wanted to go to his birthday party at the septage plant. As Albert, Lincoln, and Mrytle walked to the front of the class, then who would come walking in like he was the greatest person on earth? None other than Chandler McCann! "Heyo dorks!" he cried out. Agnes wasn't very pleased. "You're late Mr. McCann!" "Take a chill pill Mrs. J", Chandler said with his sleazy attitude, "I'm here am I?" "Mr. McCann, this is your 4th time being late", said Agnes, "Now that you're here, please take your seat".

As Chandler walked to his seat, he called out "Come on gramps". Then Lincoln had the shock of his life, as he recognized Chandler's grandfather. "Tetherby!" he whispered. "I take it you've come across his path before?" asked Albert. "You can say that", said Lincoln as they began their presentation. "This is my grandpa, Albert Brown and my Step-Grandma, Myrtle Banks", he said. "Hey kiddos", he said, "As you can tell, I'm Albert, Lincoln's Pop-pop. I currently live at the Sunset Canyon Retirement Home with my new wife Myrtle". "Mr. Brown, what can you tell us about yourself?", asked Agnes.

"Why of course. And come to think of it, I know one fact I can tell about myself. In April of 1957, I was walking home from school reading my favorite comic strip "The Birtchwells" when I bumped into this girl on the corner of Franklin Avenue and 14th street. This girl was 17, she had blonde hair and blue eyes and her name was Marilyn. I apologized to her and asked if I can take her to the prom, and this girl later became Lincoln's grandmother." "Is Mrs. Brown still around?", asked Girl Jordan. "I'm afraid to say that Marilyn had passed away 25 years ago", Albert said sadly, "But now I've found new love and I'm lucky to have 11 grandkids".

The audience clapped as Albert went back to his seat. "Thank you Mr. Brown", said Agnes, "Up next, we have Chandler McCann and his grandfather Reginald Tetherby". Then Chandler and Tetherby walked up to the stand. "S'up losers?! Anyway, I'm here with my grandpa Reggie…" As Chandler talked, Lincoln thought he heard Albert growl quietly. "Something wrong, Pop-pop?" asked Lincoln quietly. "It's about Chandler, his grandfather used to bully me when I was a kid". "Tetherby?" "No no, I was talking about Bull McCann." "Bull McCann?", Lincoln asked. "I'll tell you after school", said Albert just as Chandler finished.

"Uhhhhh thank you for that "colorful" representation Mr. McCann", said Agnes, "Now before we wrap for today, I'd like you all to meet my grandfather, Ol' Slick Johnson". She then wheeled a 90 something year old man onto the stand. The old man smiled and waved a bit. "Howdy youngsters", he said, "Th' name is Irving Johnson, but you can call me "Slick". "Why do they call you Slick, Mr. J?" asked one of the students. "I used to be the Sheriff of Royal Woods in the heyday. If you look outside the window, you'll see my old patrol car I used back in the late 50s and the early 60s."

Everyone looked outside to see an old Black and White police car with a red gumball like becon light on the top. On the front doors was a star and above it the word "SHERIFF" was painted on. "Pretty ain't she? She's a 1957 Plymouth Plaza, real popular with law enforcement agencies. She's got a V-8 engine with a 277cubic inch displacement ". The children and grandparents oohed and aahed at the gaze of the old police car. "If you'd like, I can even flip on the old siren and turn on the gumball for y'all", the old man said smiling.

After school, Irving, with some help from Agnes turned on the gumball light and the siren and everyone enjoyed themselves. As everyone was preparing to head home. Lincoln talked to Albert again. "So who was Bull McCann, Pop-pop?" "Bull McCann was my bully back when I was a kid. He was a few years older than me. Every chance he got, he would pound me, harass me, and tease me. Like his grandson, he too thought he was the greatest person in the world. I eventually stood up to him. But I do know he served a long term in prison" "And you haven't seen him since then?" "Well we ran into each other a few times but he really was a deadbeat". "How could he have kids then?" "From what I can recall, he escaped prison in 1984 and was recaptured 6 hours later". "That was a very busy six hours." "No kiddin'. Well we won't have to worry about Bull now, he died nearly 20 years ago".

Then Albert felt something. "Be right back kiddo, I need to use the restroom". "Got it pop-pop". Albert then went back into the building just as Lincoln heard snickering and crying. Lincoln looked over to the side of the building and saw Chandler and his gang picking on a kindergartener. "Alright runt! Hand over your lunch money!" The child whimpered. "But, but my mommy will be angry if I don't bring back change!" "We don't care runt! Hand over your cash!" That's when Lincoln plucked up courage. "Hey, Chandler! Why don't ya leave the kid alone and pick on somebody your own size?!", he said "Well well well, if it ain't Larry Loud! Still getting such a white haired dork as ever? Or do you need your sisters to help you be one?!", Chandler taunted. "Yeah, a white haired dork", said the fat goon.

"No, I don't, Chandler." "Of course you don't, you already do that on your own!", said Chandler as he laughed rudely. "So what're you gonna do about it punk?!" said the goon with the black hair." "Loud, why doncha stay out of people's business and let us talk to that-HEY! Where did she go?!" "Oh, the kid, gee Chandler, I don't know what you're talking about?" "ARRRRUGH! D*** YOU LARRY! You let our prey escape. Now you owe us money!" Chandler exclaimed angrily. 'What for?" asked Lincoln. "That was one of the richer kids! He had 5 bucks on him and now we're gonna make you pay!" "I ain't paying a cent McCann! No matter how hard you beat me up, I'm not paying you anything! I have put up with you for god knows how long! You can't intimidate me anymore! Lincoln L. Loud is no longer your punching bag!" Chandler by now was getting very angry, like a mad bull at a bull fight. "Now you're gonna get it Whitey!", said the black haired goon. "We're gonna flatten you like a pancake!", said the fat one. "Let's kill him boys!" said Chandler as he rolled up his sleeves and prepared to punch the Loud boy. Lincoln quickly closed his eyes in bracing the impact of the beating when….

"CHANDLER LOUISE MCCANN! YOU AND YOUR HOODLUMS GET INTO MY OFFICE NOW!" Lincoln opened his eyes to see Albert, Myrtle and Principal Huggins standing behind him. "Aw s**t!" said Chandler. "You three are coming with me!" As Huggins grabbed the 3 bullies by the collars and dragged them away, Chandler sneered at Lincoln. "I'll get you for Loud!" Albert turned to his grandson. "You did well son". "I have such a brave grandson", said Myrtle. "Come on, we'll take you home".

As Lincoln walked over to Albert and Myrtle's station wagon, all the kids cheered as someone finally had the guts to stand up to Chandler. Even Lucy, Lola, Lana, and Lisa were proud of him. But not everyone was cheering at the Loud boy, inside the office, Chandler was looking through the window sneering at Lincoln. "This isn't over Larry, when you least expect it, I'm gonna make sure you are going to regret standing up to me!" "Uhh boss, I think his name is Lincoln-" "Shut up Greg!" "No no, I'm Greg", said the black haired good, "That's Joe". "Whatever!", said Chandler, "Let it be known that I'm gonna wipe that smile off of that little white haired son of a-" "Wipe the smile off of who, Mr. McCann?" said a voice. Principal Huggins was eavesdropping on them. "Come on in, I have some words for the three of you!" Chandler, Joe, and Greg stood up and walked to the principal's office to await their fate. But despite his situation, Chandler's mind was made up. "Somehow", he thought, "Larry is gonna pay…dearly!"

That night at the Loud house, Lincoln was preparing for bed. He was having a good day, his parents and his other sisters had heard about him standing up to Chandler and were congratulating him. They even let him use the bathroom first. As he left the bathroom his sister were high-fiving him. "Good job Bro", said Luna. "Not bad, little brother", said Lori. "Totes cool", said Leni. "That's what I call fighting spirit", said Lynn Jr. "Good vibes, little bro."said Luan. "Thanks guys", said Lincoln, "Well, goodnight girls". As Lincoln was heading to his room, Lisa turned to the other girls. "Guys, we need to have a sister meeting", she whispered. The other girls followed her downstairs as Lincoln went to bed.

He turned off the light, slipped into his orange pajamas, put his phone and charger in his pocket, jumped into bed and pulled the covers over his body. He sighed and drifted peacefully to sleep. But that night, he had a weird dream. A dream about some mysterious figures carrying him outside and into an unknown vehicle which took him to the park. But Lincoln was too dead tired to do anything. He just keep snoring.

As Lincoln opened his eyes the next morning, he found himself in the park! "Huh? Wha? What's goin' on?" He stood up and looked around and turned to the parking lot. He could see a lot of old cars there. "There must be some kind of Car show happening", he thought. He walked over and saw not only the old cars, but a lot of people wearing different clothes. Old fashioned retro style clothing. The kind you would find in an old sitcom from the 1950s - 1960s. "What the?" Lincoln said to himself. He decided to hide in the bushes and look around. He saw a family having a picnic. They were wearing old fashioned clothes. "If Leni was here, she'd have a heart attack", he thought, thinking about how shocked Leni would be if she saw those out of date clothes.

Lincoln decided to explore more. He managed to sneak out of the park and take a look around. As he was crossing the street, a car came blaring his horn. Lincoln quickly ducked the car. "WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOIN' KID!" "Sorry! Sorry!", said Lincoln. "And put some clothes on! Freak!" said the driver as he left. Lincoln looked down and saw he was still wearing his orange pajamas. "I think I'd better look from the alleyways'', he thought. He looked back at the car and admired its design. It looked like a 1940s design, painted turquoise blue with whitewall tires. "Hmmmmm. Strange. He continued to walk around. He then saw what he thought was Gus' Games n' Grub. He took another good look at it and the sign above it said "THE JUKEBOX CAFE". He looked inside and the place was done up with a black and white checkered tile floor complete with red furnishings on the seats.

Lincoln looked across to see what Flip's Food n' Fuel was actually a service station called "Grip's Service Emporium". Lincoln walked down the street. As he did so, people passed by and stared at him with a confused look. He then saw the local movie theater. He looked up and saw the name of two movies he never heard of before. "The Big Land" and "Attack of the Crab Monsters". "Hmmm, weird", he then saw a man throw away a newspaper into the trash. "Uhhhh, sir", he said, "Don't you want to recycle that?". The man looked at Lincoln with a confused look. "Recycle? What're you talkin' about kid?" "You know, taking it to a recycling bin so it can be reused?" "You must be talking about that science fiction crap kid", the man said before he walked away.

Lincoln then took the newspaper out of the trach can. But before he could call the man again, he thought he saw something. He read the reading article on the front page: "CONGRESS APPROVES EISENHOWER DOCTRINE". "Eisenhower? Wasn't he the president?" "He is the president young feller", said a voice. Lincoln looked over his shoulder and saw a shopkeeper talking to him. "What? But can't be, the president is Donald Trump!" "Trump? What kind of a name is that son? You crazy or something? You must be since you're in nothing but your pajamas." The shopkeeper went back inside.

"What? I don't understand. What's…" Then a thought struck Lincoln. He looked at the date of the newspaper. Thursday, March 7th, 1957 Lincoln's eyes shot wide open! "1957!? But-but-but how did I?" But then, a kid shot past on a makeshift scooter. "Sorry!" the kid called out. But Lincoln had lost his balance, tripped backwards and accidentally caused a parked bike to scrape against a black convertible, scratching the paint. At that moment, the owner of the car came running out of the shop. He wore a black leather jacket and had greased hair. His friends also came out and they were wearing the same thing as their leader. "HEY! WHAT THE HECK DIDJA DO TO MY CAR!?" "Oh, uh sorry!" said Lincoln. "You're gonna pay runt!" "Uh-oh!" said Lincoln as he jumped to his feet. "GET THAT LITTLE RUNT!" The man said as he and his minions chased after Lincoln. Lincoln ran and ran and ran. Finally he got to his neighborhood. He quickly ducked behind some trash cans and hid. He waited until the thugs stopped. "Where did that little brat go?!" "I dunno Bull, he just vanished like a flyin' saucer", said one of the things. "Don't be a jerk dunderhead!" said the leader which was named Bull. Let's find the little runt!"

Lincoln waited until the leather jacket thugs left. When they were out of sight, Lincoln made a dash for it and ran across the street. But at that moment, a red and white car came screeching towards him with the horn blaring and it hit Lincoln, knocking him out cold. Before Lincoln passed out, he heard a car door close and footsteps and a voice that shouted: "HEATHER! HEATHER ONE OF THOSE D*** KIDS RAN INTO THE FRONT OF MY CAR! COME ON OUT HERE, HELP ME BRING HIM INTO THE HOUSE!"

To be Continued...