I ran down the hallway, took a left, and entered the gym. Earlier today I had received a note saying this:
Dear Aurelia Nyx,
Come to the gym at 3:30. Your help is needed.
Signed Rhea Silvia
I had no idea who Rhea was, but I still went to the gym. It was dark. I turned on the lights. It was empty, but then something caught my eye on the floor. I went over and picked it up. It was a golden rabbit’s foot. There was something engraved on it. It said “When we are together you shall barely live, but when we are apart you shall never get back.”
Strange, I thought. I put it in my pocket.
The next day in history we were learning about the rise and fall of Rome. I wondered what it would’ve been like to be in ancient Rome. Suddenly the air shimmered, there was a mixture of swirling colors, and then it all went black.
When I woke up I was in the middle of a forum, or marketplace. It was so crowded that I could barely walk. All of the voices were deafening. Everything that could be sold was here. I then realized that I was in Ancient Rome. I was listening to two men have a conversation. They were talking about all of the raids in the country by the Visigoths. I was dressed in a brown stola with a belt around my waist and a pouch around my neck. The bag must’ve been a bulla, a pouch that held charms to ward off evil spirits. The stola was quite rough and wasn’t very comfortable.
Suddenly a big man came over and roughly grabbed hold of my hands and dragged me to the center of the marketplace on a raised platform. He tied my hands together. He pushed the first person in line forward. He started calling out numbers. People were bidding. They’re going to sell me! I thought. This was not good. What was going to happen to me? Then it was my turn. The big man pushed me forward. Soon it was over. I was handed over to a tall man who looked like he was in a bad mood.
“Here are the five silver coins you asked for,” said the man.
Only five silver coins! I was worth way more than that. Then again, if I was going to buy my freedom then I needed to be as cheap as possible. It would have to do, I thought.
“Come,” said my new owner. I followed him. His house was huge. Then he left. I was just standing there until a lady with a big nose and lots of hair came up to me and told me that I was her new slave. I would have to help her get ready in the morning and attend to any other needs she had. I immediately disliked her.
I had the worst night of my life. I had to sleep on a hard cot on the floor next to Madame Modula. And she snores a lot. In the morning I had to dress her and do her hair. And not once did she say thank you. She doesn’t even know my name either. She just calls me girl. When she didn’t like the way I did her hair she slapped me!

Life went on like this for a while until a visitor came. Madame Modula told me that I had to serve him. He was going to stay for a while. Since the servants had the day off, I had to clean the man’s room. Then I saw it, a pouch full of silver coins. I only took five. He wouldn’t even miss them. Then I set to packing his stuff. There were about two togas and four wigs.

While I was unpacking his stuff, I overheard a conversation between the visitor and Master Modula. They were talking about politics and about how the Visigoths are getting angry at how the emperor is treating them. They think that they will attack soon. Then they started talking about the economy and I tuned out.

Within the next week they had finished their business. The man’s daughter and Madame Modula’s son were to be married. Soon the man’s daughter and her slaves came.

Once Madame Modula was sleeping and all of my chores were done I sat in the kitchen looking at the golden rabbit’s foot. Then a girl behind me said, “You’re not from here are you?”

I jumped. “No, how did you know that?” I asked. The girl who spoke was about my age, but was taller than me and had black straight hair.

“Because I had a rabbit’s foot just like that only I lost it,” said the stranger, “You should also know that my name is Atella.”

“Who is Rhea Silvia? She sent me a note. How do I get out of here? I can get you out of here too if you would just tell me what to do,” I said.

“Rhea Silvia is in charge of this era. She is also the one who chooses the time travelers. Apparently she thought you would make a good one. Think where you want to go while you are holding the foot, and don’t open your eyes until you stop spinning,” said Atella.

Easy enough, I thought. Then Madame Modula called me. I ran to her room. She had an entire room just for her wigs. She was already there so she started beating me with a stick. Apparently she came prepared.

“You lazy lout,” shouted Madame Modula, “How dare you just leave me waiting here for you looking like a fool! You have no consideration for my feelings and shall be punished properly! I was easy on you before, but now you shall pay!”

“I’m a lazy lout? What about you? You just sit around all day and stuff your face with the foods the cooks stay up all night making! You Madame Modula are the lazy lout and I am leaving!”I screamed.

Apparently that was offensive, because she threw a pot at me. Good thing she had bad aim. Then she grabbed me by the hair and started beating me harder than before. I pushed her away and ran. The servants soon caught me and dragged me to a small empty room. I would have to wait for my punishment. There was a pot in the corner and one servant outside my door. I smashed the pot on the servant’s head. He was now unconscious. Since he would probably be fired for letting me go I slipped all of my coins into his pocket. I kept one of them though.

Then I heard a noise. It was screaming and men fighting. The Visigoths must be attacking! I thought. Then they entered our house. They were everywhere. I quickly ran for cover in the closest room I could find. It was Madame Modula’s future daughter-in-law’s rooms. There was Atella, on the floor. I woke her up and led her outside. I took the golden rabbit’s foot and thought of modern time. Atella hung onto me. She was hanging onto me so hard that my whole arm went numb.

I started spinning. We quickly shut our eyes. We kept on spinning. Soon I couldn’t feel Atella or the rabbit’s foot. What if she had accidentally let go? I slowly opened my eyes. There she was, hanging onto my arm and too late I remembered never to open my eyes. The spinning abruptly stopped and we landed on the ground. Then everything went black.