Cordless screwdriver by Lady BladecroftThe Time Traveler Adventures
EPISODE 3 - LOST IN TIME
.... It took me a while to
recover from that knife wound in my side. It was deep and Emily insisted we go
to the campus clinic. I didn’t want to answer questions about how the head of
the Physics Department sustained a knife wound in his side but Emily was
insistent. She was sure it needed stitching and, unless I was prepared to lie
quietly on the couch while she got out her needle and thread, we were going to
the clinic!
Luckily, a friend of mine was on duty and very few questions were asked. I
know he wanted answers but we told him there would be nothing gained by bringing
the authorities into this. We asked him to put it down as an accident and he
did. He cleaned the wound and stitched it before sending me home and telling me
I needed to spend the better part of next week in bed and gave me some
antibiotics to prevent infection.
That very next morning I started to get out of bed but Emily firmly told
me there was no reason to get up. She had already called the office and some of
my graduate students were going to cover my classes for me the rest of the week.
The Dean had been told I was out sick! Emily produced a tray with my breakfast
already made and set it on my lap. What could I do but stay in bed and eat
breakfast?
I knew that I had to dismantle the Time Machine and I told Emily so. She
said there was time later for me to do that but just now, I needed to recover
from my wound. I pointed out that every moment that thing was still in
existence, there was the potential for disaster. Already my future self had
interfered with time and had changed reality by stealing the Golden Arrow when
he should have just let it be! And I knew myself well enough to know that, if
nothing else, I am stubborn. Whatever motivated my future self to do what he
did, it may motivate him to do something again. I had to disassemble that
machine!
Emily pointed out to me that it didn’t matter whether I took the Machine
apart because I built it. I have the knowledge on how it worked and so does my
future self. If I destroyed this machine, then all my future self had to do was
build one of his own and then I would not be able to undo the things he does.
But I wondered, why is my future self, playing with time? Why did he steal
that Arrow and make me put it back? What does he hope to gain from this? I just
didn’t know! All I knew was that I felt I had to disassemble that Machine and
stop this insanity! I fell back asleep thinking about it.
That very night, Emily and I were awakened by that loud pop that goes with
activating the Time Machine. I felt the apartment shudder and then there was
silence. My side hurt very badly but I got out of bed just as the apartment
shook one more time. There was another loud “pop” and a searing flash of
light which showed under my bedroom door. Emily and I pulled open the door,
expecting anything but all we got was silence.
I rushed into the back room and turned on the light. The Time Machine was
there but there was no one sitting in it. I saw right away that the Machine had
been poorly used. It was muddy and the cloth on the seat was torn. There were
dents in the control panel and the activating lever was bent. Someone or
something had treated it badly, perhaps trying to destroy it.
That was it, I told Emily! I had to deactivate this machine before
something happened that I couldn’t fix! My side ached but I climbed into the
machine and asked Emily to bring me my tool box from its place in the front
closet. While she went to get the tools, I looked at the control panel. The time
indicator was smashed and unreadable. Someone had tried to pry the cover off and
had bent it. The screws holding it were still in place but there were several
frayed wires sticking out from under it.
I reached down and touched the wires. It was a mistake for the Machine
activated. There was that kaleidoscope of whirling lights and I felt the lurch
in my stomach as the Time Machine pulled me out of the moment and threw me into
time. I was just able to catch my breath when the Machine popped out of time and
into a hot, humid, brightly lit jungle.
There was jungle all around me. Not the kind of woods that you encounter
in the neighborhood park but a thick, oppressive jungle. The kind you need a
machete to move around in. I seemed to be in a clearing and the Time Machine was
wedged between two trees. I could barely get out of the seat.
Hoping I could activate the machine again, I wiggled the wires but nothing
happened. Well, I said to myself, I built the machine so there isn’t any
reason why I can’t repair it but that is when I realized all my tools were in
the front closet. I had sent Emily to get them just before the Machine took off
on its own. I took stock of myself and my surroundings. I was in my pajamas and
I had nothing to help me fix this machine and get me back to my own time!
All I need is a screwdriver, a pair of pliers (needle nose preferably),
perhaps a wire cutter and some tape. I really wanted that cordless screwdriver
my brother had given me for Christmas. The one with the battery pack which
lasted all day! If I had that, I’d be back in my own time in no time!
Cordless screwdriver by Lady Bladecroft
I took the cordless screwdriver and opened the control panel. I saw where the wires had shorted out but I knew it was fixable. The needle nose pliers came in handy and in moments, I had the machine on line and ready to go. But the bigger problem was the Time Indicator. It was smashed and I really didn’t know where I was in time. I could be way in the past, even before men and dinosaurs roamed the planet. Looking around me, I tended to think that was where I was. I had been to the future, when I got the medicine for Anna Marie, and it didn’t look or feel like this. So, I manually set the controls for 1000 years into the future and I activated the machine......
Wire Cutters by Barlekis the Wizard
It
took me six jumps into the future before I encountered civilization and
determined where I was. Then, with the help from a watch I stole from a nearby
house, I was able to estimate the final jump and I landed in my back room. The
apartment looked the same but it was deserted. I verified I had the right day
and time from my computer screen and went in search of Emily and Anna Marie.
I was in for a shock! There was no sign of my family. The car was in the carport
and Emily’s purse was still on the kitchen counter but they were gone! I was
beside myself and I had no idea how to find them. I don’t think Emily would
have left her purse behind if she had gone out, say to the store. That means she
left or had been taken against her will. It was at that moment the apartment
shuddered as the Time Machine activated again and I rushed to the back room…………