A Year of Stories (Collection Three)

A Short Jump Through Time

I don't know what I thought Time Travel was going to feel like.

None of the promotional material really talks about the physical reality of tight rope walking across fourth dimensional space, instead the claim is that, "the experience is half of the experience."

I hope not, because so far Time Travel feels like being gut shot by a mortar, and if the rest of my trip is like this – I might just ask for a refund.

I land hard, the awareness of that fact hits me at about the same time as the ground.

Fortunately, most of the things that could break are still reassembling. If someone had the misfortune of walking into this room right now, they would be greeted by something that looks like what might happen if you put a week old corpse through a food processor.

Don't ask me how I know what that looks like, entertainment is weird where I'm from.

My vision returns first, then my hearing, then touch and finally smell, they say taste is the last to come back, and sometimes that can take days – I don't have days – I don't have hours, so as soon as I can see my hand in front of my face, as soon as I have a face, I start walking towards the door.

2.

It's funny, I haven't lived in this house for almost forty years, but it's still as familiar as if I'd left yesterday.

The stairs still creak just like they did when I was twelve, which makes sense I guess, unfortunately, it throws any hope of being discrete right out the window.

"Don't scream..." I hiss as our eyes meet.

The boy standing at the bottom of the stairs, looks like me before I'd learned to dress myself, all baggy shirts and acid washed jeans – which again, isn't a surprise. What is a surprise, is the expression he's wearing, not one of abject terror, which seems the only appropriate reaction to a stranger breaking into your house, but instead, he just looks bored.

"Don't worry, I wasn't planning too. Thirsty?"

I am and I tell him as much, so he walks me to our kitchen, and hands me a bottle of water.

"Aren't you afraid kid?"

He looks at me like he's concerned I might have recently suffered a head injury, "Of you? Why in the world would I be afraid of you?"

"Because I'm a stranger breaking into your house in the middle of the night while your parents are gone."

"Well, I guess that answers one question."

"And what's that?"

"We'll get there, but I'm sure you don't have too much time to waste, so why don't you explain why you broke into my house, Mr. Stranger?"