Short Story With Time Travel

This is another short story, and I usually post these without preamble or context, hoping the story will be enough to hold itself for as much as I want to tell. But I feel like this one does need a bit of context. For one thing, normally when I write a short piece of fiction for my blog, it’s a random moment, or the very first few paragraphs to a story. This time, it’s the very last page. It all started when a friend I know through Twitter posted the following exchange a few nights ago:

My 6 yo son: I want to go to your wedding.
Me: Which wedding? Mommy and my wedding?
Him: Yes
Me: But you weren’t born yet. You couldn’t go. You didn’t exist then.
Him: But I exist now.

This instantly sparked a story in my head of a kid somehow getting a time machine just to go back and be there for his parents wedding, but getting into all sorts of trouble along the way.

I responded to her at the time:

This is the start of a ripping great YA sci-fi book involving time travel, dinosaurs and the Temporal Enforcement Division, TED. "Sorry kid. TED talks, you listen. That's just how it is. I won't be taking questions at this time..."

And that was that. Or so I thought. In fact, my brain was running it over and over, imagining scenes and moments and set pieces, and I said so.

[Bleep]. I'm now writing the entire book in my head just to get that one gag into it. I have an ending... I [should] write it down before I go to sleep...

By this time, it was past 11pm. So I went to bed, turned out the lights and shut my eyes.

Then I got up again and got my keyboard for my iPad and sat up in bed and knocked out the following in about 30 minutes. It’s rough, it needs editing, but it was fun to write, and that’s all I care for. Enjoy.

***

He held the Time Piece in front of Connor’s face as it faded out of existence.

“Sorry kid. The adventure’s over for now.” Michael put one hand on his own Time Piece, and held the other out to Connor. “As an officer of the Temporal Enforcement Division, I am authorized to return you to your time of origin.”

Connor didn’t move. He looked down at the thick moss on the jungle floor. “It’s not fair! I just wanted to see my mom and dad’s wedding day. I wasn’t going to change anything, I promise!”

“I know that. Why do you think TED just sent a single officer, me, to deal with you? We keep the big teams for the big bads, the ones trying to rewrite history.”

“Then why did you stop me?” Connor asked, with maybe a little more poutiness in his voice than he had intended.

“Delay” the officer said calmly.

“What?” Connor looked up and saw, really for the first time, not the terrifying figure that had been chasing him since he first got the Time Piece, but a person, a regular other person that had a warmth in his voice.

“Delay. Not stop. You’re just 6 years old.” Michael placed one knee on the moss and a hand on Connors shoulder. “You’re too young to really appreciate this moment. Besides, if we’d let you go now, there would have been two of you there, and that actually would have caused problems for the timeline.”

Connor was silent for a long moment. “So I will get to see it?”

“Yes. And a TED officer will escort you. In fact, I put in a request for the job.” Michael thumbed the Time Piece and Connor saw that now familiar swirling of stars and streaks of purple, and suddenly he was back home. Michael stood up and took two steps back.

“Wait!” Connor said. “What if I tell people about this?”

“They’ll just chalk it up to a six year olds imagination. But you probably won’t. This is a secret that’s worth treasuring for yourself. See you in fifteen years, kid.”

“Fifteen years?!? That’s so long! Will I recognize you?”

“Sure.” Michael looked at his watch. “It’s 3:20 on a Friday afternoon by my timeline. I’ll hopfully be assigned your escort mission before the department shuts down for the weekend. I’ll see you Monday, personally speaking.”

Connor smiled. “That’s nice that you get weekends off.”

Michael shrugged. “Union rules. Nine to five, Monday to Friday. No overtime.”

The officer touched the control on his Time Piece and faded from existence.

***

There are things I’d certainly keep if I ever wrote more. I love the “TED talks, kid. You listen” gag, so the Temporal Enforcement Division would have to stay. I also love the idea that they run a strict Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 work week. Because they time travel, there’s no deadline you have to meet relative to your own time. You can take a break and drop in after a night’s sleep at almost the exact moment you left. I’d put in moments into the story where the officer shows up and seems a little forgetful of specific details of what exactly is happening, despite having been there moments before, because for him, it’s been a whole weekend.

Of course, there are things I think I’d have to change if I ever wrote more. I think the protagonist would have to be a bit older. For the short piece I wrote, I left the reference to him being 6 because my friend’s son is 6. But 6 is very young to be getting into adventures across time. I mean, it’s not impossible to imagine that for a kids book, it would just be a very diffferent story than I’m thinking of.

Anyway, thanks for reading. Sorry about the blog post title. I couldn’t think of anything better. If you liked it, that’s awesome! I like it too. If you didn’t, my friend responded to my initial story seed with “I love it!” so I blame her entirely for all of this and you can too. Either way, you’ll probably never see any more of this story from me.

Because that’s just how I roll! Peace out! [Attempts to leap dramatically out of view, catches foot on lighting rig, falls flat on face and dislocates a shoulder] 

Martha

Clark floated in the air above a city that was familiar but different. The figure before him matched his pose, but everything else was slightly unique, from the clasps on his shoulders to the design of the belt and boots and the raised “S” on his chest. He was younger too.

Familiar, but different.

“Who are you?”

The other smiled. “I’m you, Kal. A different you, from another world. This one, actually.” This other Superman gestured broadly around him. “Welcome to my Earth. We’ve been tracking a threat that’s shifting between the various ElseWorlds, as we’ve called them. They’re using quantum tunnels to break through the barriers and building up an army of-”

“Wait. Stop. I’m in another world?” Clark looked back over his shoulder to the west.

“Yes. You-“

“I need a minute.”

And within the blink of an eye, he was past the horizon.

***

The mailbox said “Kent”. The barn was the same red, but the farmhouse was a different shade of yellow from the one he knew. For just a moment he hesitated, thought about disappearing back over the edge of the horizon. Then Martha stepped out onto the front porch.

She dropped the mug she was holding when she saw him. He could have caught it before it broke, but, for some reason, his body was frozen in place.

“Clark?” Martha didn’t move from the threshold.

“Yes. But not from your world. I just... I’m sorry. I just wanted to see...”

Now she stepped forward. “You look so familiar, but... different. I guess the comics got it wrong. Parallel universe versions of ourselves don’t look identical to each other. Close enough, but not the same. You hold yourself like my Clark, though.”

“Genetically, there must be tiny differences that lead to physical changes. But we were raised alike.” Clark could feel his chest tighten. “And you’re so much like my mo-... Martha. I just wanted to... I just needed to...” His thoat closed up. It was only when Martha touched his hand that he realized he was standing on the ground.

There were tears in her eyes.

There were tears in his eyes.

“I couldn’t save her. I’ve saved so many, but I couldn’t save her.” He drew a ragged breath. “She got sick. It was fast, and at least...” He could taste the salt on his lips. “At least I got to say goodbye. But there was so much I didn’t get to say. So much I wanted to show her. I know you’re not her, but I just wanted to see you again once more, mom. To tell you I love you. I love you so much every day.”

Martha hugged him. For a moment, she just held him and listened to his gentle sobs. “I know. I know son. I’ve never doubted it for a second.”

Clark took a step back and grabbed the edge of his cape, pulling it to his face. When it dropped, the tears were gone, though his face was still a little flushed. “It’s okay mom. I won’t blow my nose in it again.”

“Again?!?”

They both laughed, long and hard. A few more tears.

“Would you like to come in for tea?”

“Just like mom.” Clark took a breath and turned toward the east. There was a pinprick shadow on the horizon, watching, listening, protecting, and respecting. He nodded once, then disappeared back toward the city. “There’s somewhere I have to be.”

“Maybe next time you’re in town?”

“I’d like that.” Clark turned his head to look at the woman who almost raised him one last time. “Is Jonathon...?”

Martha’s gaze drifted out across the fields. “He died years ago. Protecting Clark.”

Clark smiled. “Same. Typical dad. Some things never change.”

And with that, he was gone.