As we approached the site, a loud bang issued from what appeared to be another group of scavengers. A large cylindrical craft lay in the field, vulnerable and ready to be picked over. My father, a tall and strong but somewhat weathered man, took charge. “Take cover over there.” He indicated a small pile of brown colored rocks. “Don’t worry about us, just stay hidden.”
I moved immediately to comply, having learned to trust his wisdom over the years. Behind the rock I found a good place to position myself. I was able to see but could duck down and run away if it became necessary. Waiting for someone to take the initiative, I kept out of the way. The others appeared hostile with weapons raised ready to fight. As my father approached, he signaled to the two other burly men with him to keep their weapons down. While this seemed foolish at first, it soon paid off. The visitor, who had emerged from his craft, seeing my father’s willingness for peace pulled an odd machine from within his archaic almost silly clothes. It hummed for a second and then shot two bright blue bolts of light from its tip. Two of the attackers immediately fell down leaving only one standing. Using the distraction, one of the men with my father shot at the remaining fellow with his much repaired and jury-rigged gun. The shot went wide and flew past to the opposite side of the field. With another hum from his weapon, the strange man shot the survivor. With a soft clatter in the dirt, the charred remains of a body fell.
Unsure of what to do I waited, hoping to see a signal from my father. The group of three approached and exchanged what looked like greetings. After a moment they called me down. Immediately, upon reaching the meeting area I new I had seen him before. The strange man was a little taller than my height, but still short for an adult. He was a little fat around the abdomen and had strange, thick glasses. Flashbacks of history classes and half destroyed books floated threw my mind. I was unable to place a name on his face but I was sure I had seen him before.
The stranger indicated his vehicle and said, “Shall we depart now?”
The strange accent rang through my mind, but I still couldn’t remember him. All five of us climbed the ramp into the elongated cylinder shaped machine, apparently trusting him for helping us out. He gestured to a few seats in the back section and urged us to have seat. As he disappeared into the front, we sat down.
Not sure what to say, I kept quiet. One of the other men spoke up in a worried tone, “Are you sure ‘bout this?”
“Well, he did help us,” my father said.
Defeated, the man relaxed into his seat never removing his hand from his gun. The rest of the ride was filled with nothing but silence. Thick, almost tangible tension was in the air as we flew to an unknown destiny.
-Ten years later-
At the time of the encounter, being only ten, I hadn’t realized its impact on everyone. The stranger and his mysterious contraptions forever changed the war torn and polluted world. After taking him to our settlement, leaders talked with him and soon agreements were made. Using his technology we were able to clean several large portions of land and air extending our borders into areas that we had never dreamed of living in.
At first it seemed like a miracle as the entire world stopped fighting for once and watched the events unfold. Huge machines that were created from specifications provided by the stranger undid damage, finding pollutants and garbage and reforming them at the molecular level into useful things. As the results of clean air, water and soil began to appear many declared the man a messiah and even formed cults and religions devoted to him.
The oddest thing was that I was the only one who found him familiar. This partially contributed to my reputation as a madman. Throughout the city I had become known as the fool who made up stories: in short the local idiot. Since the first meeting ten years ago, I watched everyone close to me disappear only to discover that no one else had ever heard of this alleged “family” of mine.
I mostly keep to myself now, working at home, emerging only to run every night. Since my apartment has food processing units, water and computers, there was no need to subject myself to the humiliating encounters with the townspeople.
“He,” as the stranger had come to be called, heard about this and ordered me to have a physical done, claiming he cared about the well being of all of his citizens. A taxi was sent to me, and I was taken to the medical facility across town. The trip was silent as I flew over the many towers and building that stretched out over the landscape and after a few awkward moments I soon arrived. Opening the large, blue door to the hospital I was greeted by a doctor of no more than forty years. He showed me to his office and sat me down at a table in the center of the room. I was scanned and prodded with bewildering devices for several minutes and directed to a dark hollow tube for a final scan. It slowly opened and I lowered my body in. The many cameras and sensors on it whirled around, examining portions of my head then abruptly stopped and spit out a report. Snatching it, the doctor took a look then did a double take. Staring with disbelief, he left the room and turned to the left before shutting the door.
Wondering what I could have done wrong, I waited getting the eerie feeling that something was about to happen to me. When the doctor finally reappeared he forced a smile and said, “Will come with me. There are few additional tests left to be administered before you can be certified as healthy.”
Reluctantly, I got up walking across the expanse of the empty, sterile-smelling room towards him. Over time, after many tricks and pranks, I had learned to trust no one. Jumping forward I hit the doctor in the face, knocking his head backwards, then I kicked his legs out from under him. Dashing down the hall I came to two men dressed in blue medical outfits. Running straight past them I headed to a room marked “Employees Only.” With the two doctors right behind me I forced my way in, and found myself in a long hallway with lights dimly illuminating the many doors to the right and left. Running past room after room, I finally found the one I was looking for. In it were several vehicles used for transporting the wounded, that had been left abandoned for some time. Getting in the nearest one, I hacked into the ignition using my modest computer skills. It promptly started and lifted off the ground with the soft hum expected from such a device. Pushing the accelerator forward I shot out the exit passageway in front of me, leaving my pursuers behind.
Flying straight through another line of cars emerging from another building, I continued to accelerate, building up more and more speed. The pursuit soon appeared behind, ordering me to slow down and surrender through an intercom by my head. Ignoring the demands I slowed down letting the nearest vehicle close until it was only a few feet behind. Then, by releasing the doors in the back, a large piece of diagnostic machinery fell out onto their windshield, smashing through the glass and crippling the pursuer. I sped forward leaving the tall buildings behind.
As soon as I passed through the borders of the city, the remaining car turned leaving me alone. For some reason everyone else had a strange fear of the outside world. Whether it was because of pollution or scavengers I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t care at the moment either. Knowing it to be my only hope, I glided away hoping to find sanctuary in some other city, untainted by this dark man. Finally able to relax, I began to realize just how complicated my life had become.
* * *
After a lengthy voyage I came upon a civilization that looked much like my home city had ten years ago. I was welcomed by the many wide-eyed inhabitants of the city, men women and children dressed in rags, and taken to the city leader who lived in a large hut made of mud and sticks. I was left atop the central hill of town and worked my way through a door on the front of the dwelling. The interior smelled of rotting vegetables and other worse substances I didn’t prefer to think of. Gnats flew around the single candle hanging from the center stick beam. I wished I could enjoy that simple pleasure with them. Sitting cross-legged underneath this was a man who was so skinny his ribs poked out. Wearing scraps in appropriate areas, he sat, contently reading some form of book. He signaled for me to sit
The fellow uttered a few harsh barks from his mouth, but I thankfully was able to understand. As a child I had quickly learned the language of this culture and still remembered most of it although the last time I had ever seen anyone from here was on that day ten years ago when a few had come searching for Him and His ship. I hoped he wouldn’t remember that.
In his barks he said, “You come from a town of big lights and buildings? Did He send you?”
Trying my best, I responded, “Yes, but I am the unwanted. May I stay here?”
Letting out a wheeze he said, “I suppose, but any trouble from you and you are gone.”
Unable to resist my curiosity, I pushed for more information. “Do you know who he is? The whole town seems to have gone crazy since he arrived.”
Coughing out another wheeze, which I interpreted as laughter, he handed me his book. It was written in my own language and I read the first paragraph.
Benjamin Franklin an inventor and statesmen. His most notable accomplishments are the inventions of the light bulb, bifocals, the lightning rod and the discovery that lightning is a form of electricity.
The picture to the side looked exactly like the stranger and my surprise showed. Hacking again, the leader said, “You see, it is him. Strange, yes? Well, we look like savages to you, but we know more than you think. I have been expecting you for I discovered he has a special interest in you.”
“Yes” I barked, “My brain was scanned and they were about to take me away. People and information are disappearing and no one remembers but me.”
“He manipulates time, you know? Stealing inventions from here, starting a war there. By changing your land's past, he has even infected some of my people. Your case is strange though. Maybe your brain is not affected by his corrections. This might very well be why He is af-.” He was cut off in mid bark, disappearing into nothingness before my eyes. An explosion tore the back of the hut off and two extremely large men rushed forward knocking me over and drugging me in one swift action. Darkness descended upon me, and I was asleep before I could even move to attempt escape.
* * *
Waking up after an indeterminable amount of time, I stared into the eyes of a woman, with a concerned look on her face. Seeing me awakening she helped me to my feet an introduced herself. “Are you okay? I thought I was going to lose the chance for company again. My name is Catherine,” she said.
I looked her over and responded, “My name is, uh Paul. Um, where are we?” Never having felt comfortable around anyone, especially women, I felt the situation could get no worse. She was probably in her early twenties and had brown hair and even darker brown eyes. She was shorter than my height of six feet by about a half a foot and was rather thin, no doubt the result of being locked up. “Can you tell me what’s happening?” I blurted out felling stupid immediately after saying it.
Canting her head to the side and narrowing her eyes, she began, carefully trying to determine what to think of me. “Well, it’s a long story. That man is some famous person from the past named Benjamin Franklin. He invented time travel after going crazy from an experiment of his. Lightning drove him insane, and he began to steal the future's inventions. This dark age was even created by him so that he could come here and be proclaimed a savior. He’s completely mad, but also a genius.”
“How do you know this?” I questioned, feeling stupider by the minute. “If he can’t change my past why doesn’t he kill me?’
“Well, I used to be quite close to him before he put me here. Forget about that though. Let’s just leave before he returns to get you. I know a way out,” she said. “Three years in here will make one quite bored.” She walked over to a numeric keypad on the outside of the cell and put in a complex nine-digit password. The cell opened and we slipped out. Amazed at the amount of time it would have taken me to find this I grunted with appreciation, deciding to say no more.
The halls outside were empty, but fear still bit at the back of my mind. With an idea, I asked Catherine, “Could we steal his time device and fix his damage?”
“I suppose,” she said. “His first prototype might be unguarded. It should work well enough. He still has to visit the past to keep history from changing this reality. He leaves very often and he might be gone. Still, he could erase me by then so don’t rely on me too much. Maybe if you get away we can see each other again,” she said with a hint of sorrow in her voice.
Searching for something to say to make her feel better, another skill I was lacking in I said, “If we can do this right he won’t have a chance.” Trying to ignore the fact that if we did succeed she would forget me, I once again kept my mouth shut.
We continued creeping down the hall until we found the room we were looking for. The huge cylindrical vessel sat like a fat animal, ignored for newer, better models as Franklin invented them. A terrible screech thundered throughout the room as we opened the door. Before I could even comprehend the terrible mistake, Catherine vanished before my eyes. Dazed and working only on a sort of shocked internal autopilot, I rushed up to the machine. Since it was one of the first models, it had no security features. I wasted no time getting in and inputting the appropriate date and location, which I had gotten from the old history book the skinny tribe leader had shown me. As the ship activated I collapsed in frustration and anger into a passenger seat. Although I had only known her for a few hours, I was still deeply saddened. All of the people I ever touched had died. My family, the village chief, and even Catherine…
I quickly snapped back to consciousness as I crashed into a large tree. With a sickening snap, it broke and toppled to the ground. As much as I struggled with the controls, I couldn’t stop the huge machine from slowly sinking. When it landed, rather bumpily, I got out and was greeted by an astonished old man flying a kite. Staring intently at the broken tree and the ship he attempted to utter something to make sense of the situation, but nothing was ever said. As I rushed up to stop his dangerous experiment, the other Franklin appeared, slightly older with a flashing device on his back. Having tracked or guessed my destination, he had the expression of a man determined to win. Pulling out his weapon, he shot two deadly bursts of energy directly at me. One barely missed and the other hit my right thigh sending jolts of pain throughout my entire body. With the rumbling of thunder in the distance and rain falling all around, I used the last of my strength to heave my weight onto the kite’s string, snapping it, sending the top of the kite fluttering away. The evil Franklin of the future disappeared before I hit the ground. The power that had allowed me to defeat the insane man had also sealed my fate, leaving me injured on the ground.
Sometime later I woke up to the awful pain in my leg and looked around. I was in the normal Franklin’s house, surrounded by many strange items, possibly from his time or just his own crazy contraptions.
“You have finally woken up,” Franklin said, “I thought you had died when I found you. What happened to you, boy?”
It seemed that the time changes had no effect on me whatsoever. After thanking him for his hospitality I got up, hoping to dodge the explanation of my clothes, wound, etc. Stumbling to the window, trying to block out the pain, I looked toward the crash site. The tree was whole now and the time ship had also disappeared.
“How about some tea?” Franklin asked trying to be polite. He called a maid into the room, and I jumped at the sound of her name. “Catherine, could you bring us some tea?”
Nodding, she left to go accomplish her task. Knowing that no one would remember anything that had just happened, I kept my mouth shut. Desperately wanting to thank her, I reconsidered in my mind only to change it again. Happy just to see her still existing, I remained quiet trying to accept my new found time.
THE END
Paul Najjar is a 16-year-old junior at Shiloh High School. He enjoys reading, playing video games and hiking (hopefully not all at once). He hopes to pursue a career in science of medicine.
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