Just Stepping Out For A Week – Be Right Back

 

closet

© Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

“Oh there you are. I was wondering where I put you.”

April opened her “junk closet” and finally found the time machine. She hadn’t used it in so long she’d forgotten where it was hidden.

“Honey, what are you doing?” Brady was calling from the kitchen while making breakfast.

“Be there in a minute,” she called back.

The text message she’d received last night from H.G. said he’d finally found the Zodiac killer and he needed help taking him down. Shouldn’t take more than a week or so, but she’d be back before her husband had the bagels toasted.

I wrote this for the Rochelle Wisoff-Fields flash fiction photo challenge. The idea is to use the image above as a prompt to create a piece of flash fiction no more than 100 words long. My word count is 99.

I saw the clock in the photo and immediately thought “time machine”. I mixed in a few character references I’ve used in the past in relation to the topic and created my occasional “time cop”. She has to help H.G. Wells capture the infamous Zodiac Killer which will take about a week, but with a time machine, from Brady’s point of view, she’ll only be gone a few seconds. Just feeling a tad whimsical this morning.

To read other tales based on the prompt, visit InLinkz.com.

65 thoughts on “Just Stepping Out For A Week – Be Right Back”

    • Thanks, Rochelle. If you believe H.G. Wells can travel in time, you can believe he sends texts across time. After all, Doc Brown from 1985 had a hover conversion done on his DeLorean in 2015, so time travelers from the past adopting future technology is not unheard of.

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    • Not sure which movies you’re referring to. Films called “The Time Machine” based more or less on Wells’s novel were made in 1960 and 2002, and then there is the aforementioned (in these comments) movie “Time After Time” made in 1979.

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    • Changing history is a dicey thing to do. Right now she’s out to help H.G. capture a notorious mass murder whose ultimate fate remains unknown. Pretty easy to do what you want with him. Kind of like history’s first airline hijacker D.B. Cooper.

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      • I read Stephen King’s 11.22.63 a couple of years back and it is the story of a guy traveling back to prevent JFK’s assassination. It addresses the issues what you raise – like how much can one meddle with time, etc.

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      • I read that novel as well. I used to read a lot of King’s earlier works, but after a while, they all sounded the same. 11.22.63 contained a number of what I consider King’s “sick” people and towns, but I did like the level of research he put into the novel. The details were so vivid, as if the reader really could step into the past. Oh, I was nine years old when JFK was shot and killed, and like most other people who went through the experience, I can remember where I was when I heard the news.

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  7. While her apparent absence may be of mere minutes duration, she may return a bit worn out unless she also allows for at least a power nap before returning.

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    • Thanks, Penny. If you use something only very occasionally, it might be possible to lose track of it, especially if it’s sitting at the bottom of your junk closet.

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  10. Interestingly, the first thought that popped in my head on seeing the image was a time machine as well. Love the idea here, James. Hopefully, she manages to avoid getting injury or worse in the past. That might upset the apple cart a bit.

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    • I’ve heard it said more than once that there’s no such thing as time, just the human perception of the passing of events. Time is a cognitive construct and not something objective. What a boring thing. I prefer my time to have highways running through it.

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    • She can’t go back to some place she’s already been. Then there’d be two of her existing in the same place and time. Fear not. He makes a pretty good omelet. The cream cheese and bagels are just a side dish.

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    • This is what Sunday mornings are like with some couples (apart from the time travel), sharing a free day and some relaxation together. Of course, she’ll need to unwind after helping H.G. bring in one of history’s most notorious serial killers.

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