3: Distraction

I allow myself to think back to last weekend while I drive and how utterly gorgeous I was in that black silk dress. The party me and Marielle was attending was not one of the more entertaining gatherings I’ve visited, but I did meet some interesting people. Like Martin Yang who studies mathematics and wants to work for the government or Oscar Nielsen who studies economics and wants to work at a bank. They were certainly interesting, but their constant talk of the future and how a single action can change the world wasn’t something I found entertaining. Then my eyes saw the sight of Theodore Greene and when my gaze met his I made sure that my hair was reflecting the light to take his breath away. As I was expecting he walked over to me and introduced himself. I allowed my eyes to take in the features of his face and then go down and back up over his body. I was instantly intrigued because I hadn’t seen Theodore around before. He waited patiently for my gaze to return to his and then he started talking. It horrified me. Whatever I had been expecting from a guy who looks like a complete and total hunk it wasn’t this. He studied physics and hoped to get a degree in quantum physics. For me, physics was something I had to endure between high school-breaks and this guy actually chose to study it. Without a gun held to his head. I decided on the spot that I would endure his incredibly boring talk because of his looks. It turned out rather quickly though that he was a very good kisser. He pulled me away from the noise and the crowd at the party and we went to his lab for some privacy. It did, of course, soon become clear to me that he had not invited me there for some ”special time”, but rather to boast about his project and he soon started talking about physics again. I didn’t listen to him and was completely absorbed in the thought about which colour of nail polish that would work with my white shirt when I heard him mention ”time machine”. Immediately my head jerked up.

”What do you mean with ’time machine’?” I asked him.
He looked at me and rolled his eyes. ”What I just said was that my project is to build a time machine.”
I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. ”A time machine?” I snorted. ”That’s impossible.”
”Nothing’s impossible.”
”Oh please, you’re not going to tell me that ’nothing’s impossible as long as you believe’, are you? I stopped listening to that drivel when I was five.”
He smirked at me. ”You’ll see, Sophie. You’ll see.”

He pulled me to a corner of the room and stood proudly in front of something that was covered with a sheet. I had the feeling that he was about to show me a masterpiece and I couldn’t have been more bored. Most of me wished that he would just stop talking to so I could go back to the party and Marielle, but I felt that it would be rude of me to just leave him there. I could feel his gaze upon my face and I summoned my strength to look at him. He made a little drumroll sound by slapping the wall and then pulled the sheet off. All I could see was some strange machine in some kind of black metal that looked different from anything I’ve ever seen before. I walked closer to it and when I touched it I expected it to feel cold and metallic to the touch. It didn’t. It felt rather soft and warm even though I could see that it was clearly not switched on.

”What exactly is this?”
”This, my dear”, Theodore said with exaggerated politeness, ”is a time machine”.

My mind split in two. I knew what he was saying. Of course I did. I had heard him say it. I knew what a time machine was. It was just…

”This isn’t possible”, I told him. ”You can’t build a time machine. It’s not possible!”
”Why isn’t it possible?”
”Well for one you can’t go back in time!”
”Until now”, he replied and his smile grew bigger. ”I admit that it wasn’t easy. I wondered what I’d gotten myself into more than once, but as you can see – I clearly did it.”
Now I felt the smugness creeping up on me. ”Well…”, I started, ”I haven’t actually seen it in use, have I? So for all I know it’s just a rather strange machine and nothing else.”

I could see how his brain started working almost as soon as I finished my sentence, but he just smiled and winked at me. “f I didn’t know better I would almost believe that you don’t trust me.”
“Well, it’s just a big black box.” I did my best to sound bored. If he didn’t want to show me how it worked, then I didn’t feel like wasting more time arguing about it. “I’d like to go back to the party now”, I said and pulled him away from his time-machine and towards the music.

The music sounds more and more distant and I can feel myself getting dizzy. I try to shake my head to clear it, but the motion makes my neck hurt. I use all my mental will to focus and open my eyes. Why am I in a car? For a second I don’t understand what is happening to me. Then I begin to realise that my focus was on the memory rather than on the present. I notice that my car isn’t on the road. Why am I not on the road? I look out through the wind shield and notice that it’s completely ruined. I see that my car has been driven into a brick wall. Why am I not on the road? I think to myself and look down at my legs. I can see them. Of course I can. I notice the big shard of glass in my left thigh and the red patch of something leaking through my jeans. Why am I not on the road? I ask myself over and over until the mist that looms in the background sweeps in and covers everything.