The Time Machine

 

   “We found a time capsule from 1975 but the items inside it were from 2025” Gordon said to the professor.

Crispin Teller was notorious for his theories on time travel and listened intently to what his young student had to say.

  “Where did you find this capsule?” he asked arching his woolly brows.

  “We were renovating an old house in the woods, it was in dire need of improvement and as part of one of the inside walls came down we found a capsule between the cavities”

  “In the woods you say?”

  “Yes you know the one I told you about at a reduced price; apparently the owner had simply vanished”

Crispin laughed. “Do you mind if I take a look at your house?”

   “Of course but there’s not a lot to see as the builders have demolished a lot of the inside of it!”

The old professor seemed to disagree; he had heard so many stories regarding the old house and happened to know another hidden secret.

   “If you don’t mind I would be happy to pop around in the morning to see where you found the capsule”

Gordon laughed. “That would be great what time?”

    “Would 9.30 be alright?”

The student grinned. “Excellent I will meet you there; do you know where it is?”

Professor Teller smiled. “Yes I know exactly where it is now see you tomorrow and make sure that you’re on time”

He stalked off ready to teach another class to his younger students.


Mia was pleased to see Gordon return home, she had finished college and had made herself a cup of coffee, busily looking at the design the architect had left them with both old and new drawings of their new home she noticed something strange on the plans. She felt a rush of excitement and couldn’t wait for her husband to return. Gordon was one of the mature students at the college as he studied in his spare time. His proper job was in real estate where he had come across the isolated house in the middle of the woods. The couple had met at the college two years ago, she was working as one of the sectaries there in the office, Gordon had wandered in looking lost and she had fallen for his deep blue eyes. Mia originally had no intention of dating a mature student but Gordon didn’t really fit that bill as he was only in his thirties. Neither had intended making it a serious relationship but ended up getting married moving into an apartment saving what they could to afford their own home. Around about the same time Gordon had made friends with the old professor, who worked at the college, he was renowned for being an eccentric character, most of the students gave him a wide berth but Gordon was fascinated with his theories on time travel.

She heard the key turn in the door and Gordon popped his smiling face in the room to greet her.

   “Have you had a good day at work?” he asked her.

   “It was the same old thing, how about you?”

   “I had a chat with Professor Teller and told him about the time capsule the builders found in one of the walls”

Not wishing to interrupt him Mia raised her eyebrows wanting him to continue.

   “He has agreed to meet me at our house or the building site as he has something to tell me about the house”

Mia pointed to the unfolded paperwork spread across the table and Gordon sauntered over.

   “Look closely at these old plans of the house”

Gordon did as she asked and studied the drawing. “Where has that new basement appeared from as it wasn’t on the original drawing?”

   “Exactly Gordon it looks like we might have a secret basement in our future home!”

A wave of excitement suddenly washed over Gordon as he pondered how the old Professor knew about their house.


The following morning he gave Mia a kiss and set off in their car to the woods, she had the day off so was happy to stay in bed. He followed the meandering road out of town until he was in the woods, the leaves were a beautiful autumnal colour and the sun was starting to rise. A gated driveway turned off the main road leading to the derelict house, he pulled off leaving the gates open ready for the Professor and pulled up outside the ruin.

There was a pile of rubble to one side where the builders had piled the debris and the outside of the house looked like a shell but was still intact. Gordon could hear the old Professor’s car turning in off the main road as it made the usual backfiring sound from the exhaust. Pulling up alongside Gordon’s vehicle Crispin jumped out; he had a look of fascination on his face as he gazed around the building site. He was so deep in thought that it took him a couple of minutes to acknowledge Gordon.

   “Shall I show you the wall where we found the time capsule?” Gordon asked.

   “You don’t need to as I think I know where it was”

The comment made Gordon laugh but he waited for the Professor to amble into the house, to his amazement he went straight to the place where the time capsule had been discovered.

   “So just how on earth did you know that!?” Gordon asked in astonishment.

Professor Teller gave him a wink as if he was concealing some other secret. “Have you been down in the basement yet?” he asked an astonished looking Gordon.

    “What do you mean a basement!? There is nothing there but a solid floor!”

Professor Teller shook his head. “Not everything can be seen with the naked eye but if you look close enough it is there”

He walked over to the furthest corner of the room where an old rug remained and as he rolled it up and scraped away some earth a handle appeared, he pulled it up to reveal steep steps. Gordon couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

    “Come on there’s something down here that you have to see”

Gordon followed him down and realized that they were in a huge room underground, once the light had been switched on it revealed an object which had been covered by a cloth. Without hesitating he pulled the cover off to reveal a strange looking machine which had a dashboard full of gadgets and a seat wide enough for two people.

   “What is this?” Gordon asked.

   “Sit in with me and I will show you” the Professor replied.

Cautiously he climbed in, it was smaller than a car but in the shape of capsule found in the wall, reaching for a key in his pocket the professor put it into the ignition and a loud humming noise vibrated around the room. The dashboard lights instantly lit up and a date was on one of the displays.

    “That says 1975!” Gordon gasped.

    “Yes indeed it does! This little beauty can take you into the future as well as the past”

Gordon wondered if the old man had been drinking and was still in a state of hallucinating.

    “Don’t you believe me?” the Professor asked.

Gordon humoured him. “Of course I do it’s just that we need to go as I don’t want to be late for college”

   “Pick a date in the past which you would love to visit or the future I’m not bothered which”

Gordon thought about it for a moment and then decided if they were going to do it then he might as well think as far back as it will go. “What’s the time limit on this machine?”

    “To the best of my knowledge there isn’t one but give me a date and we can wait and see”

Gordon had to think hard then came up with a suggestion. “Will it take us to prehistoric times when dinosaurs walked the earth?”

The Professor gave a hearty laugh. “You don’t mess around, I can put a date in but there is just one thing as it is so far back in the past that you mustn’t leave the capsule”

Gordon agreed and watched Professor Teller fiddle with the dials and a date instantly flashed up on the screen. The room began to spin and he felt the seat vibrate so he closed his eyes. Gordon could tell that something was happening as his body felt weightless but he kept his eyes tightly shut. A sharp jolt made him open them again and he had to blink to believe what he was seeing. They were in the open air close to some giant trees which looked like redwoods, ferns were growing close to the base and above their heads they could see the neck of a huge dinosaur reaching for the leaves. Gordon lost his nerve and instantly asked the Professor to take them back.

He gave him a mischievous smile but agreed putting the date on the dial to 2025, again the capsule started to spin and Gordon experienced the same feeling of light headedness. Closing his eyes once more he eventually heard the Professor’s voice.

     “It’s alright my lad you can open your eyes now”

They were back in the room underneath the house; Gordon staggered out of the time machine and ran upstairs. He felt relieved to be back in his own timeline.

   “How did you know about the machine being in the basement professor?” he asked once he got his breath back.

The old man looked at him with a glint in his eye. “This used to be my house which I bought in 1975 and that time capsule you found was mine”

He rummaged through his pockets and produced another key. “Here is the other key to the capsule, I put some of my items from 1975 along with recent items from 2025. I can tell you precisely what was in there if you like?”

He reeled off the exact items leaving Gordon speechless.

   “So if you had such a unique time travelling machine why aren’t you still using it?” Gordon asked.

   “Because my boy I’m happy to live in the present as I have seen enough of the past and the future terrified me!”

Gordon was going to ask what the Professor knew about the future but decided he had seen enough for one day.

He followed the Professor out and drove back into town parking outside their apartment, Mia was on with cooking them a late breakfast and the smell of cooked food made his stomach rumble.

    “Did you see the professor?” she casually asked.

    “Oh yes I showed him around the building site and he said he could imagine what ir was going to look like in the future” Gordon replied with a smile on his face.