Speakeasy 145 – Time Travel? What Time Travel?

The instructions for Speakeasy 145:

Time to play your cards

Because today just happens to be Paul Cézanne’s birthday, we’ve chosen one of his paintings for our art prompt. This painting is one of a series of five, known as The Card Players.

Here are this week’s prompts:

“I have spent years chasing the tail of my darkness.”

My story is the culmination of a four-parter, in which a quantum mechanics scientist has figured out the particulars of time travel so he can return to September 3, 1940 and save his beloved fiance Millicent from the German fighter plane that took her life. If you did not read the first three installments, you can catch up here: Saving Millicent?, Is He In Time? and Can They Change History?

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 “I have spent years chasing the tail of my darkness,” Horace Blakely said. For so many years it had been nothing more than a dream or at best a wish that he could zoom back to September 3, 1940 and scoop his beloved Millicent from the path of harm. Now she was safely headed home and their time was running out to return to England of 2014.

“We must go,” Dwight said.

Amanda shared the tears Horace wiped from his face. The devotion of this man was what inspired Amanda to sign on to this unlikely project. Of course the science was an attraction also, what with the possibility of flying through time.

“Yes, we must!” Horace agreed.

“Even though it is in the midst of such a horrid time London is still so gorgeous,” Amanda assessed. She ducked like everyone else as another explosion rocked the street. Dwight unrolled the bomb map again, double checking the route they had to follow back to their transportation devices.

Forbender, Blakely and the rest of the original team transported first, quickly followed by Amanda and Dwight. Back at their present day lab, the team stood looking at their creations, knowing what Blakely said when the project began.

“We must destroy these machines when this is over. The ability to do wonderful things will always be balanced by the opportunity to do something so heinous that we cannot allow for the possibility.” That was the original statement Blakely made when each of them agreed to help him and no one had any reason to believe his opinion would change now.

“Gentlemen, we know what is next,” Blakely said, confirming his original words. Dwight looked at Amanda for a brief second, then set about dismantling the pertinent part of the device he and Amanda had used.

Within an hour the deed was done. Blakely stood with his arms crossed when the room fell silent. He could now put all this behind him and get back to his scholarly pursuits. The difference would be that the longing would be gone.

“Tomorrow you will remember none of this, but my gratitude will never end,” Horace told them. His misty eyes confirmed the words he uttered.

 

“Horace, what is the purpose of this?” Millicent asked. She flipped through a notebook of scribbles her husband had made. There were many drawings along with the notes and equations, but none of it made sense to her. She chose a path of difference from her egghead husband, choosing to be a mother.

“It is just something of a dream,” Horace replied.

“Time travel?” Millicent said reading a smattering of his words. “For what purpose?”

“Who knows?” Horace said. “The possibilities could be endless.”

“So could the trouble,” Millicent said. “How could you use this to help one without helping all?”

Horace shook his head as he thought about her question.

He looked at her favorite painting by the French master Paul Cezanne that hung on their living room wall. “Wouldn’t you love to talk to him?”

“Of course, but that is something that could never happen and I am realistic enough to understand that.”

“I suppose you are right,” Horace agreed.

“Promise me you won’t pursue this. I know you and if you had a good enough reason you would devote your life to making it happen.”

“I promise,” Horace said.

 

“Who is that?” Amanda asked a friend as they walked across campus.

“Which one?” her friend replied. They were watching a couple of young men as they made their way toward the central campus common area.

“On the left, the taller one.”

“That is Dwight Framingham. He is a physics major. He comes from the northern coast.”

“What about the other one?” Amanda wondered.

“He is Hollis Forbender, a real egghead. He goes on and on about time travel. He says he is going to be the first to travel back in time someday.”

“I think he has watched the telly a bit too much. Time travel is a myth. I would never try that myself.”

“Yes, I could never see you following such a foolish dream,” her friend replied. 

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