Time Maze

Time and Place

The moment they exited on the other side; Tyson was blinded by the bright sunlight. His skin was engulfed in the warmth that made a striking difference with the cool temperatures they had experienced in the tunnels. The same tunnels he started seeing as the 'physical maze', 'hellish maze', and many other attributes he didn't wish to share with his friend.

"Ouch, who turned on the heat?" Marcus asked the moment he stepped through.

"There goes the idea of staying quiet," Tyson thought.

Instead of saying anything, he squinted his eyes to reduce the pain and judge their surroundings. He wasn't willing to engage in useless banter with his friend when he had no idea where they were and if they were in any immediate danger.

Luckily for them, they were in the middle of a city square at the hottest time of the day. Thus, there weren't many people there who could notice Marcus and Tyson's sudden appearance. However, there was something unfamiliar to Tyson about the place they had found themselves in.

For one thing, he was sure that it wasn't a place that he had been to before, nor was it a widely known tourist attraction. That realization made him even more nervous. They could be anywhere in time and space, and he wasn't sure he would know how to protect himself or Marcus.

"Where are we? What is that wooden thing over there?" Marcus asked, pointing.

Tyson was tempted to warn his friend not to point, but having in mind how deserted the place was, he stopped himself.

"I think it's a fountain," Tyson said.

He failed to add that it was the type of fountain he had never seen before. Not only was it made of wood, which he found rather odd, but it was also beautifully carved, a masterpiece of craftsmanship.

"Wow, that's one cool fountain. I've never seen anything like it," Marcus said.

"Neither have I," Tyson admitted.

There was something about its unusual shape and built that felt familiar. It was like something that Tyson had seen in a picture a long time ago and was only left with a ghost of a memory about it.

He was sure he had never seen the fountain itself before. However, the style, the architecture of it were rather specific. It was clear that he should recognize it, that he knew about it, but his brain was scrambled from all the jumping around they did. He couldn't put his finger on where he had seen it before.

"Dude, I thought you were a history wiz or something. How do you never know where or when we are the moment we get there?" Marcus asked.

"Marcus, we are time-traveling! It's not an exact science. Besides, it's one thing to learn about history, to read books and look at the pictures, and it's a whole different thing to live it. I need a moment to get my bearings," Tyson said, exasperated with his friend's lack of understanding.

"Sorry," Marcus said earnestly.

Then he did what Tyson recognized as his attempt to keep a question at bay, biting his lip as he tried to give his friend some space to think.

"Alright, Marcus, spit it out. What is it? What do you have to ask?" Tyson finally asked, unable to stand Marcus's awkward shifting around.

"I was just wondering do you know what that tower thing over there is?" Marcus asked pointing behind the breathtaking fountain.

Tyson looked at where Marcus pointed and saw the easily recognizable structure for what it was. Furthermore, it served as another clue to their location, if not a time.

"That's not just any tower. That's a minaret. It's a part of the mosque, which is that structure next to it," Tyson explained.

"Mosque as in 'a church for Muslims'?" Marcus asked, unsure of himself.

It always shocked Tyson how little his friend knew about the world. Still, he didn't want to judge him too harshly since he knew that people learned new things every day. No one could know everything, and his friend was just an example of what happened when one didn't even attempt to discover more about the world that they lived in.

"That's right," Tyson said, not ready to give exhausting explanations to Marcus.

He had more important things to worry about, like where they were and, more importantly, when.

History was a dark place to visit. Thus, Tyson feared that every corner, every nook, and cranny could hide a danger that they were not ready to face.

"So, where are we? Should we ask those people?" Marcus asked, pointing at a group of people who were approaching the fountain.

Looking at them, Tyson realized that he forgot to consider the most obvious clue they could get, the clothing. However, when he looked at Marcus, he didn't think his clothes told him much.

He wore what seemed to be a gray suit, that as far as Tyson could tell, could have belonged to any era. After all, neither Tyson nor Marcus knew a lot about clothing styles. Thus, they couldn't really tell the subtle differences between different clothing in different epochs.

The only difference that Tyson could notice from the suits he had seen in his time was the inclusion of a hat. Odd as it was for him to see hats in the summertime, it didn't really help him narrow down the time and place.

"I'll ask them. You just keep quiet until we know that we are safe," Tyson said.

He realized that since he couldn't really figure out their location, the next best thing would be to ask someone for directions. It would be foolish to just stand in the middle of the street, being baked under the sun in their suits.

"Excuse me," Tyson said.

However, when Tyson uttered the words, it became clear that he only meant to say 'excuse me' but that what actually came out was a completely different language. It was one he wasn't even familiar with and yet seemed to be able to speak fluently.

"Gdje je pošta?" Tyson heard himself ask.

It was a very odd sensation for him. He thought he was speaking English, but once the words actually came out of his mouth, they were in a foreign language. Even stranger than that was the fact that he could only realize the difference between his thought language and spoken language if he focused on it.

Though Tyson had noticed that they were speaking a different language before only now did he give it proper consideration.

He chose to ask where the post office was, hoping that it would give him some clues about who those people were, which country they were in. However, he got more than he bargained for when he heard the language. Thus, he focused on their reply to perceive it in the native language and not in English.

"Kako bolan ne znaš gdje je pošta?" The man he approached asked.

From the accent and the way in which he pronounced some of the letters, Tyson realized that it was probably a Slavic language. He was only familiar with those through a YouTube channel he was subscribed to. However, he still remembered the distinct way the words were pronounced.

With the intense attention he was paying to the odd shift between English and the Slavic language, Tyson started getting a horrible headache. Thus, he decided that he had learned as much about the language as was possible, and he needed to give his brain some breathing space.

"We are new here, so we aren't sure where the post office is," Tyson replied to the man's query.

The man proceeded to explain. However, the pounding in Tyson's head was too loud to allow him to catch any of the details that the guy gave him. Furthermore, it didn't even matter to Tyson. The only reason he asked about the post office was because it seemed like the safest thing to ask, one that would reveal something about their location.

"Thank you," Tyson said when it seemed clear the man had finished his detailed explanations.

"You're welcome," the man said, sitting on the nearby bench and spreading his newspaper.

There, on the front page of the newspaper, the date stared at Tyson. It made his hair rise as cold sweat broke all over his body.

The date was 20th of June 1914, and the city that they happened to find themselves in was Sarajevo.

"Holy cow, I do hope we get out of here soon. I wouldn't want to be here on the 28th of June," Tyson mumbled under his breath as he and Marcus started moving away from the square.