Back to You

The Course of Time

"Where is it? It's got to be here somewhere." My Dad kept chanting to himself, flipping through different refrigerated cabinets and drawers full of different experiments.

I watched him eagerly opening and closing whatever knob he had gripped his hands on, desperately on the edge of my seat to even know first what he was trying to find.

It sounded like pure and utter confusion. But I was more so slightly intrigued about his proposal. "Okay slow it down there, Dad. You're starting to actually worry me. Will you like to fill me in on what's happening first? Please?" I begged.

Not looking near my way, he simply nodded still on a mission. "Well, that depends. How much of it do you truly wanna know?"

"Probably all of it, if it's something that involves all the stuff you just said."

"Good! I was going to do it anyway, really. I just wanted you to be sure."

"Sure about what?"

"See, that's the thing. The official name for it is still being determined for now. But for the sake of explanation, we around the lab like to just refer to this thing as the 'Time Crown'. It's quite simple really. You see, for a while now the government has been wanting one of the departments of either science or technology to come up with a solution for them that would give humans the ability to alter realities. Go back to a point in history to either observe or modify certain aspects or events that shaped our world today, but also at the same time without changing too much. Basically, it would mean a possible hope to improve civilization in a way if things in the past, didn't always end the way they should've so it can change into current reality."

So much for the simple explanation part. Felt like I was trying to understand the whole plot of the movie 'Inception.'

"I'm not following," I admitted.

He snapped his fingers grabbing something I couldn't make out quite just yet, sticking it in his pocket and spinning toward me.

"The power to go back in time. Check out or change some fates of life for the better. The tech company has been working on two space-time continuums in Albert Einstein honor for many years. Probably before you or I were even born. But! The project recently got so big that the rich people didn't want to keep profiting money for it if it could be created for cheaper. That's where they came to my department. We're full of less expensive moving chemicals. Not machines and pieces. So for the past several weeks, we managed to finally crack the code. All you need is to refrigerate after opening and you're all set. Which brings me to the main point..."

My soon-to-be headache wished he would've got to it sooner. "Which is what?"

"I made a way to time jump, sweetheart." He put down a tiny blue bottle full of liquid in front of me cautiously. "And it's all right here."

I laughed, shaking my head. If it wasn't the intoxicating fumes, it had to definitely be all the overtime lately. I couldn't have my Father losing his marbles already. He wasn't even in his seventies yet.

"Uh, no! There's no such thing as time travel. Never has. Never will. It sucks, but this is the real world out there. This logic here just seems purely fantasy and science fiction."

He squinted his eyes a bit and shrugged. "Well missy, hate to break it to ya but it certainly does exist. Just not to you or any other human besides those in this building for that matter. This is the government! Look at Area 51! They don't usually tell people life-changing secrets we need to know!"