51 Stories from the Fantastic Realm: Bite sized stories weekly from Fantasy-Land. Updates Fridays.
21.21
The Time Traveler
Emmaline was stuck in the Victorian Era again. It was the second time that week, and frankly, she was getting annoyed. She'd been trying to become a pirate, maybe like Grace O Malley, a few hundred years ago, AND in Ireland, but instead she'd landed 300 years too late and in America to boot. Not that she didn't love America in modern times, but the olden days were so utterly classiest and last time she'd landed as the maid. Ew.
Not that this time was any better. She'd wound up the wife of a wealthy man who was at least twenty years her senior. She pitied the girl who had to live with this man, a bossy, sexist, who had no sense of humor whatsoever. Then again, the girl she'd replaced, Brighid, was currently in her air conditioned LA apartment, with full access to all three seasons of Veronica Mars, so maybe Emmaline didn't feel too bad for her.
Not that Brighid would remember any of it. It would seem a strange dream that she'd forget hours later. It was how time travel worked. It was like house swapping, only less glamorous and with more amnesia.
But Emmaline couldn't dwell on that, because Harold, the stuff old bore was calling her. "Emmaline!" Lucky for her, the names never changed, even though Harold had been calling Brighid as such for the past five years. She could be unequivocally herself and no one would ever notice a difference, and history would be unchanged.
Unless, of course,she was to turn into someone important or famous, but of course, that was why the rules wouldn't allow for that. Too much could go wrong.But no one would ever be bothered if it was Emmaline or Brighid.
Speaking of. Harold was getting impatient. "Emmaline!" he roared.
God. She hated this century. Men were so . . . She shuddered.
Still, she was here, and she had to make the best of it. "Coming!" she called.
