Further Into The Future!

Chapter 4

There was no clock in the room, so I estimated the passage of time by how many times Redd Rescue had played over the day. After it had repeated five times I decided that it must be late enough for another escape attempt.

"I wish I had a clock," I said, and right when I said "clock" the image of a clock appeared on the wall across from where I lay in bed. It was a simple clock, a black circle with black lines inside for the minute hand and hour hand. It was about five thirty.

Next to the clock was a box with some writing in it. I had to strain my eyes to read it. It said "Would you like another style clock?"

"Yes," I said, and the box became much larger. Inside it was a list of different types of clocks.

"I'll take the grandfather clock," I said, and the boring black circle changed into a handsome grandfather clock that went all the down to the floor. I was delighted.

When I looked away from the clock to the door, however, it moved with my eyes, so the image was hovering around the doorknob.

"Off. Disengage," I ordered, but the clock remained. I shrugged. When I got up from bed and grabbed my suitcase from the chair the clock moved with me.

I dressed myself, failing in my attempt to smooth all the wrinkles out of my suit and dress shirt.

"I wish there were a mirror here," I said.

Right as I said "mirror" my mirror image appeared on the wall in front of me, right next to the grandfather clock. I jumped back, surprised.

"Fascinating," I said, peering at my awed face. When I leaned left and right the mirror followed; it was in the shape of a rectangle, four feet wide and about six feet tall, with a gold frame around it. When I jumped up the mirror did so as well, dipping down when I landed, then bouncing back to its normal height.

I used the mirror to straighten my tie and fix my hair. I wished I could do something about the beard stubble that had grown on my face since my arrival, but I knew from before there were no razors in the room.

"I like this," I said as my reflection nodded. I wondered what other things the wall could conjure up. "Maybe I'll ask the doctor the next time I see her," I said, chuckling.

Having deemed my appearance acceptable, I stepped into the hallway. I was no longer a patient in the hospital; I was a well-dressed businessman visitor whom I hoped the employees wouldn't look twice at.

As I walked briskly down the hall, my black shoes clapping against the linoleum, I was horrified to see that the grandfather clock and the mirror were still following my gaze. When I walked out the door they were on the wall opposite it; when I turned in the hall they moved to the window at the end; even when I looked up at the ceiling in exasperation they were there.

"Toggle mirror. Mirror off," I said firmly. The mirror and the clock remained, wherever I looked. They were no longer a curiosity or a mild annoyance. If someone spotted them on the wall it could draw their attention to me, and that was something I wanted to avoid.

The hospital was almost empty and the halls darkened as the sun set outside. When I turned a corner in the hallway I saw a nurse turn at the other end, walking in the same direction I was. I slowed my pace to avoid getting too close to her, and made sure to gaze at parts of the wall she couldn't see.

I smiled. All I had to do was go down a few more hallways and a flight of stairs and I was free to experience the wonders of 2099, and 2099 was free to experience the wonder of being visited by a real time traveler. In the empty, echoing, cavernous hallway, it seemed impossible that I would run into anyone.