The Business of Time Travel Tourism

Chapter 9: Success And Failure

June 25, 2014. Wednesday.

"Finally, we are inside—" John kicked a can upon entering his flat, "—my lair."

Sally walking behind him glanced at the junk scattered on the floor and said, "A lair indeed. Your skill to make so much mess in such a small space is astonishing."

"I have little love for meaningless objects." He kicked the empty bird cage. "I believe that only when one can ignore the order of the physical world, can his mind become truly free."

"I do not understand you at all." Awkwardly positioning her leg to step over the mess, she made a dumb smile.

Upon figuring that this girl listened, (which was a rare case with girls) John continued, "The attachment to the physical world only weighs you down. The only way I know to detach yourself from this reality and become thoughtful is to be oblivious to your surroundings. It took a lot of time, but I learned it. And now,"— he pointed at his forehead,—"I am thoughtful, aware that there is more to this world than useless objects surrounding us."

"Agreed to disagree." Sally shook her head. She was a simple girl, never in her life she bothered to think much, especially about things that could not be seen or touched. The words John spoke made little sense to her, but she knew being social and friendly was of utter importance when making friends in the past and did her best to keep the conversation going.

"No need to be polite. You can call me fool if you feel like it."

"You think a lot about it, don't you, the things that don't really matter, about the world?" She sat down on the couch in John's room.

"One day I hope to put all my thoughts into a book."

"Sounds awesome."

John nodded and silently stared at Sally, rubbing his hands, thinking if there was any additional theory he wanted to share.

During the long pause of silence, the door of the flat slammed open and three people entered. They passed John's room, kicking stuff along the way, went to the room at the far end of the corridor and turned on the disco music. Soon the walls started to shake, and Sally with John and at least a half of the house inhabitants became the participants of the late party.

"Is there a chance that people of the future your people, might have it all figured out? Found the answers to the questions about the meaning of life, figured why are we here?" John mumbled, but his words drowned in the music.

"You must be kidding! How can we sleep when I can't even hear what I think?" Sally yelled. Her thin voice pierced the noise like a dagger. She stood up and went to find the source of the catchy, but clearly too loud music.

In another room, a dance was taking place. In front of the blinking lights, three contours moved in such way that no self-loving person did in public discos. Two guys were having what seemed a poorly choreographed dance-off; a thick boned girl, possessed by the music was jumping in between them. Her long hair swung all over the place, drawing eights in the air.

"Turn down the music, please!" Sally shouted so loud that the trio froze in their places. Fear could be driven into any mortal by the sheer amount of decibels her thin, girlish voice produced. Compared to the sound of her voice, the music now appeared to be a faint background. "I said, turn down the music, prettyyyy pleeease!"

One of the male figures walked towards the stereo and turned down the music. He then touched the wall close by Sally and the lights of the room turned on.

"What do ya think u're doing? Interrupting our partying like that?" the man in front of Sally said. His nose tiny, face long and blunt, eyes dark. He wore a couple of earrings and a sleeveless leather jacket.