Going Way Back

Joe lay with his eyes closed as the world came back to him. His throat burned severely and breathing was more of a chore than he remembered.

He could hear the gentle ticking of a clock's second hand. The air had a smell he was familiar with, the burning of whale oil. He knew the smell, but it was only on Halloween night that the family lit those old lamps.

As the sounds of the world came back, so did the memory of what he had done. His irrational tendency to do the first thing that sounded good, before really thinking it through, came back to haunt him. He had drunk the blue liquid that had burned his throat severally and caused him to black out.

"Just a couple more clicks," Joe heard a voice he didn't recognize, "Ah, that should do it!"

"Phssssssss........Bzzzzzzz BAM!!!!!"

"You stupid piece of trash," Came a frustrated voice after the crashing sound, "better adjust the tuning knob a few more clicks and balance the

basket collet, then the prototype will be finished!"

Joe lay with his eyes closed tightly, could he possibly be back to the 1400's with his grandpa Justin? That would certainly explain the smell of burning whale oil and the crashing sounds.

"Ah your breathing has changed," The voice came closer to him, "You have been out for a few hours, I would imagine you had quite the journey! Sorry for the burning that came with the liquid, it was the only way."

Joe sat up abruptly and opened his eyes. A motion he regretted instantly. His gag reflex was watering and the world was spinning in a blur of color.

"Whoa there," The man said, "You may want to take things slow for now. You have taken a journey that no one else in history has ever taken. You have traveled back in time a little while. Judging by your sense of style it has been quite some time."

"Wha.... Are you Justin?" Joe choked out in a hoarse voice, "What year is it?"

"Yes, my name is Justin and it is 1420," he said with a chuckle, "Who did you expect?"

Joe was able to focus on the world again after five minutes of sitting on the edge of the table he was on. His eyes were met with a different scene than he even expected.

The room he was in was obviously a workshop of sorts. On the benches surrounding the outsides of the room were tons of half finished gadgets. Each with springs and gears protruding from neatly crafted wood casings. In the center of the room was a table with all kinds of test tubes and vials. The kinds of things that Joe didn't think existed in the time he had traveled too.

Justin was a strange looking man, yet familiar in facial features. He was obviously from the Bringham family, apparent from the straight and prominent nose ending in a slight downward hook.

His clothes were from an era that Justin was not familiar with. He wore glasses that appeared to be constructed in his workshop. The lenses set back an inch into the brass decorated wooden sockets. While the front edge was cut at an angle outwards. The glasses were secured to his head with a single strap of decorative leather.

His hair was similar to the cartoon drawings of einstein, except that his hair was as orange as it gets. He wore a white pleated shirt with a black vest over the top of it. The front of the vest must have mechanically secured itself closed, as it had gears with rods and couplers connected.

Perhaps the most peculiar part of his clothing were his shoes. They each had two wheels on the outside. The wheels were made of brass and in the center of each was a glass window with some sort of green chemical.

Justin rolled around the shop effortlessly, looking for something he had misplaced. Meanwhile, Joe stared open mouthed at the ingenuity of the inventions laying about.

"You have created all this?" Joe said with his hoarse voice, "What is all of it?"

"To answer that question," Justin said rolling over to where Joe sat on the bench, "You are going to have to point out what invention you are curious about. I'm afraid I have created so many things in so many different timelines, that there are too many to count."

Joe pushed himself off the bench he was on and walked to the table nearest to him. On the table sat a wooden box with a glass window framed by gold. Inside on the bottom was a brass funnel pointed at the top of the box. In the back of the box was an oil lamp with an odd shaped glass lens.

Brass hoses protruded off the sides of the strange box and ran to a large water tank. One hose ran from the top of the box into the ceiling of the workshop.

Joe grabbed the handle and looked at Justin who had rolled up next to him, "May I give it a try?"

"Ah this is one of my favorite inventions," Justin said with a tooth filled smile, "I call it the Bringham perception box. Go ahead and give it a crank!"

Joe pushed the crank forward finding it to be much harder to move than he had anticipated. The more he pushed it the easier it became.

Almost instantly the box began to fill with steam. Justin reached around the back of the box and pulled a lever up that Joe had not seen. The instant the lever was flipped an image appeared on the glass. It was the front of the Bringham castle.

The image was flickering like the films made in the early days of video cameras. The image was black and white and was capturing movement.

A horse-drawn buggy went past outside with its driver perched atop the cab. He was wearing more what Joe expected out of the time period he had traveled too.

"You have created a primitive video camera!" Joe said with excitement, "Why have we not seen or heard that you created such things? The first thing similar to this hasn't been historically documented for over two hundred years!"

Justin looked at Joe with curiosity, "What year have you come from?"

"I came from the year 2016," Joe said with a smile, "Did my book come back with me?"

"You have come from much farther into the future than I expected," Justin said seemingly put out, "I thought maybe a couple hundred years. I must have miscalculated the timer gear size when I created the time capsule."

Joe realized he was still cranking the handle on the box and stopped. Justin seemed concerned that he had come from so much farther into the future than anticipated.

"When you drank the vial," Justin said, "What color was the liquid?"

"It was electric blue." Joe said, "Why is it such a big deal? I am here now, isn't that what you wanted?"

"I wanted someone a hundred years into the future," Justin said getting more flustered by the minute, "This is going to cause some big issues. Who are you in the future world?"

"I am Joe Bringham," Joe said standing a little taller, "Next heir to the throne, your distant grandson."

Justin slumped against the wall and slid down to his butt on the floor.

Shaking his head he said, "I am sorry, I don't think this is going to work out very well for you."

"What do you mean?" Joe stared at Justin confused.

"You are my direct relative and from what time I don't know," Justin said staring at the floor, "If things are altered in the timeline you come from, you may no longer exist."

Joe sat staring at Justin trying to understand what he was saying. He had forgotten about the extra dimension that Justin was able to see.

"So you have to stay in this one," Joe said, "No more jumping."

"That is the problem," Justin said, "I have already jumped three times since you have been here. It is hard to say what has already changed in your world. Nothing will seem to have changed until you return...if you return."

"If?" Joe stared in disbelief, "I don't know what you mean, I have to go back, I have a life there."

"You maybe, have a life there," Justin said, "You may not even exist there anymore. This is all very confusing, but you have to accept the fact that you will be living here for the rest of your life."

Joe could feel anger rising up in the pit of his stomach, He desperately wanted to take back his decision to drink the vial, but he couldn't take it back.

"Can you make it so I can go to other dimensions too?" Joe said with a renewed source of hope, "That way I could go back to the time before I drank the vial of stuff. I could send someone else."

"I have tried a million or more times," Justin chuckled out of disgust, "I can't get it, it was an accident the first time."

Joe was crushed with the realization that he would never go back to his time. He could never have known that drinking the contents of the vial would change his life so drastically.

"We are going to have to get you some clothes," Justin said, "Would you like to go with the industrial age that I am starting, or would you like to go with the traditional dress? I'm pretty much the only one who wears industrial."

"I want to try and solve this issue," Joe said angrily, "You brought me back and now I can't go back to my own time. I am stuck because of you. I want to wear my own clothes and find a way back."

Justin rolled around the shop collecting bits of clothing and gadgets that looked similar to the parts that he had used to create his own vest. Joe sat staring at him with disgust and anger.

"You can't wear those clothes," Justin explained, "it's better if you don't draw attention to the fact that you're from the future. Let's get you dressed and we will go see the world in this time. After we get back we can discuss how to approach getting you home."

Joe knew that Justin had just thrown the going home part in there to get him to embrace the world again. Joe knew he was right, so he best just makes the best out of it.

"If we are going to make my clothes, I am going to need a pair of those motor shoes," Joe said walking to a pile of wheels on the ground, "Let's get started."

Joe almost forgot about the fact he couldn't go home as he helped his grandpa Justin create an entire outfit for him to wear. Joe got rid of his glasses and used the glass to create a pair of thin rimmed goggles from wood and the lenses from his old glasses.

"So how do we power these shoes?" Joe said turning to Justin, "Do you use steam for these too?"

Justin just stood staring intently at the center of the room, he was mumbling under his breath but just couldn't quite hear him. He reached up and put his hand on Justin's shoulder right as Justin reached out in front of him.

Joe felt like someone had grabbed him by the hand and started moving so fast that everything was a blur. Within a few seconds, the Justin he was touching was a different person altogether. He was much younger and the room was entirely different also.

"No, too late!" Justin yelled, "Run get out of here!"

Just as the words came out of Justin's mouth the room filled with a purple smoke. Joe ran for the door, but the smoke closed in around him. It burned his lungs on top of the already sore throat from the vial contents. It smelled of Sulfur and vinegar mixed.

When the smoke cleared the world was different, it was filled with shadows of people all over the room. Joe guessed he had gone back to the original dimension shift and he too was now able to see another dimension.

"I was too late! I had to make sure it wouldn't kill me, but I decided too late!" Justin sat on the floor with his hands between his legs, "Now you are stuck with this too!"