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Author’s Note: A bit more of a sad story this time – I wanted to explore the concept of grief and coming to terms with death. I hope that I’ll do the concept justice!
Trigger Warnings: Mentions of cancer and eventual main character death.
---o---
Cancer. One single word that changed my life – or, I suppose, limited it. Sitting in a doctor’s chair, my uncle at my side, my life suddenly had an expiry date. I went into shock, my entire body numb, only half-listening to what the doctor said. Late-stage cancer… caught too late… months to live.
The car was completely silent on the ride home, both my uncle and I processing the news. Months to live – I mightn’t even reach my 16th birthday. I’d never get the chance to drive a car, go to university, date, fall in love, get married, or get a job. My entire future, snatched away by one single word.
“Uncle Percy?” I asked, my voice small and scratchy. Receiving no reply, I glanced over at him. His slender hands were clenching the steering wheel, his jaw set and body taut. He was only barely holding it together, I realised with a start. He had raised me for most of my life – this would impact him just as much as it would me.
Hot tears welled up in my eyes. This couldn’t be happening. Perhaps I was dreaming? I pinched myself desperately, only to be met with pain shooting through my arm. Not dreaming, then.
When the car stopped, I jumped out and ran into my room, unable to deal with the situation. Kicking off my shoes, I burrowed my way under the covers of my blanket, and finally allowed the tears to fall. I cried until there were no tears left, and sleep started to pull me into its warm, blissful escape.
I awoke sometime later to a light knocking on my door. “Come in.” I called, my voice rough with sleep. Uncle Percy walked into the room, his eyes red-rimmed and puffy. My heart clenched – he had been crying. I hated it, hated that he was suffering, hated myself for causing him pain.
Uncle Percy gave a weak smile as he sat down on the bed next to me. “Hey Ashwind”, he said, his voice soft. “How’re you feeling?”. I gave a strangled laugh. “About as well as you’d expect.” I said, a bitter inflection to my tone. “Why is this happening to me?” I whispered, my face crumpling. “Oh, Ash.” Uncle Percy breathed shakily, pulling me into a warm, grounding embrace. I rested my head heavily on his chest and let myself forget about the world for just a moment.
He pulled back, and gave me a soft, sad smile. “I know that this a big shock. But we’ll get through it together, alright? I’m going to do everything I can for you.” I nodded unsteadily, instinctively trusting him.
After a few beats of silence, Uncle Percy spoke up again, his voice hesitant. “This really isn’t how I imagined it would go, but there is something that I’d like to tell you.” He said, a small spark of life returning to him. I looked at him expectantly, apathy making way for muted curiosity.
He sighed. “I was going to tell you on your 16th birthday, but given… recent events, I thought I’d tell you now.” He paused momentarily, before giving me a small smile. “I’m a time traveller.”
I stopped, blinking for a moment, while my brain caught up. “Sorry, what?” I asked, my brows creased in confusion. Uncle Percy gave a chuckle, although it was still tinged with sadness. “I’m a time traveller.” He repeated, an impossibly fond smile on his face.
“A time traveller?” I said, my eyes widening in disbelief. “Are you serious?”. “Deadly.” He replied, before standing up and offering his hand to me. “Would you like to see?”.
I nodded, my eyes lighting up as I pushed my inner turmoil to the side. As I reached up to grab his hand, I got the sense that I was about to go on the journey of a lifetime.
----o----
My uncle guided me into his study, and I looked around the familiar room in confusion. Surely there wasn’t a time machine in here? I watched as he walked around to the bookshelf behind his desk and pulled on H. G. Wells’s ‘Time Machine’. I gasped slightly as the cupboard next to it opened, revealing a small safe. Uncle Percy keyed in a combination before pressing his thumb to a small sensor. The safe opened with a small hiss, and I eagerly peered over my uncle’s shoulder to catch a glimpse of lay within.
Two smartwatches were nestled into a small pillow, the face black. As he reached inside for the more feminine of the two, Uncle Percy closed his eyes slightly, taking a deep breath before carefully removing it and handing it to me. Carefully taking it, I inspected the object. The watchface was slightly larger than normal, and there was an extra button on the side, but apart from that I couldn’t see much difference. I flipped it over in my hands, and my breath hitched slightly at the inscription on the back of the watch. “Time waits for no-one”. I gave a quiet, bitter laugh at the painful reminder of my reality, before once more pushing the knowledge aside and locking it down tight within me. I wouldn’t allow it to ruin my discovery of time travel.
I glanced up at Uncle Percy, only to find him staring at me with a look of abject sadness. It was only there for a second – gone the instant he caught me looking – but it was there for long enough to make the harsh reality of my situation claw at its confines deep within me. I bit my lip, hard, and the pain was enough to quiet the beast.
“Can we go on a time trip?” I asked, desperate to escape, even just for a while. Uncle Percy smiled slightly at me. “That was the idea.” He said, before holding his watch so that I could see. “Watch this.” He pressed the extra button, and an input field opened up. “You enter in a string of numbers that corresponds to longitude, latitude and time. I thought we might take a trip to one of my favourite places in history.” he said, before taking my watch and keying in numbers. I put it back on, marvelling at the small device.
“Are you ready?” he asked me, his face lit up in excitement. I nodded despite the trepidation that was beginning to curl at the bottom of my stomach. Uncle Percy clicked a button on my watch, and a tendril of light began to curl up my arm from my watch. Within seconds, we were both engulfed in the light. With a resounding boom, we were gone.
Trigger Warnings: Mentions of cancer and eventual main character death.
---o---
Cancer. One single word that changed my life – or, I suppose, limited it. Sitting in a doctor’s chair, my uncle at my side, my life suddenly had an expiry date. I went into shock, my entire body numb, only half-listening to what the doctor said. Late-stage cancer… caught too late… months to live.
The car was completely silent on the ride home, both my uncle and I processing the news. Months to live – I mightn’t even reach my 16th birthday. I’d never get the chance to drive a car, go to university, date, fall in love, get married, or get a job. My entire future, snatched away by one single word.
“Uncle Percy?” I asked, my voice small and scratchy. Receiving no reply, I glanced over at him. His slender hands were clenching the steering wheel, his jaw set and body taut. He was only barely holding it together, I realised with a start. He had raised me for most of my life – this would impact him just as much as it would me.
Hot tears welled up in my eyes. This couldn’t be happening. Perhaps I was dreaming? I pinched myself desperately, only to be met with pain shooting through my arm. Not dreaming, then.
When the car stopped, I jumped out and ran into my room, unable to deal with the situation. Kicking off my shoes, I burrowed my way under the covers of my blanket, and finally allowed the tears to fall. I cried until there were no tears left, and sleep started to pull me into its warm, blissful escape.
I awoke sometime later to a light knocking on my door. “Come in.” I called, my voice rough with sleep. Uncle Percy walked into the room, his eyes red-rimmed and puffy. My heart clenched – he had been crying. I hated it, hated that he was suffering, hated myself for causing him pain.
Uncle Percy gave a weak smile as he sat down on the bed next to me. “Hey Ashwind”, he said, his voice soft. “How’re you feeling?”. I gave a strangled laugh. “About as well as you’d expect.” I said, a bitter inflection to my tone. “Why is this happening to me?” I whispered, my face crumpling. “Oh, Ash.” Uncle Percy breathed shakily, pulling me into a warm, grounding embrace. I rested my head heavily on his chest and let myself forget about the world for just a moment.
He pulled back, and gave me a soft, sad smile. “I know that this a big shock. But we’ll get through it together, alright? I’m going to do everything I can for you.” I nodded unsteadily, instinctively trusting him.
After a few beats of silence, Uncle Percy spoke up again, his voice hesitant. “This really isn’t how I imagined it would go, but there is something that I’d like to tell you.” He said, a small spark of life returning to him. I looked at him expectantly, apathy making way for muted curiosity.
He sighed. “I was going to tell you on your 16th birthday, but given… recent events, I thought I’d tell you now.” He paused momentarily, before giving me a small smile. “I’m a time traveller.”
I stopped, blinking for a moment, while my brain caught up. “Sorry, what?” I asked, my brows creased in confusion. Uncle Percy gave a chuckle, although it was still tinged with sadness. “I’m a time traveller.” He repeated, an impossibly fond smile on his face.
“A time traveller?” I said, my eyes widening in disbelief. “Are you serious?”. “Deadly.” He replied, before standing up and offering his hand to me. “Would you like to see?”.
I nodded, my eyes lighting up as I pushed my inner turmoil to the side. As I reached up to grab his hand, I got the sense that I was about to go on the journey of a lifetime.
----o----
My uncle guided me into his study, and I looked around the familiar room in confusion. Surely there wasn’t a time machine in here? I watched as he walked around to the bookshelf behind his desk and pulled on H. G. Wells’s ‘Time Machine’. I gasped slightly as the cupboard next to it opened, revealing a small safe. Uncle Percy keyed in a combination before pressing his thumb to a small sensor. The safe opened with a small hiss, and I eagerly peered over my uncle’s shoulder to catch a glimpse of lay within.
Two smartwatches were nestled into a small pillow, the face black. As he reached inside for the more feminine of the two, Uncle Percy closed his eyes slightly, taking a deep breath before carefully removing it and handing it to me. Carefully taking it, I inspected the object. The watchface was slightly larger than normal, and there was an extra button on the side, but apart from that I couldn’t see much difference. I flipped it over in my hands, and my breath hitched slightly at the inscription on the back of the watch. “Time waits for no-one”. I gave a quiet, bitter laugh at the painful reminder of my reality, before once more pushing the knowledge aside and locking it down tight within me. I wouldn’t allow it to ruin my discovery of time travel.
I glanced up at Uncle Percy, only to find him staring at me with a look of abject sadness. It was only there for a second – gone the instant he caught me looking – but it was there for long enough to make the harsh reality of my situation claw at its confines deep within me. I bit my lip, hard, and the pain was enough to quiet the beast.
“Can we go on a time trip?” I asked, desperate to escape, even just for a while. Uncle Percy smiled slightly at me. “That was the idea.” He said, before holding his watch so that I could see. “Watch this.” He pressed the extra button, and an input field opened up. “You enter in a string of numbers that corresponds to longitude, latitude and time. I thought we might take a trip to one of my favourite places in history.” he said, before taking my watch and keying in numbers. I put it back on, marvelling at the small device.
“Are you ready?” he asked me, his face lit up in excitement. I nodded despite the trepidation that was beginning to curl at the bottom of my stomach. Uncle Percy clicked a button on my watch, and a tendril of light began to curl up my arm from my watch. Within seconds, we were both engulfed in the light. With a resounding boom, we were gone.