It was a normal March day in 2024. Sheldon had to travel back to the mainland for a conference on endangered species. His boat would be there any minute, and he was yet to even eat breakfast. He was rushing in and around the house watering the plants, doing the laundry and sweeping the floor as fast as he could. “I am so late! How will I reach the conference on time?” He said to himself, with one hand buttoning up his blazer and the other preparing toast. Sheldon was a clumsy man, with a nice job who didn’t take much pride in his small shack of a house. As a marine biologist, Sheldon was on a two year mission in the South Pacific, to study brand a new aquatic species, the Spine-Headed Shark. He was all alone on that tiny island, where he ought not let himself be distracted by a game of snooker with his buddies or by the pecking sounds of his dad’s carpentry. Having sat up all night, brainstorming, he was confident about shocking the panel members with his research paper. Finally, he stepped out of the house, dumping all his notes in a bag and holding his glasses and phone with a ham-fisted grip.
He shut the door in a rush, as he ran towards a small port. His phone beeped. The marine wildlife agency never sent last minute messages. “Your speed boat has been cancelled due to high risk of a water spout,” The message read, along with a warning to seek safe shelter. Frantically, he called the agency, but to no answer. They had already left! Sheldon’s heart paced as grey clouds covered the bright blue sky like a child tightly tucked under a blanket. He dropped all his things and started searching his pockets. “Where are my keys?” He muttered in alarm. Did he forget them in the house? Coming to the realisation of what had happened, Sheldon started to panic. He sent an SOS with trembling hands. Thunder shook the ground, and Sheldon almost fell over. Streaks of lightning struck big and bright near the island, raising the biggest waves. Drenched in water with his heart in his throat, Sheldon tore out a sheet from his notes and wrote, “Help! Stuck on Island 304 in a tornado!”. He clambered it into an empty water bottle and threw it out into the ocean as far as he could, with a wavering hope that someone would be there just in time to save him from an apparent and sudden near-death situation. He checked whether a window or a shaft was open so that he could enter his house before it was too late. But alas! Nothing! He was locked out! As he peered through the window, Sheldon saw the house keys glistening on his study table. He crouched under a veranda table, praying that he’d survive. Water spouts on the South Pacific were known to be violent, and to be caught in one will result in loss of life. Sheldon closed his eyes tightly, and felt as if he were being lifted into the air. “Please don’t take me, I’m too young to die!”, he thought. Sheldon wished hard that he could have eaten a few more hamburgers the previous night so that he would’ve been too heavy for the winds to carry off. Suddenly, the winds around him started moving so fast that he felt nauseous and dizzy. He was screaming, but his voice could never match the racket the massive storm was creating. He saw a cow, a house, a bicycle and a young boy enter the tornado too. He reached out to the petrified kid, and caught hold of his hand. Then, they both closed their eyes tightly and went along with the tornado. Just then, Sheldon felt a massive blow on his head. A wooden block had hit Sheldon, and he blacked out.
When he came to his senses, he found that he had been washed ashore and the weather seemed as if nothing had happened. He saw his little house. He ran towards it. Was it still locked? He looked in through the window. Who was that old man sleeping on the sofa?! Shocked, he banged on the door. The man opened it, and when he looked at Sheldon, he too wore an astonished expression on his face. “Sheldon, is it you?” he stammered in disbelief. “Yes, sir. But, how do you know my name?” Sheldon had a lot of questions. While the uncanny resemblence the old man had was unmissable, Sheldon wasn’t in a conscious mood to believe his thoughts. “Who is this man? Why is he in my house?” The old man replied, “I am really shocked to see you, here in my house!” “WHAT?!!” Sheldon was confused. “HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? THIS IS MY HOUSE?!!” “I’d say you’ve come from the 2020 decade right?” The old occupant said. Sheldon exclaimed- “Sir, I don’t understand. This is the year 2024!” “No! It’s 2050!” The sixty-something man said, in a calm tone. “WAIT….WHAT?!” Sheldon was panicking. “HOW did I travel to the future??” “Let me guess…A tornado, and you lost your keys back when you were studying Spine-Headed Sharks?” The old man smiled. “How did you know that?” Sheldon said with a pressing need to take a grip of what was happening. The old man was beaming. “I was waiting for this day! You’ll be perfect to test out my new machine!” “Machine, sir?” Sheldon asked, completely puzzled. What was this machine, and what was going to happen to him? “Follow me inside, young Sheldon!” The old man walked back into the house and Sheldon followed.
The man led him into a messy room, with something underneath a big black cloth. “What is that?” Sheldon pointed towards the thing. “That is my lastest invention…THE TIME MACHINE!” The old man cried in excitement. “Really? Does that mean I can go home?” Sheldon was relieved. “Well…maybe.” The man sighed. “MAYBE?” Panic filled Sheldon’s brain again. The man smiled. “I haven’t tested it fully yet, but I have tried going back to my past, but always end up in a tornado of wormholes to different universes instead!” “How did you get back?” Sheldon asked. The man showed him a remote, saying “This. This red button will get you back to your present here in 2050!” “Great! Did you want me to test it?” Sheldon asked excitedly. His emotion changed suddenly, he felt as if he were with someone he knew…BUT WHOM? The man lifted the dusty black cloth and revealed a small spaceship kind of structure. “Sit in this and think about where you want to go, the date and the year clearly. Press the green button and say it out loud. You shall be teleported to that point in time.” The man said, with a serious look on his face. “Oh and take this remote and a spare key of your house with you. In case you don’t get back to your place, then press the red button, it’ll bring you back here. And the key is the one to your house. I found it a long time ago.” Sheldon looked at the key and remote, amazed and wondering how the man knew he lost his key. “Okay.” he sighed. He sat in the spaceship, pressed the green button, and said out loud, “Island 304, Australia, March 10th 2024!” The ship rumbled and shook violently. Sheldon looked into the man’s eyes. Now the familiarity of the old man was sinking in. The man waved and said, “See you in 26 years, Sheldon!” Green light and a loud blast, Sheldon was back on his island, outside the door to his small and humble house. The weather was alright then, and he felt relieved that he was home. He looked at the remote carefully, and found that the man had written something, “TO SHELDON, FROM SHELDON.”
November, 2024
