While tidying up my website, I came across this story I wrote in 2014. In this strange and unsettling year, and with 2021 just around the corner, I hope you enjoy this light-hearted little piece.

Time Travel

“Do you want a seat?” the guy sitting by the bus window asked.
“Sure,” Janey had been happy to stand, but now she saw the seat was free.
The guy moved over and she perched next to him.
He had a slide phone. Janey hadn’t seen one of those for years.
“Can I ask you a favour?” he said.
Janey raised an eyebrow. The guy looked normal. He was a little preppy, with an over-the-shoulder sling bag she hadn’t seen for years either.
“I know it sounds weird,” he said, “But there’s something special about this bus seat. What if I told you, that if you sit near the window you can see what it’s like seven years into the future?”
Janey raised her eyebrows higher, though her heart was sinking.
In his lap was a iPod Shuffle.
“Don’t you want to see what it’s like in 2021?” he said, “I wanted to see 2014. The problem is, I think I like 2007 better.”
“2007?”
“Yes, and if you took this seat, I could go back home.”
“Home?”
“To 2007.”
Janey thought about all those warnings about talking to crazy people on the bus.
“You see, I can’t go back unless you agree,” the guy went on earnestly, “That’s what the guy who gave me this seat told me.”
“That’s crazy. You can’t have a time-traveling bus seat,” Janey shook her head at the absurdity.
“This is my stop!” the guy said, “Can I get off here?”
Janey swiveled her legs so the guy could get past. He winked at her, “Thank heaps.”
Janey twisted her hair in her fingers. She looked at the seat near the window. Time travel to 2021. That was crazy.
Would 2021 be better than now?
Then she moved across, and smiled.

First published on mcdulac.wordpress.com 2014

© 2014 M. C. Dulac