Posts tagged ‘short story’
ELMO’S SOJOURN, CHAPTER 13, ELMO’S RETURN TO EARTH
ELMO’S SOJOURN
CHAPTER 13
ELMO RETURNS TO EARTH
Mildred was watching TV when she detected footsteps coming up the cellar stairs. She immediately knew the sight that would soon greet her: a young Elmo and his alien friend. She also knew Elmo had returned because he wanted her to go back to Roth with him. Could she? Could she leave her family and friends to live in an alien world with Elmo? What would Elmo do if she said no? Would he willingly return to the body of an old man and finish their life together in this house? All this ran through her mind as the cellar door slowly opened.
Out stepped young Elmo and the alien. This time Mildred was able to handle their appearance much better. Valmid went upstairs to entertain himself with the computer and Elmo asked Mildred to join him at the kitchen table to discuss their future. They sat there for a long time, going over the pros and cons of staying on Earth or returning to Roth. Elmo finally said, “Mildred, the stay on Roth does not have to be permanent. We could return to Earth any time we wish. The residents of Roth time-travel with the ease of our driving to the store.” This argument pushed her over the edge. She replied, “You know Elmo, during all the years we’ve been together, I’ve done plenty of crazy things with you. This must be the craziest, but I’ll give it a try.”
“Mildred,” Elmo responded, “the last time I was this happy was when you said you would marry me. Let’s go explore the universe!” Elmo headed upstairs to get Valmid. But before returning downstairs he sat at his computer and typed out the following e-mail message.
My name is Elmo Baker. I am a retired scientist formerly employed at Los Alamos. What I have to say is unbelievable but true. I have traveled to the planet Roth. There I found that during the early twentieth century, monsters from the planet Gylex invaded Earth. The purpose of this invasion was to obtain women for the survival of their civilization because a virus had killed most of the females of Gylex. Unfortunately, all the women captured are no longer alive. I have included two attachments. One is a detailed report on how to protect the Earth from further invasions because it’s likely that these monsters may be returning soon. The second attachment is a video of one of the monsters attacking a house on the planet I visited. Please believe me and take action.
Elmo sent the e-mail to The New York Times, The Washington Post and every other major newspaper he could think of. He then shut the computer down and headed downstairs. As he entered the living room, he found Valmid laying out two time-space machines on the floor. Elmo told Valmid, “I’ve alerted some of our major newspapers. I hope to God they heed my warning.” Valmid then had Mildred stand in one of the machines, handed her the control box and told her to push the start button. With a face full of apprehension, she followed his instructions and was gone in a flash. Elmo and Valmid entered the other machine and made their exit from planet Earth.
ELMO’S SOJOURN: CHAPTER 9, ELMO RETURNS HOME
ELMO’S SOJOURN
CHAPTER 9
ELMO RETURNS HOME
Suddenly, Elmo found himself back in his cellar, standing next to Valmid and near his time-space machine. Valmid made a sound that could only be described as a chuckle as he examined Elmo’s machine.
Upstairs, Elmo could hear Mildred in the kitchen. Even though it had only been a few days’ journey, with all he had learned and seen, Elmo felt he had been gone for a very long time. The two travelers slowly made their way up the stairs.
In the kitchen, Mildred was just cleaning up after dinner, washing a cast-iron skillet when she heard someone coming up the cellar stairs. “Elmo’s back,” she said to herself. She couldn’t wait to hear about his adventures and what it was like to travel in space and time. Then she thought, “Wait a minute. I had to control the machine in order for him to return.” With that thought, she clutched the handle of the skillet with two hands ready to battle whoever had broken into the cellar.
As she watched, the door leading to the cellar slowly swung open. Out stepped a young man she did not recognize. She screamed, “Who are you? If you don’t leave right now, this skillet will make a lasting impression on you. Now get!”
The young man just stood there and said, “Mildred, it’s me, Elmo.”
“Who are you trying to kid?” answered Mildred, now studying the stranger more closely. This young man was younger than Elmo had been when she first met him, yet he was starting to look vaguely familiar.
The stranger then said, “It’s me, Doll.” Elmo was the only one who ever called her that. After nearly forty years of marriage, he still called her Doll when they were alone.
After the stranger uttered her nickname, Mildred studied his face more closely as the skillet slipped from her hand and crashed to the floor. “Elmo, it is you. What on earth happened to you?” As she was finishing her question, Valmid appeared, ducking his head through the doorway behind Elmo. That’s when Mildred crashed to the floor.
* * *
When Mildred came to, she was lying on the couch and the new Elmo was dabbing her face with a wet cloth. He explained how he arrived on planet Roth and found that the creature he had transported to Earth was a pet of one of the inhabitants of the planet. He went on to tell her about Valmid and how she would be able to communicate with her new guest. Next, he explained the complexity of time-space travel and the fact that he survives his trip through the wormhole was just dumb luck. Finally, Elmo described the increasing invasions the planet Gylex was mounting on Roth and the information Valmid required to repel the invaders.
“Now prepare yourself, Mildred, while I properly introduce you to Valmid,” he told her. As Elmo said this, Valmid entered the room. He seemed to be studying Mildred and communicated to Elmo, “Your wife is still very disturbed by my presence. Perhaps we should do some research on your computer and gain the knowledge of chlorofluorocarbons and give her time to digest your youthful appearance – and my countenance.”
Elmo gave Mildred’s hand a pat and told her that they were going to his study. He then led Valmid up the stairs. Soon Elmo was punching away at of his keyboard while Valmid shook his head at how such an archaic device held information that might save his planet.
Locating a web site giving the history of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), Elmo began to read. Discovered in 1928, CFCs, a group of chemicals including Freon, had many uses in both industry and the home. The gases were considered harmless. In fact, their inventor, Thomas Midgley, once took in a lungful of one of them to demonstrate its safety and then blew on a candle to show it was nonflammable. After many years of use, CFCs were linked to the destruction of the ozone layer. Their manufacture declined and other gases replaced Freon. Elmo explored further and located the chemical composition of Freon, including the formulation and conditions necessary to produce it.
Valmid was greatly pleased and was sure that the chemists of Roth could manufacture Freon with little trouble, and since he had never had any ill effects before or now from breathing the air, he felt Freon would not harm the inhabitants of Roth. He had accomplished his mission and was anxious to return to his planet and start planning the deterrence of the demons from Gylex. He had other plans to consider, but for now, the welfare of his planet was his prime concern.
Valmid turned to Elmo, and Elmo sensed what he was about to ask, “Now Elmo, what are your plans?” Valmid knew the confusion Elmo was experiencing, torn between his new taste for adventurous space travel and his love for Mildred and the life they had shared for so many years.
Valmid suggested, “Perhaps you and Mildred should spend some time together. I’ll stay here and amuse myself with your computer.”
Elmo made his way down the stairs and found Mildred sitting at the kitchen table. He sat opposite her and extended his hands. They sat there holding hands for a few moments before Mildred spoke. “So many changes, Elmo. I’ve learned to expect the unexpected during my life with you, but never anything like this. You could be my son; you’re so young. And there’s a gray seven-foot alien upstairs waiting to return to his planet. It’s too much to comprehend all at once. Elmo, what are we to do?”
Elmo had given the possibilities a great deal of thought and had formulated a plan. “Dear,” he told her, “I must return with Valmid to see if my theory for repelling the Gylexians is correct. If it is not, he will need my help to investigate the history of Earth and what could generate the mysterious substances needed to return Roth to its former tranquility. The safety of Earth is also at stake. And there is still so much I want to learn about Roth. I may want to stay there for some time. Mildred, once the planet is safe, I want you to travel to Roth with me. For wherever you are, that is where my home is.”
Mildred did not know what to say to this proposition. Elmo seemed so certain, so confident, and her mind was full of so many doubts. They talked for hours, sitting and holding hands at the kitchen table. “Mildred, I left here an old, retired scientist, I returned a young adventurer involved with a planet that needs my help.” Then he told all he knew about Roth. How, even though it was an alien planet, biology and geology were very similar to that of Earth. He struggled to voice his emotions.
“The inhabitants of Roth are different on the outside, but inside they share the same hopes and fears as we, the same love and dreams for the future. Roth is not safe now, but when it is, I’ll be back, and I hope you will return with me to share my adventure.”
“I just don’t know Elmo; I just don’t know.”
Elmo stood, “Think about all I said Mildred. My future is with you, and we can have a future neither one of us had ever dreamed of.”
They could hear Valmid making his way down the stairs. Elmo stood, kissed Mildred, and made his way to the cellar door. Valmid appeared in the kitchen, bowed to Mildred, then made his way down the stairs with Elmo. A few minutes later a blinding flash emanated from the cellar below. Mildred knew she was once again alone.
ELMO’S SOJOURN: CHAPTER 6, REVELATIONS FROM VALMID
ELMO’S SOJOURN
CHAPTER 6
REVELATIONS FROM VALMID
Valmid invited Elmo to walk with him and discover the beauty of Roth. As they opened the door, the dingo plants were pulling back their last extended strands of nighttime growth. The sky, colored the deepest lavender Elmo had ever seen, was dotted with fluffy clouds of lemon yellow. This world was so different yet so beautiful. Elmo sniffed the air and detected the salty tang of the ocean. Valmid nodded yes. “We are near the sea.”
A path from the house led to a slight rise. As they set out Valmid shortened his stride, enabling Elmo to stay by his side. Zytex followed them, his roving eye taking in the sights of the home he had almost lost. They passed other Rothians along their climb up the rise. Valmid greeted them with his whining turbine voice and nodded to Elmo, appearing to tell the other aliens something of him. As soon as Valmid finished, Elmo noticed relief in the faces of the others. Once they had climbed to the top of the rise, the beauty of the seascape below struck Elmo with peaceful thoughts of home. An expanse of ocean, deep blue, stretched into infinity, the water turning shades of turquoise and green close to shore. “At least,” Elmo thought, “the ocean looks like home.”
A few solitary islands broke the horizon and alien pleasure craft dotted the surface, accompanied by an occasional sail billowing in the wind. The beach was the darkest black Elmo had ever seen. He thought there might be black sand on Earth, but he had never seen a beach this color. The scene was beautiful, with sights both familiar and entirely new, enhanced by aliens from another world enjoying a peaceful day by the ocean.
Elmo’s day was spent observing what life was like on planet Roth. The streets were mostly deserted except for the occasional Rothian car zipping by and the high-pitched whine of the Rothians greeting one another. Would he ever grow accustomed to that sound? Elmo spent a pleasant day with Valmid, walking and discussing Earth and Roth, the similarities and differences between the two planets. Zytex was never far behind, although he would sometimes stray. Valmid would then shout to him and grin as Zytex’s eye looked skyward and his small arms shot up as if to say, “Who me?”
As they walked the streets, Elmo noticed that a few structures similar to Valmid’s home seemed deserted. Just as on Earth, when a caring hand does not tend the property, it shows.
Valmid’s mind blanked as they passed these abandoned dwellings, as if there was something about the properties he wished to conceal. Elmo enjoyed being with Valmid, felt he could trust him, but at the same time felt there was something Valmid was hiding. But there was so much for Elmo to learn and experience in such a short period of time that the thought of some secret being kept drifted to the back of his mind.
The day went by rapidly for Elmo on this new world. The clouds took on a hint of emerald as the two followed by Zytex, headed home. Approaching the house, Valmid screeched a greeting to Cal standing in the doorway.
Elmo sat down to another Rothian meal of unfamiliar but tasty food. He wondered what type of animal and plant life he was consuming – there was still so much he wanted to learn of this planet. While Valmid and Elmo were gone, Cal had programmed the computer to display various scenes of Roth on the wall mounting, and as each scene was displayed either Valmid or Cal provided a narration. Elmo saw vast canyons and spectacular mountain ranges. He considered the differences between the inhabitants of Earth and Roth but acknowledged that the biology was basically the same. Now he realized that along with the biology, the geology of Roth must also roughly correspond to that of Earth.
The three talked late into the night, the only real sound the occasional report of the dingo plants as some small critter trespassed near the house. The fullness of the day and the quantity of information Elmo had absorbed took its toll and he began nodding off. He bid his friends goodnight and bounced up stairs that made him feel as if he were a toddler. Upon entering the bedroom, he was pleased to see the bed turned down and his pajamas laid out. Soon he was under the covers and fast asleep. But his rest did not last long. Howling and screeching pierced the night accompanied by the shrill voices of Valmid and Cal. Another sound accompanied all this turmoil, a metallic noise that rang throughout the house. Elmo soon discovered the source of the clanking as thick sheets of metal slid over his windows, leaving him sitting in total darkness, unable to imagine what was happening.
Elmo stumbled from his room into the hallway, only to encounter Valmid and Cal in an extreme state of distress. He noticed perspiration on Valmid’s brow. Since Elmo arrived on Roth Valmid had exhibited such a serene, calming countenance that to see him upset made Elmo’s uneasiness grow even deeper. He followed Valmid and Cal downstairs, and shortly they were all sitting around the kitchen table with mugs of a warm beverage resembling tea before them.
Valmid gazed at Elmo. “There is something I have been keeping from you my friend,” he said. “Something that threatens this planet and might once again threaten Earth. What you heard tonight was the alarm sounded by the dingo plants to an invasion by the inhabitants of the planet Gylex, a distant planet revolving around a star in much the same way Roth and Earth do. The inhabitants of Gylex have also discovered the secret of time-space travel, but their intentions are most nefarious.”
“You see,” he continued, “our homes are not surrounded by dingo plants to prevent crime – there is little crime on Roth. Rather, these plants surround our homes to sound the alarm if invaders from Gylex are nearby. We do not fully understand the relationship between the dingo plants and these beings, but when a Gylexan is in the vicinity of a dingo plant, the plants emit a piercing scream. We propagate these plants to warn us of invasion. We have cameras mounted outside the house to record these intrusions. Let us see if they recorded anything tonight.”
They all went into the living room and sat facing one of the wall hangings. Valmid pushed buttons on a remote and the pleasant scenes of the planet Roth were replaced by the view from the house. While doing this, he told Elmo, “In the short time you have been with us, I feel I have gotten to know you. You have experienced so much since you arrived. I was going to wait until tomorrow to tell you how you could be of benefit to my planet. Now I will show you.”
ELMO’S SOJOURN: CHAPTER 3, ELMO ARRIVES ON ROTH
ELMO’S SOJOURN
CHAPTER 3
ELMO ARRIVES ON ROTH
When Elmo awoke, he had no idea where he was. His eyes beheld a landscape both strange and beautiful, a rolling countryside of vegetation and a nearby dwelling, but unlike any he had ever seen. Then, he recalled entering his time-space machine with his newfound friend. As he ran his fingers through his thick black hair, he wondered where he was. His body felt youthful. He must be forty years younger. He contemplated the shift in time and enjoyed his renewed youth.
Waiting to be transported back to his basement, Elmo had no way of knowing his adventure had caused the greatest blackout in history. He was hesitant to move and change the coordinates he had entered into the time-space machine sitting in his basement. Eventually curiosity won out and he began to explore his surroundings. At the same time, he felt a growing fear. He wondered if this journey was a good idea and if he would ever see Mildred again.
As he stood near his traveling companion, he saw the creature’s funnel shaped mouth form a grin, happy to be home. The soil was the color of the soil back home with green vegetation, but vegetation that defied what he knew of plant life. There were trees in the distance, but they towered like mountains over the landscape. The giant redwoods he recalled from his vacations would reach only a third the way up the trunks of these behemoths. He stood in a tiny bare spot of ground. Stepping upon a green field, he heard tiny screams and immediately retreated. Vegetation was obviously advanced on this planet, felt pain, and could utter distress. There were trails leading everywhere so that one could avoid walking on the plant life. He must remember to tread lightly on this planet. His eyes left the landscape and gazed at a brilliant lavender sky studded with crimson clouds although it was not yet dusk. Crimson must be the normal color of clouds in this world. Elmo also found that here a small hop would carry him far. His companion, too, was much more active in gravity one-fourth than of earth.
This newly youthful Elmo sat down with his traveling companion at his side and studied the landscape for a very long time and thought of his journey. He noted that although his age had noticeably changed, the appearance of the creature next to him had not. This must indicate a longer lifespan. Then he smiled, realizing that if the journey had been made with a Galapagos tortoise, the effect would have been the same. Elmo considered the implications, both scientific and personal if his theory about age was correct. The personal consequences made his eyes run with tears. His companion seemed to understand his grief, and its tiny arm hugged his shoulder. Elmo once again gazed at the sky and drank in the glory of another world. Dusk approached, and the sky held three moons of varying diameters. As the sun set, the crimson clouds held hints of green, becoming a deep emerald as darkness approached.
Night fell. Lights began to dot the landscape. In the darkness, the door to the nearby structure opened and a tall, gray-skinned figure approached Elmo and his eye-roving friend. Elmo’s first reaction was to run. But where would he go? He knew nothing of his surroundings, and, after all, this adventure was meant to learn about alien life. The approaching creature was clad in a flowing, blue robe-like garment. As it came closer, Elmo’s traveling companion began to execute flips and emit sounds similar to the purring of a cat. Suddenly Elmo realized what he thought was the dominant life form was actually a pet.
As the strange being approached, Elmo appreciated its height, which was well over seven feet, and its regal bearing. The head of the creature was very large, larger than his seven-foot plus height would require, and completely hairless. Its ears were mere holes in the sides of the head, the nose being a simple hole also. Its eyes were the most amazing aspect of its face. They were huge, elliptical and able to rotate on their center. The eye movement of this planet’s inhabitants was strange indeed. The being who now stood before Elmo and the fire hydrant-shaped creature smiled and patted the creature’s head, causing its purring to increase and leading Elmo to believe he had brought the little fellow back home.
The tall, gray-skinned figure did not seem at all surprised at Elmo’s arrival. “Receiving visitors from other worlds must be a common occurrence here,” thought Elmo. “There are so many questions I want to ask. But how do I communicate?”
Thoughts raced through his mind, and Elmo soon found himself unable to concentrate. That was when the breakthrough occurred. As his mind went blank, Elmo’s head was suddenly filled with thoughts that were not his own. His emotions went from shock to disbelief to understanding. These beings communicated by thought transference! When his mind was full of his own thoughts, there was no room for the thoughts of another. He must clear his mind to receive the thoughts of this being. Instead of alternating between thinking and listening, they alternated between thinking and making their minds a blank slate. When his mind had been racing, he’d noticed the alien wince and wrinkle his brow; now he knew why.
“I am Valmid, and this is the planet Roth, third planet from our sun,” it said. “Thank you for returning Zytex. He has been with our family for many years, and I was sad at the prospect of losing the little fellow.” Zytex’s eye wandered around his head as he purred incessantly, taking in Valmid and Elmo.
“You must meet my wife,” thought Valmid, and with that he turned towards his home. He next emitted a sound that reminded Elmo of a high-pitched turbine, interrupted by a clicking noise. Out of the house came a figure even taller than Valmid but obviously female.
ELMO’S SOJOURN: CHAPTER 2, ELMO’S ADVENTURE BEGINS
ELMO’S SOJOURN
CHAPTER 2
ELMO’S ADVENTURE BEGINS
As Mildred returned her thoughts to the present, she wondered if the lights dimming had anything to do with Elmo’s shouting. What she didn’t know was that the lights had also dimmed in most of that region of New York and most of eastern Canada. The electrical company had never experienced a power drain like this before and was struggling to get things under control.
Now, as she opened the basement door, Mildred wondered if perhaps all those years Elmo worked in the basement unsupervised was really a good idea. She peered down the stairs He began jumping like a little boy, not the seventy-five-year-old man that he was. “I don’t have a problem. I did it! I did it!” he shouted over and over.
“I completed my first experiment,” Elmo answered and pointed to the Plexiglas chamber. Through the mist Mildred began to detect a shape. At first she thought it was a large fire hydrant but then it began to move. The fire hydrant was mottled red and green with skinny arms ending in suction-cupped fingers. Its tiny legs also ended in suction cups. The creature’s mouth resembled a funnel, which constantly opened and closed. It was breathing.
The most peculiar aspect of this creature was its eye. It had only one and it blinked constantly. As Elmo and Mildred talked, the eye followed their conversation, traveling from one to the other, as the eye physically moved around the perimeter of its head. Mildred watched as the eye moved from one side of the thing’s head to the other. She giggled as she imagined a stadium full of these creatures following a tennis match but soon got control of herself. Actually, the single eye wandering all over the alien’s head was starting to give her the creeps.
“You can’t keep it,” she said.
Elmo responded, “I don’t want to keep it. I want to go back with it.”
“You’re kidding Elmo, and where did it come from anyway?” asked Mildred.
Elmo explained, “You see my dear, you and I and all living beings in the universe are a series of chemical reactions. The cosmos is one huge chemistry set. I thought that if there was a star, similar in size to our sun, and if there was a planet with a distance similar from that star as the earth is from the sun, that life might exist there. These days, astronomers are always discovering new planets revolving around distant stars. So, I just waited until one was discovered with the right conditions and aimed my time-space machine at that planet and the results are in the chamber. But notice how our friend can barely move his arms or legs. The gravity on his planet must be much less than it is on earth. I need to go back with him and see what it’s like.”
Mildred shook her head. But she knew arguing with Elmo was useless.
“I’ll show you how to run the machine, but first get our camera,” Elmo said.
By the time Mildred found the camera and returned to the basement, Elmo had entered the chamber and had his arm around the visitor. Mildred took a picture, then another for insurance. Then Elmo exited the chamber to demonstrate the workings of the machine to his anxious wife.
“Okay dear, first you turn the machine on with this switch. Next, you turn this rheostat. To get him here, I had to set the rheostat to half maximum. To get us back, you’ll need to turn it to full. Give me about ten minutes and then bring me back.”
“I don’t know if this is such a good idea,” muttered Mildred.
“Don’t worry Mildred, I’ll be back before you’re done cooking dinner.”
Elmo entered the chamber and Mildred followed his instructions. As soon as the rheostat reached max, there was a blinding flash, the chamber filled with a milk-white fog, and Elmo and the creature were gone. Shortly after they disappeared the lights in the basement went out.
Mildred sighed. “Oh Elmo, you may be gone a little longer than you expected,” she muttered and climbed the stairs to fix dinner.
What Mildred didn’t yet know was her town, the entire state of New York, along with most of the northeast, a good portion of the Midwest and a large part of Canada were also without power. Fifty million people were plunged into darkness. Elmo’s experiment had precipitated the largest blackout in history. He was going to be very very late for dinner.
ELMO’S SOJOURN: CHAPTER 1, CELLAR SCIENCE
ELMO’S SOJOURN
CHAPTER 1
CELLAR SCIENCE
“I have a problem! I have a big problem!” Elmo shouted from his cellar laboratory. Mildred shook her head, wiped her hands on her apron and headed for the basement door. After fifty years of marriage, Elmo never ceased to amaze her at the trouble he could get into.
“Could he garden like other men his age? Oh no, he has to do physics experiments,” Mildred muttered as she walked down the cellar stairs.
* * *
They had moved into this rural house in Upstate New York ten years ago, right after Elmo had retired from his job at Los Alamo Laboratory. He was a physicist at the laboratory, part of a think-tank that planned experiments. But Elmo enjoyed the lab work too. He had accumulated a lot of ideas and discarded equipment. Mildred gazed out the window of her country home. Nearby, tall electrical towers obstructed some of the bucolic scenery, but Mildred liked the house just fine. Elmo brought along the junk he had accumulated over the years, mostly discarded apparatus from failed experiments, equipment useless to everyone except Elmo. The items included large magnets and four six-foot-tall Tesla coils, specialized high voltage transformers three feet in diameter and wrapped with miles of thin copper wire. They resembled giant candles, coming to a point with electrical connections at the apex. Elmo transported all this equipment into the basement and fiddled with it for years. He then had a large Plexiglas chamber built, which set them back a bundle. He stood the Tesla coils in each corner, then mounted the magnets in the floor.
The next step in the construction of Elmo’s experiment Mildred found most undesirable. Elmo told Mildred, “I’ll need a great deal of power for my research. Soon I’ll need your help making the electrical connections for the project I’ve been working on.”
A few days ago, a truck had delivered a huge spool of heavy insulated wire, another great expense, and now Mildred was getting a bad feeling. Once it was dark, Elmo emerged from the basement wearing rubber boots and heavy rubber gloves. “Get your coat Mildred, we’re going out.” The spool of wire was in the bed of Elmo’s pickup. They drove to the base of the nearest electrical tower and parked.
“What are you going to do Elmo?” Mildred asked in a voice full of apprehension and a touch of impatience.
“I’m going to climb the tower and connect this wire which you’re going to feed out,” came his reply. Mildred shook her head and wished Elmo would act his age.
After that illegal task was accomplished, Elmo spent most of his time in the basement tinkering with his invention. He called it his Time – Space Chamber, and when Mildred asked just what he was doing Elmo explained, “I’ve always thought that if I could create an electrical field, then move those electrons in a magnetic field to approach the speed of light, I could create a wormhole to a distant time and place. I could aim at the wormhole and transport matter. The secret is the size of the magnetic field. It must be small, not like the giant cyclotrons they construct in the desert.
All Mildred could say was, “If it makes you happy dear.” It kept Elmo out of her hair for years.
ELMO’S INVENTION: CHAPTER 11, A TINKERER GOES INTO THE FUTURE
CHAPTER 11
A TINKERER GOES INTO THE FUTURE
Kingsley talked to Elmo on the phone and agreed to come over and view the time machine the next day. The excitement in Elmo’s voice was obvious. “It works! It works!” Elmo repeatedly shouted. Kinsley didn’t have to ask what works.
The following night at 6:00PM sharp Kingsley showed up at the kitchen door, punctual as usual. Mildred had a steaming mug of Earl Grey ready for him.
“Hello, Kingsley. Elmo is so excited to talk to you about his time machine. I’ll be honest with you Kingsley; I think it really does work but what kind of disruption it will cause in our lives I can only imagine. I just want a nice quiet life here in New Mexico.”
Kinsley said, “I’ll do my best to keep the existence of the machine quiet until Elmo and I have thought through the ramifications it might pose.”
Elmo appeared at the top of the cellar stairs and said, “Kingsley come quick. I want to demonstrate my time machine.” Elmo rushed down the stairs so fast that Kingsley was afraid he might miss a step and fall.
“All right, Elmo, I’m coming.” Kingsley looked back at Mildred and she just stood there shaking her head.
Elmo led Kingsley down to the iron lung. “Kingsley, I found a loose wire and after consulting my wiring diagrams, I reattached it. And what do you know; it now works as a time machine.”
“How can you be sure, Elmo?”
“Why, I tested it and journeyed into the future. Now I’d like you to see the future.”
This caught Kingsley by surprise. “I don’t know, Elmo. What happens if it’s only a one-way trip?”
“That won’t happen. I came back. And even if it did, I’m only sending you to tomorrow morning. Trust me, Kingsley.”
That declaration was a huge jump of faith in Kingsley’s mind. Will this device work every time. And what happens if a traveler is caught in the ‘in – between? He respected Elmo’s enthusiasm and love for science but had trouble erasing all doubts of success. But after thinking of the prospect of traveling into the future, Kingsley said, “Okay, Elmo, send me to tomorrow morning, but make sure you bring me back.”
Elmo smiled and said, “Don’t worry. It’s foolproof.”
Kingsley stared at Elmo.
Elmo opened the lid to the iron lung and had Kingsley climb in. Before he closed the lid he said, “First the chamber will fill with a dense mist. That’s normal. When the mist clears. I’d like you to go upstairs, open the kitchen door and pick up the paper. Bring the paper along with you when you get back into the chamber. The return process will begin automatically when you close the lid of the iron lung. You’ll be gone for a total of fifteen minutes.” Elmo closed the chamber and initiated the process. Soon Kingsley was lost in a cloud of mist.
Within the chamber Kingsley could see only the dense white fog which soon dissipated. He climbed out of the chamber and found that Elmo was no longer there. Kingsley climbed the cellar stairs. Just a hint a daylight beginning to lighten the kitchen window. Mildred stood before the stove, spatula in hand, cooking breakfast. Elmo sat at the table and was the first to see Kingsley. Then Mildred saw him. Shocked at Kingsley’s suddenly appearing so early in the morning and greatly confused for she had not seen him enter the house, she asked, “What are you doing here?”
Kingsley sheepishly said, “Getting the paper.” Which made no sense to Mildred. All this time Elmo sat at the kitchen table and had a huge grin on his face. Began quietly laughing. Elmo remembered yesterday.
Kingsley retrieved the paper, smiled, and returned to the cellar leaving a bewildered Mildred and hysterical Elmo. Once in the cellar, he opened the lid of the chamber, climbed in and settled down ready to go back to today or rather yesterday. The return process was initiated, and he was lost in a cloud of mist.
When the mist cleared he opened the lid of the iron lung and there stood Elmo. He helped Kingsley out of the chamber and Elmo was excited to see him holding the newspaper which Elmo opened with great anticipation. There it was. Tomorrow’s date. He slapped Kingsley on the back and said, “Now you’re a time traveler.
This experience presented Kingsley with an eerie feeling of possessing knowledge he should not have. He was once again dwelling in today with knowledge of tomorrow.
Kingsley was lost in wonder at what Elmo had accomplished. He built a machine that, until now, only existed in the realm of science fiction. He said, “Elmo, I’d like to keep this paper. There’s some thinking I must do about your startling device.”
“Sure, keep it”, Elmo said.
Kingsley suggested, “Let’s get together in a day or two and discuss the potential impact your machine may have on everyday life. Think things out. I’m sure you and Mildred do not want any more protests.”
“Sure Kingsley, sure. I’ll see you in a couple days.”
The next morning Elmo absently minded went out the kitchen door to get the paper as Mildred said, “Elmo, you won’t believe it but Kingsley already picked up our paper and went into the cellar. Wait a minute, you should believe it because you were here. I’m so confused.”
“Oh, that’s okay,” said Elmo and smiled broadly, amused by Midred’s confusion. Which under the circumstances was normal. For there had never been circumstances like this before.
ELMO’S INVENTION: CHAPTER 10, TIME MACHINE REPAIRED
CHAPTER 10
TIME MACHINE REPAIRED
One day after work Elmo stopped, once again, at Brooker’s farm for fertilized eggs.
“How you doing, Elmo?” he shouted seeing Elmo as Brooker one of his coops.
“Not bad,” Elmo responded. “Not bad.”
Brooker said, “I guess you come for more eggs. Got to tell you, son, this deal is saving me money on feed and such. Hope we can keep it going for a long time.”
Elmo thought about all the effort he put into constructing his machine, and all the grief he endured trying to explore some purpose for it. And it all came down to raising chickens. He tried to mask his feelings and said, “We’ve got a pretty good deal going, Brooker. A pretty good deal.”
Elmo accepted six fertilized eggs and made his way home, his heart full of failure wondering what went wrong. He arrived home, still in a funk, and Mildred met him at the door. She was all smiles. “Elmo, it looks like we’ll be getting another free chicken soon.”
Elmo gave his wife a wistful smile and went downstairs to his cellar lab. He loaded the eggs into his machine, set the length of time of aging to one year and the duration for one minute, and then pushed the button that would start the process. He stepped back, expecting the chamber to fill with mist and eventually see mature chickens, but nothing happened.
“Now what?” Elmo shouted in disbelief.
Not only had his time machine been reduced to raising chickens, now it wouldn’t work at all. Must be a disconnected wire, he thought. He removed the eggs and went to get his wiring diagrams. Unscrewing a steel plate to gain access to the workings of the machine, he carefully began to probe searching for a fault.
After a short period of time he muttered, “Aha.” He had found a disconnected wire and immediately knew that must be the problem.
Elmo referred to his wiring diagram, and then back to the wire. He saw where the connection should be made, but to his surprise, that connection had never been completed. The wire had been soldered to a place it should not have been. He also found some burned-out resistors. That was why the device failed to operate. His mind raced. Could this be why the invention did not fulfill its purpose? Elmo made the repair, reattached the panel and retrieved the eggs.
Elmo’s thoughts went wild as he placed the eggs in the chamber, resetting the length of time to one year and the duration to one minute.
He pushed the start button.
The chamber filled with mist, and then quickly dissipated. The eggs were gone. A short time later they reappeared with no apparent change in age. Elmo reasoned, “The eggs must have traveled into the future and didn’t age.
Elmo jumped for joy, shouting, “It works! It works!”
He next shouted, “Mildred, come quick!”
Mildred heard his initial exclamation. After Elmo beckoned her, she started for the cellar with great apprehension. Sometimes things went terribly wrong down there. She flashed back to her mother’s teacup, wondering where it was now and even if it still existed. She never knew what to expect at all when she was summoned down to Elmo’s lab. But she loved Elmo and wanted to give him all the support she could – within reason.
Upon entering the cellar, Mildred found Elmo peering into his iron lung device. He turned and said to her, “Mil, it works, I think. It finally, really works.”
It was the ‘I think’ that bothered Mildred.
“Watch”, he said to Mildred and repeated the experiment. Once again the eggs disappeared in a cloud and then reappeared in another white haze.
Milder muttered, “At least the eggs returned, unlike my teacup.”
Elmo then related to his wife about the loose wire, his reference to the wiring diagram and his mistake in constructing his machine.
Mildred asked, “Is that the end of our free chickens?” She had her priorities.
The question caused Elmo to chuckle realizing his wife’s priorities were so much different from his own.
“I’m afraid so, my dear. But this is more important than chickens.
“Your teacup was part of a different experiment. The reason I called you down is to see that my invention really worked, to see that the eggs actually traveled in time. Now I must run the ultimate test to see if it worked.”
“Well, Elmo, how are you going to do that?”
After removing the eggs from the chamber, Elmo pushed a small stepstool in front of the iron lung.
Mildred said, “You’re not going to do what I think you’re going to do.”
“There is only one way, Mil, that I can think of to know if it really works. A person must be transported into the future and return and report on the experience.
“I need your help. All the parameters are set. All you need to do is push this button to initiate the process.”
Mildred knew there would be no living with Elmo if she didn’t help, and if she didn’t help, he would just get someone else. She mumbled, “All right, Elmo, but it’s the return part I’m worried about.” She added, “Remember the teacup. What happens if you don’t come back?”
Elmo disregarded that possibility.
Before he closed the lid to the chamber, Elmo said, “That was a totally different type of experiment. But remember that every experiment has an element of uncertainty. That’s why they are called experiments.
“I have to know if my machine works, and I’m almost positive that it does. I need to do this experiment to confirm that it does.”
With that Elmo closed the lid and indicated to Mildred to push the button. The chamber filled with a heavy white mist, and when it cleared Elmo was gone. After five minutes it once again filled with the blanketing mist. Once the chambered cleared, and much to Mildred’s delight, there lay Elmo with a huge grin on his face. He pushed open the lid and shouted, “It works! It works!” After all the hard work, disappointment and failure, his time machine finally worked.
“Mildred, I was talking to you fifteen minutes into the future down here in the cellar.”
“How can you know it was in the future, Elmo?”
“Well, for one thing, you don’t remember me talking to you since I entered the chamber.”
“You’re talking to me now, Elmo.”
“Well yes, but something happened while we were talking that will confirm my knowledge of the future.” Elmo waited another few moments and said, “Your roast is going to burn.”
Minutes later the first odors of burning roast filtered down to the cellar.
“Elmo, why didn’t you tell me earlier? I could have saved the roast.”
“And I would have changed the future.”
Mildred hurried upstairs in a huff. Seconds later there came a crash from the kitchen.
He said quietly, “And you’re going to burn your fingers and drop the roast. I forgot to mention that part.”
Elmo was anxious to share the fact that his time machine finally worked with someone in the scientific community. He immediately thought of notifying the Tinkerer’s Club, but that idea did not last long. The last time he consulted the club it ended in a disaster when someone leaked the events of the meeting. The only Tinkerer he trusted was Kingsley Dasher, and that’s whom he would contact.
ELMO’S INVENTION: CHAPTER 4, THE TINKERER’S CLUB
CHAPTER 4
THE TINKERER’S CLUB
With the experiments completed and his understanding of what he had observed, there was only one thing to do: Call a meeting of the Tinkerer’s Club.
Elmo moved in a circle of physicists, mathematicians and theoretical scientists at Los Alamos. They referred to themselves as the Tinkerers, one member or another constantly came up with ideas to explore and devices to construct. There were approximately ten members, the numbers would vary with interest and transfers to other parts of the country. Gatherings of the members would take place with as little as two or as many as all current members. It all depended on what the members’ specialty was or were too busy involved in their own ideas. They would ponder on their own time; ideas no one would pay them to ponder. The opportunity to contribute to the knowledge of man was their driving force, also if successful, develop a second income. They referred to their efforts as ‘cellar science’, although they did not all have cellars, but the original members all did. What they all had in common was the joy in letting their imaginations run wild without restrictions. They didn’t all work in cellars, some worked in garages and some in rented space, but they all shared a scientific curiosity.
Elmo was the youngest member. Age was not a factor for being accepted into the group, only a passion for science and a high level of intelligence. Most of the members had projects in progress, or theories they wanted to explore. When a member felt his work had come to a milestone he would call a meeting to be held in his laboratory. Those who would attend would study the results and give advice, if they could, but there was almost always encouragement to press on with the project.
Elmo took a week to prepare his presentation. It would usually involve the members’ theory, applications of the project and any problems which needed to be solved
On the night of the meeting four members arrived to analyze the conjecture Elmo would present.
Harold Kinter promised to attend the meeting. He was forever the first to a meeting for he had only one thing in his life, and that was his science. Physics was his field, and he had occasion to work with Elmo. A few years older than Elmo, Harold was portly and a bachelor and would likely remain so all his life. He spent his workdays and after work hours contemplating esoteric theories to occupy his mind. In another life, he could well have been a model for Sherlock Holmes. Although his habits did not readily welcome others into his world, he was not a loner. He chose to surround himself only with those who could stimulate and impact his thoughts.
Another member, James Forsyth, also agreed to come. Forsyth was also a physicist but the direct opposite of Harold. James was so gregarious that when someone met him, they immediately thought he was a salesman. He had the life of an average guy, married with two children. In his mid-forties, his chestnut hair had begun to gray at the temples. It was only when someone asked him what he did for a living that the impression of James Forsyth changed. He would begin talking about physics and couldn’t stop. Only when he opened his mouth about work did those around him realize he was far from the average guy.
Also due to arrive was William Dupree. He was a mathematician who also craved human contact. Now in his mid-fifties, and a bachelor, he was exceedingly short. At just over five feet tall, he found himself often ignored. Desperately wanting his voice to be heard, he found the Tinkerer’s Club an avenue to have a more intimate relationship with his colleagues.
Elmo was surprised when Kingsley Dasher also agreed to attend. Kingsley rarely attended meetings. When in attendance, he would make Harold Kinter appear to be the life of the party. Kingsley defined the term ‘loner’. Tall and thin, with a shaved head, he was at least sixty but no one knew for sure, well, no one also knew if he was married, had children, or anything of his background and education. Although he rarely attended meetings, when he appeared he was more than welcome by the presenter for Kingsley was considered ‘the brain’.
He would sit alone and listen to the presentation and arguments. Often during the course of a meeting, he would not say a word. When the presentation and discussions were completed, at times he would merely rise and leave, never saying anything. However, when he did speak there was total silence to grasp every word he uttered.
Two days before the meeting was scheduled to occur, Elmo informed Mildred that the Tinkerer’s Club would arrive to discuss his time machine. She responded, “I’ll have a pot of coffee and dessert ready for them.” She knew the coffee would be consumed, along with perhaps a second pot, but the dessert hardly touched, except for Harold Kinter. He definitely would enjoy a dessert.
The day of the meeting, Elmo made a decision on his way home. Mildred made him get rid of the rats and he agreed to. In reality, they were beginning to smell up the entire house, so he had no problem in agreeing. Also, it was work to maintain them. However, now he needed a subject to demonstrate his machine. Elmo recalled that his wife had, for some time now, been aching for a pet cat. She loved cats and often told Elmo, “If I had a cat it would keep me company while you’re at work.”
With this in mind, he stopped at an animal shelter on his way home and selected a six week – old orange and white tabby kitten. When he arrived home and walked into the kitchen carrying a cardboard box, the kitten inside began to meow. Mildred ran to Elmo and took the box he was carrying and peered inside.
“Oh, Elmo, you brought me a kitten.” She lifted the kitten out of the box, and hugging it to her breast, and was rewarded with instant purring. “Elmo, she’s beautiful. Thank you so much.”
Elmo asked, “What will you name her?”
“I’ll have to think about that for a while. I just hope you can tolerate the damage she’ll do until she’s old enough to be declawed.”
“I don’t think that will be a problem, Mil. You’ll be able to have her declawed tomorrow.”
“I can’t do that tomorrow. She’s much too young. She must be at least … Oh no, Elmo, you’re not putting her into your chamber, are you?”
“Dear, you made me get rid of the rats.”
“They were stinking up the cellar and I could smell them in the house every time you opened up the cellar door.”
“Mil, I need to demonstrate the time machine tonight to the Tinkerer’s Club. Look on the bright side; she won’t have a chance to cause damage with her claws.”
“Elmo, if anything happens to my kitten there will be hell to pay.” Mildred looked down at the little ball of fur and scratched her ears which intensified the purring, saying, “I’ll miss your kittenhood, but in all honesty, not the damage you might cause with those front claws.” With a final squeeze she gave the kitten to Elmo who put her back in the box and took her down to the cellar.
After dinner the Tinkerers began to arrive. The first was Harold Kinter, as was the custom. He accepted a steaming mug of coffee and a plate of cake and then descended into the cellar. In rapid order, James Forsyth and William Dupree appeared at the front door, accepted mugs of coffee, and then joined Harold in the cellar.
The last to appear, as also was the custom, was Kingsley Dasher dressed in a suit and tie. All the rest of the members were dressed casually. Kingsley had never been a casual person. Mildred was ready for him. “A cup of Earl Grey, Kingsley?” She knew he preferred tea.
“Why, that would be much appreciated,” he answered. After obtaining his beverage, he joined the rest of the group in the cellar to witness tonight’s presentation. He took his usual location of choice away from the rest of the group. He would appear to be indifferent to the entire event, but all the members knew he would be listening intently and would only comment when he thought his input would be of value or steer the meeting in the direction which was required. Stationed in an old recliner in a corner of the cellar, Kingsley tented his fingers and closed his eyes.
In the meantime, Harold, James and William gathered around Elmo’s machine with great anticipation. Elmo was identified as a valued member for his curiosity and intelligence.
Elmo began, “What you see before you, my friends, is my attempt to produce a time machine. I chose to construct it around an iron lung so that a person, a time-traveler, could comfortably recline inside. The intention was to have the time-traveler travel forward in time and return after a preset interval, however, the machine would remain here.”
Elmo went on to explain his theory for time travel and his calculations. The group was amazed as he discussed the basis of his theory for time travel. Kingsley listened through half-closed eyes. Elmo continued, “However, there is a problem and that is the reason I called this meeting. I have tested my device on a variety of animal subjects, including fertilized eggs. It was with the eggs that I determined the flaw in my machine. You see, the subject does travel forward in time but does not leave the machine. Rather, they age, and after the preset interval of the journey, they do not return to their original state but remain at their future age. Fertilized eggs become chicks. Chicks become chickens. Given the required length of time, rats become skeletons. I would now like to demonstrate this phenomenon.”
“Before you demonstrate your device,” Kingsley asked, “How does it create mass? As you describe your results, mass was created with your egg experiments and where did mass go when you produced a rat skeleton?”
Elmo’s face showed puzzlement. He had not thought of this question before.
The mass question produced total silence in the group. They all knew of the balance between mass and energy. That the formation of mass should result in a tremendous drain of energy from somewhere. By the same token, the loss of mass should result in a dramatic increase in energy. Enough energy to obliterate the area surrounding the experiment. The question of the production and loss of mass stymied the Tinkerers.
Suddenly Harold Kinter began to smile. He thought he had a possible answer to the mass question. He began, “There is only one possible explanation. Somehow, and I’m sure no can answer how, Elmo’s machine has been able to tap into the realm of dark matter and dark energy. I feel that can be the only explanation.
“The existence of this strange form of matter and energy is postulated and may someday be proven as fact. And can be the only explanation for the creation and deletion of mass which I can think of.”
The entire group pondered this explanation and were unanimous in their agreement.
Elmo then went to the cardboard box and picked up the kitten which immediately began to purr and lick Elmo’s hand. “This kitten, six weeks old, is tonight’s subject. I will set the journey into the future to six months. The length of the experiment will be five minutes.”
He deposited the kitten into the chamber, and after adjusting a few dials, initiated the process. As usual, the chamber lit up and filled with mist. After the haze cleared there stood a nearly full-grown cat with the identical markings of the kitten. Elmo lifted the feline out of the chamber and went upstairs to deliver the nearly mature cat to Mildred.
When he returned, Harold, James and William were excited and at the same time puzzled. Harold began, “This is truly amazing, Elmo. I’m sure you are not far from inventing a true time machine.”
William and James concurred with Harold’s observation. James added, “When the problem is worked out, this could be an invention of unimaginable proportions.”
Much to everyone’s surprise, Kingsley cleared his throat and began to speak.
ELMO’S INVENTION: CHAPTER 1, ELMO’S WORKSHOP, THE BEGINNING OF THE TIME MACHINE
ELMO’S INVENTION
CHAPTER 1
ELMO’S WORKSHOP
“Mildred,” Elmo Baker shouted, “Come down here. I have something important to show you.” Standing at the base of the cellar stairs, Elmo was in his usual excited state when a project was completed. Of medium build, with a broad face and a mass of curly black hair, Elmo’s passion was science, physics in particular. Mildred, with great trepidation, began walking down the stairs to the cellar. At the base of the stairs stood Elmo, beaming, not a good sign, and Mildred could tell by the twinkle in his eye as she approached her husband, that a demonstration or explanation of an invention was about to take place. And that twinkle would slowly if the experiment failed, which was often the case.
The year was 1966, and Mildred loved Elmo so, but shortly after their marriage three years ago, it became clear how intense Elmo’s love for science was and that love would follow them all of their lives. Mildred loved Elmo’s sense of curiosity but not the prospect of cleaning up the destruction, the mess of a failed experiment.
“Come here, Mil, I’ve got something to show you.” Elmo held out his hand to Mildred and said, “You have got to see this. I’m ready to make the first test.”
Mildred was not looking forward to what Elmo might present to her. Her husband was one of the first ‘dumpster divers’. Los Alamos was the government facility known for its research of the atom, and it was where Elmo worked. And he knew that when an experiment failed, some of the materials that went into the effort were tossed, deemed trash. Lab bosses also discarded equipment they considered ‘obsolete’ to be replaced by the latest version. But Elmo thought of this trash as treasure. This was much to Elmo’s benefit and was the source that supplied his cellar laboratory. At the end of his workday at his Los Alamos lab, Elmo would back his car up to the dumpster area and go to work. On many days, he would come home with the backseat of his Chevy filled with scientific odds and ends. To Elmo, Los Alamos’ trash was the building blocks of his inventions.
Elmo led Mildred to the corner of the cellar where he had his workbench and lab of the cellar. The remainder of the room was occupied by the usual accumulation of life which now had no use but never thrown away. Below a bare overhead bulb was his invention. Which looked to Mildred like and iron lung, one she had seen delivered. Elmo could see the confusion on his wife’s face, and proudly said, “Doll, I have invented a time machine.”
* * *
Mildred kept her love for Elmo strong, although that could be difficult at times.
Elmo was two years older than Mildred. He was handsome, but that was not what had attracted Mildred to him. It was his passion for a new curiosity he discovered, usually scientific. He found the world of science fascinating, with the wonder of a child enthralled by a rattle. At times he could sit for hours just thinking and occasionally smiling. However, the toys that mystified him were sometimes slightly more dangerous than a toy.
Mildred could not recall how many times Elmo called from the cellar, “Call the fire department!” Shortly thereafter, dense smoke would issue from the open cellar door and begin to fill the kitchen. This was long before 911 existed. Mildred knew the phone number of the local fire department by heart.
She recalled the time Elmo constructed two small chambers attached by wires to an intricate control device with a host of dials and flashing lights. The device was meant to transfer objects through space. He wanted to test the machine before building the full-scale model.
Unfortunately for Mildred, she had been busy in the cellar doing some unpacking. She wanted to display in her hutch the beautiful delicate six china teacups and saucers her mother had left her. She knew exactly where they were packed and couldn’t wait to see them again.
The search did not take long, and while admiring one of the cups, she heard Elmo mutter, “I need something small.” He happened to glance at Mildred and exclaimed, “Perfect.”
Before she realized what her husband was up to, he grabbed a cup and put it in one of the chambers.
“Elmo, what are you doing? That was my mother’s cup!” shouted Mildred. “It’s precious to me.”
Elmo was only half listening as he began turning dials and focusing his attention on the chamber containing the cup. “Don’t worry, Mildred. Your cup is perfectly safe. I’m just going to send it to the chamber at the other end of my workbench.”
Much to Mildred’s surprise, her vision of the cup appeared to waver, and then disappears.
Much to Elmo’s surprise, it did not reappear in the other chamber.
“Don’t worry, Mildred. Let’s just give it some time.”
An hour later Mildred went storming up the stairs with five cups and six saucers, angry and sad at her loss.
Elmo continued to stare at the second chamber scratching his head and repeating over and over again, “I wonder where it went.” He was happy that his wife wasn’t there when suddenly he began laughing hysterically, thinking of the cup suddenly appearing someplace quite by surprise and mystifying some unsuspecting person. He was sure the cup went somewhere as matter. For if it had been converted to energy, all that would be left of his house and most of the surrounding area would be cinders.
THE BEGINNING OF THE TIME MACHINE
One day after visiting the supermarket, although in those days they weren’t very super, Mildred was pulling her two-wheeled shopping cart down the street and was amazed to see a pickup parked in her driveway. It was three in the afternoon, and four burly men stood behind the truck. They looked relieved when they saw her approach. In the bed of the truck was a huge piece of equipment. Mildred recognized it immediately. It was an iron lung.
Just recently, the newly developed polio vaccine began distribution on sugar cubes. Gradually iron lungs were no longer needed. However, Mildred had lived with the fear of polio, knew people who had contracted the disease. Some still depended on the device for their lives to continue. “Where do you want this, lady?” asked the man obviously in charge.
“I don’t want it anywhere,” answered Mildred. She had no idea why they had brought this to her home. Then her mind had a flash, Elmo.
“Does an Elmo Baker live here?” the man asked.
There it was. Her husband had bought an iron lung. Shaking her head, Mildred said, “I’m sure it belongs in the cellar. I’ll show you the way.”
After many grunts and groans, the machine rested on its wheels in the cellar.
“What could Elmo want with this thing?” pondered Mildred out loud.
Hearing Mildred one of the men said, “I don’t know nothing, lady. We just deliver.”
The crew went back upstairs and climbed into their truck and left. And Elmo had some explaining to do when he came home from work.
