The Time Machine
Edward/Bella short story. Rated K. Post-Eclipse.
When you have all the time in the world, why even consider traveling to your future?
Disclaimer- I only own copies of Stephanie Meyer's wonderful work. This little drabble is the product of my own muse, but I don't claim to own the characters. Also, the references to The Time Machine, by H.G. Welles are not meant as a copyright infringement. They are details only.
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"Really, why are you making me read this?"
"It's a fascinating concept, truly," was the light reply. "Think of it: if you had the option to go back and change something, would you? If you were truly curious to see what your future holds, would you want to know?"
"You know me. I would change nothing. Everything I've gone through has made me who I am… what I am." There was a long pause, punctuated only by the occasional rustle of pages.
"You know what I would change," came the response. A whisper so slight, human ears would have missed it.
"But I wouldn't. Not for anything in the world, Edward."
"Why? Didn't you say it was the most horrible time of your short life?"
"Yes… but it also enlightening. It taught me to be less cautious—"
"Something I sorely miss."
"—and it taught me that I could survive through anything. Without it, I don't know if I could have survived our wedding night…and those horrible nights afterward. It gave me the strength to make definite decisions and stick to them. No. I would not change a thing."
"I should never have left you. You were so pure, so innocent, and I broke you."
"But you also fixed me. That innocence was never going to stick around. If it had, it probably would have hurt more than it helped. You leaving taught me that you were what I truly wanted. I was offered so many things when you left, and I brushed them away—some with more ease than others. I proved to myself that you were everything I would ever need, and I'll never again wonder what else I could have had. That curiosity is gone forever, because of the change you gave me with your…absence." She smiled up at him from under the thin sheet covering her. "And I really am happy for it. Now, if only I could learn how you change the subject so easily. Answer my question, if you please. Why are you making me read this?"
"The Time Traveler uses a machine to travel into the Future, but only after making the statement that we are already traveling into the Future; the Machine is simply the means to speed up the process."
"Yes, I got that."
"Alright, well, what the Traveler's little club (himself included) doesn't understand, is that we can only move forward in Space."
"But he said—"
"Think about it. Is there any distinction between forward, backward, up and down in Outer Space?"
"…No?"
"Correct. The 'direction' you travel in is only distinguished from any of the other 'directions' by your point of view." He paused for a moment, letting this concept sink into his wife's beautiful, but still young mind.
"I think I get it. And…?"
"I'm getting to that. They make the case that if you can travel forward and backward in Space, you should be able to do the same in Time. Since you and I have determined that one can only travel forward in Space, doesn't that also mean that one can only travel forward in time? Time is, after all, only a dimension of Space beyond the three we can detect: length, width, and height."
"Ok. So you still haven't answered my question."
"My point is, if you can only travel forward in Time, you can only go into the Future and not the Past. What matters is the speed by which you travel into the Future, in order to see more of it."
"But why would we ever need speed up our travel into the Future?"
"Exactly, my love. We already have all the time in the world. That is why you're reading that book."
"Oh. So does that mean I can stop now?"
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We were reading The Time Machine in class, and I just had that thought... Just thought to share it with you all.
If you made it to the end (I'll admit, it wasn't very exciting), would you mind letting me in on your thoughts?
Thanks.
KT