YES IT IS
Authors: Penny Lane, Jenny Wren, & Lovely Rita
Starring: The Beatles and Maggie Sue
Rating: M for language, implied sex (though none of it is explicit) & implied drug use. Characters used in this story are either our creation, or are historically-based (ie, The Beatles).
Disclaimer: We don't own any of the Beatles, this obviously never happened, and is a complete work of Historical Fiction.
Prologue
September 29th, 2006
Every bend and every turn offered a jolt of excitement to those who had the privilege to visit this city. It thrilled, it created, it exuded history; some visitors would simply not notice, while others stood and soaked it all in. Tourists flooded the streets day in and day out in search of the famous sights that everyone had to visit while on holiday. While Maggie knew that the celebrated locations on her holiday plan weren't exactly normal compared to others', thousands of dedicated fans like herself still flocked to England for the exact same thing every year. It was the birthplace of the greatest rock band in history - and London was the adopted home town of four boys who lived and breathed on this very ground that she walked on – where they created a sound that over forty years later still rang strong.
At twenty-six, Maggie had just finished grad school and had been given a postdoctoral position at NASA as an astronomer. Needless to say, she had due cause to celebrate before beginning a career that she had worked so hard to attain for so many years, and that was destined become the central point in her life. Of course, celebration to her consisted of a small vacation to England to relax, to submerge herself in the only other thing she loved as much as science.
Music. Specifically, The Beatles' music.
Though the Beatles had gotten their start in Liverpool, and developed their skills in Hamburg, the studio was where they had perfected their craft. She was fascinated with how science, technology, and engineering had been used to translate their ideas into the artistry she adored. Logically, her pragmatic mind had determined that a tour of EMI studios, just for the simple pleasure of walking the same path the Beatles did all those years ago, would be the first stop on her solitary vacation.
The tour guide told the same anecdotes that Maggie had been reading in books since she was a teen, and showed off framed photos on the walls, mostly ones Maggie had seen before on the internet. But to see them here in this environment made them somehow different. A sense of their presence was sunk into every corner and briefly Maggie wondered if she shut her eyes, if she'd be able to hear the sound of their laughter.
Maggie smiled as she strained her ears, trying to hear the sound of the voices that haunted these halls. The same voices that she blared in her car radio. The same voices that she had fallen asleep to night after night, as she sat on her bed studying for her exams, before finally succumbing to blissful, Beatle-filled dreams. She couldn't count anymore how many times she had dreamed of meeting them, of watching them create music. This hall seemed to know her secret dreams though. There was just something about it that…
Maggie stopped, frowning slightly as she realized what she was doing. Once more, she was letting the abstract side of her mind run away with her. Being whimsical and fantasizing about your favorite rock star was may have been all fine and dandy when you were a kid and a teenager, but she was an adult now, and about to start a life-changing career in a field dominated by men. Logic and fact and her ability to use both flawlessly in the sciences had gotten her the job at NASA, not fantasy and whimsy. She was letting her foolish and romantic heart run away with her once more. Besides, who was she kidding? If she was going to daydream about The Beatles, perhaps she should imagine them more accurately. Instead of laughter she would probably hear something more like the sound of their yelling. How many fights had taken place inside these walls?
Probably a lot towards the end.
But as Maggie looked at one of the pictures, which showed the boys having a pillow fight, she felt her fading smile come back slightly, because in the beginning, there had been love. No one could deny that. All anyone had to do was look at the shining pictures before them and they could clearly see that there had been something special about those four boys. Something that other musicians had yet to recreate.
Just as the tour group turned the corner, Maggie felt her sandal give a little, and nearly tripped. Looking down, she noticed a strap had come loose and with a sigh she bent to fix it, letting her fellow Beatle fans pass her by and continue eagerly on with the tour. Soon the hall was empty, the sound of a shutting door echoing in the distance. Maggie stood, turned her head, and tried to see which way her group had gone. With a slight groan, she realized that she had lost them, and found herself wondering how that was even possible, since she had only bent down for a few seconds. Shaking her head and sighing at herself for getting caught up in her childish daydreams again, she set out, determined to keep herself focused on the task at hand, and at the moment that task was to find her tour group.
When she turned toward the direction where the shutting door had sounded, something caught her eye and caused her steps to falter. Among the pictures, nestled almost in the corner, was a lone picture of John Lennon, and not one she had seen before. It was small in size compared to the others. The ends were worn and faded, the photograph yellowed with age, and yet it captivated her in a way that none of the others had. It drew her in, almost as if it had picked her out from a crowd. Maggie gravitated towards it, tilting her head to the side and examining the picture, taking in every detail, every line and every curve of a face that she had looked upon countless times in her life. Everyone had their favorite Beatle, and John was definitely hers. Her life's biggest regret was having never had the opportunity to meet him. What she wouldn't give to have only spent a few moments with him.
As she stared at the picture she caught herself laughing quietly as she recalled one of her favorite movies, "Somewhere in Time." In the movie, Christopher Reeves was able to time-travel by focusing on a photograph of a woman that had captured his heart, and simultaneously willing himself into the past. The entire plot was completely ridiculous and scientifically impossible, yet still she loved it. Loved the idea of it all, of love knowing no bounds, whether it be time or distance. Slowly she felt reality fading as she let herself sink into the feeling of being that deep in love. With wanting to be with someone so much that it didn't matter how much time lay between them, that they could still come together in the end. It was a waste of her time to dream of such things when she had such a bright professional future lying ahead of her. But then again, she was on vacation, right? And hey, if it worked in the movies…
Maggie smiled and shook her head. It was hokey, it was completely impossible, and if anyone at NASA ever found out what she was about to try, even if it was just for fun, she'd never live it down. But she couldn't help the urge to be whimsical right now, nor did she want to. Somewhere in the back of her very logical mind, she knew this would be the last time she would believe in fairy tales, and that she would say goodbye for good to the child inside of her after this holiday.
So, not quite believing she was doing it, Maggie stepped forward a few inches, concentrated on John's eyes, and tried to keep her laughter inside.
But nothing happened. Nothing at all.
She was a fool for even thinking such a thing was possible, for even daring to indulge in this adolescent game of time travel and fantasy. This was the kind of game you expected out of a child, not a grown woman. But even as she thought this, even as she berated herself for wasting the time she had on nonsense such as this, she found that she couldn't turn away.
Those same brown orbs that she had looked upon time and time again held something different now. It was as though they were almost real. A magnetic energy seemed to radiate towards her at the sight of his eyes as they beckoned her forth even further.
The edges of her vision began to blur as her sole concentration narrowed in on those eyes and Maggie felt herself begin to sway. Feeling the world swirl around her, Maggie snapped her eyes shut, bringing one hand up to her forehead and throwing her other arm out to try and keep her balance, dropping her purse in the process. Finally feeling the world begin to steady around her, Maggie took a deep breath, swallowed slightly and felt the cold sweat that had gathered at her temples begin to dissipate. Shaking her head, she smiled to herself, and felt slightly embarrassed about how entranced she had become with the silly notion that just maybe she could travel back in time, when she, of all people, knew how impossible it was. For a moment there, she had actually believed it could have worked. She was just lucky no one had walked by at the time to see her gawking at the picture like some moonstruck fangirl.
Taking in a deep breath, Maggie opened her eyes, and had to fight a wave of nausea as the room was still a bit blurry. She needed to push on and go find her tour before some lone security guard rounded the corner to find her separated from her group, and thinking she was probably up to no good, threw her out of the building. But as her vision cleared, her eyes expecting to fall back on the picture of John, she suddenly felt her breath catch in her throat and her eyes widen.
She stumbled back a few steps as she took in the sight of a very real, and a very bewildered John Lennon standing before her.
A/N: This is a complete story, so you won't be left hanging! We are planning on post approximately 2 chapters a week.
Also, we'd love to know what you think so far, so please drop us a line. :)
