Bruce left the rounded room he and Harri had entered through the floor and went into one of the slots in the wall. He entered into a pitch black area and looked around. Then he saw what looked like a tiny shooting star move through the air in front of him. It surprised him so he took a quick step back. He looked around for another one but began to see tiny beaming white specs in the air.
More and more of them appeared and he began to realize that they were stars. Galaxies and nebulas appeared around him.
"Bruce?" she heard Harri call from outside.
He went to the door and grabbed Harri's arm to pull her in. "You have to see this."
They both went back into the room together and even more stars had appeared.
Harri looked around and began to smile.
"Oh..this is magical!" she said. "Outer space. I should have brought some more Ganja for this.."
"It's our view, and then some.." Bruce said.
"Our view?" Harri asked.
"These constellations," Bruce pointed to the tiny specs. "They're in this position when viewed from Earth at this time of year."
"Time..." Harri said.
"The positioning of the stars," Bruce said. "It's some kind of a ...stellar clock. That little speck is our sun."
"Look there..on the floor," Harri said and they looked ahead. "What is that? Stained glass?"
"I don't know," Bruce said, looking at the circular area that had just appeared in the middle of the room.
They approached it slowly and Bruce could see the glass looked like the wiring on the outside of the machine. An enormous round disk, with broken holes in various areas.
"Look!" Harri pointed up and Bruce saw what she was looking at.
A rock, like the one he had thrown into the water was floating in the air and lowering itself into the middle of the circular glass. It stopped floating about six feet off the ground.
"Maybe you have to get it," Harri said.
"Look at the glass," Bruce said as they walked over to the edge. "It's not safe."
Harri looked around at all of the shattered areas.
"Do you have a light?" Harri asked.
"Yes," Bruce said and pulled out his mini waterproof flashlight.
He shone it against the glass and it reflected back at them from off of the floor. They walked around the perimeter of the glass and Bruce aimed the light through one of the holes where the glass had been shattered. Harri went beside him to see what he was looking at.
"Is that..." Harri asked nervously.
"A body.." Bruce said and looked about fifty feet down into the dark pit that seemed to have no walls. There was a skeleton.
"They fell through the glass," Harri said.
"Yes," Bruce said. "It looks like that's what happened."
"How are we supposed to get to the rock floating there if the glass isn't stable?" Harri asked.
"I.." Bruce began to speak, but then he felt as if someone was speaking to him in his own voice, within his own head. He said the words he was hearing out loud. "This person...tried to go back in time...more than once."
"How do you know?" Harri asked.
"I don't know..but there are others down there..." he said. "It's safe for us to cross the glass since we never have been here before."
"Bruce..I don't see how you could know this," Harri told him.
"Neither do I," he told her. "But Twyla warned about going back twice. Maybe this is why...this glass recognizes repeat visitors."
"So you think we should..walk on it?" Harri asked.
"I'll go first," Bruce said.
"Wait," Harri stopped him. "What if you fall? How will I get you out? And swim back to the boat with you-"
"If I fall through here I will die," he said. "And if I don't, there's no way you could carry me out of here with eight minutes of oxygen. If I fall through..you leave and you swim as fast as you can out of here. Try to conserve your oxygen and I think you can make it out, it's a straight shot. It will be much easier than us trying to find the center of this thing in the dark so it should be quicker."
Harri looked beyond nervous.
"I'm going now, just..." Bruce said and handed the flashlight to her. "Stay right here."
She nodded quickly, looking like she was holding her breath. Bruce took a step onto the glass and they could both hear an audible cracking sound. But Bruce was brave and took another step.
"Bruce, no! It sound like it's breaking apart!" Harri said, shining a light down at his feet. There was no visible cracking of the glass but the snapping sounds were loud.
"I think it's okay," Bruce said and took another step. He looked straight ahead and noticed that the floating small round rock had begin to spin slowly in a counterclockwise direction.
He took another step closer and it looked like it was spinning a bit quicker. He took three more steps and noticed a dark area in the vast expanse of the galaxies and stars in front of him and behind the spinning rock. It looked like a black hole.
Bravely, he began to walk quickly up to the rock and it began to spin so fast that it became a blur. He felt a pulling sensation, as though the hole that had opened up wanted to pull him in.
"Bruce!" Harri said and he looked back at her. "What's happening?"
"I think the machine is working," he said. "Come! It's safe-"
"No..no..I'm afraid-"
"Harri," Bruce said and ran across the glass back to her and pulled her onto it with both hands. She walked as though they were on ice.
"Do you feel that?" Harri asked as they approached the hole. "It's like a magnet."
"Yes," he said. "I think we have to go through."
"Oh..." Harri said and looked at the hole. "Oh Bruce this is terrifying...no one told me time machines were this scary."
"It's okay," Bruce told her even though he had no clue what was going on. His excitement was overcoming him. "We...we have to. We've come all this way. We'll go together."
Harri was shaking her head.
"Bruce," she said with her eyes becoming glazed with tears. "I...I don't want to remember it!"
"Remember what?" he asked.
"I don't want to remember that my sister died," she said, crying. "I should stay..you go. You change everything and I'll...I'll just-"
"Harri," Bruce said. "You're strong..and you'll have her back..please.."
Bruce suddenly realized he didn't want to do this alone.
"I'm not that strong," she said.
"You are," he told her and touched her cheek. "Just think..you won't get to tell Arsenio about how you and I swam drunk and high under a time machine. You'll forget all about it."
Harri began to laugh. "Oh..that's true."
"Please..come with me," he said. "Or I might imagine in some alternate universe you're trapped in this thing after I leave."
"Fine," Harri said. "I just..I just wish I didn't have to remember all the bad stuff. Wish I could start over and have my sister there..and never have had to go to her funeral or burial or.."
"I know," Bruce said. "I wish that I could have her back..save her life."
"Well..at least one of us has a chance at getting our wish," Harri said.
"So," Bruce said. "Does that mean you're coming?"
Harri nodded. Wordlessly, Bruce took her hand and they went from the middle to the opposite side of the glass where they could see the black hole growing, pulling everything in. They could feel their bodies bending under the incredible pull. They looked at each other one last time before stepping through.