The Time Machine 3rd Person by Corwin Black; 2025 © Permission given to Fan Fiction to display and distribute; thanx!
Chapter 4: In The Garden of Eden.
Suggested Listening for Chapter 4
In A Gadda Da Vida by Iron Butterfly
Released June 14, 1968 (album); July 31, 1968 (single)
Recorded May 27, 1968
Studio Ultrasonic Studios, Hempstead, New York, U.S.
Label Atco Atlantic
Songwriter(s) Doug Ingle
Producer(s) Jim Hilton
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Chapter 4: In the Garden of Eden.
In the year of our Lord 2384; on Wed Feb 29th the Time Traveler; Professor Wells, was beginning to recover from the overpowering experience of time travel.
Time Travel messes with your senses. Prof Wells was experiencing just this. The overpowering assault on your senses; is not like drinking water from a fire hose; it's like taking water from a fire hose from two different directions. Not only would it be hard to describe; if one were to go into sufficient detail the experience would not be appropriate for polite company. The fact that professor Wells didn't lose his lunch in two different ways was quite astonishing indeed. This fact did not escape professor Wells' observations.
Jack Kilroy; a notable time traveler himself, once observed that time travel is enough of an affront to your ability to perceive things; that a heroin addict would be scared clean and sober.
As the light and details of the world around him started to become more focus he noticed a large statue that had been hidden by shadows and fog. It was that of a giant sphinx. It was made out of white marble or it seemed to be; and it had an interesting glare on its face. Almost like it was watching him everywhere he went. The sphinx was at least 50 feet tall at the shoulder and it had wings and they were spread wide. The pedestal on which it laid was made of bronze and it gave it the illusion that the sphinx was somehow hovering a few inches above it.
The sight of this monolith was altogether very creepy and had a sense of foreboding and foreshadowing about it. Professor Wells stared at it for what was probably too much time. One thing that Professor Wells had not come to grips with was the fact that time was the one thing that time travelers needed to conserve the most.
One of the biggest traps that time travelers fall into is the thought that because they have a Time Machine that they can take all the time that they want. Professor Wells had not yet realized that when you were a time traveler everyone wants a piece of you. Sometimes figuratively often literally.
The situation that Professor Wells was In was a lot like the symbolism of the Sphinx itself. There was a mystery here and getting the wrong answer would be fatal. At least to 'Someone'. As the sun rose higher and higher the sphinx became clearer and clearer.
Professor Wells took a few moments to look at the sphinx now that it could be seen clearly in the light. He wondered somewhat whimsically if the sphinx was actually watching him. Ironically in a very real way it was.
Professor Wells then seemed to have a sudden anxiety attack. The full weight and magnitude of what he had just done in terms of traveling through time suddenly hit him full force. Emotionally it was almost like being the hero of a space opera and finding out that the villain is actually your father… which is totally not a reference to anything anywhere in any universe (see footnote).[1]
Professor Wells had originally anticipated that his reaction to time travel would be one of exhilaration; not of anxiety. He had assumed that civilization would indeed advance to greatness. This of course was very much in line with the social thinking of the late 1800s in terms of where man was headed. Unfortunately Professor Wells was not much of a historian.
Professor Wells reflected on something Jack had told him; if you're going to travel through time you should probably study history. Professor Wells thought this was a perfect time to start doing this; he was wrong. He should've started before he left; or at least taken Jack or another historian with him. Those who forget or don't study history are doomed to repeat it.
However; Professor Wells was a brilliant man and it did seem odd to him that this visage of an old world icon of the Sphinx was here in the future. Almost 500 years had passed in this place from when he came. If mankind had advanced as much in this 500 years as it had from the 15th to the 19th century; what dreams may have come? The reality of what he saw before him though was puzzling; surely there was more to this he thought to himself.
For a brief moment the thunderstorm seemed to reach epic levels of destruction; as if it was doing everything it could to give a final warning to professor Wells to be cautious. But then the sun appeared and the clouds disappeared into vapors. When this happened Professor Wells could start seeing the shapes of huge buildings in the distance; and as he gazed on them; his perception of these great structures went from admiration to the realization that they were all crumbling.
That's when Professor Wells started hearing voices approaching him. Emerging through the bushes behind the white Sphinx were the heads and shoulders of people coming towards him. One in particular gained enough courage to get a closer look at the professor. He was an awfully short fellow perhaps only 4 to 4 feet tall. He appeared almost like a child; but that appearance was deceptive, this was an adult. He had on him colorful clothes that was basically a tunic bound with a leather belt and he wore leather sandals. His legs were bare and his head had no hat. These people are called the Eloi.
The Eloi struck professor Wells as being rather beautiful and graceful creatures but indescribably frail. Their skin gave no hint of hardship or toiling under the sun. At the site of them professor Wells suddenly gained confidence; however he did take the control levers from the Time Machine and put them in his pocket. Despite the fact that these were the least intimidating people that professor Wells had ever seen in his entire life; he did take comfort that Jack had thought to pack his revolver. Professor Wells wondered why he didn't send anything else for him though; of course besides the watch.
Soon more Eloi started to emerge from the woods and they all took a great interest in Professor Wells. However Wells did not notice that he was being observed by another one of these Eloi from afar. Her name was Weena. She took great interest in the tall handsome stranger. He had an air of confidence about him that the other men in the group didn't seem to possess. Weena wondered what his story was. As she watched the stranger she also observed that like most men or boys he was completely clueless.
Before Wells realized it; there was at least a dozen of these Eloi asking for his attention. They hesitated and very gingerly touched him with the tips of their fingers; trying to make sure if he was actually real. Professor Wells made certain that his revolver was not touched or used by them and for the most part their gestures were harmless.
On one hand the presence of these people was encouraging because there was no hostility and no fear from them; however on the other hand they seem to be simple minded and physically frail.
Professor Wells then decided that he should begin trying to actually communicate with these simple minded but yet elegant people. Alas as brilliant as Professor Wells is; he was no linguist.
The features of these Eloi reminded him a fine China. Wells also noticed that their hair was uniformly cut. And their facial features seemed fairly uniform. Their mouths were small with bright red lips and their eyes were large and mild. But despite all of the observations that professor Wells was deliberate in making; they themselves made no effort to communicate with him. Which struck him is very odd given that they were 500 years more advanced than the humans from the late 1800s; or so professor Wells thought.
And that's when professor Wells noticed that the Eloi had taken a particular interest in the Time Machine.
Professor Wells tried to communicate to the Eloi that he was in fact a time traveler. However this concept was hard enough to communicate to highly educated individuals who spoke your language; he didn't have a prayer of communicating that to these folks. So as a meager substitute; professor Wells gestured towards the sun and then indicated how the sun travels from the east to the west. The Eloi did seem to perceive something that was being communicated and one of them made a thunder sound with an inquisitive look on his face. Professor Wells nodded and the Eloi seemed to understand that this meant affirmative or yes.
Professor Wells then had a very unsettling thought. It was 500 years in his future and none of these people on the island of England spoke a word of English? That did not seem plausible, possible, or probable. In fact it seemed downright impossible, improbable, and implausible; one might say. This fact simply did not align with any form of logic that Professor Wells was familiar with. 'What the hell has happened here?' Professor Wells asked himself.
What's more all of the Eloi seemed to be almost childlike in their comprehension. What Professor Wells missed was that their intellect had been dulled. He reflected on his Time Machine; and wondered if he had built it in vain.
After a time the Eloi began to gather flowers and offered them to the Professor as a gift; even going so far as to make a wreath and putting it around his neck. Wells was flattered but still very confused.
The good professor; sensing that something was amiss turned his attention away from the Eloi and into the large structure of the sphinx. Now this edifice was not in decay. Surely there was an advanced civilization here; the sphinx was clear indication of that. But he could not fathom what it might be.
The Eloi competed for his attention. Professor Wells eventually managed to do some exploring on his own and came across a building that was colossal in its dimensions. It was occupied by the Eloi. However it was surely not built for them; at least not originally because the original occupants were clearly much larger than the Eloi were. Also this large structure like many of the others was in various states of decay. Professor Wells was so taken in by his surroundings and all of the amazing structures that he barely noticed that the time machine had been left unattended and unobserved; at least by him.
The entrance to the grand structure was richly carved and reminded him very much of Phoenician architecture. The entrance to this colossal building was very similar in size and scope to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. And it opened up into an entrance hall that was equally grand. However; the unstable signs of past destruction where everywhere. The large stained glass windows on the ceiling light were cracked in a great many places. The large stone blocks that made up the floor were cracked along the edges; and many were not angled quite correctly. However they didn't seem to be any debris that was overly sharp or in the way.
Interestingly there were a large number of tables that were of appropriate size for the Eloi; and upon these table set a large amount of fruit that was arranged quite neatly. Some Professor Wells recognized as a kind of hyper trophied raspberry and orange, but for the most part they were strange.
Also strewn about in great numbers were large and very comfortable pillows. The Eloi seem to be lounging on them. Curiously however professor Wells saw no signs of a kitchen or any other place where the food could've been prepared. Nor did he see any fields where the fruit had been grown or harvested. This did not seem to bother the Eloi as they dug into the fruit and ate it voraciously. Professor Wells found himself very hungry and thirsty and followed their example. He didn't realize how exhausted he had become and decided that he needed a little nap.
Professor Wells had seven PhD's. His mother and father were not overly rich but they were well off enough to give him a very good education. What this line of discourse is getting at is that Professor Wells had never had to kill anything so that he could eat it; like an explorer on the frontier. Nor had he ever had to kill anything to keep it from killing his livestock; like an Arizona cattle rancher needing to kill a mountain lion because their numbers were far to abundant. Nor had Professor Wells ever had to kill an animal to keep it from killing him; like a documentary filmmaker who specializes in bears and brings a nice camera but doesn't believe in guns. Nor had he ever had to kill another human being or another person in self-defense; like how David killed Goliath for example. If the good Professor had done any of these things he would've certainly realized that he just walked into a grand structure that is set up exactly like an enormous f&*(ing bear trap.
Professor Wells attempted to make some more progress in learning how to communicate with the Eloi; and Indeed while lounging there on the great cushions he seemed to make a fair amount of progress.
The reader however should not be too harsh on your assessment of Professor Wells. It would be easy to think that if Professor Wells had actually read the directions that Jack Kilroy had left him; that he would now have a universal translator on his person.
If the reader would indulge in this exercise; and reflect on any time that someone has left you instructions such as your parents when they left town when you were a youth and you didn't follow them; such a person should appreciate how easy it is to make that mistake.
Despite the dilapidated state of this great structure; it did seem to provide a more than adequate shelter for these small and frail people.
What perplexed Professor Wells the most; was the fact that there wasn't a piece of protein or meat to be seen anywhere. Professor Wells was no biologist or dietitian; but surely they had to have a source of protein from something? But the Eloi seemed perfectly happy with their fruit. They were in all appearance to be strict vegetarians; Professor Wells found no sign of any horses, dogs, cats, rats, or anything else that walked or crawled for that matter. Surely they hadn't all gone extinct in the last 500 years; had they?
One fruit in particular that he did not recognize seem to be arranged about rather consistently; and evidently it seemed to be in season all the time,—a floury thing in a three-sided husk. It was a bit of an acquired taste but after a few bites it was especially good; practically addicting… practically addicting. Professor Wells made it his staple. What Professor Wells failed to realize was that this particular fruit was dulling his senses. Prolonged consumption of it would stunt a person's growth; especially if they were malnourished in terms of their protein intake. Nor did Wells make the connection that this was the biggest contributing factor to the Eloi's small stature and docile behavior.
What was most perplexing to Professor Wells was that despite the Eloi's apparent lack of interest in any type of complex intellectual conversation; they were also apparently fairly intelligent if not noticeably so.
Professor Wells felt compelled to relax and he started to make a fair amount of progress and at least being able to communicate with him on a rudimentary basis. However these people of the future were also easily distracted and fatigued rather quickly.
Weena; who had been following Professor Wells and observing him closely began to grow very annoyed that he did not notice her. She had even put some flowers in her hair washed her face five times; used some of the citrus to give her a pleasant scent, and carefully cleaned her hands and feet. She also opened and closed her eyes several times at a distance while looking directly at him. Upset by this she returned to the Time Machine. She found there the knapsack that had been stuffed underneath the chair. She was determined to get his attention; but she realized that it wouldn't hurt to learn a little bit more about him. After all he was new and probably would need a guide to help him find things. Thus Weena; logically came to the conclusion that borrowing the knapsack and looking through it to gain information on the tall handsome stranger was perfectly justifiable. There were also papers right next to it. Weena picked these up and went through them with abandon.
However Weena, wasn't the only one watching Professor Wells very closely. The one that referred to itself as These Angel was watching also; and was very pleased that the professor had enjoyed the fruit so much.
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Next chapter: Comfortably Numb
Recommended listening for next chapter
Comfortably numb by Pink Floyd
Released 23 June 1980
Recorded April–November 1979
Label Harvest (UK) Columbia (US)
Songwriter(s) David Gilmour, Roger Waters
Producer(s) Bob Ezrin, David Gilmour, James Guthrie, Roger Waters
[1] The Empire Strikes Back; Directed by Irvin Kershner; Screenplay by Leigh Brackett, Lawrence Kasdan; Story by George Lucas; Produced by Gary Kurtz; Starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, David Prowse, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, Frank Oz. Cinematography Peter Suschitzky. Edited by Paul Hirsch. Music by John Williams. Production company Lucasfilm Ltd. Distributed by 20th Century-Fox. Release dates May 6, 1980 (Dominion Theatre), May 21, 1980 (United States). Running time 124 minutes, Country United States, Language English.