Henry vanished and was gone two years. I no longer worried – he’d turn up full of tales with that impish grin.
“It’s alright for you,” I’d complained, “you disappear and you come back. For me, it’s just waiting.”
Henry never waited for anything and didn’t understand. He re-appeared in summer ‘49, pockets stuffed with Tudor trinkets.
“Damn thing overshot again,” he said.
“One day you’ll arrive and I won’t be here.”
“Nah, Izzy, you’d never leave me.”
“One day I’ll be dead. Please, buy a modern model that returns you where you started.”
“Time travel should be an adventure. Old machines have character.”
Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wissoff Fields to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here.
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Neil MacDonald Author 
Good time travel story. I keep wondering what would happen if someone keeps overshooting. Maybe the show The Tudors really IS the actual family with new careers.
Super writing, Neil.
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Thanks, William
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If I was she, I’d remove the carburettor. For I’d want more than trinkets.🙂
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I think she may have a lover
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Hopefully for her…that is the case 😉
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Dear Neil,
Time travel in a Model-T? How H.G. Wells-sh. Good stuff.
Shalom,
Rochelle
PS Only one ‘s’ in Wisoff. 😉
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Oops, sorry. And no it’s a Model T time machine. The seats are better than in a model T Ford
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I love where this story takes me! Very intriguing.
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Thanks Pamela
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This is great. I remember Steinbeck ran through all the steps to starting a Model T in East of Eden. Wallace Stegner also featured one not starting in his excellent Going to Town. You’re in good company.
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I’ll gratefully take that company
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I almost went the time travel route as well, but went elsewhere. I like the idea of it 🙂
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One day he’s going to come back, age 35 and she’s going to be 65.
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It seems to me that the reverse is also possible
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he always comes back with only the duration of the life he has lived expended
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Nicely done Neil. I wonder how the Tudors reacted when a Model T arrived outside the castle? 🙂
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Thanks, Iain
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Adventures in time are always fun, and this is no exception, very enjoyable.
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Thanks. I’m glad you enjoyed it
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My point was, Neil, that if the machine is just unreliable, he could be gone for 30 years and return only 2 years after he left.
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Time travel… fine and dandy but for the one left behind, not so much. Why doesn’t he bring her with him, eh? I would not wait 2 months, never mind 2 years… 😉
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Do you know, in 8 years of marriage she’s never once asked him that. I wonder why
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Truly… she must have found other ways to occupy her time whilst he was away gallivanting…
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She certainly has. She’s adventurous in her own way
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While the cat’s away, and all that… Great take on the prompt.
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Thanks, Sandra
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Oh, I like it. He jumps and bumps around, travelling through history and she has to stay and wait. Ever read The Time Traveller’s Wife? She has the same problem 🙂 Nicely told, Neil
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You know, now that I think about it, I have. Damn! I probably stole the idea
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It’s not an unreasonable assumption, though, that a time traveller’s wife will have a lot to put up with!
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It’s highly reasonable.
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🙂
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Very creative to think of time travel. He’d better watch it though. One day he might land up with “Mistress Mary, quite contrary” and lose his head.
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Thanks, Christine
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Lol…Time is not something to be messed with. Easy to turn up in all the wrong places, I mean times.
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Luckily he never turns up before he leaves otherwise there would be two of him
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A time traveling Model T. I want one, only I want mine to bring me back to my little writing room. Well done.
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Thanks, Alicia. Your time machine is waiting for you in 2039
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Ha! Time travel.
In my mind, a vintage machine always returns to it’s own era, hence my use of a 1902 Cadillac Runabout to return to April 1912.
I agree, it’s about the adventure, at least in fiction. If it were real life, I’d insist on accuracy.
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Oh it is real life. Henry will be be born in 10 years time
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Oh, I so love to time travel. Thanks for taking me along.
Tracey
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Thanks, Tracey
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Love it! Temporal mechanics always get the girl. Nicely done.
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Thanks, Stephanie
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“Old machines have character.” That line made me laugh, so many possibilities.
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Thanks
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Sounds like his Model T is a bit like The Doctor and his type 40!
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What a lovely story. I suppose a newer model might be in order?
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She thinks so. He’s not so sure
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It was the Tudor trinkets that gave it away – great story, Neil.
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I wondered if that was too much of a trailer
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There’s something adorably clever and Whovian about refusing to give up an old-fashioned, malfunctioning time machine. And the woman who loves him regardless! Nicely done.
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Thanks
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A very cute and enjoyable Time Travel flash fiction piece. It made me think of Doctor’s #10 & #11 (but that’s the Whovian in me) and I’m with Henry old machines do have character.
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Thanks, Sarah
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Love it! Time travel is never as easy as you think! It’s not a simple process. Time is a fickle thing
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You’re right. It’s shiny on one side and sticky on the other.
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Very cute. I wonder he did not come back transformed!
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Thanks, Don’t we always come back from any journey a little transformed.
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Hopefully, yes!
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A well oiled machine traveling and bringing joy to the traveler.
Izzy waits because Izzy is a very patient gal. 😁
Funny when I started blogging someone left a comment and called me Izzy (Issy, Iz).
My dad was known as Izzy. And … there you go.
Have a fabulous weekend …
Isadora
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I’ve often wondered how accurate the controls are on time machines, it’s not so much the going as the coming back that’s important
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Yeah, it’s not travelling hopefully, it’s returning to the start
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Clever one. Is it the reverse gear that does the coming home trick?
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Thanks Patrick. His model is so old that I think he just upends the time tilter to come back
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“old machines have character” – how true in so many cases. Nice tale
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Thanks so much
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I think they both probably get up to all sorts while he’s gone! Great take on the prompt.
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Thanks, Clare
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Interesting perspective; time travel is quite fun, isn’t it?
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so long as you never return before you leave
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I’m reminded of Mr. Peabody and the “Way-Back” machine. Good one, Neil.
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Thanks, Russsell
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I can see overshooting could cause a problem. He better get something dependable. Good writing, Neil. 🙂 — Suzanne
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Thanks, Suzanne
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