Passengers In Time

By Paul McCann

Mandatown was surrounded by five mountains . The tallest of these was Sunset peak and if you stood on the top thereof you could see the beauty of a star shaped cluster that formed this natural link between them all .
Sunset peak got its name by how each evening it seemed to touched the amber clouds that softly glowed in the twilight sky .
The main route in and out of Mandatown was The Shadow Freeway.
Dressed by cats eyes and white lines the freeway run straight for twenty miles
The destination of the freeway was at the entrance of Shadow Falls Nuclear Power Plant . The freeway was originally built after the old power plant was shut down . The removal of many of the older turbines on heavy trucks had wrecked the old road and so a freeway was ordered and built .
Only a few byroads were built because of security reasons and most of these were used by the army who now lived in and around Shadow Falls Nuclear plant . It was always considered such a waste that on this long stretch of road hardly any traffic at all was ever seen .
Except for one night as the kiss of nightfall came down on when the headlights of a rebuilt1956 custom built sports car pierced through the dark cape thrown across the freeway .
Behind the wheel of the old racer sat Chance and by his side was his wife of fifty years Amanda .
“Amanda glanced over at the speedometer .
‘You’re doing forty five Chance “
“ We’re really moving . Aren’t we ?”
“ Slow down . You’re not as young as you once were .”
“Are you sure we’re on the right road .? “
Amanda looked troubled and said .
“ You know I hate road maps . As soon as we get to Mandatown I’ll ask somebody for directions .“

That would have been fine except for one thing Mandatown was about twenty miles in the other direction . As Chance motored on down the freeway he put his foot down a bit harder and Amanda once again looked at the speedometer .
“That’s far too fast Chance. “
“I might be 83 Amanda and I might be doing 83 but but please sit back and let me drive the car “.
“Sure thing . I mean I’m just the passenger . A mute in a seat . “
‘And I suppose I’m just a stubborn old mule behind the wheel them . I’m sorry .Ok I’ll pull up. “

Amanda smiled at him and relaxed a little as the old car rolled along down the freeway . As the time went a thick fog had come down and made driving difficult . Chance drove straight through the front gate of the nuclear plant and because of the thick fog had been totally undetected by the security at the front gates to Shadow Falls .

“I can’t see a thing in this fog . “ said Chance . As he pulled the car to a halt at the top of a hill that stood a few hundred feet above the ground . The car was parked a the bridge that crossed over a large water catchment in the plant .
If the car had moved another few feet ahead both of them would have plunged and drowned for sure.

A strange light appeared around the car just as the fog lifted . On the edge of the abyss sat Chance and Amanda as a kind of hanging doorway in the foreground opened up . The square shaped light was yellow and seemed to shimmer blue around the edge . Red and green flashes intermittently went on and off in the centre of the doorway .
Chance panicked and instead of selecting reverse gear he dropped it into first and hit the gas pedal . The car shot off the bridge and was airborn in seconds .It flew straight through the doorway and landed on a hard surface .
The car had passed through the doorway of another place and time and now rested on a dry and rocky road with weird and strange things all around .
Multicoloured waterfalls were silent and still hanging over red hot boulders
Spitting blue smoke from their core . Solid purple creatures with four wings flew through a sparkling sky that held a triangular sun prisoner in a hovering
Bubble that moved slowly from left to right .
Chance and Amanda were spellbound and never spoke a word . Staring our the windscreen they were jolted into life by a five legged three eyed creature with a bad attitude towards visitors . The creature began to attack the car and just when it looked as if they were going to end up permanent residents of this strange world a gust of wind came and took the creature into its fury .
Twirling like a toy the creature was sent up into the sky .
Chance smiled and took Amanda in his arms .
“ I don’t suppose you’ve got a road map darling do you ?
Amanda looked blankly into his eyes .
“I think we’re lost Chance .“
“Let’s close our eyes . Maybe its all a dream .“
They both closed their eyes and after a few moments they opened them again .” Well Amanda I don’t know how we are going to get back on the freeway from here .“ He said as he tried to restart the old car . He turned the key and there was nothing . Again and again he tried to start the old car but it refused to kick over .
“What do you think we should do Chance ?”
Five fiery comets flew past in the vast emptiness before them .
“Maybe I’ll just go see if there’s a service station up ahead. “ said Chance .
“Don’t you dare leave me here ?”
“Ok . Get behind the wheel and I’ll push the car from behind . When I say go ,let out the clutch . Have you got that ?”
“Sure “
Chance opened up the drivers door and Amanda slid over and took the wheel

Just then a spiral of blue sparks twisted and turned above the car .
Chance jumped back in quickly and as he did the car was propelled upwards through the strange blue nothingness . The car seemed to accelerate into a universe that lay before them . Seconds passed in an endless stream of colour and then a strange yellow light appeared . It that doorway that they had gone through before . Chance looked at his beautiful wife who was young again and shaped like a beauty queen . His young wife looked at him and saw the young man she had known so many years ago . Both of them laughed and cried at the same time . With elation they embraced each other as the car passed through the doorway .

The next thing they knew they were back on the freeway . The fog had gone but not their youthfulness . Chance and Amanda were twenty all over again .
They felt and looked great .
“We must have passed through a door in time or a space tunnel or whatever .
Somehow we have been given back our youth .“
“We can’t tell anyone Chance or they’ll think we‘re crazy .”
“I know my love . We can never hope to prove what has happened to anyone .
They will lock us up and throw away the key “
Said Chance as he got out of the car .
A strange squeaking sound came from under the car . It was a voice .
‘Please help me .“
Chance looked under the car .
‘Who’s that “ he said .
‘Please help me ,I’m lost “ came the reply .
“I am your passenger in time . You have brought me back with you into your world . I cannot survive here for very long . Please help me , I am aging fast “
Chance pulled out the five legged three eyed creature and as it clung around Chance it seemed to smile . Chance smiled back .
Amanda got out and said ,
“What on Earth .“
‘I’m not from earth . I’m from the world you have just been to . You had run over me in your car and my friend tried to rescue me . As my friend was taken up into the dust storm I was taking shelter under your car . Now I’m here a long long way away from my home .”
“My oh my so you are. “ Said Amanda .
“Please help me to return . You have become much younger but I am aging fast and I will die soon if you don’t reverse the crack in our dimension .“
Chance pulled the creature off his neck and said .
‘The doorway we passed through . Is that the crack ?”
“Yes it is, and you must pass through it once more to balance matter and anti-matter other wise it could be the end to both our worlds “.
“Is the doorway open now ?“ Said Amanda .
‘No . We will have to reopen it and it will only be open for a matter of seconds .We will only have one chance to do it and we must do it now .“
“How can we open the doorway between our worlds ?
The creature looked deeply into their eyes and said .
“With high energy or radiation . We must disturb the forces of anti matter and matter . Only then can we bring the gap in our dimension .After this we must destroy the exit between our worlds forever .“
“Destroy the exit with what .“ said Amanda
“A nuclear bomb .“ Said Chance under his breath.
“That’s right “ said the strange creature .
‘’ A bomb “ Said Chance
“Can you help me ? “ The creature asked .
Clinching her fist in anger ,
“You want us to explode a nuclear bomb on earth to get you home?
Amanda said .
“Time will not pass in that time . No one or anything will be harmed . It will all happen in the intersection of the outer world dimension . Trust me . It will be ok . Never again will we see each other . ”
“What about our youth .“ Said Chance .
“That will disappear when all is back to normal .“
Chance looked into space for a few moments .
“Ok then . How do we explode this bomb ?“
“Take me down the road and follow everything I say .“
In a matter of minutes the trio were inside the nuclear plant .
Surrounded by security guards who seemed frozen in time the creature broke into the main storage depot . He came out holding a suitcase and said .
“When you see the yellow light again . You must quickly open up this
suitcase and press the red button .“
“I see the light now . Its that strange doorway again .“ .
“Goodbye my friend “
“Goodbye .“
The suitcase was opened and as Chance pressed the red button he saw the creature fly through the gap in time . Once again the balance between matter and anti-matter was restored . The door between two different worlds closed
And life on earth was in harmony again .
Chance and Amanda explained to the Shadow Falls army how they were lost in the fog and drove into the nuclear plant by mistake . After some questioning and security checks they were finally allowed to leave the complex .
So the two old travellers made their way back to Mandatown and spent three weeks with their grandchildren , Their holiday was filled with joy and they even shared some tall stories about how two old people fought to save the world from destruction .

By Paul McCann

THE END

.