An Anthology in Memory of Herbert George Wells and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (ePub)

Excerpt...The Time Traveller

Dear Melanie.

I hope my parting was met with the sorrow I deserved, and that my wishes were fulfilled.

Do you remember the time we went for a ride on a dog sleigh while your mother was giving birth to your brother Michael. Do you remember seeing the big white bear on the ice flow?

You are probably aware that polar bears have been extinct since the year 2053 and the ice at both poles has long since disappeared. You were eleven and changing into a woman; I thought to tell you then, but I decided it best to wait a while longer.

Mrs Mirren, or Marjory, will have mentioned my long periods of seclusion in the attic. I wish you to go there now. You will find the key in the right-hand drawer of my desk.......



.....You see my dear; you are now in possession of a time machine.

WHATEVER YOU DO, ALWAYS RETURN ONE NANO-SECOND AFTER YOU DEPARTED, AND NEVER BEFORE, AS THIS WILL CAUSE AN IRREVERSABLE ANOMALY.

If the instructions are not clear, read them through once more.

Please ensure that this device does not leave your possession. If such an occasion should arise, do your utmost to destroy the device, preferably by fire.

And, remember this, you have no moral right to change the future, for things don't always turn out the way you plan them. Go visit the future, say hello to yourself, it won't be a shock to you as you know of it beforehand.

Goodbye,

Henry Jones.