Leo Munin’s Log – Entry Two

My cabin was rather humble. To my dismay, it was a covered in a dirt floor. This strange place didn’t believe in flooring their homes? I remembered going to those living history museums when I was younger and seeing the dirt floors of settler’s and explorer’s cabins. I never imagined I’d have to live in one myself. First thing I did was glance around to make myself acquainted with my home and furnishings. The only source of light – other than the windows – were candles placed around the room. I had some counters that looked rather modern, but were made out of wood. Thankfully, there was a bookcase already filled with books. There was a chess table in the middle of the room. That suited me fine, I was fond of the game. I supposed I did need some sort of hobby to kill the time. I had a small couch. It was similar to the counters in that it was a modern design made out of an ancient material.

Next to the couch was a fireplace, and next to that was a tall mirror. On the far side of the wall was a large, lumpy bed. I immediately noticed the absence of two major things: one, a fridge and two, a bathroom. I considered both to be rather vital functions for my well-being.

I glanced around the room again. Perhaps I was meant to do my business outside…and perhaps there simply weren’t any refrigerators. Michael Stevenson’s voice echoed in my head:

Seventeen AD…after disaster. The great war of ’94.

My head began to pound and my chest constricted. I felt the world around me slow down to a crawl. My heart hammered in my chest, each heartbeat shook my body. I could hear rushing in my ears and felt everything around me grow hollow and distant. I was having a panic attack. I had them whenever I was stressed out or upset. Needless to say, the reality of my life hitting me was enough to make me feel like my entire world had been flipped upside down. I fell to my knees inside the dimly let cabin and I did what any sane, rational man in my position would do:

I cried.

I cried like a little girl.

Not my finest moment, yes, but perfectly normal considering the circumstances. After all, I was a human first and scientist second. I couldn’t help but think about everything in my life that had been changed. In 1994, I was 11. Had my past-self even made it through the war? Was there another version of me running around? I had originally timed it so that I was arriving 10 minutes after I had left. Meaning, there was no chance of that crazy ‘Back To The Future’ space time continuum crap if I managed to come face to face with my past self. By going back, had I made it so my time machine never even existed? Is that perhaps why it blew up? The questions were endless. I had to slow my mind down. As I willed myself to stop thinking about my time machine, I found myself thinking of Stephanie. Was she still alive? Granted she had broken up with me…but she told me that she still loved me. Did I love her? Was she even still alive?

I tried to picture her. My last memories of her weren’t the most positive. I knew without question that she was beautiful. She could have gotten far on her beauty alone, but I remembered that she was surprisingly intelligent. A girl like her you expect to be an airhead, but not my Stephanie. Her interests lay mostly in the monetary side. She wanted to move to work with money and help people plan and make their own fortunes. She had a lot of business sense if I remember…even if she wasn’t the best with her own funds.

The image of her in my mind is cloudy and a little fuzzy. I remember she was always put together. She spent hours on her appearance. Her hair was always done beautiful and she always had makeup on her face.

She wore nice clothes and carried herself well. To this day, I wondered what she ever saw in a science-y geek like me.

I tried to force myself to remember our relationship. What was it like? Did we ever really love each other? I couldn’t hardly make myself remember how it began. I knew she must have been the one to initiate things, I would never have dreamed of attempting such a thing with her.

Did we ever have those cliche ‘perfect moments’? Did we ever gaze longingly at each other as the sun rose? Perhaps we embraced or kissed on a playground swing. Were we that unrealistically perfect couple filled with those picturesque moments that women crave? Did we put those sorts of heavy expectations on our relationship?

No. If we ever had a moment on a playground it probably involved her screaming at me, right? I mean we had to have broken up for a reason. I could remember that part of our relationship easily. Around the time that my invention was coming together I was, of course, working hard in my lab every day. I didn’t have time to spend with Stephanie. She felt neglected…I can’t blame her. So, she dumped me.

I sat back on my feed and sighed as I wiped the tears from my face.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered to no one, because there was no one left to hear me.

Having my friends leave me out and having my girlfriend dump me was one thing…but because of me – unless there was some OTHER time traveler I could blame this shit on – I had destroyed everything. It was all my fault. I steeled myself and shouted to the nothingness:

“Fuck!”

I growled and beat my fists into the hard dirt floor. I cursed again and beat my fists harder into the ground. Another expletive, and my hands hit the ground again. I exhaled sharply and looked up at the roof of my cabin. Like it or not, this wasn’t a dream…this wasn’t some sort of Doctor Who serial where everything turns out all right an hour later.

This was real life.

I stood and turned down the covers of the lumpy bed. I stripped down to my underwear and climbed in.

I slid down underneath the covers, ignored the scratching sensation of my sheets and closed my eyes. With as much shit that had happened in this one day, I was exhausted that I was able to fall asleep in a few moments.

* * *

That night, as I slept, I felt a sudden shift of weight on my bed. The movement was just enough to jar me awake. I looked up to see Stephanie climbing on to my bed. I let out a startled cry and practically jumped back towards the headboard. She smiled as she watched me scramble. I felt my heart beat a little faster. Her smile always did that to me. It was cold, calculating and yet sensual and sultry. It didn’t help things as I raked my eyes over her form and saw that she was wearing a slip of a dress and red heels. Out of the bottom of her dress I could see pink, lace garters peeking out. I ripped my gaze from her and glanced around the room.

This wasn’t my cabin.

“Do you like it?” she whispered as she finally climbed on the bed.

“I don’t understand, where am I? Stephanie, what’s going on?”

She sat back on her knees and chuckled, “you always did like to call me Stephanie. Even my own mother called me Steph. Do you remember what my friends used to call me, Leo?”

“Guinevere, I remember…your middle name.”

“Call me Guinevere, please, Leo…for old time’s sake. After all, it’s not like I have any friends anymore to call me that.”

She giggled as she turned and flopped back on the bed in front of me. I relaxed just a little bit and watched her. Was this real? What was this place? I had never been in a room like this in my life and yet…somehow here I was. Was this a dream? Or was this my real life? The entire thing made my head pound and ache.

“Stop,” she said suddenly.

“Stop what?”

She giggled, but kept her eyes closed, “stop thinking about the reality of this place and your situation. I know you, Leo, you’re sitting there trying to puzzle everything out instead of enjoying the moment. Just sit for a moment and relax. Let the beauty of this place wash over you.”

“Stephanie I-“

“Tsk tsk, forgotten my request already?” she interrupted.

I sighed, “Guinevere, what’s going on?”

“Don’t you remember what it was like, Leo? We used to have so much fun together…until you killed me.”

“I didn’t…I didn’t kill you.”

She tapped her bottom lip for a moment before looking up at me with a harsh smile, “must have been some other time traveler that irrevocably altered the course of the human existence. Great job on that, by the way.”

She laughed cruelly as I hung my head in shame. I felt guilty enough without her rubbing it in. It was instinct, what I did. How could anyone not pull a man out of the way of an on-coming car? I hadn’t thought about the consequences, I had just acted. Now, I had destroyed the world and killed my girlfriend.

“Am I dreaming?” I asked her.

“Don’t be stupid,” she said, shaking her head at me, “of course you’re dreaming. Isn’t it a lovely dream though? We could live in this dream, you and I…forever.”

“No, we can’t. I have to fix this. I have to make it right.”

She sat up and spun to face me on the bed. Her eyes were sparkling mischievously as she spoke:

“Why, Leo Munin! That would mean that you would have to kill someone. Do you think that you could do that? Could you go back in time and push that man into on-coming traffic?”

I sighed and nodded, resolute in my task.

She laughed heartily, “what makes you think that its even him? What if…there was another cause of the destruction? Hmm? What if that man was supposed to live and it was really something else? I know you’re thinking it, wishing for it to be true. You don’t want the responsibility of it. You can’t handle the weight of the world being on your shoulders. You never could.”

“That was different!”

“No it wasn’t. It’s the same then and its the same now.”

“Are you a ghost?” I whispered.

“Hmm, I’m not sure. You want to touch me and find out?”

She smiled at me and wiggled her hips a little bit as she waggled her eyebrows. I sighed and looked away. It was the same Stephanie, always bringing everything back to sex. I ignored her suggestive smirk and looked her in the eye again.

“Are you still alive?”

She sighed and shifted her position on the bed again.

“I don’t know. It’s possible. Are you going to come and find me?”

Without hesitation I nodded and reached out to touch her very real, very human hand. I laid mine on top of hers and gave it a firm squeeze.

“I will find you, Stephanie.”

She smiled and flopped back down on the bed in front of me. She closed her eyes and smiled.

“It’s time to wake up, Leo.”

I closed my eyes and moved to lie down next to her. Though we had broken up, I just wanted to feel close to someone. As soon as my eyes were shut and my cheek was against the soft comforter I felt a sudden shift in the air. The room was no longer warm and the cloth against my face was no longer gentle. It was harsh, scratchy and uncomfortable. I was cold. I opened my eyes to discover that I was back in the lumpy bed…back in the cabin. The sun was starting to rise. I sighed and climbed out of bed. Throwing on my clothes from yesterday I walked outside to watch the sunrise.

As I felt the warmth of the sun hit my skin, and saw the beautiful colors dance across the sky i made a promise. I would find a way to fix this. I had made this world, and I would find a way to unmake it. Even if it took the rest of my life, I would find a way to remake my time machine and I would stop myself from going back in time. Until then, though, I would spend my time here. Once I could get out though, I would and I would find Stephanie.

No matter what, Stephanie…I will find you and I will save you.

*****************

Hmm, so what do you guys think about Stephanie? :O

Leo Munin’s Log. Entry One.

Darkness fell around me as I took in my surroundings. Where was I? Or worse…when was I? The world looked so different than I could remember. I stopped and let my every sense take in this strange place. I realized suddenly…how quiet it was. There were no cars on the road and the air…it smelled cleaner and sweeter. Wherever I was, I was in a place that was unlike anything I ever imagined. First thing was first, I had to figure out when it was. That was a question I had always thought was limited to cheesy sci-fi movies…now, it was my life.

Hmm, I have no means of transportation, guess that means I’m walking. I couldn’t help but think that that could be my next invention, something else to facilitate easier transportation. No point in dreaming right now…I had no choice but to walk. I walked out of the strange clearing I was in and made an odd discovery…there were roads here, paved roads. Okay, that changes things. That meant that I was in my time, still. Thank goodness! Maybe I really had calibrated my return incorrectly. That was fine, I’d get back to my lab and I’d build a new time machine and I’d start over. That’s fine…I still had the plans, and its not as though I have anything else more important than the inventor’s board right now. My friends and girlfriend Stephanie had all deserted me. So, that’s fine. They couldn’t handle my genius, so who needs ’em?

I sighed and resigned myself to walking along the street. It’d make the center of town easier to find. So, I walked…and walked and walked. I wasn’t sure really how far I’d traveled, but as I crested a hill, I could finally see lights in the distance. My heart skipped a beat as I broke into a light jog to reach the beacon of hope. It was too dark to see very well. I realized with a start that all of the lights on the street were actually from gas lamps. Was that some sort of new ‘Green’ thing this town was starting? Perhaps a butane lamp would save their energy costs? Still, it made seeing very difficult.

I stumbled around and managed to find a small garden. My eyes honed in on a ripe tomato plant. It’s fruit hung plump and carelessly from its vine. They looked so delicious and I realized that my stomach was rumbling. I made a beeline for the plant and tore its swollen prize from it. I bit into the tomato and almost moaned out loud for deliciousness. Was this some sort of a hybrid plant? I’d never had tomatoes that tasted this good before. Once I’d had my fill, I decided to pocket a couple of extra tomatoes. When I got back to my lab, I’d study them and see what made them so good. Perhaps they had used some sort of hyper nutritious organic soil and fertilizer? As I pondered the state of the tomatoes I looked up to see a beautiful, tall apple tree. The apples were smaller than the typical grocery store apple, but they were bright red and looked very tasty. I reached up as far as I could to grab a few and wiped it on the my shoulder before taking a big bite.

As my teeth broke through the skin, my mouth was filled with sweet, crisp juice. They had so much more flavor than any fruit I’d ever bought at the grocery store…well back when I still went to the grocery store. While I was building my masterpiece I ate more pizza and take out than anything. I munched on the apple as I grabbed a couple more for my pocket. These would need further study as well.

After I’d had my fill of fresh garden fruits, I began to yawn. It was amazing how much time travel could make you tired. I found some nearby benches and sat down. I couldn’t stop yawning. My eyes felt heavier and heavier and my head began to swim as sleep took over. I curled up on the bench and fell asleep within minutes.

* * *

The next morning I woke up and was finally able to get a clear view at the city around me. It looked like my time period, for certain. Save for all the gas lamps. It was a strange town to say the least. I rose from the bench and tried to stretch the crick out of my back. I yelped a little as my vertebrae popped. I hated that sensation. My back was sore and my neck was stiff from the cold, hard bench. Ugh, if I didn’t make it home today I’d definitely have to find a new place to sleep.

The town was strangely deserted. It really seemed as though I had complete run of the place. I had no choice but to plunge ahead until I found something that looked like it could be helpful. As I turned a corner, I saw a market up ahead. It had one of those old-fashioned opened signs in the window – the kind that you had to turn over when you were open or closed – it was turned to open. I smiled and took off in a jog towards the store. As I neared it, I saw a young woman sitting on a bench in historical clothes. She was reading a book.

Its a sad sign of our times when I was more astounded that she was reading a book – rather than her texting on her phone – instead of her clothes. She must have been some sort of historical tour guide? Or one of those people who dresses up in period costume and reenacts famous scenes in history.

I called out to her, “hey, cool costume.”

She looked up from her book with a startled expression. She looked around and blanched.

“Sir, I am very sorry to say that my father has not introduced me to you. It is improper for me to speak to you. If you are here to do business, my father is inside.”

“Whoa, you’re taking the whole thing seriously, aren’t you? That’s okay, can you tell me where I am?”

“Please,” she hissed, “my father is inside. You are a stranger. It is improper of me to speak to you without an introduction from my father.”

She was serious. I could feel my face falling. What sort of a crazy town was this? She saw I wasn’t moving. She snapped her book shut and rose from the bench. She smoothed down the front of her long skirt before she gave me one curt nod. As she tried to move past me and into the shop I grabbed her arm. Her eyes went wild with fear and she cried out.

“I’m sorry. Look…I’m not from here. Can you please just direct me to a place where I can find a phone…or even some wifi so I can find my way back home?”

“Those words,” she whispered, “I’ve heard them before.”

I sighed and held out my hands in mock prayer, “please, can you help me?”

Her face softened, I couldn’t help but notice how pretty she was. I hadn’t exactly spent a lot of time around girls in my lifetime, but my last girlfriend was nothing like how this girl seemed. For one, this girl wasn’t wear a stick of makeup on her face. She had this easy, natural beauty about her and a sweet sprinkling of freckles across her cheeks. Stephanie, my last girlfriend, spent hours putting gel in her hair and pounds of make up on her face. Strange, I had thought all girls were like that.

“My father has spoken of these words before. I will fetch him. Please, wait here.”

She brushed past me and headed into the store. A few moments later, an older man walked out of the store. His face brightened when he saw me. His eyes raked over my appearance and as he came to me, he took a hold of my vest and felt the fabric with his hands. I glanced at his clothes in return. They were more modern than his daughter’s but still very old fashioned looking. He smiled as he saw me and held out his hand to shake.

“I’m Michael Stevenson, what is your name?”

“Leo Munin.”

“My daughter says you were asking her for a ‘cell phone’?”

“Yes! Do you have one?”

“My boy, we haven’t had cell phones since the eighties.”

My face fell, “are you…what are you saying? What year is this?”

“It’s the year Seventeen AD.”

Nausea erupted in my stomach and a chill ran down my spine. My heart began to race, I didn’t understand…I had calculated it all so perfectly.

“I…I don’t understand. These buildings, this architecture is so modern….”

“Seventeen AD, as in…after disaster. In the old manner, it would be,” he paused and scratched his head, “about 2011.”

“After…after disaster?”

“Of course, son, I’m talking about the Great War of ’94. The Big One…the disaster, the fall out. Where have you been?”

Oh…oh no. My stomach flipped over again.  What had I done? It…this…its not supposed to be this way. My masterpiece…my prized invention for the board. The very thing that was supposed to make me famous and change the world forever…. I guess, it did. Like any person with a wish granted, I wasn’t privy to the terms and conditions of fulfillment. I had changed the world. I just made it worse than ever before. The older man could see my sudden change and he put his hand on my shoulder.

“Son…are you okay?”

I closed my eyes and steeled myself. Now was not the time to think over the things lost. I had to be strong…it was time for bravery.

“I…I’m new in town. Is there a place I can stay?”

The man studied my face for a moment before nodding. He asked me to wait a moment while he fetched his daughter. As he left me, my mind was finally able to let go. I crouched to the ground with my head in my hands and fought the urge to scream like a madman. What had I done? This was my fault, entirely. It had to be, there was no other explanation and now…there was no way to go back and change things. I thought of every time travel television show or movie I had ever seen. In all of them, the hero was able to go back and fix the problem that they had created and they were often able to fix it so that life worked out even better than before. It wouldn’t be the case, this time. I was really and truly stuck here, in this strange world where I knew no one. It was possible that in this world everyone I loved or hated or even had seen walking on the street was dead. Fuck…this place. I felt myself growing sicker and sicker by the moment. I righted myself as I heard the man returning. His daughter looked me over with pity, instead of fear.

“Come with us,” her father said, “I have a place for you.”

He led me through the town, people were starting to come out now. They looked me up and down curiously, but I didn’t return their gazes. I kept my eyes on the ground, I didn’t want to see this new world. I felt sick, absolutely sick. They walked me down a hill and I could see off in the distance there was a little cabin in a small clearing of land.

“This here cabin belongs to me, but as you can see its empty and its not doing me a lot of good sitting empty. You said you need a place to stay, well, how about you stay in this cabin. When you can find some means of employment, you can pay me rent.”

“I…I don’t really plan on-”

“Staying?” the older man interrupted, “if you want to make it to the next town, you will. Neverglade here is the only civilization for about 200 miles. People only ever go in and out when there’s a supply party or a stage to take them.”

“A stage, as in…stage coach?” I asked, incredulously. Images of old western towns danced through my head.

“Something like that, look, the only time you’ll be able to make it out of the town alive is when the supply party returns in two months’ time. Until then, you’re stuck here.”

I was too tired and shell shocked to argue or ask more questions. My head hurt like you wouldn’t believe. I felt as though the entire world had come crashing down around me…and in a way, I guess it had.

“Fine, I’ll take it. Thank you for your generosity. I’ll try to find some means to pay you, but as soon as I can get out of this town, I am. I have to find…someone,” I turned my head away and whispered, “anyone.”

“All right, that’ll suit me just fine. Felicity and I live up on the hill,” he turned to his daughter, “I want you to keep your eye on him, and help him get settled in. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir,” she whispered, her eyes downcast.

“Oh, right, introductions. Leo, this is my daughter Felicity. Felicity, this is Leo Munin. Blah blah, there,” he turned his head back towards her, “does that satisfy your delicate sensibilities?”

She nodded solemnly.

He turned back to me and rubbed his hands together, “excellent. All righty, well, we’ll leave you to get settled in.”

I watched them walk back up the hill. The elder Stevenson walked in front while Felicity trailed behind him with her head down. Either she was really shy, or…perhaps thats the way women are treated here. Despite the fact that women’s lib happened, maybe the world had gone back to that way of life. There didn’t seem to be electricity anywhere and no cars. I wondered why. Despite the heaviness in my chest over what happened, I felt my insatiable curiosity rising again. I wanted to know more about this place. I wanted to know everything about what happened while I was traveling. I would learn everything that I could about this new world. I would and I had two months to do it in.

I am Leo Munin…and this is my story.

*************

I felt weird leaving it with just the prologue up. So I decided to go ahead and release chapter one. I hope you enjoyed. 🙂

It’s safe to say I’m lonely now
A place called home
Is just a memory away
I know I’ve done this all before
A thousand silent voices
Begging me to stay

It had taken him the better part of five years to build it. He had sacrificed his friends and his girlfriend to complete it…his masterpiece. He knew that this piece was the one, the one that would finally change everything. He would show the invention board that he was worthy of a grant. He smiled to himself as he thought of all of that precious money he could use on more inventions. Maybe he could hire interns! They’d do all the dirty work for him, and he’d get to do whatever he wanted. He walked from his inventing table over to his masterpiece.

“Munin,” he said to himself, “you’ve finally done it. This will change the fate of mankind.”

He grinned brighter as he traced his fingers over the plastic keypad. Little did Leo Munin know…he was telling the truth.

Apologies all left unsaid
Secrets better left unspoken
Dreams are slowly put to bed
Rumors stirred and reawoken

It was time, the moment of truth. Leo Munin took a deep breath and held it as he pressed the keys on the machine’s panel. First, he dialed in a day: the 20th. Then, the month: December. Finally, a year: 1991. He knew the more current and shorter the trip, the better he would be off. Some time long enough ago to prove that the machine worked, but not so long ago that he would stand out and change history forever. He had to be smart, he wanted everything to be just as it was…with everything on the verge of fantastic for him. He wouldn’t give that up for anything in the world.

The machine opened its doors and he found himself staring directly into the time steam. It was so beautiful, so glorious. Had he been a cowardly man, he would have run screaming in the other direction. No, he was brave. He clenched his jaw and took what could very well be his final breath before stepping into the machine.

If I try to get away
How long until I’m free?
And if I don’t come back here
Will you remember me?

Just like that…Leo Munin was gone.

It’s safe to say there’s nothing now
It’s all so quiet but I

It was a success! The machine, his time machine, worked so perfectly and so beautifully. Leo was floored, he had never imagined once in a million years that this could finally be his victory. All of history and time would remember him, Leo Munin, as the man who invented the time machine.

Wait! Stop! There’s a man in the street…a car is headed straight for him! Oh God, someone save him!

Can’t forget the sound
A thousand voices call my name
A thousand hands that

Pull me back down to the ground
I turn away from what you are
Denying all that you have given
I find a place that’s safe and far
In time all will be forgiven

The sudden change in light was harsh and made Leo’s pupils ache. Where was he? This new world around him seemed so strange. He was no longer in his lab, but instead out in the middle of a field. He had gotten back to his time machine and he knew he had hit the button to go home. Had it not been calibrated properly? No, no he had done his calculations three times to be sure. What happened to his house? It was all gone…all of it. He could feel a swell of panic rising in his throat.

“Get a grip, Leo!” he muttered aloud.

He forced himself to put on a brave face. He was a scientist, after all! He wasn’t just a crackpot inventor, he was a man of genius, he’d figure out what happened and go home!

Wait…is that smoke?

If I try to get away
How long until I’m free?
And if I don’t come back here
Will you remember me?

It was gone….

***********************************************

Lyrics: Remember Me by The Birthday Massacre

The challenge got released earlier than I thought I would. But I had my prologue finished before hand. I hope you guys enjoy. I’m not sure how often I will be updating this, but I know it’ll be fun. 🙂