True story, this, if an odd one.
The setting: A rather too hot spring morning in my back yard, in the year of 2002. I would have been 15 back then.
And so it came to me. I don't think it helped that I'd spent the last two hours lying in the hammock under the hot sun, listening to the Sand in the Vaseline compilation by the Talking Heads for the last two hours straight. It seemed to have ruined most of my better judgement.
I rushed inside, finding my little brother Joseph and his little friend Matt on the computer. Matt was up to the Boonta Eve level on Star Wars: Pod Racer, possibly one of my favourite games of all time. They were clustered around, gripped to the screen as he tried and failed to complete a circuit. He never was very good at Pod Racer. Anyways, by my memory, this is what happened next:
"...and if we write down on a little piece of paper today's date, then hold onto that piece of paper until time travel is invented in the deep future when we're adults, surely our future selves would come pick us up? I mean, that would be nice of them."
Please don't write me on how unlikely this is to work.
Matt starts laughing at this point.
"Ok, now future-Me is bound to want to come and get us, 'cos I mean, he's bound to want to prove Matt wrong, isn't he"
Matt starts looking a bit scared.
"Man, going to the future's going to rock. There'll be like flying cars and stuff..."
I looked at my watch. 'FRI 27-09-'02 14:54' it read. I liked 24 hour time back then because I wanted to be in the Air Force. Sigh.
And so I scribbled down on a piece of paper:
Remember to pick yourself Matt and Joseph up in your time machine. They will be waiting for you at exactly 3:00 in Joseph's bedroom at home on
September 27, 2002.
Don't forget
Matt was in tears at this point. He genuinely thought I'd gone mental. What with this and the speech I made to him this morning about wanting to be a robot. I closed Pod Racer, and brought up an Atomic Clock website, for accuracy. Set my watch to it, and began the countdown. We had about three minutes to go.
"I can't wait. Like, you'll be able to get a flying car, and a robot, and a jetpack, and..."
Five seconds to go.
"Oh my god oh my god oh my..."
Needless to say, nothing happened. Nothing at all.
I spent the rest of the afternoon sulking. Man I was gutted.
Today I found that piece of paper in my wallet. I intend to keep that piece of paper, until time travel is invented in the deep future, when we're adults.
Then we'll see who's wrong.