Carla couldn’t say she was surprised when her husband dragged her out to the barn to show her the sheets of metal he fused together into a large box. Nor was she surprised when he told her this box was, in fact, a time machine.
When he urged her to climb in through the small opening on the side; she obliged. After all, what harm could come from it? She’d play along, nothing would happen, then she’d get him to finally fix the loose leg on the kitchen table. For months, he pushed it off, telling her he’d do it just as soon as he was finished with his “top secret project.” This “time machine,” she presumed.
A pair of metal folding chairs sat in the center of the box; wires hung from the ceiling and across the floor. There were no windows and no door other than the small opening which her husband sealed behind them.
“Now, see these dials here on the wall?” He motioned toward a series of notched dials with a lever beside them sticking out of the metal wall. “These correspond to day, month, year. When do you want to go?”
“Tim,” she began.
He held up a hand. “No, wait, I’ve got it!”
He twisted the dials, muttering to himself, then pulled the lever. He waited a moment, then spun around to face his wife; a grin plastered across his face.
“Are you ready for this?” he asked.
“Ready for what? Nothing happened.” She crossed her arms, dropping into one of the chairs. “Look, you’ve had your fun. You learned time travel isn’t possible. Now will you please fix the table? Chrissy and the boys are coming over for lunch tomorrow, and I’d really like to have a place we can all sit and eat.”
“What do you mean it didn’t work? You haven’t even looked outside,” Tim said.
“I don’t need to. We didn’t move. Where did you think we’d go, anyway?” Carla asked.
He wagged his finger. “Not where, when. Remember? Time machine.” He marched proudly to the small door and opened it. “Welcome to the future.”
Carla couldn’t see much through the small door from her seat, but something smelled… different. She didn’t quite know how to describe it. It smelled kind of like that time her grandpa took her to the zoo when she was a little girl. It ended up raining all day, and they were stuck in the reptile house the whole time. Nothing like the tangy sweet smell of the barn she was used to.
She stood slowly. “Tim, what’s outside?”
“I just told you. It’s the future.” He gestured dramatically toward the door.
As she ducked through the small opening, Carla found herself in the middle of what seemed to be a rainforest. She didn’t recognize any of the plants around her. She might as well have been standing on an alien planet. One thing was for sure; they weren’t in their barn anymore.
“What… How… Are we…?” She couldn’t seem to form a complete sentence.
Tim stoked his chin thoughtfully. “The future’s way more nature-y than I expected. I thought there’d be flying cars. Where are all the robots?”
“How is… Is this… But we didn’t…”
“Although,” he continued, “the plant life seems to be very evolved. I’ll have to take some samples. I don’t think we have anything like this in our time.”
A rustling in the leaves of a nearby bush caught Carla’s attention. She watched as a strange, small creature emerged. It looked a bit like a duck or a loon or something else she might see on the lake, but it had an exceptionally long tail and oddly short wings. Its feet weren’t webbed, but bore large claws instead.
“Tim.” Her voice was shaky. She tried again. “Tim.”
“Not now, Carla, I’m trying to determine if this tree might be some future relative of the aspen in our backyard.”
The creature chirped, tapping one of its claws rhythmically against the ground.
“Oh my god, what is it doing?” Carla backed away from the creature, inching slowly toward the time machine.
Unwilling to tear her eyes away from the strange little thing, she collided with her husband, who spun angrily around, ready to yell at her. Instead, he let out a soft gasp.
“Sweetheart, get in the time machine,” he whispered.
Carla’s voice squeaked as she replied, “Yeah, that’s what I’m trying to do.”
“That’s a hesperonychus.” Awe filled his voice. “I’ve read about these.”
“I don’t care what it is. Something about it scares me.” She felt behind her for the metal box but only found air.
“That’s good. Evolution taught you that. This thing’s a killer,” Tim said.
The creature lowered its head, approaching them slowly, hissing.
“Oh, great. Killer little creatures. Just what the future needs.” She was starting to panic. Where was that stupid box‽
Her husband chuckled nervously. “Actually, I think something may have gone wrong.”
“Oh, you think‽” She spun around to see where she was. She had been backing diagonally away from the box this entire time. “Why can’t you just be normal for once? I didn’t ask to be swept away to the future. You did this all on your own. Remember that.”
The creature leapt toward her. So did Tim. He tackled her out of the way just in time. The creature crashed into the brush where she had just stood. It spun toward them, hissing even louder now.
“This isn’t the future.” Tim stood and helped her to her feet. “If I’m remembering correctly, I think this little guy’s from the Cretaceous Period.”
Carla didn’t have time to reply. The creature was running toward them.
“Quick,” Tim said, “machine.”
They both ducked through the small opening, and Tim slammed it closed. The creature ran into the door with a loud CLINK.
Laughing, Tim pulled Carla in for a hug. “We made it! Oh, that was exhilarating. Can you imagine what else could be out there? When to next?”
She pushed him away. “Home,” she hissed. “I want my table fixed.”