Young Writers Society

I don't have a title yet so please bear with me while I think of one

We rode in silence back to the house. I barely noticed the beautiful scenery I was so enchanted with earlier. I could only concentrate on one thing: I was still here. Why? Why was I stuck here? I had hoped that if I returned to the place where I disappeared , maybe it would take me back. I just wanted to go home. Before war tore apart the country. I alone knew what was coming, I couldn’t be here when it came.
It was dark by the time got back. Jane set out a late supper, kept warm for whenever we came home. I mumbled an excuse about not being hungry and locked myself in my room. Suddenly I felt like I couldn’t breathe, my corset was like a vise , squeezing the oxygen out of me. I took off my dress and corset as fast as I could, sticking my head between my knees when I felt like I was going to faint.
Sitting up, I saw the bathtub in the corner and decided to wash up. I was covered in dust from the dirt roads and I was sweaty, so it was more like a paste. I ran the hot water while I got my nightgown and soap from the dresser. With a washcloth I wiped off most of the dirt before getting in the tub. The combination of hot water easing my tense muscles and the soothing scent of my lavender soap soon had me relaxed. I dried off and poured myself a glass of whiskey from the decanter on the sideboard.
What was I going to do? I went to my luggage and pulled out a small beaded handbag. Shaking the contents out onto the table, I sipped my whiskey and stared at all that was left of my life in the past- I mean future- god this was confusing. Arrayed on the table was a shiny silver ipod; my driver’s license; a hot pink Bic lighter;and a battered pack of Marlboro’s with one cigarette inside.
“ And a partridge in a pear tree,” I sang to myself , chuckling. I picked everything up one at a time, trying to reconcile myself to the fact that I would never use any of this again. Things I once couldn’t live without are now useless junk. Tears rolling down my face I grabbed it all , turning to the fireplace. Better to burn the evidence. I stood there for a good ten minutes, unwilling to sever this last , tenuous link to my past - or future. I heaved a sigh and sat back down at the table, stuffing almost everything back into the handbag.
By the time I was done I knew that whatever I decided to do , first I had to come clean to Robert. Anne knew I was from the future , and though we had originally thought to keep this from him , after today he was going to have some questions about why we made him ride for three hours to the middle of nowhere for no obvious reason.
Laying in bed, I prayed I would sleep with no dreams to haunt me.Lately all I dreamed about was the burning house. It was the same as always, but it felt like there was an urgency to it that wasn’t there before.

* * * * *

I woke up feeling slightly sick , both from the whiskey and the thought of telling Robert the truth. There was a chance he wouldn’t believe me and throw me in the loony-bin. Stumbling out of bed, I groped along the sideboard until I found the water pitcher and poured myself a glass. I drank it down, savoring the cool crisp mountain water, better than any bottled water I ever tasted. I washed up and got dressed, resigned to the fact that I would be wearing corsets and hoops for the rest of my life. It was ridiculous, at my ankles the hoops were three maybe four feet in diameter. Just walking around was difficult, let alone sitting down.
Robert and Anne had some errands to run in town , but I declined an invitation to go. I spent the day in the library, lost in Elizabethan England with William Shakespeare as my guide. One of the maids woke me up shortly before dinner, and I retired to my room to change and gather my things. I snuck into Robert’s study and set my things in there before going to the dining room. After we ate, I asked Robert and Anne to join me in the study, I had something important to discuss with them. Out of the corner of my eye I saw them exchange a worried glance and I had to hide a smile. I could only imagine what they thought I was going to say.
In the study, I smiled apologetically at Robert and sat down at his desk. He and Anne took the two leather chairs opposite me. I already had my beaded bag on the desk, opening it I turned to my friends, “ I know you guys have some questions , but please, let me speak first.” I reached in the bag and took out my license, my ipod , and my lighter.
“ Anne, you’ve already seen these and I know you believe me. Robert,” I said, turning to him, “ what I’m about to tell you is going to sound crazy but I swear it’s the truth. I didn’t go to school with Anne. I’m from the future. 2010 to be exact.”
I could see he was going to say something so I hurried on, “ I know how it sounds but it’s true. Here,” I said handing him my license , “ I have proof. This is plastic and it won’t be invented for another hundred years. And I know you’ve never seen a color photograph before.”
He held it gingerly between his thumb and forefinger, looking carefully at both sides. He glanced from me to the picture and back again.
“ I know it’s a terrible picture , but look here, where it says birthdate. March 20 1986. And here,” I said pointing to the card , “ Issued March 20 2010.” I grabbed the ipod and turned it on , shoving the earbuds into his hands , “ Put these in your ears.” I said , quickly scrolling through my favorite play list.
I loved any and all music, and it just so happened that I had an opera song he would recognize. I hit play when I came to ‘ Liviamo ne’lieti calici’ from Verdi’s ‘ La Traviata’. His eyes widened as he realized he was listening to an orchestra in his home, without instruments. I placed the ipod in his hands and used his thumb to adjust the volume and skip to the next song, which was ‘La donna e` mobile’. He jumped up and ripped the earphones out of his head.
“ What? . . . How? . . .” , Robert muttered, taking off his glasses he began pacing around the room.
I poured us all a double shot of whiskey and shoved Roberts into his hands. He downed it in one gulp and picked up the fallen ipod. I started to speak but he held up his hand and shook his head. Watching him carefully , I sat down and sipped my whiskey. He was an intelligent man , and soon enough he had it figured out.
All of a sudden his face went red and he turned to me, “ What is the meaning of these -” he stole a glance at Anne and spat the rest out in a hiss, “- naked photos of you?”
“ What are you talking about?” I asked him , puzzled. I did not have naked pictures of myself .
Robert practically threw the ipod into my hands and took my glass of whiskey. He stood in the corner of the room , glaring at me. I looked in my hands and couldn’t stop myself from laughing.
“ It’s a picture of me swimming at the beach.”
“ You’re naked!”, he shouted at me.
“ No I’m not!”, I yelled back at him, “ I’m wearing a bathing suit!”
Taking a deep breath, I lowered my voice , “ Look, I know this must be difficult for you to understand , but that’s what all women wear swimming. In my time.” I looked him straight in the eye as I said it. He had seen the proof and couldn’t doubt me now.
He nodded at the ipod, “ How is that possible?”
“ I don’t know the specifics but it’s something to do with electricity and something the size of your fingernail called a microprocessor.”
Robert sat down and took a deep breath, “So,” he asked, “ how did you get . . . Here?”
“ I honestly don’t know,” I replied , pouring myself another glass of whiskey. Watching the amber liquid in my glass as I swirled it around, I tried to remember what had happened that day. I had done this many times since I realized I wasn’t dreaming. I could remember everything up to the point when I …traveled? …here and everything after. I don’t know why I can’t remember the actual … trip? As close as I can get is this feeling of immense pressure bearing down on me from all sides while some invisible forces fight over my body, pulling me this way and that . I told my friends all of this and watched as their faces lit up like they were listening to a story.
“I was hiking in the woods, these woods, when I came across a group of ancient stone dwellings. They’re all over these mountains. No one knows who built them. They’re just little stone huts. Most of them are so overgrown, you can barely see the roofs. The so-called village that I found had several dwellings like that, and they were all arranged in a circle. I was walking around the circle , looking at each dwelling when I saw something shiny out of the corner of my eye. I walked across the circle and tripped on a rock or something, I don’t know. When I fell I cut my hand trying to break my fall. I placed my hand on one of the stone huts to help me get up and everything started to go fuzzy. When I came to I was staring at Anne , looking like she just stepped off the set of Gone With the Wind.”
They both looked at me puzzled and I said, “ It’s a movie about the Civil War.” Which only made them even more confused because, of course, they had no idea what I was talking about.
“ Nevermind,” I said taking a sip of my whiskey, “ That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. It’s obvious that this nation is at a boiling point right now with this slavery issue,” I looked at both of them and they each nodded, secession was on everyone’s lips. You would have to be deaf, dumb, or blind not to see that. “ Well, in November it’s going to boil over.”
I told them how Abe Lincoln was going to win the election and that in December , South Carolina would be the first of eleven states to secede from the Union.
“ By February, North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and a few more states will all join the newly formed Confederate States of America. I don’t know the exact date but, sometime in April Confederate soldiers in Charleston bombard the Union held Fort Sumter with cannon fire until they surrender. Lincoln will declare the Southern states in rebellion and call for all Union states to produce their share of troops, equaling about seventy thousand soldiers.”
I paused to sip my whiskey and dredge up everything else I could remember about the Civil War. It was actually quite a bit. When I was in college I dated a history major who was obsessed with the Civil War. Every weekend he dragged me around some battlefield or other.
“ After Fort Sumter, Virginia joins the Confederacy and Richmond becomes the capitol. Although the western portion of the state disagrees and enters the Union as West Virginia.”
Robert stood up and began pacing again, “ Seventy thousand men? They’ll crush us! Don’t these fools realize they don’t have the resources to survive an all-out-war with the northern states?!”, he stopped pacing and stood behind his chair, hands gripping the back. “ What happens?”
“ Lincoln blockades the Southern ports from Virginia to the Gulf of Mexico and puts all the railroads under government control. In July, near a creek in Virginia called Bull Run, more than three thousand American soldiers will die. It’s the first battle in a long and bloody war that will tear this nation apart. Families will be divided brother against brother, father against son. At the end, four years will have passed and over six-hundred thousand men and boys will be dead. Slavery will be abolished, the Union preserved, and the South will be a burning pile of ash.”
I stood up and walked to the window, staring out at the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen. The verdant green landscape of rolling hills and lush trees was topped by a sky painted pink and gold. Here and there plumes of smoked drifted lazily towards the heavens, giving evidence that we were not alone in this wilderness. Families were down there snug in their warm homes, content in their ignorance of what was coming. I stood there for a few moments gathering my thoughts and giving Robert and Anne time to gather theirs.
“I hate knowing that in one years’ time every family out there will be mourning the loss of a son, or a father, or a brother. A whole generation will be left without their fathers to raise them.”
Wiping the tears from my eyes I turned away from the peaceful scene before me and faced my two friends. “ I don’t know what to do. I know slavery is wrong , but so many people will die. Is it worth the sacrifice? I know it is, but even if I could change the past, then I would be changing my future and everyone else’s too. Maybe I would change it so drastically that I would cease to exist!” I was starting to freak out. What if just by being here I change my future? Well, Anne would tell me if I started fading out a`la Marty Mcfly.
Robert came over to me and placed his hands on my shoulders, “There is nothing you can do. Even if you tried to stop it from happening it wouldn’t work, it’s too big. When we were in Washington I met an ardent young secessionist and had an interesting conversation. He said ‘The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences.’ Although he was arguing for secession, I agree with his statement. If you hadn’t been in Charleston that day, drunken old Mr. Downes would have beat young Jacob to death. You saved his life , already you have changed the past.”
I only heard half of what he said to me. I was so shocked to my core my spine was tingling. I had heard that quote before. I jumped up as if I sat on a fire.
“What?! What did you say? That quote, are you positive that’s exactly what he said?” , I asked him, almost hysterically. I was clutching the lapels of his jacket so hard my knuckles were pure white. “ Do you remember his name?”
Anne stood up alarmed, “What is it Marie? What’s wrong?”
Robert had succeeded in removing my hands from his jacket and he steered us to the chairs around his desk. “Sit down,” he said harshly. I recoiled at his tone but when I looked at him, the gleam in his eye belied his stern voice, “ If you will calmly tell me what this is about, I will tell you the young man’s name.”
I was only half listening to what he was saying, my mind was racing. Could it be possible? I took a few sips of whiskey to calm down. “ That young man,” I said still sounding shrill, “ was quoting Sir Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister, who won’t be born for a least another decade, probably more.”
The whiskey wasn’t working very well, just saying it out loud made my heart race and my stomach twist. If he was from the future, he knew what was coming and who would win. Why would he back the losing side?
I set down my glass and reached for the beaded bag, I needed that cigarette. Robert and Anne watched as I took out my last cigarette.
“ What is that?” Robert asked reaching for the empty pack, the cellophane had come off and was laying on the desk. He picked it up , marveling.
" That," I replied, " is a cellophane. Fascinating , I know." I neatly plucked it out of his hands and threw it in the beaded bag. Withdrawing my Bic lighter, I lit the cigarette and his eyes bugged out of his head. I cut him off before he could speak , “ Yes , I know , fascinating. We can look at my cool future stuff later. This is serious.”
I took a few drags and looked at Robert , “ What is his name?”
“ James. James Earl Ray from Alton , Illinois.”
If it was possible , my heart raced even faster. I took another drag off the joint , blowing the smoke out slowly, thinking. I had no doubt now that he was from the future, and from the name he chose to use , I thought I knew what time he was from.
“ Was he by himself,” I asked , “ or was he with someone else? Maybe someone you know?”
Robert’s face brightened up at this, “ Yes! As a matter of fact, he was having lunch with Senator Davis. If you like…” He stopped talking when he saw the look on my face.
Even though I knew what the answer was going to be, I asked anyway , “ Jefferson Davis?”
He nodded his head and I groaned, “ Oh, this is just great.” I finished my joint and saved the butt. “ Jefferson Davis will, in about six-months’ time, be elected President of the Confederate States of America.”
Robert was a smart man, he read my face and understood the situation , “ If Ray is meeting with Davis, knowing he will be head of this… rebel government… then he must be trying to befriend him in hopes of securing a position when the time comes.”
He echoed my thoughts exactly. However, he left out the key point. “ Well, Robert, I agree with you but, you forgot one thing. With his knowledge of the future he might be doing this to try and change the outcome. From the name he chose to use here , I’m guessing it isn’t for the better.”
“ What do you mean?” Anne asked me confused.
“ James Earl Ray assassinated a prominent black Civil Rights leader in 1968.” I told them about the Civil Rights movement of the sixties. “ Even though Lincoln frees the slaves , one hundred years later they are still treated the same. Over the next forty years things got better, and in 2008 America elected its first black president.”
I let this sink in for a moment before continuing , “I have to find out what Ray is up to. Soon, before he can do any damage.”
Robert turned to Anne and brushed her cheek with his fingertips , mouthing “I love you” to her. She smiled and kissed the palm of his hand, nodding her head. More had passed between them than what I saw.
“ I may not be from the future,” Robert said , smiling at me , “ but I have known where this was going for a while. I was born and raised in Virginia, spoon-fed King Cotton and States’ Rights. I don’t agree with it and neither does Anne.” He took her hand in his lacing his fingers with hers before speaking again. “ I know I speak for both of us when I say that whatever you choose to do, we will be there with you. However, we can’t get anything done here. I think it is time to go home to Washington. I have a few friends in Military Information who may be able to help us.”

i realy liked the story keep wrighting more from aj