I felt light, like some burden was lifted off my shoulder. This was why Luke's father had brought me back here. Because I had to understand Luke. I had to see him from a perspective that wasn't biased, and now that I did, I made me feel like I had wronged him all through till the time he died. He didn't deserve his wife not shedding a single tear for him.
Wait. I looked down at my shadow as I stood just outside, my heart beat picking up pace. The shadows were still two, complete with the silhouette of my hair and my sling back. I gulped.
Did I have to go back? Does that mean I could only visit here and not actually stay?
I watched the shadows again. They looked closer than the first time I had seen it. Was it some sort of time ticking? Was it the amount of time I had to go back that was passing by?
I braced myself and walked in, but instead of attending classes and getting settled, I found myself walking straight to the library. I need more insight on the time travel machine Mr. McGregor had built, and why it was way different from the time machines that were always shown. How did he make his?
"Excuse me," I said to the librarian, a beady eyed woman who seemed cute as she smiled and looked up at me.
"How may I help you?"
"I need...some articles written by Mr. McGregor. Do you know where I can find them?"
She took some time to think about it. "There are a collection of magazines where his articles were published, and then an online science magazine. The title of his article on the magazine is..." She trailed off, then looked through a record book. "Time travel; what are the odds? You can use a computer and search that title."
I nodded. "Thank you."
I walked away to one of the many computers, then sat down and typed in the title she had given me. I put my hand behind my head, my right foot tapping anxiously on the floor as I waited for the results to load. It didn't take long, and I clicked on the title.
Time travel; what are the odds?
I scrolled down and read lightly. In his article, he said it is theoretically possible to time travel to the past, like I have, in certain general relativity spacetime geometries that permit traveling faster than the speed of light, such as cosmic strings, traversable wormholes, and Alcubierre drives.
Travelling faster than the speed of light? If I have done that, does that mean it was so fast I hadn't noticed? Does that mean he somehow found a way to make other places permit travelling faster than light?
I scrolled down to a part of the article where he posed a question.
What is the point of time travel especially to the past if we are not going to do something differently? What is the use of going to a time we do not know?
I leaned back as his mind seemed to lay itself out in front of me. That is why he had made a specific remote control. Those digital calendars activated a grander machine that would reel the clock and me or whoever, to that exact time. Because he wanted to not only be able to time travel, but to control exactly what time he went to. That's it.
If I want to go back, I need one of those digital calendars set back to my time. The question was, do I even want to go back now?
I have just started getting to know Luke. It isn't much, but I kind of want to stick around for longer, just to perceive the person he was.
I closed the window and stood up, and with a quick goodbye to the librarian, I left the hall.
I went to my class, but was unable to concentrate. My thoughts kept drifting to the shadows and then Luke. It was getting increasingly hard to tell myself that he was dead. In the future, seven years from now.
I left school early, just to go back home and have some time for myself. I didn't even see a point in attending school since I would have to go back anyway.
My house was locked when I got back and I opened it and walked in, dropping my bag just anywhere. The cookies and the parcel were still on the table, the cookies now in a soft batter like state rather than the beautiful things he had put so much effort into baking. I felt this overwhelming sadness fill my heart as I climbed my bed. It was empty, very much like the one I would be going back in time to.