Hubert
was 15 when he went to a girls private school fete advertised in the local
paper. It was in the neighbouring village, and he didn’t know that it was
actually Miss Balfour’s old school. There was a folder open for people to look
at, with group photographs of the teachers for every year of the school's
history dating back since the invention of the camera.
He
looked at each of them, in reverse chronological order, until he saw a
photograph taken decades earlier. There was a pretty looking 25 year old
teacher among the ladies. He looked at all the photos of earlier years in turn,
until the one (which contained her first appearance), which was when she was
22. So she had been a teacher there. He looked at the names, and matched hers
to her position in the photograph. In each case, the name was Miss M. O'Dell.
He thought she was so lovely, that he wanted to go back in time and see her,
but his time machine was not completed yet. He went home to his laboratory, and
continued to work on it, using all of the notes he had taken in Miss Corlani’s
secret classes, and finished it within days.
He
took the time machine back to the school grounds, and arrived 50 years into his
own past, when Miss O’Dell was 25.
Then
the dispersed shrinking energy from the effects of the Ring of Reversal reduced
both him and his time machine, before he even stepped out of it. He entered the
bushes and soon worked out what had happened. He decided not to let this upset
his plans to meet Miss O’Dell.
He
snuck over to the playground, while afternoon classes were on, and made his way
to the classroom, which had been designated hers in the photograph for that
year. He climbed a cling vine and looked into the window. He saw the girls in
their seats, and the beautiful teacher Miss O'Dell, walking around the room,
helping the students with their work. He watched her, fascinated with his own
achievements. He had gone 50 years into the past, and was watching his own
country's history. The window was partly open, but he could not hear the quiet
questions of the individual students.
When
the last lesson came to an end, she said, "Alright, remember your home
assignment about the effects of war on the family is due tomorrow. If any of
you have fathers in the infantry, who are overseas in the war effort, then draw
on your feelings about that."
The
girls went home.
Miss
O'Dell sat at her desk and wrote in a folder for several minutes. He watched
her and felt frustrated by the fact that he could not involve himself in the
established flow of history. It would have been such fun to meet her and tell
her of his invention in the future and travels back to her time. However, he
must not do that.
Some
pollen in the air got into his nostrils, and he suddenly sneezed.