Miss
O'Dell glanced up, and looked in his direction. He edged back, and began to
climb down the vine. Soon he saw her looking out of the window. He looked up at
her neck and face, as she looked out. Seeing nothing, she looked down, and saw
him.
She
gaped in surprise, and leaned over, reached down and grabbed him, before he
could climb down out of her reach.
He
wondered what he should say to her. She would have many questions, and he could
not alter her knowledge, by introducing an awareness of time travel devices and
reduction effects in her time.
"What
sort of little creature are you?" she asked.
"I'm
sorry, Miss O'Dell. I can't possibly tell you."
"Well
I can't make you, I suppose," she said, "But I can make use of you.
If I sprinkle some herbs onto you, I think you'll make a scrumptious evening
meal for me. I'll take you home, and pick some herbs from the garden."
"Miss
O'Dell, you mustn't do that."
"Why
not? You appear outside my classroom, like a spy. You won't give me any
indication of who you are. The only thing I know for sure is that you're a nice
looking mouthful of meat."
"Alright,
I'll have to tell you the truth. I'm not a spy for the other side. I'm a
historian from the future. I came back to your time to study. I invented a time
machine. But somehow the time travel process reduced me in size."
"Can
I see this device?"
"Yes,
I guess so," he said, thinking it was better than being eaten.
She
carried him to the bushes, and collected his device on the way to her car. She
put it in the glove box, and placed him just under the top of her dress, so
that he could look out at the historical views of the streets. She reached her
home, a luxurious upper mansion, and said, "Why didn't you tell me this
before?"
"I
didn't want to risk tampering with the past," he said.
"Weren't
you taking a big risk by climbing the vine to my classroom window, while a full
class of students was there?"
"Yes,
I suppose so."
"Then
why did you do it? I still don't think you're telling me the whole truth."
He
explained the full story.
"I'm
very flattered," she said, "I never imagined I'd mean that much to
someone in 50 years’ time. I wonder if I’m still around at 75 in your
time."
"I
never imagined you would be prepared to eat me, before you found out about
me," he said.
"I
understand that you and your machine should not be found in this time
period," she said, and put the machine on the floor, stamped on it until
it was crushed to pieces, and then threw them all onto a wood fire in her
living room, which she then lit, "It's my concession to the sanctity of
the time stream, as you've described it. However, you've admitted that your
presence here is because I made quite an impression on you."