Clever Minakshi

PROMPT: Write a poem or short story using ALL of these Beatles Song titles:

Help; Yesterday; Eight Days a Week; Paperback Writer; If I Fell; Revolution

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"So," the teacher concluded. "That's how we get seasons and time zones. The Earth completes one Revolution around the sun in a year, and one rotation around its axis every twenty-four hours."

Minakshi raised a hand.

"Yes, dear?" the teacher asked.

"Miss, what If I Fell now, and reached another longitude? Would I be in another time-zone? Maybe somewhere where there are Eight Days a Week?"

The teacher laughed. "Minakshi, you have all the makings of a Paperback Writer. I can't Help marvelling at your imaginative questions. Well, dear, if you did manage to reach another longitude, there still wouldn't be eight days a week, but you might find yourself in Yesterday or maybe Tomorrow!"

"But then," the little girl persisted, "if I went back to yesterday, which I've already had once, and I got it again, and then came to today, I'd have eight days this week."

"You're right," the teacher said. "You would!"

That afternoon, the child disembarked from the school-bus, shouting for her Mom.

"Minakshi?" her Dad opened the door, looking worried. "Why are you yelling like that? Has something happened?"

The child jumped into her Dad's arms.

"Everything's fine, Dad. But why are you home?"

"I took the day off, today. It was a hard day's night, yesterday. We had to go and meet a client across the universe."

"Wow!" the child said. "And we learnt all about latitudes and longitudes, and I figured out how I can have eight days a week!"

"Really?" her Dad said, depositing her on the sofa. "And how are you going to do that?"

Minakshi launched into an explanation while her Dad fixed her some chivda and ragi malt.

"So what you're saying is," the father said, putting a plate and mug in front of his daughter, "that you'll go back to yesterday, and stay there till you get today again. Hmmm. You'll say 'here comes the sun' in a different part of the world, on the same day ..."

"And I'd say hello to you today, and goodbye yesterday! Hello, goodbye ... or should it be backwards, then, goodbye, hello? And I'd go from Russia to India and India to Russia and say I'm back in the USSR."

"Well, I guess that part, you'll have to let it be, but the rest can work."

Not for nothing had the Dad got a day off.

Dad and daughter began to build a time machine. It was ready by the time Mom got home from her lunch-and-movie with friends.

"Well, hey dudes," she said, when she saw what her husband and daughter had been up to in her absence. "That looks interesting. Shall we take a ride, all together, now?"

She stepped in to the time machine and held out a hand to her husband, and another to her child. "I wanna hold your hand," she called. The two of them took a hand each, they squeezed in to the machine ... and ...

"Where are we?"

"Doesn't look like we've travelled in time."

"Are we underwater?"

"Yes! This is an octopus's garden!"

"A little less conversation, a little more exploration," said Dad.

He opened the door of the machine and stepped out on to the ocean floor.

"Be careful, dear! Is it cold there?"

"Cold? No. I only feel burning love!"

The mother and daughter looked at each other, and the mother said, "Well, dear, it's now or never."

The mother and daughter stepped out, too.

"This is fun!" the child said, gazing at the colourful coral.

"Honey! Don't go there!"

Too late. The child had swum in to turbulent waters.

"If only we had a bridge over troubled waters!" the mother wailed.

"Don't fear, Daddy's here!"

With a strong stroke, the father swam to where his child was flailing int he water. He brought her back safely to her Mom.

"Now back in this machine and let's go home," she said firmly. I've had enough."

So they went back into the machine, and were soon down home.