A Beer

A BEER

I lifted my fingers that were stuck to the dials, I knew it. I just knew it. They got to my workstation. Where I said, "They shouldn't have been down here." Wiping the peanut butter from my fingers onto a cloth I had there for the rascals to keep clean after their being here. 'Damn them. I wish the babysitter remembered what I said to her. "Keep the kids out of my room!" She did it, again.'

I looked into my mirror, just up on my eyeliner, I looked magnificent. I licked my crimson lips, looking at my cheeks the rouge was just right, the eyeshadow was perfect. I wanted to see Karen she made my lips want her, just by crossing her shapely legs. Mine weren't bad either. If I say so myself.

At the moment they were in black seamed nylons, I was a little petite so I choose to wear high heels, that's what I call them. There stillettoes they gave me that extra height there. I was wearing thigh high sequence skirt, with sequenced jacket with a white satin blouse which was deep and plunging. Having with a pearl necklace. I was a knock out.

I stepped out of the device to see where I was. I hoped I was where I wanted to be. In front of the club, where my friends would be. I was going to blow their panties off, by arriving in this. My time machine, they told me it couldn't be done.

I was going to show them I did it like I said I would. I saw the barkeep who was standing before the bar. The stools were almost all occupied.

"A beer," I said. Waving my payment to the barkeep who walked toward me as I stepped out of the time machine, it was conspicuous. Having wooden sides. a chair. It was ten feet tall, with glass windows on it.

The barkeep with a beard and a mustach who stared at me, his eyes wide his mouth hung agape. His hands tumbled, as he walked toward me. He walked toward me, after walking out from behind the bar. He wore an apron stained with the libations he poured that day. He asked, “What’s the thing you call a beer?"

"What is this thing? Tallow." someone yelled as this person pointed at the machine.

The place was dark; there was a pungent scent in the air. It stunk of sweat. Booze, and aromas of meat being cooked there. There were candles on the tables, which were lit. A woman was dancing about wearing almost nothing at all. Waved a sheer cloth about her body. It intoxicated me to see her like that.

I smiled when I saw her. 'Alright, this is where I want to be.'

I lit a cigarette, took in a lung full of smoke, it tasted good, Put my lighter along with my smokes back in my purse. Put my hand on my hip. smoothing out the wrinkles, stepped out showing off my shapely legs thanks to the high heels I wore. More like stilts, than heels. They hurt my feet being in them, the lined seam of the nylons made them stand out even better. I had wide hips. I wore diamond ring and an engagement band on it.

I knew I had come to the wrong place. Did I arrive at World con? That could be it if they were dressed in medieval clothing. They were so, that could be where I was. I shouldn't be here, should I. I know I set the dials to a time, that World Con. wouldn't have been there.

Maybe wherever I am it is a medieval festival being portrayed by the people here. I looked at people wearing medieval clothes, they had other melee weapons on their belts. A few had bardic on their chairs or beside the table where they sat. Tankards of beer and flutes of wine rested on the tables.

The barkeep had a tunic on. There was a woman dressed in a harem garment that barely hid her body. sashaying about her hips gyrated about like blinder’s blades.

There were women wearing clothes that revealed quite a bit of skin, their hair was in braids. I supposed were serving girls.

There were nobles dressed in silks, with pants whose legs were large enough to put two legs in per leg, they billowed out of their thigh-high boots. Noble women were dressed in long ornate gowns, with corseted waists. The gowns with sleeves were ruffled, there was a cuff that was tight enough to make it close there about the elbow. The women wore gloves that had long sleeves on them to the elbow. Their faces were covered in white talc, black mascara and lipsticks, and eyeshadow. Some had fans with which to hide behind.
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A man screamed, "A witch!".

His hand reached for his mace as he lifted himself from where he sat wearing a scowl, he brought the mace to waist height and brought the pain bringing the side of it to his other hand, His surcoat was black with a dragon upon it. Others at his table also rose.

Some people stared at me and turned and ran, I knew, this wouldn't have worked. I hadn't told the proprietors about me bringing in my time machine beforehand. But this didn't look like where I should begin with.

The air stank of urine, and I saw rats running across the floor of this establishment, well I have to give them a thumbs up for the authentication of the decor. It was a sty. The people here looked like they were either the rich or the downtrodden.

People drew up weapons and advanced toward me. Others fled from me, as I took another step toward the barkeep.

"I am not a witch!" I screamed as the barkeep was within grasping distance of me, I spun about and bolted for the door. 'They believed me to be a witch. This was perhaps the Middle Ages. Suppose I was to judge the date by what they wore. I was aware of what they did to witches then. I would be in a great deal of trouble here, now. I had to get out of here and now.'

Other people drew away from me, as the first one grabbed my arm, He just about made it there,

I said, “I am no witch. I would like to join in the festivities. How much for a ticket to join in?"

"Get the watch!" the barkeep snarled, as I threw him some coins with dollars included in it. 'I prayed it was enough. They won't take me to the inquisitors. Will they? They wanted it to be real enough for the people here to have their fun. This had to be World Con because Key Con would have the money to do all of this. It looked real enough!'
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"Where did you get this? I want a pence for some ale. Two for the wine. Mate! Not this?" the barkeep snarled, as he looked suspiciously at the coin, turning It this way and back. Bring it before the candle to see it more clearly. He glared at me. Eyes narrowing, he closed his fist about the coin,

"The bank, and out of my pocket is where it came from? What do you mean, where did I get from? The bank where else would I get it from?" I asked showing my resolve to him, I put my hands on my hips, glaring at him as he did me. I gritted my teeth and dodged another set of hands that reached for me. but they didn't grab me.

I shoved my way through the masses of people converging on me, I was almost there. I smiled when a hand grabbed me. I felt the hand on my shoulder. Another grasped my wrist. I was being pulled into the ramble behind me. These hands tore at my garments and flesh. Drawing blood from my veins.

I saw through the corner of my eye, the window showing horses on the road. 'What should've been the hallway of the hotel but didn't show that. Instead it showed in the street I saw horses, with men in armor on a few of them. 'That was not possible. There should be walls of the hotel where this bar was positioned.'

'Also, why did I see a street, or did they also have cameras showing what should be there to authenticate this even better? They went out of their way to sell this as being a tavern. Where were the cars and trucks, there should be them on the street not horses.'

'Where am I? I should be in a tavern. Well, I was in a tavern, which was true. There shouldn't be horses on the street. There should be cars on the streets. Not horses.'

'It should have been 1982. I wanted to see Karen and of course show off the machine. I hope she wouldn't mind me, being a little late. Also to show to my friends who thought I was nuts. saying that I would see them in 1982 at the club. I did not know whatever time this was. I knew I set the dial last night to the right time frame.'

'Who could have done this to me? Who? Then I realized, it could have been my kids who did this to me. Damn them all!'

'I should be at the club. Not here! Wherever here was, that is. Dumbfounded!' I stood there for a second with my mouth a gape. Then I dared to ask the obvious question. "What year is this?"

“What has that got to do with this? I asked for a coin, you didn’t give to me!” the barkeep
snarled as he advanced toward me.

“Hold a bleeding minute, what’s the year?” I ask again, ‘praying it was not the year that I was thinking it was.’

"The year of our lord...1400," a friar said to me, as he wagged his finger at me.

"What game are you playing at? Give me, a pence for the ale. You should gone to the treasurer before arriving here!" he said as he reached for a club to give me a rap with.

"It's loony! A buck! No! My mistake, that's a toony," I said as I tried to make my way to the machine. As I was in the tavern, I had to make it back to my machine. I would be safe there, wouldn't I!'

“Enough. I want me coin! Get me the watch!" the barkeep screamed, as he looked at a couple of big men, without armor, their hands wrapped around the clubs they carried with them. They began to advance toward me, their clubs went up. I bit my lip.

"What a bleeding minute. You're a Saxon?”

I bumped into a serving girl, she whirled about to strike me in the face I fell over, knocking one of the men heading toward me into a few others. I was missed, I crawled across the floor to my machine.

“What was that? Mate!” the barkeep declared, as he brought up his hand holding the club in it.

“Aren't you? This isn't Canada?" I said, 'I knew, I was in trouble! Big trouble. What was he talking about with the watch? Then I realized that at this time there were inquisitors to people here.

"What do you mean it isn't Canada. What's a Canada?", the barkeep said.

"A country! Beside the US?", I said as I tried to explain what I was talking about. The people released me, they wanted to hear me speak. I leapt toward the door.

"What's the US." the barkeep inquired.

"It stands for unserviceable, in Canada. At least that's what the techs call it. The US of A." I said as I looked at him,

"Get the watch in here!" the barkeep says as he hands me back my loon. I clutch it as if my very life depended upon it. Perhaps it did. If I could get the inquisitors to listen to my words. He looked at the coin and realized. I was telling him the truth.
i
I smiled, 'I knew I would be safe. The watch was the authorities. They would find out the truth. That's what I want them to find truth!'

"Thank you. Yes! Do this!" I said, then I remembered that the watch would no doubt use inquisitors to question me.

"Well, that explains that! Damn kids playing with my time machine, I have to reset my dials, check the contacts." I said as I stepped inside the machine and began to move the dials on the machine. Instantly the light exploded into view.

I vanished from the tavern. The light was blinding. I put my hand to my eyes to shield them from the light from the machine.

####

I hear heavy rock music explode from a speaker. 'Karen will be here.' Saw a woman in a cage shaking her booty. In a dimly lit space, I saw a light, some light-filled area.

"Did I get there?" I asked myself. I brushed myself off and said, "I did it!"

"Did what?" a man said as he stepped away from the time machine.

I saw something that rumbled as it moved. The bar shook, though the light lit the area where I arrived.

Looking at the light that exploded to show the street, I saw a Sherman tank rolling down the street. With a man standing in the cupola holding the handles of the browning 50 Caliber machinegun, with its belt being fed through the barrel. The tavern shook as the tank moved forward. I heard a voice say," Disperse and you will not be fired upon!"

I saw people carrying placards that said, "Make love not war” and another said, "We want peace". Walking on the road. There were people holding cameras on their shoulders, and others holding other cameras that were small enough to be held by one hand walking with the protesters.

The students riots.

I clapped my hands together, stepped out of the machine, and shook hands with the man standing there looking at the machine and me. I remember when tanks were on city streets. The sixties. I was in the time frame of the nineteen sixties if that was when tanks rolled down the streets of the cities in the US. The tank had a star painted on its turret.

'Women in various stages of undress moving their bodies to the music and dancing in the cages. Shaking their booties. What was I thinking?" I said as I tried to explain what I had done to the barkeep. I saw a man dressed in a blue jacket with a badge on his chest, there was a gun in his holster, and handcuffs in his hands. He reached out to grab my arm, I felt his hand. arrive there

I had to get out of here. But now, then I realized I was still in my time machine. I hit the switch off. I went.