Taser Effect

I was tired of seeing my boy, Derek, disappear under the bus in my minds eye. If I'd just held his hand a little tighter, my little baby would still be here.

Therapy wasn't helping. That "Time heals all wounds," saying was just so much bull crap. It had been four years. Today would've been Derek's eighth birthday. He would've been in the second grade but now his little body was resting under a cherub shaped tombstone.

I was walking to Dr. Kowalski's office after I had gotten off the subway. "This is so stupid," I said to myself.

A man wearing a grey hoodie, slacks and loafers walked up to me. "Are you Edna Whitcombe?" He asked. I reached for the taser in my purse. I didn't trust this guy, he was weird.

"Yeah, " I said. "Please don't hurt me. I don't have any money." The guy took his hands out of his pockets. "No, I'm sorry," he said. "I gave you the wrong impression. My name is Professor Elias Goddard. I'm an applied physicist. I wish to ask you to participate in a test I'm conducting."

Why were intellectuals so bad at social skills? "What kind of test?" I asked. "You're not going to zap my brain with an electrical thingy are you?" This amused Dr. Goddard. "Goodness no," he said. "I leave that to the neurologists. I have a device I've developed that allows you to go back in time once and only once. I used it myself but I want to verify my results."

I studied the professor. If he wasn't insane, this was the oportunity of a lifetime. I could save Derek. "Sure," I said. "Only why cant you test it out again."

Dr. Goddard sighed for what seemed like an eternity. "I should explain some rules around time travel," he said. "I can't go back because the tachyon waves created would destructively interfere canceling out my own personal timeline. I need you to remember that this trip is only possible once.... Also don't interact with yourself or you could destroy the known universe. Do you want to help me?"

I figured I could just grab Derek and run. Nobody'd ask any questions I was his mother after all. Honestly, I had stopped listening in the middle so I hadn't caught all the technical stuff.

"Okay sure," I said. "I will be carefull. Just show me how it works." The professor pulled what looked like one of those spining codex locks. "Simply spin the dials till the date and place you want to visit displays," he said. "Then tap the button at the end to initiate tachyon flow. You should find yourself transported to the space-time you want to visit."

"Thank you,"I said. "I'll be sure to tell you if it works." I entered in the date and location into the device. The sun and moon blinked overhead and clouds streaked the sky. It never rained or snowed log enough for me to get wet.

Here I was and there I was...with my son! I reached out to grab my boy. My past self pulled out a taser before I got a chance to even touch him.

"Damnit!" I said after I hit the ground. My son ran away...into the street. The bus hit him again. Damnit! What was worse was I was watching buildings trees and everything dissolved. Not that I knew much for long.