A/N Release me from hell please
It’s a cold evening in January when Ali steps into the library. Stomping his boots heavily on the rug to get the snow off, he slides off his gloves and jams them down into his pockets. The gas lanterns cast a gentle glow over the aisles, books haphazardly stacked all around on every surface. The bored librarian looks up briefly from her book to acknowledge Ali’s presence, then looks back down.
Ali runs his hand through his hair, in the process covering it with snow. He shakes it off, then confidently walks down the library’s maze of shelves to his destination. This section of the library gets little traffic. A thin film of dust covers everything except for the clean marks Ali has made through his forays into the decrepit corner.
Ali has been coming to this hole in the wall library for months because of its surprisingly well-stocked occult section. Every day he can, he comes down and devours books on all sorts of topics. Demonology, the afterlife, ghosts. He’s been working his way steadily through the section, methodically ensuring he reads every book. He smiles when he finds the book he’s looking for, right next to the one he finished yesterday. The book is very thin, very out of place next to the massive tomes around it. Pulling the book out of its place and blowing the dust off the cover, Ali grabs a lantern from the nearest shelf and holds it over the faded title.
A beginner’s guide to time travel.
“Time travel?” Ali mutters to himself. His mind races with the implications. His first instinct is to reject it as nonsense, but the other books in the section had proven accurate. He wasn’t brave enough to try and summon a demon, but he had made a midnight trip to the cemetery and managed to speak with the ghost of a civil war soldier.
Ali looks to the back of the book, seeking an about the author section. There was nothing there, to his disappointment. Flipping back to the front, he begins eagerly reading.
The only true requirement for time travel is an honest heart, and true belief that it is possible. Many have endeavoured to make use of this book only to find it useless to them, because they were not ready. Most will never be ready. I speak only to the rare reader who possesses both the aptitude and the character necessary. All is for naught regardless if the universe does not will it, but these factors are out of anyone’s control.
To begin the process of time travel, envision the time you would like to reach. If you try to envision the future, you will undoubtedly fail, as you do not know for certain what the future will be like. You must be sure for this to work. Remember as many specifics about the day you wish to go to as you can, such as the weather, the temperature, the date, who the current Emperor was, etc.
When you have all this in mind, read the following paragraph, and if all goes well, you will find yourself there.
Ali closes his eyes and thinks back to his youth. He remembers visiting his grandmother in Mississippi, how hot it was, the rhythmic call of the cicadas and the taste of grandma’s lemonade. When he’s sure he’s remembered all he can, he opens his eyes and reads the next paragraph.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Fusce molestie...
It’s gibberish. Ali sighs, standing up and putting the book back on the shelf. His mood has been completely soured by the failure of the book to do anything meaningful. He stands up, placing the lamp back on the shelf, and makes his way towards the exit. Passing by the vacant librarian’s kiosk, he pauses to put his gloves back on, and steps out into the summer heat.
“What?”
The sun bears down harshly on him. He can already feel beads of sweat gathering in his hair, racing down his cheek and dripping onto his coat. A car passes by, a real oldsmobile, the passengers giving him an odd look. Ali blinks. A cool wind brushes up against him. Ali blinks again.
Snapping into action, Ali strips off his coat and gloves, followed by his outer pair of pants. Now in a long sleeved shirt and jeans, he feels a lot more comfortable. He wraps his shedded clothing up in his coat and carries it under his arm as he makes his way to a park bench to sit down. All the buildings around him look different, newer, save for the library. While he surveys the area from his bench, a woman sits down next to him on the bench.
“Is it how you remembered?” she asks.
Ali glances over at the woman. She is tall, bordering on unnaturally so, and wears a long coat despite the sweltering heat. Her cheekbones are high, her eyes sunken, and her hair stringy and thin. Her lips curved downwards into a cold sneer.
“I, uhm, I don’t know, I haven’t been here before.”
“What do you mean? You’re here all the time,” the woman asks, furrowing her brow.
“I mean I remember the time but not this place at that time. I didn’t live here 30 years ago.”
“Oh, right. Different you. Back to the beginning... I see.”
Ali pauses for a moment to collect his thoughts.
“You must know what’s really going on here. Are you the author of that book?” he asks.
“No.” Her response is curt, leaving no room for further questioning. Ali gets the sense that something is wrong, like he’s somehow offended the woman, but before he can ask what he did, she speaks again.
“You told me to tell you that the well is out of water. I hope this actually works, because this is your last chance” She says, standing and walking away.
“Wait!” Ali calls, jumping to his feet, but she’s disappeared. “The well is out of water?” He mumbles.
“I suppose you ought to fill it up again.” Ali remarks snidely.
“But how can I fill it up if I don’t know where it is?” Ali responds.
“No, you can’t play that game. You chose temporal travel, not spatial. You can’t know where it is, only when it isn’t”.
Ali realizes abruptly that he’s been speaking aloud to himself and responding as if he was a different person. Everything is confusing, and he can feel a headache building. He quickly speedwalks his way back to the library, checking around him to make sure he’s not being followed. The librarian is still absent, leaving him alone with his thoughts. At least the library has air conditioning. What he does know for sure is that the well is not here.
“But what does that mean?” Ali mutters to himself.
“Yes, time travel.” Ali responds to himself from earlier, though he doubts that he can hear himself. The library begins to warp before his eyes, people flying by, coming and going. Day and night cycles fly by at breakneck pace, seasons changing before his very eyes. He closes his eyes, and shouts, “STOP!”
Everything is very still now. When Ali opens his eyes, he sees the woman from before standing behind the librarian’s kiosk, reading a book.
“What is going on?” Ali asks. The woman looks up briefly from her book to acknowledge Ali’s presence, then looks back down. Ali runs his hand through his hair, in the process covering it with sweat. He shakes it off, then in a daze walks down the library’s maze of shelves to the occult section. This section of the library gets little traffic. A thin film of dust covers everything except for the clean marks Ali has made through his forays into the decrepit corner, and the pristine condition of one thin book among the others.
A beginner’s guide to time travel.
“Time travel?” Ali mutters to himself. His mind races with the implications. His first instinct is to reject it as nonsense, but the other books in the section had proven accurate. He wasn’t brave enough to try and summon a demon, but he had made a midnight trip to the cemetery and managed to speak with the ghost of a civil war soldier.
Ali looks to the back of the book, seeking an about the author section. On the back inside cover, there is an old man’s portrait. It jeers at him, mocking him for not understanding. Below the picture are the words, “You should not have meddled, Ali. Now everything is fallen apart, the price paid for your ambitions.”
Ali shouts in anger and frustration, throwing the book at the wall. It slides down to the floor, then slides back up the wall and remains suspended in the air. Nothing around him moves. Ali turns around and sees the woman there.
“What do you want?” she says, frightened. Ali looks down and sees a gun in his scarred and wrinkled hands.
“Tell me tomorrow that the well is out of water. That’s all you have to do and our agreement will be fulfilled. I’m sorry I made such a mess of your people’s abilities, but I promise that all will soon be set right. When I am through, it will be as if none of this ever happened, and time travel will remain out of the hands of men, just as the universe intended.”
“What does that mean? What well?”
Ali chuckles. “It doesn’t mean anything, it’s just supposed to confuse me.”
Ali screams, ripping apart everything around him. “MAKE IT STOP! I DON’T WANT TO TIME TRAVEL! MAKE IT STOP!” The library collapses around him.
Ali opens his eyes. He sits on the floor of the library, a book open on his lap. Suddenly he remembers he had been trying to read this, to see if he could travel in time. He must’ve gotten lost in his thoughts when he tried to imagine his grandmother’s old farm. Focusing on the task at hand, he begins to read the next paragraph.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Fusce molestie...
It’s gibberish. Ali sighs, standing up and putting the book back on the shelf. His mood has been completely soured by the failure of the book to do anything meaningful. He stands up, placing the lamp back on the shelf, and makes his way towards the exit. Passing by the librarian’s kiosk, he waves briefly to her, getting no reaction. He pauses briefly to put his gloves on, and steps out into the freezing winter.
