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October 14, 2020|Short Story

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The room with the first prototype of a time machine was huge.

“You’re right, doctor,” Jules said. “We’re only able to travel to the past.”

“Traveling through time is like throwing a rock,” Albert said. “We need something that can survive the crush.”

“But, doctor…” Jules said.

“We have to take our chances,” Albert said. “Our planet doesn’t have long—”

In reality, Earth was simply going through a transition. Although, the possibility of surviving the loss of it’s electromagnetic field was slim, and nobody knew why it happened.

“Doctor…” Jules said. “Do you believe life on Earth will end?”

“We don’t know for sure,” Albert said. “This time it’s different.”

“We’ve come out of bigger problems,” Jules said.

“Yes, but this time we don’t have a solution.”

Just like before, the world was going through a transition period. Humans had to find a way to adapt and survive.

“It may just be my pessimism,” Albert said, looking at the fertilization capsules. “This experiment will give humanity a new chance.”

“Do you think those children will survive alone?”

“That’s our only hope,” Albert said. “Prepare the time machine.”

The metal ring in the middle of the lab was lit and began to spin. The platform surrounding the room had some computers with their respective scientist evaluating the behavior of the wormhole.

“Keep it stable,” Albert said and walked over to the mechanical catapult that will launch the fertilization capsules into the portal.

“Doctor,” Jules said. “Do you think it all started like this? Are we condemned to repeat our mistakes?”

“I hope not,” said Albert. “Begin the countdown.”

Small screens showed the numbers, while the interior of the laboratory felt as if sucked into the wormhole. Just like being surrounded by a strong breeze creating a whirlpool.

“We won’t be able to keep it open for long,” Jules said.

The numbers slowly reached zero, and the mechanical catapult forcefully sent the fertilization capsules through the opening of the hole. Then silence.

“It worked?” Jules asked, and her reality was no longer relevant. Adam and Eve returned to paradise.

106 comments
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Sebastian Iturralde

I am a fiction blogger and lover of literature, art, and all things creative. As a citizen of this beautiful planet, I am constantly inspired by the natural world around me.

106 comments

  • October 14, 2020 at 7:20 pm

    Very much enjoyed this. Liked your pieces before but this one I find especially entertaining. I myself wrote of time travel several months ago but in a humorous vein and as you backwards only was possible. Your piece has undercurrents that should make your reader start to do some serious thinking though your electromagnetic shift is not man-made. Timely (no pun intended) and provocative. If one cares to think. Great write! Mui Gricias!

    • November 20, 2020 at 8:18 am

      Thanks. I think the current situation is influencing my writing, and I know it could sound obvious but it’s strange to me. I hope my future pieces have the same power.

    • Bella Strong
      December 1, 2021 at 12:29 pm

      Very entertaining and thought provoking, good writing.

  • October 15, 2020 at 11:34 am

    Very Nice! Esto es asombroso

  • October 21, 2020 at 11:20 am

    Indeed!
    Hugs from Italy
    Vicky 😊

    • November 20, 2020 at 8:19 am

      Thank you. Hugs from Ecuador.

      • November 20, 2020 at 10:26 am

        😊😊😊

      • rdfranciswriter
        August 7, 2021 at 7:38 pm

        Greetings from Pittsburgh, USA!

  • October 25, 2020 at 1:48 pm

    I dont think I could forget that. Checks out.

  • November 1, 2020 at 2:11 pm

    Well done! I didn’t see it coming. But would we do it any differently? I can only try to have hope for the future but I won’t be going very far into it.

    • November 20, 2020 at 8:22 am

      Thanks. I think we can do it differently, but people need to push themselves to understand that we are all the same. What I give to others, I give to myself. What I keep, I take from myself.

  • November 1, 2020 at 7:37 pm

    Nice one. I enjoyed that, the ending 😳

  • December 11, 2020 at 11:56 am

    Good ending; I didn’t see it coming.

  • January 18, 2021 at 1:02 am

    Did they go back wiser?

  • May 2, 2021 at 4:22 pm

    Thank you for your fiction. I will definitely read your blog in the future.

  • May 8, 2021 at 5:45 am

    Namaste’ and bravo. I love the flow, I didn’t have to stop midway then go back up to the top and work my way back down slowly to understand your short story… well written. Maybe you already have a screenplay planned?
    Namaste’

    • May 11, 2021 at 4:19 pm

      Thanks, Loose Cannon. I’m sorry to tell you that I haven’t thought about a screenplay but now that you’ve mentioned it…I would love to see my stories turned into different art forms.

  • Gina U
    May 20, 2021 at 7:54 am

    Wow! What an O. Henry twist! Loved that. Wow!

  • May 21, 2021 at 2:09 am

    I always wanted to go back to the past and reset!

    • May 21, 2021 at 11:26 am

      Hi Meer, that might be the only salvation humanity has. Of course, a lot of fiction is required for that.

  • May 21, 2021 at 2:42 pm

    That ending. Genius.

    • May 24, 2021 at 9:55 am

      Thanks, I don’t know what I was thinking, but it turned out fine. I hope you are enjoying the rest of my stories.

  • May 29, 2021 at 8:07 am

    Unique way of explaining resurrection! LOLGB+

    • May 29, 2021 at 4:59 pm

      Thank you, I’ll try to come up with more. You should look for the story that describes dinosaurs.

  • May 30, 2021 at 1:29 am

    Excellent piece of work brother… Really splendid concept. Loved it.

    • June 2, 2021 at 10:40 am

      AakashG, you are very kind. Sometimes my stories are better than others, but today you’ll like it.

  • June 4, 2021 at 1:39 pm

    Well written and provocative. It is very apt for where we are in the world, I feel. I so wish I had a working time machine!

    • June 5, 2021 at 9:45 am

      Hermione, I see that you are doing the whole tour. I hope you are enjoying it. If you find a time machine, please let me know.

  • June 10, 2021 at 6:30 pm

    You’ve been so gracious, liking my work. Sorry it took so long for me to reciprocate. Very interesting premise. Ever do followups?

    • June 12, 2021 at 11:48 am

      That is an interesting idea. I’ll add it to the board for future stories.

  • June 12, 2021 at 1:55 pm

    What do we know right? Hopefully they won’t forbid the cure for cancer.

  • June 18, 2021 at 4:06 am

    I really like your story RESET BUTTON, I will be willing to read the rest. Thank you for reaching me.

  • June 22, 2021 at 9:58 pm

    Thanks for your like of my post, ” Tribulation Prophecies And Doctrine 11 – The Meaning Of Weeks 3. ;” you are very gracious.

    • June 27, 2021 at 8:23 am

      I’m just trying to give back to the blogging community.

      • June 27, 2021 at 2:12 pm

        You are doing it well.

      • September 3, 2021 at 6:57 pm

        Your work is phenomenal Sebastian!

  • June 26, 2021 at 10:29 pm

    I like how the extreme brevity lends an ambiguous quality to the end. I didn’t expect the ending.

  • June 27, 2021 at 4:16 pm

    Fun story.
    But then again, who doesn’t love a time travel story. They’re like a bad romance, even after the actual relationship ends, something in us Reader’s head pops up a week later and says, “…no wait just a darn minute!!”

  • June 28, 2021 at 1:47 am

    For me, there is nothing more intriguing than the concept of time travel.
    Going back in time, perhaps way, way back…

    Would that not be the ultimate experience to experience?

    At the very least, I could discover where I lost my car keys.

    Just kiddin’

    Not making light.

    I loved your post Sebastián

    Cheers,
    Lance

    • July 13, 2021 at 7:46 am

      Time travel could be one of the causes of the Mandela effect, which will emerge in a future story.

  • July 5, 2021 at 8:54 pm

    “This time it’s different.” This really stuck out to me… has this happened before in the story? Did people somehow survive? Or did they just assume it happened?

  • July 6, 2021 at 5:59 pm

    INteresting perspective- I like your stuff.

  • July 6, 2021 at 7:33 pm

    Hi Sebastian – I thought I saw your face on the welding blog and it seemed like that was not where I see you. I’m glad the question drew me over to your place. The site is beautiful. And, your writing is awesome. I liked this one a lot. I felt the wind in the room. love, in lak’ech, Debra

  • July 7, 2021 at 10:53 am

    I saw it all in my minds eye while I was reading, thanks to your creativity while writing. Awesome.

  • July 9, 2021 at 5:53 pm

    Dr.Who must be.

  • July 9, 2021 at 5:54 pm

    Dr Who like.

  • July 17, 2021 at 12:06 am

    I really admire how you write so often. Your work ethic is extraordinary! How do you keep your creative juices flowing, and do you every run into writer’s block?

  • HumanAfterAll
    July 18, 2021 at 4:30 pm

    Nice

  • July 22, 2021 at 7:52 pm

    Extremely relevant – well written with some humour yet the seriousness rings through

  • July 28, 2021 at 10:37 am

    I like this! Good stuff. What really stood out to me was how, you do a good job of distinguishing who is speaking, and splitting up the dialogue with action and thoughts. It’s surprising how many people forget to do this. One constructive criticism comment I’d like to say is, I thought there could be more tension in the characters here, more description of their emotions. Because this is a very historical event happening in your scene! Anyway, I like this. And thanks for stopping by my blog, too!

  • July 30, 2021 at 11:48 am

    I laughed, especially when I saw the end… Entertaining

  • July 30, 2021 at 9:35 pm

    So full of innuendo – love it!

  • July 31, 2021 at 11:34 pm

    Very interesting take on time travel. The ending is especially unique, kind of reminded me of the robot in Vivy being sent back 100 years to prevent a war except in this case they send them way farther back.

  • August 2, 2021 at 4:50 pm

    So good. Loved it.

  • August 6, 2021 at 10:58 pm

    Nice mix of the old and the new…or is it now the new and the old. 😉

  • Miss Tara
    August 7, 2021 at 10:12 am

    I really enjoyed this story. So much anticipation and excitement created in so few words!

  • August 9, 2021 at 9:03 am

    Amazing…. I enjoyed it…

  • August 12, 2021 at 6:28 pm

    LOVEE THE PCTURE

  • August 21, 2021 at 9:16 am

    Adam and Eve back to Eden on this terra firma? They’ll make billions from Eden tourism.

    Great story!

    Thanks for liking for my posts. More grace to your elbows and especially the clicking fingers.

  • August 31, 2021 at 1:52 pm

    This made me sad. The end was the beginning of religion…which is oftentimes also the end of compassion and, therefore, humanity.

  • September 1, 2021 at 10:16 pm

    “We have to take our chances,” Albert said. “Our planet doesn’t have long—”
    This! Such relevant pieces here.

  • September 13, 2021 at 1:39 am

    thanks for always reading my blog. i enjoy reading yours.

  • September 19, 2021 at 6:58 am

    Really cool.

  • September 22, 2021 at 8:15 am

    very nice

  • September 22, 2021 at 12:50 pm

    Love time travel stories. This was an interesting one.

  • September 29, 2021 at 9:20 am

    So nice!

  • September 30, 2021 at 8:28 pm

    Excellent story! I’d love a part two, or three, or four!

  • October 2, 2021 at 4:51 pm

    You have made time travel real. I really enjoyed this one!

  • October 12, 2021 at 11:09 am

    “Adam and Eve returned to paradise.” What an amazing line to end the story! You always write such complex and full short stories.

  • October 17, 2021 at 2:10 am

    Nice one. Talk about a twist in a tale.

  • ΣΥΜΕΩΝ ΠΑΥΛΙΔΗΣ
    October 18, 2021 at 11:29 am

    Good work, keep it up. Fantasy is very exclusive (or should I say, inclusive) of the human mind & soul.

  • October 21, 2021 at 7:48 am

    Nice one! I really enjoyed the ending!

  • October 22, 2021 at 4:26 pm

    Ja! This is great. It’s the first short time-travel story I’ve ever read. Some mix of your dry conversation hand-offs, quirky yet serious questions between counts, and especially the swing back to such a mythical ending kept me tied. You could lengthen and I don’t think I’d get bored–surprising to me! Thanks for sharing fellow blogger 🙂

  • October 23, 2021 at 5:24 am

    Good ending …Will history repeat itself? I don’t think I will get to know the answer to that but I’m guessing not ..”to err is human” so the saying goes …

  • October 26, 2021 at 5:31 pm

    Wow. I loved it. Thank you Sebastian.

  • Alexandrena Raymond
    November 5, 2021 at 10:30 pm

    Wow as I was reading I felt like I was watching a Movie GOD’S has meaning Creative Minds which I think that is so Amazing !

  • November 13, 2021 at 9:50 pm

    Great read! Just came across your blog 🙂

  • November 27, 2021 at 11:04 pm

    Although I’m a fan of books and I’m not used to reading on screens, your stories are captivating.
    Congratulations, it’s very good

  • November 29, 2021 at 9:19 am

    I like this story. I LOVE science fiction. It conjured up many images as each sentence is read. Good job!

  • December 2, 2021 at 4:54 am

    Hey Sebastian,
    From the beginning, I knew there was a deeper message in this story, concerning the current situation we are in. Evolution is in the air. Maybe your work is more than just fiction. Beautifully crafted though

  • Donna Rae Lands
    December 3, 2021 at 1:24 pm

    Great story and you’re a great author.

  • December 7, 2021 at 11:10 am

    I love your blog layout and artwork! Great story, too!

  • December 23, 2021 at 9:47 am

    I am the author of verdugo288.Wordpress.com

    My blog has a very small audience …I don’t know how you found it. But I smile when I see you have been at the site and have “liked” some of the posts.

    I am certainly not as great of a writer as you but I see after reading some of your stuff here that when we write ….we both speak from the heart.

    Thanks for checking out my blog. Verdugo 288 “The Kings of American Legion Baseball”

    I will stop by here as well and see what you’re up to with your stories. They’re great!

    Cheers!

  • January 12, 2022 at 12:59 am

    Sebastian:

    You have written is another great story. I liked it very much. It seems like it could be a story about reincarnation, but on a planetary scale. It sounds like humanity is destined to come to an end, but just before sending Adam and Eve back to the beginning of time to start again.

    Thank you for sharing this.

    Steve

  • Purvi
    January 29, 2022 at 9:49 am

    Science together with optimism gives humanity a chance to survive. The uncertainity part, ultimately learning by experimentation is a good theme to write about. It’s well written. Lovely ending!

  • March 2, 2022 at 2:35 pm

    I really enjoy reading this! 🙂 Good luck!

  • March 30, 2022 at 12:32 am

    I really love your website.. Very nice colors & theme.
    Did you develop this site yourself? Please reply back
    as I’m trying to create my own website and would like to know where you got this
    from or just what the theme is called. Many thanks!

    Feel free to visit my blog post – buy

  • June 2, 2022 at 11:06 pm

    I love stories about time travel. It’s very original too. I hope their only salvation left is going to save the day.

  • June 9, 2022 at 11:01 am

    Interesting idea if I understand it. The idea would be that people would originally have needed to develop humanity without parental guidance. Society somehow evolves. I suppose though that the answer would be evolution from an instinct based creature to a higher brain/cognitive functioning one. Would test tube babies be able do this with cognition overriding instinct? Would AI programming be the answer?

  • June 23, 2022 at 4:57 pm

    Wow! Super interesting

  • August 12, 2022 at 10:54 am

    thanks for the love sebastian . i love your snap of a woman in a pool. i love your topic of the world coming to an end. i do believe it will in the sense that God will destroy the world as we know it and remake it but not in the sense of some who think that something will happen then it will be over and life will continue for none of us . this is only true for non believers .

  • August 19, 2022 at 7:52 pm

    Really cool & creative short story1

  • Dwight McSorley
    January 30, 2023 at 6:53 pm

    I like to sit back and critique my thoughts, and sometimes I think we are all in a time warp ( travel ) of sorts, with little to no control. Intriguing and scary at the same time. I also see your stories a required reading if only to open up your mind and reflect but with so much more. Thank you ….. D

  • March 29, 2023 at 1:35 pm

    This blog is a testament to the power of well-written content. The author’s ability to provide a balanced perspective on a wide range of topics is truly impressive.

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    Author's Note
    The Andes' highlands served as a source of inspiration for this short story. I hope you'll find the same beauty and wonder in its words that I did while crafting it.
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