Leonard Little is the readers’ choice in this week’s Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge. Thanks also to everyone who participated – excellent entries!
The winning entry is rewarded with a special feature here today and a place in our collection of winners which will be published as an e-book at year end.
Without further ado, here’s the winning entry:
Tempus Fugit
by Leonard Little
Spencer had little time to reverse the effects that his shell had on the earth-boy, Tommy who’d entered the transport zone. Strange, given that Spencer traveled the universe through time. Organic lifeforms couldn’t survive the faster-than-light speeds needed to zip about the stars, but a Chinese proverb—if you sit in one place long enough, the whole world will pass you by—had inadvertently given birth to interstellar travel. They discovered that unshielded temporium formed a hole in time. From there, navigation only took a simple fifteen exabyte algorithm to calculate where in time your current position would cross over your destination.
The only danger was the vortex of time-flux that surrounded every time-hole. Ordinarily, the e-m shield engaged three nano-seconds after the temporal shift, but a slight variance delayed the shield’s activation by 27.394 milliseconds allowing Tommy to age over seventy-five years instead of the normal three days.
Spencer pushed off, running with all his strength. Three feet later, he slumped to his shell, exhausted.
“What shall I do?”
Voices came from the neighboring house.
“Go away, you crazy old man!”
An old man stumbled down the steps, tears staining both cheeks. It was the boy. Tommy ran toward Spencer.
“Now for the hard part,” Spencer pushed off with his left legs, flipping himself onto his back to reverse the time flow. He opened the shield for 27.394 milliseconds.
Six years old again, Tommy smiled as he squatted down and turned Spencer over onto his feet.
Well done Leonard, a fantastic entry. A well deserved win. 🙂
Congratulations.
I just want to thank everyone who voted…