Tag: Time Travel

January? More Like Janu-Where-Are-You?

I imagine this is what sobering up must feel like.

Here it is, a week into February and I have written less than one thousand words this year total. It’s embarrassing. It’s shocking. It’s down right revolting. I haven’t blogged since… No… That can’t be right.

December Eleventh?

Oh dear. This won’t do at all.

I’ve managed to lose a whole month to the Post Retail Christmas Traumatic Stress Disorder. It’s a thing… look it up. I’ve only recently started to sleep like a normal person, aside from the fact that I’m a twenty nine year old man with a Pokemon addiction. Sometimes that creeps into my sleep time. Okay, it creeps in there a lot.

In November I was both a jerk and focused. I smashed out those fifty thousand words and laughed in the face of NaNoWriMo- “Ha ha ha ha haaaaa.” I told friends and family that I would not be going to their functions. Words flowed freely and I was exceptionally happy with my progress and the story.

I know what you’re thinking. “Well TJ… Tell me. Tell me what happened.” As I lay on the metaphorical psychologist’s couch before you, allow me to explain the blur that was December and January.

December came and my store was busier than I’ve experienced for this shop. As we were the little store that could, we struggled but managed to smash targets with lower wages than any other store in our area. I’ve said in retail before that the numbers simply don’t lie when we’re doing a good job, and we did a damn fine one.

After Christmas is followed by two weeks of sales and returns. Customers overjoyed with the deals and others who are absolutely pissed that our Christmas casual with two hours of training sold them the wrong thing and they opened it on Christmas. Yet another year I ruined at least half a dozen Christmases. That’s fine, fix it now and move on.

Then January comes where we begin clean up and sending out things that didn’t sell over Christmas. For the Christmas Period, I live and breathe the store, and when I’m not there, I’m thinking about it. Enter Pokemon. As a January Retail Zombie, lumbering along looking for brains, I needed something to jump start my brain. Anything besides work related things. I picked up the latest copy of Pokemon and decided that for the first time in a long time… I would catch them all.

At first it was a joke. Catch them all. PFFT. There’s literally a bajillion. (Note: Sarcasm)

Now? I’ve caught over four hundred legitimate Pokemon… with still a rough three hundred to go. *Cue Pokemon Theme Song*

So I did end up replacing work in my mind… with Pokemon. Now while I’m at work, I’m counting down the minutes until I can get home, crack open the DS and discover a few new Pokemon I’ve never seen before. Judge me. I don’t care. I love it like a fat kid loves cake.

Or just me… I love cake… a lot!

So now, oh now. Here we are and Past TJ has literally done absolutely nothing to help us on the journey to becoming a Pokemon Master Published Author. Future TJ seems to have some promise, but Future TJ is more concerned with turning the big Three Zero this year and what hole to hide in until people stop reminding him of it.

Meanwhile present TJ is here writing this blog, staring at the golden DS wherein lies untold amounts of Pokemon for capturing. Present TJ doesn’t seem too focused either but at least this poor guy is trying.

How are you fellow writers faring in this new year? Are you the broken little soldier that I am? Or are you already doing the book signings while us mere mortals look up inspirational writing quotes from our favorite authors? One of my friends has published her book. Another friend is actively seeking out publishers for her story. Congrats to those two! Let me know how you’re going in the comments, I’d love to hear from all of you! Until then… Gotta Catch Em All!

Uhh… I mean… write them… the words… Gotta Write Them All… Yes.

Side Note: Has anyone given any thought to a whole world where to gain a friend you pummel them to within an inch of their demise only to throw balls at them until they are forced to come along with you? The premise for Pokemon is weird.

The Journey – Broken Dreams

“Do you remember how you got here?”

The man’s voice echoed in the tiny room as I glanced up from my dazed state. Reality hit me pretty hard as my eyes readjusted to the stark white room with no windows. “No.” I replied quietly. My eyes finally focused back in and I glanced to the man asking the questions. His suit was a charcoal grey and the white shirt beneath it seemed brand new. His tie perfectly matched the colour and fabric of his blazer and he hummed through a three day old growth of a beard that still seemed masterfully groomed. He glanced up from the pad of paper in front of him and tapped his pen as he hummed. With a sigh, he stared into my eyes, long and hard. The icy blue pierced into my very soul, and I felt a quick shiver fall over me. His voice stopped me from staring too long.

“Do you know, or understand where you are?”

As he asked the question, I considered my answer. In reality, no. I had no idea. He leaned in with an examining gaze and wrote tiny words onto his notepad.

“When can I leave?” I asked impatiently.

“You’ve been in an accident. I’m the doctor examining you psychologically. My name is Doctor Harris.”

With his words my mind flashed back to what felt like mere moments before I ended up in this room.

***

“Tamara, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” My father said gruffly. “It was just a nightmare, nothing more.”

My father had always been a stubborn man, his unmarked trucker’s cap barely hiding the salt and pepper mane beneath. He spoke of a dream, a dream I had that felt so vivid I was sure I’d lived it. “Dad, I’m telling you. We were on this very road, it began to rain, something hit us and you didn’t make it.” I could feel the tears welling up inside again as it brought me back to that moment.

My father shifted uncomfortably in his seat and tugged at his seatbelt. I could tell he felt uneasy, but he wanted to be strong for my sake. “I won’t have this discussion again. You’ve said this every time we take this road. We haven’t died yet, have we?”

I crossed my arms in a huff. Of course he was right, or we wouldn’t be having the conversation. “But tonight is different.” I protested.

“You said that the other night.” My father grumbled as he fixed his hat. “Still alive though, right?”

“Yes, but tonight we were forced to take this road! It was a tad convenient that the other road is flooded out!” I could feel my pulse racing. I glanced out the window and looked for the rain.

“It’s just some dam overflowing, it happens Tamara.” He said, his patience growing thin. “Turn on the radio, I’d rather not talk about dying while I’m trying to drive. Don’t need a self fulfilling prophesy.”

I reached for the radio dial and a small tinny thud echoed from the roof of the van. I paused a moment to look at my father and then the heavens began to pour. My heart was trying desperately to escape my chest, beating against my breast bone like a hammer.

My father swallowed hard as he squinted through the rain. “Coincidence.” He muttered while flicking the wipers on. As they whirred back and forth, clearing litres of water away from the windshield, I watched my father turn on his high beams. I’d never seen him use them;  his night vision was impeccable. “It’s just a precaution, Tamara.” He said softly.

We drove another ten minutes before we came to an intersection. The four way stop seemed useless as there were no cars in any direction for miles. We sat a moment until my father turned to me. “Do you want to go back? I don’t want you to feel ill like last time.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Yes, dear god, yes.” My eyes darted from windshield to side window and back to my father. “This feels too familiar. In fact, it feels nearly the same.”

“What’s different?” My father asked finally, his curiosity had been piqued.

“Not sure, but I-” My breath abandoned me while I watched the car crumple like paper around the man who had raised me. I tried to scream, but the words came out in a ringing sound much to my dismay. Slowly, the car lifted from the road and began to separate nearly perfectly in two. My father’s side of the car lifted up and out of reach, his hand extending to me for aid. Strangely everything moved in slow motion, my hands couldn’t leave my body and I watched as the other half of the car, and my father, disappeared into the rainy night sky. My half of the car hadn’t completed its journey as the forces of gravity and momentum tugged at me from every which angle. My blond hair whipped me in the face, as fragments of glass showered me like the rain. The world spun a few more times, until finally coming to a rest with the open side of the car facing the sky.

I stared straight into the rain, unblinking as the water washed away the shock amid the tears. It was just as I’d dreamed it. Every detail.

My head pounded, I tried to move and found that I was most likely bleeding internally. Breathing became a labour and staying awake suddenly became a chore. With the click of the seatbelt, my weakened body collapsed to the door frame atop many small square shards of glass. Safety glass my ass, corners are still sharp when you’re lying on hundreds of them. It took the entirety of my strength to pull myself to my feet, and after a moment, I pushed myself over the jagged shards of metal jutting out from the car’s torn midsection. A few cuts, nothing really to worry about.

“Da-ad…” My lungs gasped for air halfway through a one syllable word, probably not the best of things. A deep inhale did nothing to quell the fire in my chest as I coughed into the night. “Dad!” I screamed between coughs, I knew in my heart I didn’t want to see him. But I also knew I had to. “Dad!”

My eyes settled on a hunk of metal wrapped neatly around the trunk of a tree. I’d never made it to this part in my nightmares. With no concept of what to expect or what to do, I tried to rush to the wreck. Despite the entirety of my focus being on the mass of metal, my peripherals weren’t seeing any other vehicles. “What the heck hit us…” I whispered to myself as I wandered up and onto the road. Down the lane I watched as car lights flickered in and out of the fog.

“Hey…” I called as I began waving my arms. “Hey! Help!” My lungs hated that sentence as I coughed up some blood. Definitely not good. As the car approached, I noticed it was a classic car. Not modern in the slightest, but decades older. I stood directly in front of it as I waved my right arm wildly, my left arm felt a bit numb, but I only needed one to attract attention.

The car careened past me and vanished quickly into the fog across the road. More lights suddenly caught my attention and I tried desperately to fall out of the way. As I landed, my body lay in the cold snow, much to my shock.

With an ear shattering crash, the next vintage car crashed into the thick field of trees off the side of the road. My eyes stared at it, as both passengers lay dead in the snow beyond the tree. My mind grew fuzzy and I turned back to where my father’s wreck was. “Dad?” I called out, but to nothing. Unblinking, I stared at the four way intersection or where it used to be. A single straight road travelled for miles in either direction. Panic set in, my heart raced, my lungs heaved for air. “Dad…” The words whispered out and were lost in the breeze.

***

“Miss, are you listening to what I’m asking?”

I glanced back to my interrogator from my memories and clenched my jaw. “Not really.”

“Maybe you just need some rest.” His voice was firm and in an instant two men wheeled in a cot and set it up in the corner of the room.

“Maybe.” I said. “Am I in some kind of trouble?”

The man stared long and hard at me for a moment. “No, not yet.” He cleared his throat and collected up his notepad and pen. “But that will depend on your cooperation.”

As the trio of men left me alone, I could feel exhaustion hitting me like a boxer punching a speed bag. Cot, table, floor; wouldn’t matter, sleep would be incredible.

***

“Do you think she knows?” A voice whispered from the darkness.

Doctor Harris entered the dark room with a clear wall looking in on his patient. He shook his head in response. “No, I don’t believe she does.”

“What if she finds out?” The voice asked urgently.

With a shrug, Doctor Harris turned to the man asking the questions. “She cannot control it, nor can she leave that room.” He stated. “It’s travel proof and we have nothing to worry about Sir.”

The short bald man beside him leaned forward into the dim lighting from Tamara’s room, his dull complexion even duller in the unflattering light. “We may have to extinguish her.”

Doctor Harris gasped. “Wait Val, no! We need to understand how she can do this with just her mind!”

“It’s too dangerous.” Val’s resolve was final. “In the blink of an eye she travelled back seven decades and killed a blood line by getting in the way of a family car. The President for twenty ten? No longer exists.”

***

To Be Continued – Possibly… Thanks for swinging by, this is a growing concept and this is sort of how I imagine the start of that story. The whole concept would be that Tamara could go back in time and try and save her father but in the process destroy her existing self all the while trying to stay one step ahead of the Tempus, a secret order bound to control time travel and police the preservation of the existing time line.

Anyway! This has been an enjoyably creative evening and I look forward to posting again tomorrow. I’d love to know what you think of this piece of writing (Unedited, so I apologise for any mistakes I may not have picked up) and the over all style. Things I personally don’t think I did well? Capture her emotion at all, I tried to go with dazed and confused but it almost sounds to me cold and not that emotional at all. Let me know if you agree!

A few quick call outs as some people thanked me for naming them as they got a few follows and likes. The support is helping, so please reach out and touch another writer so they can feel the same way you felt getting a new like or follow! It may be that one thing that makes them post more to their blog or get back on the ole’ NaNoWriMo horse… Every little bit counts!

The Fourth Dimension

As 3D becomes more prevalent within our media, we start to wonder, what’s next? But for me, I have been more fascinated with the theories of the Fourth Dimension. The fourth dimension is sometimes referred to as time, but when you begin to look at why, it gets extremely scientific. As interesting as it might be to me, it would prove boring to the average person. I have always considered the fourth dimension would have to be visible to the eye, much like the other dimensions before it. This has sparked many a creative idea for me to implement into stories. First I will talk about my concept of the fourth dimension, then on to travelling in the fourth dimension, seeing the fourth dimension and ending off with a few implementations of my ideas in story arcs.

The fourth dimension to me is indeed based around the concept of time. As all other dimensions make use of a coordinate system, I would imagine that the fourth dimension would require a set as well. Making use of the scale of time in which we measure would work as we make an effort to keep it consistent, however in practical application this is inaccurate as we try and figure out leap years and day light savings time. So if a three dimensional object is made up of points on it’s surface as well as within it’s volume, then the fourth dimension would measure the points involved on a three dimensional object, however throughout time. For example: If we were tracking my heart as a singular point, and mark it as (0,0,0) of my body at the moment I was formed, then it would exist from an estimated nine months before my birth on May 4, 1985. If we could figure out the exact moment my heart came into being, we would call that the origin of my existence. From there, my body would be able to be tracked within the confines of our infinite universe from that point to anywhere in time using my global position, the position of our planet in the universe and the distance between my origin and my current location. If you tried to track my origin before I was born, it should return null before I was born and after my death.

So with that crazy concept in mind, lets look at travelling through time. Time travel is always touchy. They say if you go back and affect even the tiniest detail, you could upset the balance completely. As time travel is one of those highly debated topics among nerd groups, many theories have come into play. Here’s my idea. Everything in the past has happened already, so you cannot change it at all. Going back to kill Hitler would be a futile attempt, so clear that off your list of things to do. As soon as you move your coordinate beyond either of your existing points of origin, you would become null. You cannot exist beyond your own point of existence.

A number line continues on to infinity, while our lives are short pieces of a time line. But since two points cannot be completely identical on a timeline, you wouldn’t be able to travel on your own timeline either. This sadly rules out the concept of time travel. If you were able to create a fully working copy of yourself in history, then that being would effectively have their origin set to that point and when they cease to exist on that time line they would gain another end to their existence. Hard to take in, but consider this: I would be ending my existence here if i wanted to travel through time, to recreate myself in a new era. Even if I could change to a new era, or return to an exact point in history, it would not be the same as my previous existence. It wouldn’t be so much time travel as alternate reality hopping. I would never be able to return to the same point in time. If we wanted to actually time travel there is probably an infinite number of coordinates we would need to go back and forth with no changes.

Okay, even my mind is hurting after reading that so I’ll do my attempt at explaining how I imagine seeing the fourth dimension. If we had a tool like glasses, that could see the fourth dimension, you would see everything that has happened in relation to your position within the universe throughout time ad infinitum. You probably wouldn’t be able to see anything, because so much has happened in the universe. Think of it like this. If you sat in a park, things happen around you. Dogs run by, people walk by, the sun rises and sets, clouds, weather, and many other possibilities. Now picture that for every nanosecond that the dog is moving, he is travelling and his points move through the dimensions. If you were to examine his path in the universe, it would be a dog shaped squiggle from his conception to the moment he dies. Every point within his volume (including fur attached to him) would have coordinates involving his position in the universe and the time stamp if we were to measure it. Things can nestle within him, such as tape worms, fleas, and many other parasites and various other objects, but most of those would either modify the actual points around it or replace points within him. So being able to see the fourth dimension would involve every thing that has existed at that point in the universe for all of time as far back and as far forward as possible.

Now that I’ve offloaded my concepts of the fourth dimension, I will toss out some of the ways I would love to incorporate the fourth dimension into a story. I would leave out some things because as I am no scientist, I know for a fact I am not correct, it is entirely implausible.

Story Concept One: So imagine a man normal as can be, gets himself into an accident set in the modern day. As he emerges from the wreckage of his car, he finds that the world is completely filled with light and he is standing within it. He believes he is dead and in Heaven and his story is over. But his eyes are drawn to a car from the 1920’s and it is hurdling toward him, seemingly unaware of his existence. As is impulse, he leaps from it’s path and finds the light is gone and he is back on the road he crashed on. As he turns to examine the wreckage of his vehicle, he finds it no where to be found. Suddenly another vehicle pulls up and a group of men grab him and take him into the city. As he is interrogated, he finds out that throughout all of history there has been a secret society protecting the past for the future. These people are highly trained and decide that since he is an unauthorized citizen in a different time he cannot be returned to his own future. They attempt to destroy him, but he manages to escape and begins his efforts trying to return to his own time. As it is near impossible to focus on just one thing that may be in your time, he finds himself destroying both past and future and becoming a fugitive of the self proclaimed protectors of time.

Story Concept Two: A bit tamer, but doesn’t link to time travel. A woman psychologist is brought in to talk to a man who says he can see everything that has happened in time where he is. He can see dinosaurs, and the end of the world, the evolution of species and the extinction of humans. As the psychologist begins to believe in his rantings, she finds herself attempting to abuse the man’s gifts for her own gains. As she helps him escape the psych ward, they manage to stay two steps ahead of the authorities as she fights to discover what really happened between her mother and father and discover where her family truly came from.

Story Concept Three: A woman grows up told that she has multiple personality disorder. As she begins to discuss this with her other self, she realizes that they are two beings travelling the exact same paths in existence. As the two attempt to figure out a way to separate she finds herself trying a governmental test project to separate multiple personalities from their hosts. When the project seemingly fails, both girls find themselves removed from their body but seemingly stuck in a limbo where time stands still. As the two explore and fight to return to the world they are both familiar with, they must overcome their differences and learn to live with each other if they have any hopes of surviving.

So I hope you’ve enjoyed the concepts I tossed out here, if you stopped by for the theory or are here for the stories, I hope you’ll kindly leave a comment below. Or feel free to email me! Thanks for reading once again and have a good one!

Episodic Content

If you’ve been following my blog for a little while now, you will already have seen the episodic content for Unbiased Law. If you haven’t seen it, be sure to check it out (Start Here) as it is seven episodes in and doing quite well for me! I have been enjoying writing that story more and more every day as every thousand words has a cliffhanger. Also the way I write episodic content is to have an idea or direction I want the story to head in, but as I reread the last post I find myself bringing it in another direction. It might be the same path, but instead it has taken a few detours.

So my next proposal will be to those of you out there who have been reading. I already have a robot detective drama set in the future written down, so I’m going to toss out this next idea to you. Not only that, but I want to encourage more interaction with my blog, so the next story will be a choose your own adventure. As I will offer up some solutions to the problems on every page, you out there beyond the screen will get to vote on where the story should go next. Depending on how the voting goes I will write the next page accordingly and you should be able to see the results of your voting. I will also post the final tallies at the beginning of each page.

I have tossed out ten ideas I would love to write about. Most of the ideas are in fantasy settings but hey, you get to choose the story and I get to choose where and when I’m writing it! I’ll give you a tiny bit about each one and then you get to vote in the poll below! Good luck to your favourite ideas!

#1) The most holy of warriors, a paladin, is the leader of one king’s army. As he rises to fame and popularity both among the community and his peers, the king begins to feel threatened by his power. Finally reaching his breaking point, the king accuses the paladin of treason and the murder of his youngest son. Framed for both, the paladin is dragged to the street in front of his home for his punishment. As his family was listed by the king as co-conspirators, they are boarded up in their own home and it is torched by the order of the king. In a desperate attempt to save his family, the Paladin bursts into his home to find his family has already succumbed to the flames. The king strikes him down in the paladin’s moment of weakness, and the paladin wakes up in hell. He will now make a deal with the devil and stop at nothing to tear down the kingdom he once served.

#2) A billionaire playboy stumbles upon an ancient artefact in one of his travels and decides that he will invest in his own travels instead of offshore accounts and oil companies. As he travels the world he begins to discover the truth about the ancient world and risks life and limb to find the path to the hidden ruins of the Library of Alexandria.

#3) A young woman trying to get ahead in life finds herself making the wrong decision at all the perfect moments. After being fired, dumped and her home being repossessed, the young lady decides enough is enough and stands ready on the edge of a bridge to make her final leap. Before she jumps however, a man in a car offers her a second lease on life and a leap of faith instead of a leap of death. As the young woman learns the ropes of becoming an assassin, she realizes it’s not as easy as the movies make it out to be.

#4) As a man is driving down a deserted road, he swerves to avoid a man standing in the middle of the street. Crossing into oncoming traffic, the man collides head on with another car and finds himself with an extremely large concussion. As he begins to lose focus, he finds himself struggling to focus on a woman in a green dress. Once she is in focus however, he falls to the ground in front of her and out of his car. As he comes to, he realizes he is under arrest for time travelling without proper training and is about to undergo a lobotomy to correct his issue. As he struggles to figure out what is happening to him, he finds himself able to see the fourth dimension, time, and with that sees every possible outcome of his actions and the actions of those before him. Running through time trying to avoid his pursuers, he finds himself running out of time as well.

#5) As a brilliant scientist, a man is just about to his his breakthrough when suddenly he is torn from the world he knows and tested as being mentally unstable.  He is thrust into a mental institution where he must figure out who and why he has been placed here, and figure out a way to escape. As a murderer manages to escape his cell and stalk the shadows, can the scientist figure out who is the murderer before it’s too late? Or will he fall victim to the supposed madness that has had him locked away?

#6) For any child growing up can be tough, but for some kids it can be much harder. As a timid child undergoes many life changing events, will he manage to come out ahead or will he end up another story on the front page and the news?

#7) As two kingdoms head to war, the warlords of both kingdoms meet each other in battle. Finding themselves quite equally matched, and stunning all around them with their display of skill. The battle for the day is called off and both sides retreat and regroup. As the female warlord goes on a long walk to review her perfect foe from the day’s battle, she stumbles upon him swimming in a lake. As the two discuss their battle they begin to fall head over heels for each other, but the battle rages on again for another day. As they take to the field of battle again, will they fight to the death or will the war take it’s toll on one or the other?

#8) One city remains of a once great population of magicians. Magic flows in their blood, but they cannot physically have more than one child. As tensions grow between the human kingdoms and the last great kingdom of magic, one magician will make a fatal error starting chaos and potentially bringing the world of men to force the extinction of magic.

#9) Unlike the Avengers, the X-Men or even the Justice League; The United Nations League of Heroes is a group of extraordinary men and women devoted to keeping world peace. Despite the fact they do have some super powers you may read about in comic books, they are still only human. As they fight to keep the peace as a group, they never consider death as an option until one of the group dies tragically at the hands of a villain. As the heroes try and cope with their loss, they are found bickering among themselves and some even break away from the group; some into vigilantism. While heroes are being requested to bring in other heroes, who is watching the villains?

#10) Speaking of villains, who doesn’t love a good bad guy? As a villain begins his career as a self proclaimed “Modern Day Robin Hood”, he finds himself lured into the luscious life of a super villain as his crimes escalate and his mind twists dramatically. Fumbling with sanity and going mad with power, our villain does everything right and manages to have the world right in the palm of his hand. All he needs to do is reach out and crush it! Who will stop him?

So there you have it, ten ideas and they’re all yours so please vote below and if you wouldn’t mind passing this along to your friends, I would be really grateful! Even if it’s just this post so I can see which idea is the most popular! Thanks and enjoy!