From: cheryl492@aol.com
To: alt-ql-creative@cisco.com
Subject: Twist in Time - Part 1
Date: Thu, 03 Jun 93 18:09:43 EDT
Message-Id: <9306031809.tn11423@aol.com>

Twist In Time 
Cheryl A. Bellucci

Part 1

     The first thing Sam realized as the blue haze cleared itself from
his eyes is that there was a hose in his hand.  And water running from
the hose.  Then he heard the shout.

     "Hey Wayne, could you please watch what you are doing?"  The voice
came from a man standing next to a car.  The hood on the car was open,
and judging from the man's apparel, Sam figured him to be a mechanic
working on the car.  The stream of water from the hose had come close
to his foot.

     "Uh, sorry, guess my mind was wandering."  Sam let go of the
spigot on the hose, and the water stopped.  He looked around at his new
surroundings.  He was in the middle of a car lot, and by a quick
assessment of the car styles, he thought he might have leaped into a
time period about the early- to mid-seventies.  A look into the side
mirror of the car he found himself standing next to revealed a younger
face looking back at him, probably a teenager, not much older.

     "Wayne, what is wrong with you today?"  The mechanic had stopped
his work and was watching Sam trying to adjust to his new climate.
"You have to finish washing this whole row of cars before you can go
home.  You got spring fever or something?"

     Sam smiled at the mechanic.  "Maybe.  I'm sorry, I'll get right
back to work."  He found a bucket and sponge on the other side of the
car.  As he finished soaping and rinsing the vehicle, he studied what
he could see of where he was.  It appeared to be a small- to
medium-sized town, not too busy, but pleasant.  He was ready to work on
the next car in line when he heard the imaging chamber door open.

     "Hi, Sam."  Al's familiar holographic image punched a couple of
buttons on the handlink, and the door closed.  "Got you doing hard
labor this time, eh?"

     "Not too bad."  Sam glanced around at the mechanic who had gone
back to work under the hood of the car, but was still watching him,
particularly when Sam had the water running.  "Al, I'm a kid again."

     "Well," Al replied, reading the display on the handlink, "I guess,
if you call 19 a kid."  He continued pressing buttons.

     "Okay, who am I?"

     "Your name is Wayne Garber, you work here cleaning and prepping
cars, but you've been accepted at Ohio State University to attend in
the fall.  Oh, says here you're going into medicine, and you won a
partial scholarship, very impressive."  Al glanced over at his friend.

     "Ohio State?  Am I in Ohio?"  Sam had to keep his voice low, the
mechanic was watching him more closely now.

     "Uh huh, a town call Xenia.  The date is April 2nd, 1974." Al
paused and frowned at the next readout.

     "Looks like a nice place."

     "Well, Sam, take a good look.  Half of what you see isn't going to
be here tomorrow at this time."

     "What do you mean, Al?"

     "At 4:40 pm on April 3rd, 1974, half of Xenia will be destroyed by
a tornado."

     "Oh boy..."