Friday 19 August 2011

Eighteenth Friday Flash: Wolfenstein the Hamster

Distant future

“Remember, only five minutes.”

“I will be taking control of the doctor, right?”

“Yes, he’s there to check up on his mother. His sister Paula might be there too.”

Tom rubbed his hands together. “I can work with that.”

“And remember…”

“I know, I know if I die there, I will lose my mind here.”

“Exactly.”

1909 – Austria

Even though he had jumped back in time many times before he had never got quite used to it; it felt like falling from a great height. This time felt even worse than normal. He put it down to the fact it was the furthest he had ever jumped back. He shrugged it off as best he could. There was a mission to be completed. Tim waited a few moments as his conscious adjusted to the new body.

Tim opened his eyes. Something was wrong, very wrong. His vision was blurry and he felt hungry. Maybe the doctor had bad eyesight and skipped lunch. Voices could be heard. He had learned German five minutes before he had left, but still he could not understand what was being said.

There was some movement above his head, Tom pulled himself up. The noises and lights become brighter. Big blobby flesh toned shapes moved around before him. One of them all dressed in white looked remarkably like a doctor. Tim gasped in alarm, or at least he tried to, all that came out was a high pitched squeak.

Suddenly Tim was lifted into the air. Tim looked down at his body. It was all furry and brown and white in colour. Twisting and turning in horror he tried to break free, but the grip was just too firm. He was some kind of rodent. Maybe Paula's pet hamster? How was it even possible?

Placed on someone’s hand, another hand proceeded to stroke his back. Tim calmed down. It felt good. His training kicked in. All had to do was wait five minutes and he would be back home. Then they could try another date in the timeline to take him out.

Another human shaped blob entered the room. This human was stiff and walked with his head held up high. Could it be him? Maybe he would have a chance after all. The newcomer moved in closer, he spoke but Tim couldn’t make out what he was saying. Tim looked at the face to make sure, and much to his delight he saw a little black patch under the man’s nose. Tim twittered in excitement. The man turned and stared at him.

Tim leapt into action. Using all four legs to propel him forward, landing on the man’s nose Tim scratched his clawed feet and bit as hard as he could. The man shrieked out in pain. Moments later a hand gripped him. This was not good. It felt like he was being crushed in a vice.

The man shouted something as he threw Tim out the newly opened window. Tim hoped he would leap back to the future before hit the ground, but most of all he hoped he completed his mission and saved millions of lives.

Distant future:

News Headline: Wannabe Hero Tim the Time Traveller lost in mission, but Hitler dies of infected wound.

Reports suggest that far from preventing war the mission has exacerbated the situation and led the world into an even worse war. Expect world changing, maybe even catastrophic changes soon. The Time Agency is on the case trying to clean it up, but don’t expect miracles.

*Just finished this. Please let me know if you spot any typos etc... Thank you and hoped you enjoyed the read.

10 comments:

  1. I wish it were true, that we could time travel and change history...

    Good one, sir:)

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  2. Current geek joke:

    What do we want? Time travel!
    When do we want it? Doesn't matter!

    This was pretty clever. Did they know Tim was going to ride the hamster and not tell him?

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  3. That's a novel way for Hitler to die. But could it make things worse?

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  4. hahaha! That gave me a good laugh :)

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  5. @Anne I would love to travel back and forwards in time, but I'm not sure if I would want to change things. Could have a massive domino effect.

    @Mr Fetched Haha! Those Greeks :). Mmmm I hadn't thought of that, but entirely possible.

    @Sonia I think it's possible the Nazi party could have risen to power without him. Maybe someone like Goering in charge. He seemed more ruthless and thorough than Hitler. I think the Time Agency will be very busy getting rid of them all :).

    @Sebastien Glad you like it, and thanks for the idea for the story :). Was fun to write.

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  6. Love the alternate history angle. Lots of fun. Hearing dominoes falling.
    Adam B @revhappiness

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  7. Ha! This is just so unexpected and weird. I love the weirdness. And who knew a hamster could cause so much trouble? Even a particularly clever hamster...

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  8. I love the idea of time travel. And liked your different approach with him going into another's psyche...and if he dies, he would lose his mind in the present....nice touch. Would like to know who Paula was? That was the only thing that really threw me.

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  9. Crackling and concise setup, Craig, and a good followthrough. Glad I caught up on this one.

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  10. If I was leading The Time Agency:
    "Forget time travel! All research teams to re-focus on small furry animal possession! I want to die a ferret."

    Great story!

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