Author: Henry Peter Gribbin
My name is Ben. I am a middle-aged schoolteacher from Pittsburgh. I am also a homeowner. I recently bought a house that sits on a busy street in a thriving community. The previous owners were an elderly couple who recently passed. The husband was a successful stockbroker who made his fortune in the 1960s by investing in up-and-coming companies. The wife was a noted political analyst who had a knack for predicting events in the world arena about to unfold.
When I moved in the house was bare of furnishings. The first thing I did was go upstairs to the master bedroom and took a look around. I opened the closet to check on space when I noticed a panel at ground level. It looked about four feet by four feet. The odd thing was the panel had a door handle. I instinctively turned the doorknob and opened the panel. I was hit by a bright light. It didn’t look artificial but looked like actual sunlight. I crouched down to take a closer look. I felt like I was being drawn to the light. I entered the panel and was instantly returned back into the closet. This time the closet was filled with ladies’ garments. I arose and went back into the bedroom. The room was fully furnished. There were pictures, family pictures of an older couple and their family. I recognized the older couple as the previous owners. I walked through the second floor and walked downstairs. In the living room was an old television set with rabbit ears. There was an old rotary phone sitting on an end table. I also found an appointment book. Today’s date was June 25th, 1965. The appointment book showed that the couple was engaged all day but would return by 7 pm.
I went out on the front porch. My key worked in the front door lock so I decided to take a walk. After proceeding one block I determined that I was indeed back in 1965. The manner of dress, vintage automobiles, and trolley cars made up my mind that this was so.
I bought a newspaper from a vendor for a dime. The date on the paper did show June 25th, 1965. I walked down the avenue and went into a diner. I was hungry so I ate. The food was very good and very inexpensive. When it came time to pay the bill I wasn’t sure if my present-day 20-dollar bill was legal tender. I crumpled the bill and handed it to the cashier. She didn’t look at the bill twice and handed me change.
I continued walking around the neighborhood, but around 6:30 I had this strong urge
to return home. I surmised that I had to return before seven. I went home, went to the bedroom closet, crouched down, and entered the panel. I immediately came back out into my empty space. Everything was back to normal.
The next day after moving some furniture and personal possessions into my new home I decided to try my luck with my secret time portal. Once again I returned to June 25th, 1965. I walked around the neighborhood and had a nice lunch. I returned around 6:30. I did this day after day. One would think I would be bored with this routine, but I wasn’t. One day I went to the movies and watched a recently released James Bond movie. I took trolley rides to different parts of the city. One day I had a thought. I took the trolley to old Forbes Field. The Pirates were playing the Giants. It was Clemente versus Mays. I sat in the bleachers and watched a much younger me sitting with my father. It seemed I enjoyed eating my hot dog more than watching the game. But once again I had to be back home before 7 pm. I knew this was imperative.
One last thought. I bet the old couple utilized this time travel to their advantage. But instead of moving backward in time to the same day, they moved forward to the same day in the future.
I still travel back to that day in 1965 but not nearly as often. Maybe one day I will take a companion with me. Well, maybe I won’t. I don’t want to take a chance and ruin my little secret.