32
William lay unconscious in a fetal position. Reacting to the cold water at his feet, he pushed his face deeper into the wet, small round pebbles covering the ground. He regained consciousness slowly. The vivid vision of soldiers and bullets made him grab his chest. No blood, no wound! No noise! William had traveled to some moment in time that was silent. Silent and safe, he hoped. William looked around to see if the scenery had changed, to see if he’d landed in further hostility… that’s been the pattern so far. He noticed the vegetation was different; he was disappointed to find no sign of modern elements such as pavement or tourists. He also found no sign that people were near. For the first time in his travels, William was alone. “Can anybody hear me?”
The wind and water gently flowing through the stream and birds chirping were the combined noises that answered William, nothing else.
“This is crazy! What do I do now? I am not sure what is more frightening, finding hostile people to deal with or finding myself all alone in a period of time that is… God only knows when! I suppose that I could take another trip to… who knows where!”
William looked up.
“There is something about these water droplets!”
William quickly broke his focus on an individual droplet as it released from the underside of the bridge. He now knew that if he were to maintain the focus, almost certainly he would be transported to another time. William’s mind considered the likelihood that he could be taken back to the Revolutionary War battle amidst the line of fire. The thought was not comforting. He focused, instead, on analytical reasoning.
First, get out of the open; second, find shelter where he could rest and think without being in fear, and third, figure out the mystery of this Natural Bridge and a way to return to his family.
His first objective was easy to accomplish, William threw his body up against the vegetation of the vertical wall of the canyon and followed it closely in the direction of the waterfall. At least this time William knew what to expect in the way of geography ahead of him. His mind was made up, and the vision of the wide cave he recalled just ahead drove him to run faster. His second objective would be met, knowing that he could find temporary refuge in the cave.
William ran along the wall of the canyon trying to be ready to defend himself should the need arise. After running for a while it became apparent to William that this time he was alone. There was no one. Just as he slowed down, completely out of breath, the cave was visible ahead. William stopped and folded over. Dropping his head down, he grabbed his knees and allowed himself to catch his breath. It took a few minutes for William to find the strength to stand up straight and walk slowly toward the larger opening of the cave. William entered the cave. It felt like he had not been there in many years. The cave seemed different. The contours of the walls curved differently than those he remembered studying only a few days before. The vegetation at the large opening was not there while, on the other hand, the smaller opening that saved him before was completely filled in. William realized that now he would be trapped if someone cornered him.
“William, you could just give up right here, right now! You could return to the bridge and travel even deeper in time away from your family. Or you could get organized and figure a way out of this mess.”
William spoke aloud to himself. His mouth vocalized the choice to his immediate options; William was relieved to hear his own words…
“Get organized and figure a way out of this mess!”
William dropped down onto an elevated ledge. Sitting, he pondered what to do next. Hunger plagued him. Instinctively William’s hands pulled up from his knees and over his legs searching for something in his pant pockets. The beef jerky was still there. He wished he had grabbed a bigger handful of jerky back at Clarence’s cabin.
Having finished his meager meal, William decided that peaceful rest was what he needed now. The soft sand making up the floor of the cave was inviting. It did not take long for William to fall asleep.
Hours later William awoke. His heart was racing; he found himself in total darkness. William could hear the wind blowing furiously outside the cave. He elevated himself in a pushup position and moved toward the opening of the cave, crawling on his knees. A very dark sky was almost lost as it merged with the pitch-blackness of the ceiling of the cave. Behind him in the cave, total darkness seemed balanced with total silence. Infront of him, the opening was cold and loud with noises and uncertain perils. The choice was an easy one! It was night the exact time did not matter. William crawled on the ground back into the cave until he was sure he had found the very spot his body had warmed during the many hours he had just slept. Many hours! William figured he could either sit there and think of all the bad things that could happen to him next or he could put his rested mind to work analyzing his next options.
With his eyes shut and already in total darkness, it seemed redundant to cover his eyes further with the fullness of his hand; but this was William’s way of feeling at ease. Almost as if he was watching himself and at the same time feeling the reality of his imagined thoughts, William in his mind acted out exactly what he would do right at that moment if he had simple conveniences that once were taken for granted.
The first vision that came to him was that of a large, soft green slanted top of a drafting table. A full pad of quad paper in front of him, the blue thin lines spaced a quarter of an inch apart both horizontally and vertically were sharp in his mind. William imagined himself picking up a 2h mechanical pencil and starting to scribble a list:
Time travel through the Natural Bridge.
Is it possible?
Yes.
How?
Something to do with the water droplets.
Why only backwards in time?
Why me?
Each time the following happened:
How do I travel forward?
William could see the list he had constructed in his mind so vividly that he read it over and over until he commenced verbalizing the memorized list out loud. William was stumped. No answers to the questions on his list were apparent to him. He could only find more questions to add to his growing list.
Soon the first page of his pad was full of comments and questions. William saw his hand reach out in front of him and turn the page. He commenced a fresh list:
What do I do now?
Think
Rest
Find something to eat
Wait
And wait
And wait
Until I find a way to travel forward in time!
The mental exercise was exhausting. William turned his thoughts to his family. Images of his wife’s beautiful smile and that of his daughters flooded his mind. Memories of playful times filled with hugs and kisses and laughter were more than he could take. Tears flooded his eyes. It felt good to let it out; it gave him strength to know the passion within him to return to his family would persevere.