To Live Again by Gary Whitmore - HTML preview

 

Chapter 27

 

After Darin drove out of the Pleasant Acres neighborhood and turned onto Primrose Avenue then soon turned north on Thorndale.

While he drove up Thorndale, he spotted a Burkeville squad car. "I wonder if Robbie's still the chief?" he said then he zoned out.

More new memories filled Darin's head…

It was June 1972 at Burkeville University.

Darin and Sheryl were studying in some chairs on campus.

A fellow male student and former high school classmate named George walked up to Darin and Sheryl.

"Did you guys hear the news about Robbie Hanson?" said George.

"No," said Darin, and could care less about Robbie.

"No," said Sheryl, and she also wanted to forget about Robbie.

"My mom heard that he was killed in Vietnam last month," said George.

"That's a shame," said Darin being polite.

"Yeah, that's a shame," said Sheryl.

"I guess that bully met his match," said George, as he recalled those times in high school where Robbie would put George's head in the toilet and flush it a couple of times. "Oh well, I need to head off to class. I'll see you later," said George.

"Yeah, later, George," said Darin.

George walked away.

Darin and Sheryl looked at each other, and both knew they weren't saddened by Robbie's death.

They returned to their studying.

Back to reality and Darin was smiling while he drove down Brightwood Avenue.

"Where do I work?" he said, and the split-second he saw the entrance to Burkeville University up ahead, he knew, and he smiled, as he had a good feeling about this job.

He pulled into the entrance of Burkeville University and parked his Bel-Air in a parking spot for university employees.

He got out with his briefcase and headed off to the campus.

The more Darin walked through the campus, the more he knew where he had to be.

He walked past the old Science building.

He soon walked upon another building, and once he set his eyes on it, he immediately knew this was where he worked.

Darin went through the front door and automatically turned right down the first hallway.

He got halfway down that hallway, and after he passed by the doors for the Dean of History, he found another door.

He stopped and saw Dr. Darin Archer, painted on the glass window of that door. "I'm a doctor?" he quietly said.

Additional new memories filled Darin's head.

It now was 1980 and Darin was in a cap and gown at the university. He got his doctorate in history. Sheryl and his parents were proud of Darin.

Darin looked at the door and opened it.

The second he stepped inside the small office and saw the desk and bookcase filled with history books, he knew this was his job. He was now a history professor, and he was glad. No more cleaning up nasty toilets in the evenings.

Darin placed his briefcase on his desk and sat down.

He glanced around the office, and memories of the past years with working in here started to flood his mind. He was playing catch up with his new life.

Darin looked at his watch. He knew where he had to be, so he grabbed his briefcase and left his office.

Darin took the elevator and headed to the third floor.

Once he got there, he went into a classroom. He knew he was there to teach the students a course on the Civil War.

He got behind the podium in the front of the room and stared at the students while they started to fill up the room. For a few seconds, he didn't have a clue on how to start the class. But that passed quickly, and he knew exactly what he was going to do.

Five minutes passed, and the room was filled with students. Darin started today's lecture on the battle of the Little Bighorn. He suddenly began to know facts about Custer's Last Stand he recalled he learned in his previous life. These were fresh new facts, and he used them in his lecture.

After he taught that class, Darin returned to his office to grade some test papers from yesterday's lesson on World War I.

After he finished grading those papers, Darin left.

He headed to the cafeteria for lunch.

It was strange because while he was going through the line to get his lunch, new faces instantly became old acquaintances he had suddenly known for years.

Darin bought a ham and cheese sandwich, a small bag of Lays potato chips and some iced tea.

He sat down alone at a table and started eating.

"Hey, don't start without me," a voice called out to his right.

Darin looked at the direction of that voice that suddenly sounded familiar. His eyes widened in shock when he saw Charles Moore, now forty-two years old, but with thinning hair. He wore a black on black university security uniform without a revolver but had a hand-held Motorola radio that hung off his belt.

Darin was speechless when he saw his old friend he knew was dead. "Charles? Charles Moore?" he said and had to do a double-take to make sure he didn't see a ghost.

"Yeah, Darin, of course, it's me."

"What are you doing here?"

Charles looked at Darin like he was daft. "What am I doing here? We always eat lunch together in the cafeteria," said Charles while he sat down.

"We do?"

"Yeah, for the past two years."

"Two years?"

"Are you feeling alright?" said Charles and started to get concerned with Darin's bizarre questions.

Additional new memories started to flood Darin's head.

It was now 1993, and Charles just retired from the Air Force as a Chief Master Sergeant and returned to Burkeville with his family. Darin had gotten him a job as a security officer for the university since Charles had a twenty-two-year career with the Security Police for the Air Force.

Back to reality…

Darin looked at Charles across the table. He smiled that Charles heeded to his advice when he time-traveled back to 1971.

"Sorry, I have so many things on my mind lately," said Darin.

"I understand, said Charles then he suddenly got curious. "I've always been curious for years. Did Sheryl ever see that old hippy that saved her life?"

Darin looked at Charles. "Ah, no. He sorta vanished after he escaped from the police station after being arrested for counterfeiting."

"I guess he wanted to stay out of jail here in town, so that's probably why he never came back," said Charles.

"Yeah, that's my theory," said Darin with a hint of a smile.

Darin and Charles continued to chat about old times, and those caused Darin's mind to be flooded with additional new memories.

After lunch was over, Darin headed back to his office. But he decided to make a detour when he saw the Engineering and Science building off in the background.

He headed off to that building.

Once Darin got inside the Engineering and Science building, he headed off to the freight elevator.

He took it down to the basement.

Once the elevator doors opened, Darin's heart raced when he stepped outside of it.

He glanced around the basement, and it still looked familiar.

He headed off to his old janitor's office.

He saw that secret room that belonged to Dr. Bowman during his first life in 1995 was gone. But he could see some of the holes in the concrete where the wall studs were once anchored. But for some strange reason, he had this déjà-vu feeling while he glanced at the holes in the concrete floor.

"What happened to it?" he quietly said while he walked around the space that once was that laboratory and that time machine room.

He walked off to the freight elevator wondering what happened to that time machine and what happened to Dr. Bowman.

After a day of teaching more history classes like one on the Revolutionary war, Darin headed off home.

Once he got home, he noticed Sheryl had dinner ready, and she was still dressed in her nursing uniform. She was working additional hours with the night shift for the next couple of nights, and he suddenly realized this happened quite often.

After Sheryl went off to the hospital for her shift, Darin spent time with Cindy and helped her with her homework. He also had new memories that flooded his mind that this was a standard evening event in his new life.

After Cindy was put to bed, Darin went inside his den that he used as his office.

He looked at the one wall that had numerous history books.

He sat down at his desk that suddenly felt so familiar. He glanced at his bookcase, and one jumped out at him. It was an older book.

He reached over and grabbed the old book so curious as to why he felt compelled to check it out.

He looked at the cover and saw the "Life and Times of Wyatt Earp" title. His eyes widened when he saw that the author was Dr. Ervin Bowman.

He opened up the book and saw that it was copyrighted in 1900. Darin had a strong hunch with what happened to Dr. Bowman.

He glanced back at his bookcase, and another old book jumped up at him. He grabbed it, and the title was "The Battle of the Little Bighorn" by Dr. Ervin Bowman.

Darin opened up that book and saw that it was copyrighted in 1870. While Darin flipped through that book, he now knew that that's where he got his facts for today's lecture.

He glanced up at his bookcase and saw fifteen more old history books written by Dr. Ervin Bowman. They were all about the old west and wars against the Indians.

"He used his machine to record old western history," said Darin and the more he thought about it, the more he knew that was the truth.

Darin was now compelled to open up the right desk drawer. Once he opened it, he saw a Life magazine dated May 10th, 1920.

He opened up the magazine and saw an article he suddenly knew he had read before. It was an article about famed University of Arizona history professor and author Dr. Ervin Bowman.

Darin's eyes widened when he saw a black and white picture of Dr. Bowman, and he was old. He still wore that Thunderbird Bolo tie with a white shirt and sported a white cowboy hat. Dr. Bowman had a satisfied smile on his face for a happy life.

He read that article about Dr. Bowman, and it was dedicated to his life. He was famed for his accurate facts about old western life in his books. The article stated that Dr. Bowman was the very first history professor at the University of Arizona. He started on July 12th, 1886. The article said Dr. Bowman passed away at the ripe old age of one hundred on April 7th, 1920.

Darin placed the Life magazine back in his desk drawer and closed it.

But there was something that Darin had to figure out. What happened to that Studebaker time machine?

Darin tried to figure out so many scenarios. While he thought about those scenarios, his eyes suddenly widened. He remembered something from years ago.

It was now Thursday, October 18th, 1989.

Darin, now thirty-six years old, sat at his desk grading test papers in his office at the university.

His office door opened, and a seventy-year-old man stepped into his office. He wore a black suit, white shirt with Thunderbird Bolo necktie and had a white cowboy hat in his hand.

Darin looked at the old man and didn't know him. "May I help you?" he said, not realizing it was Dr. Bowman standing before him.

"I have something for you," he said while he closed the office door behind him.

"Who are you?" said Darin while he stood up and shook Dr. Bowman's hand.

"That's not important right now," said Dr. Bowman while he reached in his suit coat and removed a letter from the inside pocket.

He handed Darin the envelope.

"Don't read the letter until June 15th, nineteen ninety-five. It's crucial," said Dr. Bowman.

"What? Why?" said Darin, not understanding Dr. Bowman's order.

"I know this is tempting, but you'll understand in nineteen ninety-five," said Dr. Bowman. "Again, you mustn't open it until that date on the envelope," said Dr. Bowman and he looked dead serious.

Darin glanced at the envelope, and it did have the "Important – DO NOT open until June 15th, 1995" instructions written on the sealed envelope.

"Do I have your word you won't open it until then?" said Dr. Bowman.

Darin glanced at the envelope then at Dr. Bowman. "You do."

Dr. Bowman stuck out his hand. Darin shook it.

Dr. Bowman smiled then he turned around and walked to the door.

"Who are you?" said Darin.

Dr. Bowman opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. He closed the door behind him.

Darin rushed to the door with that envelope in hand.

He opened up the door and looked in the hallway.

He saw Dr. Bowman walk down the hallway toward the main entrance. It finally dawned on him who that old man was. "Doctor Bowman," he called out.

Dr. Bowman didn't respond and walked over to the main doors.

Darin started to go after Dr. Bowman but realized something. He was late for his lecture.

He rushed back in his office and placed that envelope in his briefcase.

He grabbed his briefcase and rushed out of his office.

While Darin headed off to his classroom, Dr. Bowman walked through campus and headed off to the Engineering and Science building.

Nobody noticed while Dr. Bowman took the freight elevator to the basement of the Engineering and Science building.

Once he got to the basement, he walked over to his secret laboratory and went inside closing the door behind him.

Then suddenly that secret laboratory with time machine room vanished into thin air. All he saw was the holes in the floor where the wall studs were once anchored.

Back in 1995, that sudden memory reminded Darin of that day in 1989.

He tried to remember where he placed that letter.

He looked in all of his desk drawers. That letter was not there.

"Where did I hide it?" he said while he looked around his den.

He glanced up at his bookcase and looked at the books.

After a few seconds, his eyes widened when he remembered. He reached over and grabbed an old book titled "Treasures of the Superstition Mountains" by Dr. Ervin Bowman. It was copyrighted in 1902 and was about treasures buried in the Superstition Mountains outside Phoenix, Arizona.

He opened up the book and saw that envelope Dr. Bowman gave him back in 1989. It was a little faded, but Darin was true to his words. He didn't open it all these years and today was the day according to the order on the envelope.

Darin's heart raced while he opened the letter, as he suddenly knew it would answer a burning question.

He opened up the envelope, removed and unfolded the letter.

"Darin, I can imagine by now that you're wondering what happened to that time machine. You probably found out what happened to me. I hope I lived a long life. Your trip back to 1971 to change your life made me realize that I can use that machine to change my life. Every since I was a small boy, I was fascinated with the old west. So I decided to use the machine to get the real facts about history then I finally settled in Phoenix in 1886. I was able to land a position as the first history professor at the University of Arizona. That educational institution was founded in 1885. As far as my time machine goes, when I went back to 1885, I blew it up with numerous sticks of dynamite. This was before the University of Burkeville was built so I can imagine they were extremely curious when they found pieces of it in the woods that are now the campus. I know that your life is now what you really dreamed it would be. My dear friend Jimmy Newton was instrumental in letting me allow you to use my machine. That's why I left the door to my laboratory unlocked those evenings in 1995. We had a hunch your curiosity would get the best of you. Enjoy your life. Dr. Ervin Bowman, p.s. my friend Jimmy Newton also used the time machine to life during a time he wished he lived. You'll find him in a book by Dr. Calvin Morris. I believe Jimmy used that book in one of your history classes in high school. So Darin, enjoy your new life," Darin read the letter.

Darin placed the letter down on his desk.

He looked at his bookcase. His eyes widened when he saw his old book that Jimmy used in one of his history classes. The book was on the Revolutionary War by Dr. Calvin Morris.

Darin grabbed the book and opened it up.

He flipped through the pages then one was extremely interesting. It showed a picture of a general with the Continental Army. Darin looked at that picture that was an artist's portrait of the general. That general looked familiar. "It's Jimmy Newton," said Darin and he looked at the name, and it was General Jimmy Newton.

Darin read the page about General Jimmy Newton who was a victorious general for the Continental Army.

Darin placed the book back in his bookcase.

He took that letter and placed it back in that book on the Superstition Mountains. He put that book back in his bookcase.

Darin got up from his desk and headed out of his den.

He went into the living room and got ready for bed.

It was midnight when he woke up when Sheryl got home from work and got in her nightgown.

"How was your shift?" said Darin while she got under the covers.

"Tonight was actually slow," she said while she cuddled with Darin.

"How was your day?" she said, then yawned.

"Oh, the same. Nothing interesting just talking about old times," he said then smiled while he placed his arm around Sheryl.

He was so happy that his life was now what he dreamed about back in 1971.

He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep with a huge smile.