The Wee Time Traveler

About the Book

The Wee Time Traveller is the story of Lara Myers. It is a story for older children to adult.  The book tells of how Lara manages a roller-coaster ride through time and space.

 The story begins when Lara meets Andy McDonald, an American physicist teaching at a famous University in Glasgow, Scotland, who lives beside the house in which Lara just happens to abide.  Andy has always been interested in the mechanics of time travel and he shows her a machine which operates on the ‘many universe’ principle.  In this a person cannot exist in the same space as themselves.  A person entering his or her own past enters a type of ‘N Space’ in which they can see themselves and interact with their past to a certain extent, yet not be truly part of the past.  

The theory created by Andy means that the person becomes a ‘ghost’ in their own past, able to see and hear what is going but without being observed.  In this way the paradox effect is neatly avoided.  Two people or objects don’t occupy the same space and time because although they co-exist it is in different space.  

Lara does not know what to make of his theory because she is only twelve years old and not really of a scientific bent.  But she knows enough about the world of science to see that Andy has found a way of solving a problem that has bedevilled scientists since the start of the century.  

But Andy has asked to see Lara for a reason.  He wants a witness to see him off on his trip through time – he has already tested the machine by sending it forward in time by five minutes on several occasions and every test has panned out well.   Lara will be his attorney in the event that he does not come back.  He has tied up all his affairs and arranged for a six-month sabbatical should it be needed.  The uncertainties of what he is about to do are manifold.  He might never come back.

Lara is always interested in adventure.  Although she loves the University dearly, particularly her home in University Gardens her world is one of routine.   She is an only child and wants to find out all she can about our strange and fascinating world.  But Andy refuses to take her with him on the grounds that she might be harmed.  It is the first time that he has hinted that time travel might be dangerous – his machine has been designed to take potential dangers into account.

But Lara has another reason for going.  Her parents were divorced when she was eight years old because of an event lodged in the back of her mind that she can’t bring into focus.  She wants them to get back together.  Not just because she is selfish and wants to see her father, although that is a strong reason, but because she knows in her heart of hearts that they are the right people for each other.  If she could go back into the past and see what caused their marriage problems she might be able to come up with a ‘fix’ for

them.

With this is mind she asks Andy to take her on his travels.  But he still refuses – and she does what any spirited girl of the New Millennium would do – she takes the time machine on the grounds that her need is greatest.

When she reaches the past Lara is frustrated to find that as Andy has postulated, she cannot be seen or heard by anyone in the past.  It is as if she is looking at the events of that time through a two-way mirror.  The frustration is caused by the fact that although she can see events unfolding she can do nothing – apparently – to affect them.

It is at this point that she meets her younger self, who of course cannot see or hear her.  Worse still, the time machine did not exist in the past this means that it is not part of a paradox and can be seen by everyone.  With horror Lara sees her younger self operate the controls.  The older Lara climbs on board just as they are whisked off t

About the Author

Alexander Hawksville says: I am a community worker in my native Scotland. My main interest - or obsession some call it - is writing. I have numerous articles and short stories published in local magazines and newspapers. This latest story grew out of my twin interests - the Scottish countryside and science fiction. I decided to produce the two together. The countryside in the story is very much like that of my native county and the old ruins - some hundreds of years old - are real enough. When you think William Wallace and his men once trod these same byways it sends a shiver up your spine. I live in a small town not much bigger than the one in the story with my dear wife and two mad Irish Setters who rule me with a paw of iron. I am currently writing a series of linked short stories.