April 4, 2057

Dear Jason,

You are no doubt waiting in the Peterson’s field just like we agreed. In answer to the question you are dying to ask: yes! We succeeded in developing time travel. It only took us 46 years, but I’m thrilled to tell you, we’ve finally done it!

I’m sending my first test subject to you. He is embarking on the first ever boomerang jump and will return automatically in exactly 24 hours. Detail how the jump went, the heath of the subject, and any other details you think are worth noting. Do not be alarmed if he dies. This is, of course, the first try and there are bound to be some mishaps.

I’ve also included the date and numbers of an upcoming lottery. Use the money to buy the Stangland farm which will become available in 3 years time. It will make an ideal test facility.

I will send the second test subject to their field in 3 years and 61 days on August 23, 2014 at precisely 5:00 am. Please send your reply and field notes with test subject #1.

* * *

June 23, 2011, 3:46 am

Daphne was running away from home. Again. She was eleven years old and tired of being compared to her perfect older sister. She trudged down the familiar dirt road flashlight in hand. She knew, by this point, not to walk along the main road. Guaranteed, either her parents, her older brother, grandparents, or an obnoxious, nosy neighbour pick her up and take her home. But, if she cut through their field to the old dirt road that was hardly every used, then she could walk for miles without being seen.

She had her earbuds in listening to her music as she allowed her anger and self pity wash over her to fuel her forward.

After what felt like an hour, an odd mechanical noise chirped. Alarmed, and suddenly afraid that she had been caught, she flew into the bushes on the side of the road. By now, the early morning sun was peeking over the horizon and she was able to see without her flashlight.

She yanked her earbuds out of ears and listened intently. At first, all was quiet aside from the soft rustling of leaves. Then, the noise sounded again and she thought it might be coming from above her.

She couldn’t see what was making the noise. Suddenly, a blinding light and loud cracking noise exploded through the air and she duck down, throwing her arms over her head. The ground shook throwing her off her feet.

When she caught her bearings again and lifted her head, she saw a tall man, about 70, with a large pot belly jutting out in front of him. His rumpled clothes hung disheveled from his overweight frame. He stood in the middle of the road staring, with an odd expression on his face.

She stayed in her place in the bushes and peered through the leaves. The man appeared to be disoriented. His eyes were crossing and he leaned to one side. Just as he looked like he was about to topple over, he stumbled forward, caught his balance then began to lean to the other side.

Daphne was about to sneak away, when another man, about 25 years old, appeared down the road just coming up over the top of the hill. He raced towards them with a wheel barrow swerving about in front of him and his white lab coat billowing out behind him.

He stopped when he got to the older man, dropping the handles of the wheel barrow. He bent forward and clutched his knees, gasping and breathing hard. Suddenly, the older man gives a load moan and and started to topple over to the side. The man with the lab coat noticed just in time and jumped into action. He grabbed the handles and slide the wheelbarrow under the man’s falling frame and caught him. He landed in a heap sending off a metallic clang.

“Easy does it, easy does it.” He quickly scooped up the limbs that were hanging limply from the wheelbarrow, knuckles and shoes dragging on the ground. Then, he started riffling through the coat pockets of the unconscious man before giving a shout of delight. He emerged with an envelope and eagerly tore it open.

After scanning it for quick moment, his smile growing larger with each word and he whooped in delight! “Ha HA! I did it!” He slapped the shoulder of the man in the wheelbarrow and cackled with delight.

That’s when Daphne noticed that the large man’s condition seemed to be getting worse. Not only was he unconscious, but blood had begun to drip from both nostrils and started to leak from his ears.

From inside his lab coat, the younger man pulled out a folded tarp and with a grand swoosh and a flick of his wrists, he unfurled it. The tarp lay over the body as the man giddily trotted away pushing the wheelbarrow back the way he came.

Daphne stared at the empty path and the drops of blood trailing after the men, her mouth hanging open. She slowly emerged from the bushes, her backpack hanging on the crook of one elbow and dragging on the ground.

When she finally came to her senses, she raced back home, hid in her room, and told no one.

* * *

I wrote this story based on a prompt from the Instagram page: the.write.way.to.right

“People are dropping dead in the middle of the street completely randomly from brain aneurysms, but they have no identity. It turns out that they are time travelers in the early stages of the technology and the jump to the past is causing their brains to melt.”