The Time Professor

by Ray Cummings

Professor Waning Glory takes his new friend Tubby on a trip in a boat that stays always at 9 p.m. in a lofty time-river of some sort, starting at Coney Island, then Chicago, then Denver, and farther west. The professor is able to briefly stop the boat above Chicago, where time for those below stays frozen at 9 p.m., and when their boat crosses the 180° meridian, they travel back a day. Eventually, they arrive back at their starting point on Coney Island, where it is still 9 p.m.

— Michael Main

Time is what keeps everything from happening at once.

“The Time Professor” by Ray Cummings, in Argosy, 1 January 1921.

The Clockwork Man

by E. V. Odle

A peculiar man with mechanical mannerisms appears at a cricket match spouting nonsense and later causing headaches throughout the village until Dr. Allingham finally talks to him and discovers that the origin of the man with clockwork devices implanted in his head is some 8000 years in the future.

“Perhaps I ought to explain,” he continued. “You see, I’m a clockwork man.”

The Clockwork Man by E. V. Odle (William Heinemann, 1923).

The Twonky

by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore

A man, dazed from running into a temporal snag, appears in a radio factory, whereupon (before returning to his own time) he makes a radio that’s actually a Twonky, which promptly gets shipped to a Mr. Kerry Westerfield, who is initially quite confounded and amazed at everything it does.

Because of the story’s opening, I’m convinced the Twonky is from the future. The “temporal snag” that brought it to 1942 feels like an unexpected time rift to me, although the route back to the future is an intentional journey via an unexplained method.

— Michael Main

“Great Snell!” he gasped. “So that was it! I ran into a temporal snag!”

“The Twonky” by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore, Astounding Science-Fiction, September 1942.

Vintage Season

by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore

More and more strange people are appearing each day in and around Oliver Wilson’s home; the explanation from the euphoric redhead leads him to believe they are time travelers gathering for an important event.

— Michael Main

Looking backward later, Oliver thought that in that moment, for the first time clearly, he began to suspect the truth. But he had no time to ponder it, for after the brief instant of enmity the three people from—elsewhere—began to speak all at once, as if in a belated attempt to cover something they did not want noticed.

“Vintage Season” by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore, Astounding, September 1946.

The Man Who Never Grew Young

by Fritz Leiber

Without knowing why, our narrator describes his life as a man who stays the same for millennia, even as others, one-by-one, are disinterred, slowly grow younger and younger.

The story is soft-spoken but moving, and for me, it was a good complement to T.H. White’s backward-time-traveler, Merlyn.

It is the same in all we do. Our houses grow new and we dismantle them and stow the materials inconspicuously away, in mine and quarry, forest and field. Our clothes grow new and we put them off. And we grow new and forget and blindly seek a mother.

“The Man Who Never Grew Young” by Fritz Leiber, in Night’s Black Agents as by Fritz Leiber, Jr. (Arkham House, 1947).

Time’s Arrow

by Arthur C. Clarke

Barton and Davis, assistants to Professor Fowler, are on an archaeological dig when a physicist sets up camp next door and speculations abound about viewing into the past—or is it only viewing?

— Michael Main

The discovery of negative entropy introduces quite new and revolutionary conceptions into our picture of the physical world.

“Time’s Arrow” by Arthur C. Clarke, in Science-Fantasy, Summer 1950.

The Choice

by Wayland Hilton-Young

In about 200 words, Williams goes to the future and returns with the memory of only one small thing.

— Michael Main

How did it happen? Can you remember nothing at all?

“The Choice” by Wayland Hilton-Young, in Punch, 19 March 1952.

Tales of Tomorrow (s01e37)

All the Time in the World

by unknown writers and Arthur C. Clarke, directed by Don Medford

The skilled robber is now Henry Judson and his target is now the New York Metropolitan Museum, but the plot essentials remain largely the same as in Clarke’s earlier story: Use the time traveler’s foolproof plan to rob the museum.

— Michael Main

Within this five-foot circle, time is speeded up to an almost unbelievable pace. But the world outside the circle remains unchanged.

“All the Time in the World” by unknown writers and Arthur C. Clarke, directed by Don Medford (ABC-TV, USA,13 June 1952).

Journey into Mystery #3

Hands Off!

by an unknown writer and Bill Benulis

Eugene Varo makes a dark deal with a visitor from the past who wants Varo’s perfectly crafted artificial hands. This is the first story in Journey into Mystery to have definite time travel.

— Michael Main

I have come out of the dim past to bargain for those hands. . . and take them back with me. . . they are too beautiful for this age.

“Hands Off!” by an unknown writer and Bill Benulis, in Journey into Mystery #3 (Atlas Comics, October 1952).

Journey into Mystery #4

The Bewitched Bike!

by an unknown writer and Tony DiPreta

When small-time crook Spider steals a time-traveling bike, all he can think to make a profit from it is to rob, murder, and escape to the future. No wonder he’s small-time!

— Michael Main

I can be the biggest! I can rob, murder . . . do anything! Then all I have to do is jump on my bike an’ presto, I’m 40 years in the future.

“The Bewitched Bike!” by an unknown writer and Tony DiPreta, in Journey into Mystery #4 (Atlas Comics, December 1952).

Journey into Mystery #6

The Man Who Went Back

by Carl Wessler and Sam Kweskin

A man on death row murders his guards and escapes, getting on an odd bus where everyone is rapidly aging. And when he demands to be taken back, that’s when the real fun begins.

— Michael Main

You’ve got to stop the bus . . . turn around or we’ll all soon be dead of old age!

“The Man Who Went Back” by Carl Wessler and Sam Kweskin, in Journey into Mystery #6 (Atlas Comics, March 1953).

Journey into Mystery #8

Time Reversal

by an unknown writer

A blackmailer demonstrates his ability to send an entire city back to prehistoric times.

— Michael Main

We received a note telling us that unless we paid the sum of three million dollars this great city would be taken back to prehistoric days.

“Time Reversal” by an unknown writer , in Journey into Mystery #8 (Atlas Comics, May 1953).

The Twonky

written and directed by Arch Oboler

Unlike in the original short story of “The Twonky,” the movie’s mad machine is a TV rather than a radio. Also, we never explicitly see the machine’s construction by a time traveler, but the professor’s discussions with the coach make it clear that they believe the machine is from the future, and that’s good enough for us. And finally, when you watch the wacky film, you’ll see that Arch Oboler devised a different fate for the Twonky than that of Kuttner and Moore’s original story.

— Michael Main

Kerry: Then it is from another world?
Coach Trout: No, from our world, centuries in the future.

The Twonky written and directed by Arch Oboler (at movie theaters, USA, 10 June 1953).

Journey into Mystery #14

The Man Who Owned a World

by an unknown writer, Vic Carrabotta, and Jack Abel

Evil stepfather George intercepts a build-a-world kit from the future.

— Michael Main

Somewhere in the future, a postal error had been made and a package destined for a yet as unborn grandson had been lost in time and delivered to this house!

“The Man Who Owned a World” by an unknown writer, Vic Carrabotta, and Jack Abel, in Journey into Mystery #14 (Atlas Comics, February 1954).

Journey into Mystery #18

The Man Who Went Back!

by Carl Wessler and Pete Tumlinson

When Jeff Martin floats downstream, he literally floats back in time. Now, if only those two pesky men would quit following him,

— Michael Main

It looks like there was something about that swim in the river that threw me back ten years!

“The Man Who Went Back!” by Carl Wessler and Pete Tumlinson, in Journey into Mystery #18 (Atlas Comics, October 1954).

Journey into Mystery #28

They Wouldn’t Believe Him!

by unknown writers and Pete Tumlinson

To escape a forced marriage, a woman in the future tries to disappear into the pase, but her fiance tracks her down.

— Michael Main

I’ll marry you, Everest! But first may I go on a short time-vacation?

“They Wouldn’t Believe Him!” by unknown writers and Pete Tumlinson, in Journey into Mystery #28 (Atlas Comics, November1955).

Journey into Mystery #35

Turn Back the Clock!

by unknown writers and Jay Scott Pike

After turning back the hands on the campus clock tower, star athelete Ambrose McCallister finds himself at a stadium in ancient Greece with no memory of who he is.

— Michael Main

I saw this move somewhere . . . If I could just remember!

“Turn Back the Clock!” by unknown writers and Jay Scott Pike, in Journey into Mystery #35 (Atlas Comics, June 1956).

Journey into Mystery #41

He Came from Nowhere

by an unknown writer and Gray Morrow

As a government scientist makes a breakthrough discovery, he’s confronted out of nowhere by a time traveling kidnapper from a future government.

— Michael Main

Your work, this house, everything must be destroyed!

“He Came from Nowhere” by an unknown writer and Gray Morrow, in Journey into Mystery #41 (Atlas Comics, December 1956).

Unusual Tales #11

Second Chance

by Joe Gill [?] and Steve Ditko

After Dr. Paul Faine accomplishes his life’s work, he begins to reflect on the past and whether the world is ready for limitless power.

— Michael Main

Now we will see into the coree of the atom . . . the core which is the basis of all things! We will be able to produce life in the test tube, blow up the world with the touch of a finger!

“Second Chance” by Joe Gill [?] and Steve Ditko, Unusual Tales #11 (Charlton Comics, March 1958).

Poor Little Warrior!

by Brian Aldiss

You are reading an artsy story, told in the second-person, about a time traveler from AD 2181 who hunts a brontosaurus.

Time for listening to the oracle is past; you’re beyond the stage for omens, you’re now headed in for the kill, yours or his; superstition has had its little day for today; from now on, only this windy nerve of yours, this shakey conglomeration of muscle entangled untraceably beneath the sweat-shiny carapice of skin, this bloody little urge to slay the dragon, is going to answer all your orisons.

“Poor Little Warrior!” by Brian Aldiss, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1958.

The Twilight Zone (r1s01e05)

Walking Distance

by Rod Serling, directed by Robert Stevens

Stopped at a gas station outside of his boyhood hometown, burnt-out executive Martin Sloan decides to explore the town, which surprisingly has not changed at all in twenty-some years.

— Michael Main

I know you’ve come from a long way from here. . . a long way and a long time.

The Twilight Zone (v1s01e05), “Walking Distance” by Rod Serling, directed by Robert Stevens (CBS-TV, USA, 30 October 1959).

The Twilight Zone (r1s01e10)

Judgment Night

by Rod Serling, directed by John Brahm

Carl Lanser finds himself on a transatlantic voyage of the cargo liner S.S. Queen of Glasgow, in 1942, not knowing much about himself or how he got there, but knowing volumes about submarine warfare.

— Michael Main

There’d be no wolf packs converging on a single ship, Major Devereaux. The principle of the submarine pack is based on the convoy attack.

The Twilight Zone (v1s01e10), “Judgment Night” by Rod Serling, directed by John Brahm (CBS-TV, USA, 4 December 1959).

The Twilight Zone (r1s01e18)

The Last Flight

by Rod Serling, directed by William F. Claxton

World War I pilot Terry Decker flies through a white cloud and emerges 42 years later, landing at an American Air Force Base in France, at which point he proves that a Nieuport 28 biplane is capable of doing a causal loop just as well as he can do an Immelmann Turn.

— Michael Main

The Twilight Zone (v1s01e18), “The Last Flight” by Rod Serling, directed by William F. Claxton (CBS-TV, USA, 5 February 1960).

The Twilight Zone (r1s01e30)

A Stop at Willoughby

by Rod Serling, directed by Robert Parrish

On a snowy November evening during his train commute home from New York City, John Daly falls asleep and, perhaps in a dream, sees a simpler life with bands playing in the bandstand, people riding penny farthings through the park, and kids fishin’ at their fishin’ holes the 1888 summertime of idyllic Willoughby.

— Michael Main

Willoughby, sir? That’s Willoughby right outside. Willoughby, July, summer. It’s 1888—really a lovely little village. You ought to try it sometime. Peaceful, restful, where a man can slow down to a walk and live his live full-measure.

The Twilight Zone (v1s01e30), “A Stop at Willoughby” by Rod Serling, directed by Robert Parrish (CBS-TV, USA, 6 May 1960).

The Twilight Zone (r1s02e09)

The Trouble with Templeton

by E. Jack Neuman, directed by Buzz Kulik

The trouble with aging actor Booth Templeton is that he sees life as useless even decades after his young wife died. The answer to his trouble may lie in the people he meets—including his dead wife, Laura!—in what appears to be his hangouts from some thirty years ago. Actual time travel or something more fantastical? You be the judge.

— Michael Main

Laura! The freshest, most radiant creature God ever created. Eighteen when I married her, Marty, . . . twenty-five when she died.

The Twilight Zone (v1s02e09), “The Trouble with Templeton” by E. Jack Neuman, directed by Buzz Kulik (CBS-TV, USA, 9 December 1960).

Unusual Tales #26

Where Is Amelia?

by Joe Gill [?], Bill Molno, and Vince Alascia

At a happenin’ party, a beatnik puts Amelia into a trance, sending her to, like, the the 25th century!

— Michael Main

Sleep, chick, sleep deep! You will like go into another world. A world without squares. A world where everyone is like real sweep people!

“Where Is Amelia?” by Joe Gill [?], Bill Molno, and Vince Alascia, Unusual Tales #26 (Charlton Comics, February 1961).

Only Yesterday

by Ted White

Near the start of the Great Depression, a man waits for college student Donna Smith—someday to be Donna Albright—at the trolley stop near her rural Virgina home.

— Michael Main

Nervously fingering his narrow lapel, he broke the silence, saying, “I’d like to tell you some things . . . Totally outrageous things. You have to promise me just one thing first.”

“Only Yesterday” by Ted White, Amazing Stories, July 1969.

Breckenridge and the Continuum

by Robert Silverberg

Wall Street investor Noel Breckenridge has been summoned to the far future, possibly to tell stories, but is there a larger purpose?

— Michael Main

Am I supposed to tell you a lot of diverting stories? Will I have to serve you six months out of the year, forevermore? Is there some precious object I’m obliged to bring you from the bottom of the sea? Maybe you have a riddle that I’m supposed to answer.

“Breckenridge and the Continuum” by Robert Silverberg, in Showcase, edited by Roger Elwood (Harper and Row, June 1973).

Twilight Zone: The Movie

Time Out

written and directed by John Landis

The Twilight Zone anthology movie reprises three of the original show’s stories along with one new story, “Time Out” by John Landis, in which disgruntled bigot Bill Connor finds himself as a Jew in World War II German occupied Europe, a black man facing the clan in mid-20th century America, and a man in a Vietnamese jungle during the Second Indochina War.

— Michael Main

Ray, help! Larry! It’s me!

“Time Out” written and directed by John Landis (at movie theaters, USA, 24 June 1983).

Non ci resta che piangere

Literal: We just have to cry

by Roberto Benigni, Giuseppe Bertolucci, and Massimo Troisi, directed by Roberto Benigni and Massimo Troisi

While stranded in a thunderstorm in Tuscany, lifelong friends Mario and Saverrio find themselves unexpectedly in 1492, whereupon they fall in love a few times, pretend to be the composer of “Yesterday” and other modern-day hits, and come to the conclusion that they must stop Columbus from discovering America (either to prevent the genocide of the Native Americans or to prevent Mario’s sister from having her heart broken, depending on who you believe), and try rather pitifully to explain trains and other modern marvels to da Vinci, including a proposal to split the proceeds “thirty-three, thirty-three, and thirty-three!”

An extended director’s cut also expands the story of one of their heartthrob-esse, an Amazon named Astriaha[/ex], but we don’t know the details of its release or whether an English-subtitled release of the film exists.

— based on Wikipedia

Trentatré, trentatré e trentatré!

Thirty-three, thirty-three, and thirty-three.

English

Non ci resta che piangere by Roberto Benigni, Giuseppe Bertolucci, and Massimo Troisi, directed by Roberto Benigni and Massimo Troisi (at movie theaters, Italy, 20 December 1984).

The Ray Bradbury Theater (s01e02)

The Playground

by Ray Bradbury, directed by William Fruet

Charles visits his boyhood playground, at first on his own and then with his own son. There, he sees Ralph, the bully who tormented him, who’s still a boy and who still seems to be tormenting Charlie.

Perhaps Ralph was meant to be a ghost bully, perhaps the curly haired boy is young Charlie, perhaps Charlie switches bodies with his own son, or perhaps there’s time travel invovled. We doubt that even Captain Kirk could sort out all those perhapses in this TV version of Ray Bradbury’s story starring William Shatner. But clarity can be had if you read the original story, which takes about the same amount of time as watching the TV episode but shows the rich inner life of Charles Underwood and leaves no ambiguity about what’s up with “Ralph.”

— Michael Main

Ralph? The bully. When I was a kid, he used to wait for me on the corner every day.

The Ray Bradbury Theater (s01e02), “The Playground” by Ray Bradbury, directed by William Fruet (HBO, USA, 4 June 1985).

The Pure Product

by John Kessel

A cynical sociopath from the future goes on a crime spree (sometimes with random blood, sometimes with trite tripping on his future drugs) across 20th-century North America.

— Michael Main

“I said, have you got something going,” she repeated, still with the accent—the accent of my own time.

“The Pure Product” by John Kessel, in Asimov’s Science Fiction, March 1986.

Forever Yours, Anna

by Kate Wilhelm

Handwriting expert Gordon Siles becomes obsessed with four censored letters written by a woman named Anna to an introverted scientist whose missing research results may have national security implications.

— Michael Main

It should have ended there, Gordon knew, but it did not end. Where are you, Anna? he thought at the world being swampted in cold rain. Why hadn’t shecome forward, attended the funeral, turned in the papers?

“Forever Yours, Anna” by Kate Wilhelm, Omni, July 1987.

Future Past

by Michael McGennan, directed by Rob Stewart

While working at his extravagant computer, computer whiz-kid Harlan, comes into contact with a group from the future including a fairly absurd professor. What happens is that a young man comes from the future back to the present and appears to be Harlan's grown self—a self-centred and smug exploitive man. The two clash while the professor tries to get the old Harlan back to the future.

— based on Peter Malone’s film reviews

Future Past by Michael McGennan, directed by Rob Stewart (Nine Network, Australia, circa 1987).

Groundhog Day

by Danny Rubin and Harold Ramis, directed by Harold Ramis

In the quintessential time loop movie, jaded weatherman Phil Connors (no relation to John Connor) is in Puxtahawny to cover the Groundhog Day goings-on, continually repeating the day and—after losing his jaded edge—striving for Rita’s heart.

— Michael Main

So this will be the last time we do Groundhog together.

Groundhog Day by Danny Rubin and Harold Ramis, directed by Harold Ramis (premiered at an unknown movie theater, Los Angeles, 4 February 1993).

Standing Room Only

by Karen Joy Fowler

On Good Friday in 1865, Anna Surratt pines for one of her mother’s boarders—a certain John Wilkes Booth—not knowing anything of Booth’s plans for the evening, her mother and brother’s possible role in those plans, or the reason for the legion of odd tourists packing the streets in the nation’s capital around Ford’s Theatre.

— Michael Main

“It didn’t seem a good show,” Anna said to Mrs. Streichman. “A comedy and not very funny.”

Mrs. Streichman twisted into the space next to her. “That was just a rehearsal. The reviews are incredible. And you wouldn’t believe the waiting list. Years. Centuries! I’ll never have tickets again.” She took a deep, calming breath. “At least you’re here, dear. That’s something I couldn’t have expected. That makes it very real. [. . .]”

“Standing Room Only” by Karen Joy Fowler, in Asimov’s Science Fiction, August 1997.

The Hat Thing

by Matthew Hughes

A nameless man tells another how to spot time travelers.

— Michael Main

Sure. Researchers. Tourists. Criminals altering their present by manipulating the past. Religious pilgrims. Collectors. Who knows what motivates people in a million years from now?

“The Hat Thing” by Matthew Hughes, in Asimov’s Science Fiction, September 2004.

When You Reach Me

by Rebecca Stead

Miranda has an odd friend named Marcus who knows a lot about time machines, another friend named Sal who has stopped hanging out with her, and a man—not really a friend—who sleeps under the mailbox out front. And then there are those mysterious notes from someone who seems to know quite a lot, but also needs her to write about everything that’s happening in her twelve-year-old life.

— Michael Main

So if they had gotten home five minutes before they left, like those ladies promised they would, then they would have seen themselves get back. Before they left.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (Wendy Lamb Books, July 2009).

On the Bus

by William Grewe-Mullins

A man on a bus gives advice to his younger self.

— Michael Main

You’re going to need a lot of dog food.

“On the Bus” by William Grewe-Mullins, in Black is the New Black, 28 June 2010.

SpongeBob SquarePants Mini 69

And Krabs Saves the Day

[writer and director unknown]

This episode has implied time travel in that we see a tartar-sauce sated Patrick licking his lips and burping after young Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy discover that their barrel of quick-dry tartar sauce is empty (as also happened in “Back to the Past”).

— Michael Main

Now prepare for a heaping helping of quick-dry tartar sauce!

“And Krabs Saves the Day” [writer and director unknown] (SpongeBob SquarePants Mini 69, Nickelodean (USA, 14 June 2011).

Every So Often

by Rich Larson

Victor is one of the many protectors of the timeline from rogue rewinders. In his case, his five-year mission is to protect a small dark-haired boy in 1894 Austria.

— Michael Main

“I’m maintaining the Quo,” he says simply.

“Every So Often” by Rich Larson, in Datafall: Collected Speculative Fiction [e-book] (Rich Larson, August 2012).

Dating Rules [.s2]

Dating Rules from My Future Self II: Chloe

by Leah Rachel, directed by Tripp Reed and Shiri Appleby

In the second season, our heroine switches to lovely and lonely Chloe (Candice Accola). Now, if we can only get writer Sallie Patrick to slip some time travel into the other show she works on, Revenge.

— Michael Main

Chloe, you have to believe me. I’m here to help you help me. . . help us!

Dating Rules from My Future Self II: Chloe by Leah Rachel, directed by Tripp Reed and Shiri Appleby (Youtube: Alloy Channel, 1 August 2012 to 20 August 2012 [6 parts]).

My Wife Hates Time Travel

by Adam-Troy Castro

When a not-so-brilliant man and his similarly equipped wife find out that one of them is destined to invent time travel, they end up continuously fighting, not the least cause of which is their future selves popping in all the time, intent on informing them that they should do this and not that.

— Michael Main

Being the future inventors of time travel wasn’t all bad, of course. It was great to know that we’d never lose anything, never go to a movie that turned out to be a stinker, never buy a book we wouldn’t want to finish, never go out to a restaurant where the service was lousy, and never get stuck in a traffic jam, because we’d always be warned away, beforehand. It was terrific to have some future version of myself pop in just as I was about to irritate my wife with some inconsiderate comment and tell me, “It would be a really bad idea to say that.”

“My Wife Hates Time Travel” by Adam-Troy Castro, in Lightspeed, September 2012.

Second Chances 1

Come Home to Me

by Peggy L. Henderson

Jake doesn't believe in time travel, or that he’s been sent back in time to act as scout for a wagon train along the Oregon Trail. He's also been given the added burden of keeping one emigrant woman safe during the journey. He and Rachel are confused by their attraction to each other. Jake’s ill-mannered, unconventional ways are overshadowed only by his notorious reputation. Rachel’s traditional values and quiet, responsible character are the complete opposite of what attracts Jake to a woman. When their forbidden attraction turns to love, what will happen at the end of the trail?

— from publicity material

Jake stared from one man to the other. A horse neighed behind him, and shuffled through the thick straw bedding. His eyes narrowed. Where the hell was he? He’d fallen asleep on the uncomfortable mattress in his jail cell last night, thinking about his strange encounter with his new lawyer. He glanced around. He stood inside an old wooden barn, in a horse stall to be precise. The familiar pungent smell of horse sweat, manure, and hay permeated the air. The equine occupant of the stall chose that moment to blow hot air down Jake’s neck. He swatted an impatient hand at the horse’s nose to make the animal move away from him. He thought he’d seen the last of horses since leaving Montana. How did he get here?

Come Home to Me by Peggy L. Henderson (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, October 2012).

Second Chances 2

Ain’t No Angel

by Peggy L. Henderson

Delaney Goodman has been running from her painful past all her life. Dreams of working with horses have long been replaced with the reality of doing anything to make ends meet. About to hit rock bottom, she accepts a stranger’s proposition, even if it sounds too good to be true. She figures she has nothing, not even her dignity, to lose. She awakens in an unfamiliar Montana ranch - and an unfamiliar century - and quickly discovers that she will need more than her charm to complete the task assigned to her while navigating her new relationship with ranch owner Tyler Monroe.

— based on publicity material

Laney’s brows scrunched together. She glanced at her surroundings. She was inside a cramped old-fashioned coach of some sort, and the windows were wide open, sending in thick clouds of dust. She stared out at the passing landscape. Evergreens and prairieland as far as she could see. Not a hint of a skyscraper of road anywhere.

Ain’t No Angel by Peggy L. Henderson (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, December 2013).

The Here and Now

by Ann Brashares

Teenager Prenna James and her mother are two of the survivors of a future plague who return to the early 21st century to live out a quiet life under strict non-interference rules.

— Michael Main

“And then I’ll be a proper early-twenty-first-century girl?” I ask. I feel like crying. I don’t want to be set.”

The Here and Now by Ann Brashares (Delacorte Press, April 2014) [print · e-book].

Second Chances 3

Diamond in the Dust

by Peggy L. Henderson

Down to earth and level-headed, Morgan Bartlett isn’t afraid to wear her heart on her sleeve. All she wants is independence from her overbearing mother, and the freedom to shape her own destiny. When she aids a badly beaten man along the side of the road, she may have found more than a dusty cowboy down on his luck.

Morgan’s unshakable belief that Gabe is a good man slowly chisels away the walls he’s built around himself. As he comes to terms with living in the future, he must decide if losing his heart is worth more than holding on to the life he’s led in the past.

— from publicity material

He glanced around at his unfamiliar surroundings. He was in a parlor of sorts. A short table stood a few feet away from the sofa on which he sat. An oddly-shaped lamp hung from the pastered ceiling, and Gabe squinted his good eye. It was a rather plain-looking, milky-colored dome attached to a wooden support, along with what looked like blades that reminded him of a windmill that was hung on its side. He’d never seen an oil or kerosene lamp like it. Perhaps it wasn’t even a lamp, but some ornate decoration.

Diamond in the Dust by Peggy L. Henderson (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, October 2014).

Inside Out

by Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, and Josh Cooley, directed by Pete Docter and Ronnie Del Carmen

Admittedly, the time travel in Inside Out is just one throwaway Bing Bong joke, but in my opinion it cements the central role of the time travel meme within the popular culture of my lifetime.

— Michael Main

Once, we flew back in time . . .

Inside Out by Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, and Josh Cooley, directed by Pete Docter and Ronnie Del Carmen (Cannes Film Festival, 18 May 2015).

Second Chances 3.1

An Old-Fashioned Christmas

by Peggy L. Henderson

Gabe McFarlain is adjusting to life in the twenty-first century, and looking forward to his first modern Christmas with his wife Morgan, and his adopted son. Sometimes, however, a little old-fashioned cowboy spirit can add sparkle to the magic of the holidays.

— from publicity material

“An Old-Fashioned Christmas” by Peggy L. Henderson, serialized in Peggy L. Henderson’s newsletter, circa December 2015.

Star Trek

The Many and the Few

by Wendy Welcott

Spock travels back and forth through time to save the Federation.

— Michael Main

Peering into the murky abyss, Spock saw something he had never seen before: a window, a portal to that other world, not a vision, not a light, but a feeling, a feeling he didn’t understand—wonderment.

The Many and the Few by Wendy Welcott, submission to Star Trek’s To Boldly Go Script Competition, 16 February 2016.

A Little Something

written and directed by Brett Eichenberger

A time-traveling salesman brings a gift to a woman who’s about to begin cancer treatment.

— Michael Main

I just googled woolly mammoth, babies, clones . . .

A Little Something written and directed by Brett Eichenberger (Roswell Film Festival, 21 May 2016).

Million Eyes 0.03

The Charlie Chaplin Time Traveller

by C. R. Berry

What could that mysterious woman be doing on the film clip of the 1928 premier of Charlie Chaplin’s The Circus, other than apparently talking into a small brick held to her ear?

— Michael Main

Yup, this woman was talking on a mobile phone—in 1928—decades before they were invented.

“The Charlie Chaplin Time Traveller” by C. R. Berry, in Tigershark Magazine 11, Autumn 2016.

Shakesville

by Adam-Troy Castro and Alvaro Zinos-Amaro

Fifty future versions of a man show up in his apartment (49 of whom are corrupted) to warn him of an impending fateful decision that he must make correctly.

— Michael Main

It’s not anything fatal. You know it can’t be anything fatal, because if it was, then there would be no future self who could be sent back to warn you.

”Shakesville” by Adam-Troy Castro and Alvaro Zinos-Amaro, Analog Science Fiction and Fact, March/April 2017.

Ugo

by Giovanni De Feo

At age six, Ugo began leaping into other parts of his life: sometimes into an older Ugo, sometimes younger, sometimes in control of his body, sometimes just observing. The whole leaping business isn’t entirely clear except fo his connection with his future wife Cynthia—or sometimes Ciznia—and his insistence that nothing he sees can ever be changed.

— Michael Main

Later on, Ugo developed a theory about it. He said that in reality everybody Leaps all the time. The proof? Déjà vu. The feeling of having already experienced what is in fact happening for the first time was for him the ultimate, definitive evidence of Leaping. The only difference between Ugo and everyone else was that he remembered, while we don’t.

“Ugo” by Giovanni De Feo, Lightspeed, September 2017.

The Trouble with Time Travel

by Patrick Crossen

A time traveler explains what may not seem obvious.

— Michael Main

“And the year?”

“The Trouble with Time Travel” by Patrick Crossen, in Chronos: An Anthology of Time Drabbles, edited by Eric S. Fomley (Shacklebound Books, August 2018).

Quantifying Trust

by John Chu

AI grad student Maya is attempting to train her prototype artificial neural net (named Sammy) so that it recognizes what to trust and what not to trust on the Internet, with the goal of building AIs free of human prejudice. Meanwhile, that new grad student Jake keeps saying and doing things that seem only to verify his ongoing joke that he’s an AI from the future.

— Michael Main

You got me. I’m an android sent back from the future.

“Quantifying Trust” by John Chu, in Mother of Invention, edited by Rivqa Rafael and Tansy Rayner Roberts (Twelfth Planet Press, September 2018).

Now Wait for This Week

by Alice Sola Kim

On the surface, the story seems to be about white, rich, cute Bonnie who knows she’s is living in a time loop in the week of her birthday and exploring it in a surprising variety of ways, but all this is on top of the story about Bonnie’s unknowing roommate, who through her narration of each iteration relates to us her life as a sexual assault survivor.

— Michael Main

They told me that she showed up at their house yesterday, completely frazzled, telling a wild tale about a week that was repeating over and over again.

“Now Wait for This Week” by Alice Sola Kim, in The Cut, 17 January 2019 [e-zine].

Again, but Better

by Christine Riccio

Shy Shane Primaveri heads to London for a semester abroad for a semester abroad program in creative writing where she hopes to become more outgoing, kiss a boy that she likes, and convince her parents after-the-fact that her decision to explore paths outside of a pre-med major was the right one. But things don’t go exactly as planned the first time through the semester.

— Michael Main

Could the elevator have been, like, a time machine?

Again, but Better by Christine Riccio (Wednesday Books, May 2019).

Armistice

by J. Mark Matters

Armistice has arrived in the time war with the Kelad.

— Michael Main

We did not lose the Time War

“Armistice” by J. Mark Matters, Daily Science Fiction, 16 July 2019 [webzine].

Second Chances 3.2

A Second Chance Christmas

by Peggy L. Henderson

Gabe and Morgan McFarlain are looking forward to spending Christmas Eve with their close friends, Jake and Rachel Owens. When the Reverend Johnson makes an unexpected visit, it is Gabe who holds the key to his friends' family secret. When he's asked to go back in time to save Jake's ancestor, the past and the future may be changed forever.

— from publicity material

He chuckled and shook his head. To think that he’d wanted to ruin his brother and the ranch at one time. Because of his misguided need for revenge, he’d ended up in the future. Meeting Morgan and her son had been the best thing that could have happened to him. Although he missed his simple life in 1872, there was much to like about modern times, too.

“A Second Chance Christmas” by Peggy L. Henderson, serialized in Peggy L. Henderson’s newsletter, circa December 2019.

Meeting the Man from the Future

by Jane Williams

We meet by chance one autumn evening

“Meeting the Man from the Future” by Jane Williams, Asimov’s Science Fiction, January/February 2020.

Not This Tide

by Sheila Finch

Through the eyes of young Rosemary (in 1944 London during the time of buzz bombs and V-2 rockets) and old Rosemary (now called Mary in 2035 Oslo), we see the picture of her whole life from her imaginary friend during the war to her physicist grandson at Princeton.

— Michael Main

“Not This Tide” by Sheila Finch, in Asimov’s Science Fiction, January/February 2020.

Second Chances 4

Riches of the Heart

by Peggy L. Henderson

Hunter and Sherri come from completely different upbringings. . . and different centuries. Traveling together on a wagon train makes it difficult to avoid each other. Hunter’s reluctance to let go of past hurts, and Sherri’s reason for making the journey in the first place, leave no room for love to blossom.

— from publicity material

Riches of the Heart by Peggy L. Henderson, unknown publisher, February 2020.

ドロステのはてで僕ら

Dorosute no hate de bokura English release: Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes Literal: We at the end of the Droste

by 上田誠, directed by 山口淳太

For the first sixty minutes, a perfect static timeline seemed to be emerging from Kato’s video stream from two minutes in the future. We might even get some philosophical commentary on free will! Alas, that was not to be as the final ten minutes presented a more commonplace ending, although the single-take nagamawashi was executed with perfection and garnered this fun film an Eloi Medal.

P.S. Don’t skip the end-credits!

— Michael Main

Your monitor and the shop’s TV are linked with a two-minute delay.

[ex=bare]ドロステのはてで僕ら | We at the end of the Droste | Dorosute no hate de bokura[/ex] by 上田誠, directed by 山口淳太 (at limited theaters, Japan, 5 June 2020).

Goodbye, Howard Henning

by John E. Stith

Did you ever wonder what happens when a time traveler makes a mistake? Don’t miss Stith’s “Story behind the Story” at the end of the web page.

— Michael Main

This isn’t Germany. And this can’t be 1924.

“Goodbye, Howard Henning” by John E. Stith, in Nature Futures, 15 July 2020.

Max Einstein 3

Max Einstein Saves the Future

by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein

The prologue to the third Max Einstein book tells us that twelve-year-old genius do-gooder Max traveled as a baby from 1921 to the early 21st century when an experiment in her genius parents’ basement went a little ca-ca. Later on, Einstein himself makes a cameo appearance, possibly by opening some kind of communication line from the past to Max in her moment of need, but nothing else crops up in the way of time travel. I suspect that a truly genius rebel child would toss this aside as being condescending, preachy, one-dimensional, and melodramatic (not in a good way), as well as innacurate in most of its science and guilty of oversimplifying complex world problems.

— Michael Main

Plus, if you shut down the time machine and never came into the future, you would never do all the great things you have already done in your life. We wouldn’t be standing her right now if you went back in time and convinced your parents to dismantle the project.

Max Einstein Saves the Future by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein (Jimmy Patterson, August 2020).

Agent 3203.7

by Eliezer Yudkowsky

The seventh incarnation of Agent 3203 is once again tasked with preventing a thoughtful assassin from carrying out a political mission for the good of humanity.

— Michael Main

He’s destroying my world!

“Agent 3203.7” by Eliezer Yudkowsky, in Shtetl-Optimized, 20 September 2020).

Solos [s1.e01]

Leah

by David Weil, directed by Zach Braff

While talking to her mother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s, brilliant scientist Leah Salavara’s subconscious brings up just the idea that’s needed to video chat with herself in other times and eventually complete the final step that leads to actual time travel with a surprisingly complex set of motives.

— Michael Main

Okay, so in order to run a reverse dimensional location search, I need to know what the interdimensional VIN is on your computer.

Solos (s01e01), “Leah” by David Weil, directed by Zach Braff (Amazon Prime, 21 May 2021).

Unredacted Reports from 1546

by Leah Cypess

An 18-year-old history student hopes to show that her research subject, 16th-century poet Lucia of Gonzaga, was a modern woman supressed by her time period, but as the traveling student sends messages back to her 21st-century mentor, she reveals more than just history as she’d hoped it would be.

— Michael Main

You were wrong about my age, though. In the sixteenth century, I’m an adult. I am physically mature and able to bear children, and that’s all that matters. No one cares about the completeness of my frontal lobe.

“Unredacted Reports from 1546” by Leah Cypess, Future Science Fiction Digest #11, June 2021 [e-zine · webzine].

Giving Up the Ghost

by Aeryn Rudel

An assassin jumps back into her 17-year-old body where she takes care of her mission and has a little time left over.

— Michael Main

My target is a few blocks from here, which is why the Department of Temporal Enforcement chose me for the assignment. Proximity is important. The less you move around, the less likely the time stream gets fucked up.

“Giving Up the Ghost” by Aeryn Rudel, in Flashpoint Science Fiction, 26 June 2021.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (s01e10)

A Quality of Mercy

by Henry Alonso Myers and Akiva Goldsman, directed by Chris Fisher

A despondent Captain Pike considers warning two future cadets about the accident that will kill them and maim Pike himself, but before he can write to them, his older self shows up to transport young Pike to the future that the warnings will create.

— Michael Main

Young Pike: How am I supposed to believe. . . ?
Old Pike:. . . that I’m really you?
Young Pike: You ever gonna let me get a word in edgewise?
Old Pike: I knew you were gonna say that. Does that help?

“A Quality of Mercy” by Henry Alonso Myers and Akiva Goldsman, directed by Chris Fisher (Paramount+, USA, 7 July 2022).

Crazy

by Don Tassone

While in a coma, a patient hears everything in the hospital room for 50 years.

— Michael Main

But I heard everything, and I followed what was happening in the world.

“Crazy” by Don Tassone, Daily Science Fiction, 14 July 2022 [webzine].