18. TRUE OR NOT

I like magic! Early next morning I was dreaming. That is I believed I was dreaming. As on the previous days, some early morning birds were chirping so I am not sure. When I turned around in bed, the small box was there once again. Nothing rattled inside. I opened the box. There were some sheets of paper. I wanted to read chapter 18.

18.  TRUE OR NOT

The morning sun ripped through wisps of morning haze. Morning dew slipped from willow trees and shone like diamonds before they hit the river beneath. Tranquillity. Complete tranquillity. The soothing sound of waves hitting the nearby shore filled the air. Where the river met the sea, a small dark speck appeared. As the speck grew in size, John and Jill saw that it was the time traveller. Again. He sat down on a tree trunk, which looked like it had been lying there forever. He moved his hand wanting John and Jill to come closer. He signalled for them to sit down.

-          Our time here is short, he said.

-          Where are we, Jill asked.

-          No need to say, even if I know. However, the year is 3084.

-          In other words, it is thousand years since we left the Chinese farmer, John exclaimed.

-          What happened in between, Jill wondered.

-          Do you want to know?

-          Definitely, she answered.

-          You have the looking glass? You will find what you want there.

-          Thousand years! That is a long, long time, Jill exclaimed.

-          You can decide where to start – the end of the beginning, or the beginning of the end.

-          I want the end of the beginning, John said. – I really wonder why the old Chinese man gave away this looking glass. What kind of fear did he talk about? As for myself, I really have no fear. Let us have a look.

-          What year is this, the two of them wondered.

-          I think it is 2020, the time traveller said, almost whispering. – There was some talk about a deadly virus. Others talked about the return of Stalin’s dagger. Weird rumours spread among people. The following years fear ruled the world. Economies collapsed. Uprisings spread like wildfire, and there was no remedy. Some authoritarian countries tried to use the army to control people, but in vain. Regimes were falling like apples in autumn storms. The virus was not the problem, only slightly more dangerous than the normal yearly flue. The main problem was the reaction of the world community.

-          I want the looking glass, Jill said. – Who is that angry man with the special haircut?

-          It is the American president at that time, John said. - I think I heard that he died from the virus just before the presidential elections, but what happened next?

-          Give me the looking glass, the time traveller demanded. – It needs some cleaning. The dust of time makes it difficult to see what happened.

-          We want to know. Give us the looking glass! We want the truth!

-          Are you sure, the time traveller asked.

Then he kind of dissolved in the air, and a short time later he disappeared.

End of chapter 18. To be continued in chapter 19.