I pounded the alarm clock a few times before my sleep clouded brain realized the annoying sound wasn’t coming from my alarm clock. Squinting, I looked bleary-eyed at the clock face. “Ah shit!” I groaned as I saw the time. It was fifteen precious minutes before the alarm itself would have rang.
The charging cord popped from the phone as I snatched it angrily from my dresser, deeply pissed that someone would wake me up just before my alarm clock did. I looked at the phone and stared in disbelief. Why would Spencer Atwater be calling me? Especially this early on a school day.
I was a bit gruff when I picked up the phone and said, “Yeah?”
A very excited Spencer was on the other end of the line. I almost couldn’t understand him he was talking so fast and breathless. “Mason! You have to come over here now! This is totally amazing!”
I rolled onto my back and closed my eyes and groaned into the phone, “Can’t this wait Spence? Like next month or something?” Back in middle school, Spencer had decided we were best buddies. We’re not. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like I hate the guy or anything. It’s just that he’s terribly annoying and seems to always pick on me. He fancies himself an inventor and possibly a mad scientist. Usually all he invents is disaster. For six months he kept a low profile after the particle accelerator or whatever it was that he was trying to build in his parent’s basement blew every transformer in the tri-state area.
Still excited, Spencer panted, “No! This is incredible! This is totally awesome! This is the most spectacular and amazing thing I’ve ever done! You just have to see it!”
My eyes still closed, I mumbled into the phone, “Spence, it’s six fucking o’clock in the morning. We both have to get ready for school. We really don’t have time for farting around with your crazy ideas.”
“Time!” shouted Spencer. “That’s just it! Get your ass over here. Now!” Spence then hung up the phone.
I toyed with the idea of just going back to bed for the remaining ten or so minutes before my alarm went off. But, I knew if I didn’t get up and get dressed, Spence would just call again. And again.
I quickly got ready for school. I’d just head for school after seeing whatever it was that had Spencer so worked up. I have a history test this morning at Hillyer High and I really can’t afford to miss it.
A few minutes later, I drove up in front of Spencer’s house and parked by the street. You’d expect any house where a mad scientist lived, would look like a dark Gothic mansion with creepy dead trees in the yard with a perpetual lightening storm in the sky. But no. Spencer lived in a perfectly normal home in a perfectly normal neighborhood. Only the occasional explosion from his parents’ basement would there be any cause to expect something different about the dwellers within.
Actually, his parents, Fred and Martha, were perfectly normal people. They had a daughter, Sandra, who was also perfectly normal (and very cute too.) No. The only non-perfectly normal person was Spencer. And I’m his best friend. Lucky me.
From the glow from the basement windows, I knew where Spence was playing with his new whatever. The rest of the house was dark. I walked up to the front porch, hesitant to ring the doorbell if no one else was wake.
Just as I was about to press the doorbell’s button, the front door was jerked wide open. Standing framed in the doorway was a grinning Spencer. “Mason! Yay, you’re here! Come on down to the basement. You will be amazed.”
Without waiting to see if I was following him, Spence darted down the hallway to the basement door. I sighed and followed him down to the basement.
I have to admit. His basement is pretty cool. I’ve never seen so much electronics in one place. Oscilloscopes, guts to computers, TVs, servers – you name it. He even has an old mainframe computer he bought from the local university for a dollar.
And there in the middle of the basement floor was a giant gizmo infested box with Spencer standing proudly in front of it; his arms outstretched as if he was a model presenting a potential game show prize. His cat was perched on top of the box.
“Well?” Spencer grinned like an idiot. “This is it! What do you think of her?”
I frowned with a shrug, “It’s... um… big. Looks high tech and all. What the hell is it?”
Spence grinned and patted the box that was taller than him. “I know what you’re going to say. But get ready to be amazed instead. Standing here before you is… wait for it ... a time machine! Ta-daaa!”
I just gave Spencer a dull expression for a few moments. “I’m going back to bed, Spence. See you in class later, okay?” I started to turn to leave the basement.
Spencer grabbed my shirt and exclaimed, “Wait! Don’t go. You have to see it in action! It’ll be awesome!”
I jerked my arm from Spence’s grasp. Scowling, I said angrily, “I don’t want to be anywhere near here when you fire that thing up. It could vaporize the whole neighborhood!”
Spencer frowned at me as he re-grabbed my shirt. “Don’t be ridiculous! That only happened once. Years ago. And it wasn’t the whole neighborhood.”
“Still. You’re so-called inventions just aren’t safe.” I said, freeing my arm once again.
Waving his arms in a pleading motion, Spencer said, “Please. I promise it won’t blow up. It doesn’t even contain plutonium. Just watch. I need a witness.”
Against my better judgment, I relented. “Okay. But make it quick. I really can’t miss my test this morning.”
Spencer slapped me on the back and grinned, “Good choice. School doesn’t start for another hour. We’re good.” He then walked over to the box and started flipping switches. The machine began to hum with a whine slowly raising pitch.
“Almost ready,” said Spencer as he made further adjustments.
“Maybe you can use this to tell me how well I did on my history test.” I shrugged and grinned at Spencer.
Standing to his full height and he was taller than me, Spencer said, “You’re mocking me, aren’t you? I thought of all people, you would appreciate what I have accomplished.”
Raising my arms apologetically, I said, “I’m not mocking. Really. I’m just trying to think of some practical uses. Like finding out who wins the next Super Bowl and coming back to make some bets or something.”
Spencer just scowled at me. After a few awkward moments, he scratched his head. “We need a suitable test subject for the maiden run.”
I took a few steps back. “Oh no. I’m not getting into that thing.”
Spencer just stared at me as if I’d just spoken Swahili. “What? Not you, peasant. At least not for the first run.”
Glancing around the room, he seemed to be searching for something. Finally he looked at the top of the time machine and his face brightened. “Deankooncies! Come here rascal.” He grabbed his cat and kissed its head. “How would you like to be the first time traveler?”
Smirking, I said, “I’m sure he’d claw your eyes out if he understood what you just said.”
Spencer frowned. “Nonsense! Deankooncies and I communicate at a cosmic level.” He rubbed the cat between its ears. He made a few more adjustments to the controls, lifted a cover and pushed a large red, candy-like button with his palm.
Crackling sounds began to emanate from the large box. The basement lights began to dim and the air filled with the distinct smell of ozone.
Spence grinned at me. “If I built it correctly, I’ve just set it for 1 minute into the future. Okay. Three. Two. One. Let’s jam!” He tossed Deankooncies into the large, man-sized chamber.
There was a loud crackle along with several electrical arcs inside the chamber as well as wrapping around the machine. The whine from inside the machine rose so high I thought the box was going to explode. And in a sudden, blinding flash of light, Deankooncies was gone.
The machine began to stop shaking and the whine started to lower in pitch. Spence just stood there with a stupid expression. “Well, damn! Okay, now we wait. In one minute or so, Deankooncies should re-appear inside the chamber. There’s no displacement in space. Just time.”
I was aghast. I exclaimed, “Holy shit! You just barbequed your cat!”
Spencer waved his hand dismissively. “Oh piffle. He’ll be back in about forty-five seconds.” He paused to look at his watch. “Thirty seconds.”
He started to look at bit worried. “Okay. He should have arrived back fifteen seconds ago.”
A minute later, Deankooncies shot out of the time machine’s chamber like a bat out of hell, howling and hissing. Claws out, he bounced off Spencer’s leg, climbed up the wall, scrambled across several table tops, sending papers, glassware and various equipment flying. His fur was disheveled and his body was emaciated as if he hadn’t eaten in weeks.
Spencer reached for his cat, but it just spit and hissed at him and tried to claw him.
Turning back to his machine and checking the monitors, Spencer said, “There seems to be a mismatch between how long you’re there verses how long you travel.”
“You think?” I asked. “Look at your cat! He’s starved and scared to death!”
Spence shrugged. “He’s just a cat. He has no way to reason about what he just experienced. Well, he didn’t come back inside out or fried. That’s all I need.” He adjusted some knobs. “My turn.”
Horrified, I reached for him. “Are you nuts? Look at Deankooncies! He ain’t normal no more. Don’t get in that thing.” I ran towards him.
Waving me off, Spencer said as he started to enter the machine, “No man! I gotta see what kind of rush this is.”
I ran after Spence and found myself sliding into the chamber. The smell of ozone was thick and heavy. There was a loud crackling sound and a hiss. I just stood there, stunned.
I was standing in a field of thick, green grass. Several trees ringed the area where Spence and I stood. I didn’t really look at Spencer. I was too busy looking all around at the grass covered low hills. It was a beautiful summer’s day. Inside Spencer’s basement.
I turned around and saw a rectangle, with a blue, electric edge shimmering. Inside the rectangle was Spencer’s basement. Even as I watched, the view to the basement started to fade away, electrical arcs dancing all around. The last thing I saw was Deankooncies jumping up on top of the machine. And then, with a sound of shattering glass, the rectangle disappeared.
“Holy shit! Spence! It’s gone!” I shouted, suddenly awash with adrenaline.
“What’s gone?” asked Spence from a few feet away.
Shaking with unbelievable dread, I shouted, “It’s gone. It’s just gone. The way back. It’s gone! What the fucking hell?”
“Oh my God!” exclaimed Spencer’s voice from behind me. He then tried to not sound panicked. “Look. No worries okay? It’ll re-appear when the minute I set it for has passed.”
It was then I noticed something odd about Spencer’s voice. I turned to look at him and my eyes went wide.
“Who the hell are you?” I asked the girl wearing Spencer’s clothes.
Wrinkling her brow, the girl said, “I might ask you the same thing! Where’s Mason? Why are you wearing his clothes? And where did you come from?”
“I’m Mason!” I said, my voice shaky. I looked down and a cascade of light brown hair fell in front of my face. “We’re girls. We’re fucking girls in some weird unknown future!” I grabbed Spencer around her throat and shouted, “Just what the fuck did you do to me?”
Spence pushed me back shouting, “What the fuck is wrong with you? This ain’t my fault!” I slipped on the damp grass and fell.
As I tried to regain my feet, I cursed at Spencer, “The fuck you’re not! Thirty seconds ago I was a boy! Thirty seconds ago I wasn’t stranded in BFE somewhere!”
Sounding defensive, Spence shouted, “We’re not in BFE. This is where my basement used to be. We’ve moved in time, not space.”
I shoved Spence to the ground, “Fuck you! Look around! Does this anything like your basement?”
Scowling, Spencer got up and brushed the dirt off her clothes. She brushed her long, light brown hair from her face. “Obviously we’re more than one minute into the future. I have no idea what went wrong.”
“Well that’s certainly comforting!” I pointed at my well endowed chest. “And why are we girls?”
Spencer felt herself up and looking down said, “Honest to God I have no idea. I certainly didn’t program the time machine to do this!”
I studied the new Spencer for a moment. She looked around seventeen or eighteen. Close to Spence’s actual age. She was very beautiful with a head of hair that bounced and cascaded about her shoulders. From the light brown hair that kept falling across my face, I suspected I looked much the same.
I sat down on the grass and folded my legs. I looked up at Spence, “What do we do, man? We’re two girls lost in some unknown future, displaced hundreds, maybe thousands of years from our own time and no way to get back. Our parents, our friends and everything we know have been dead and dust for years.”
Spence sat down across from me and waved a hand in the air, “I know it looks bad. But all is not lost. Not yet anyway.”
Looking over at Spence and squinting in the sunlight, I asked, “What the fuck, man? Not lost? Really?”
Spencer cupped her hands over her mouth and nose for a minute and took some deep breaths. Not looking at me, she said, “Yes. Really. Look. I wasn’t stupid when I designed the machine. Unless it loses power, until we reset the machine by returning through the portal, it will re-open that portal every ten minutes. We just wait.’
I shook my head and ran my fingers violently through my hair. “That’s just fucking brilliant, man. What if it blew your power out and that’s why the portal closed? And how long is ten minutes here verses ten minutes back there? We could be here for years.”
Shaking her head, Spence said, “I don’t believe that. Smell that small whiff of ozone? If you look real close, there’s a small distortion in the air where the portal was. That tells me that there’s a tendril of energy still connecting to the past… um our old present.”
I looked at her sideways. “How many times have you made a trip through time?”
Spencer shrugged. “This is the first.”
I grabbed a small rock as I stood back up. I threw it at her and shouted, “So that’s just so much bullshit!”
Suddenly bursting into tears and covering her face with her hands, Spencer shouted, “I have to believe! I have to believe it will work as designed. Otherwise we’re fucked, man. We’re here forever. But I know that portal will come back. It’s just a matter of time.”
I walked over to take a closer look at the point where we exited the portal. She was right. There was a floating point of distortion in the air at the place where the portal had been. I heaved a large sigh, “Well, we seem to have a lot of time on our hands.”
Spencer stopped crying and stood up. Sniffling, she said, “Gather some rocks so we can mark this spot. We need to explore around to see if there’s anything we can eat and look for water. Otherwise, waiting for the portal could be a moot point.”
I nodded. We looked around the area. There were plenty of rocks in the tall grass. In just a few minutes, we had ringed the area where the portal had been, with rocks.
Pointing, I said, “Let’s get to the top of this hill. We might be able to see the surrounding area better.”
Walking up the low hill, while not physically taxing, was proving to be some trouble as our clothes no longer fitted us. Both of us had to fight to keep out pants from falling off.
I walked behind Spence as we ascended the hill. Her movements were so graceful as if she’d been born female. How could she be so naturally female? I’m sure I was the same. We’re girls. How could it be possible? Would a girl going through Spence’s machine come out a guy? I looked at Spence’s ass and a random thought crossed my mind about how great she’d probably look in a bikini.
I touched one of my tits. It’s real. It’s me. I haven’t dared put my hand down there, but I know I have a pussy. I’m pretty sure I have all of it. I was a complete girl. Am I this way permanently? Even if we manage to get back to Spence’s basement? How am I going to handle that? I got dizzy just trying to think about it.
Spence’s new musical voice interrupted my thoughts. She whispered, “Hey. Get down and check this out.” I looked at her and she was lying down and starting to crawl on her stomach. Not sure what she’d seen, I did the same.
As I crested the hill on my stomach, I gasped. Below us was spread a village. Not dirt primitive, but definitely not a modern society either. There were small buildings made of both mud and wood and some a mix. Most appeared to be dwellings of some kind. There were several large building in the center. A low stone wall encircled the village. On the far side stretched cultivated fields for as far as we could see.
The most surprising feature of all were the crumbling ruins of steel and concrete buildings, overgrown with grass and trees. It was like a real-life episode of “Life Without People.” None of the older structures were very tall. The metal parts twisted and rusted and the concrete crumbling into powder.
And there were people. Lots of people. Men, women and children. All going about some daily business. In the distance there were people… mostly women and children, working the fields. Men were cutting wood, some were constructing a new building. Some were guiding ox carts to and from the fields. It was easy to identify the warriors and hunters. And there were other activities I couldn’t really identify.
In a low voice, I said, “It’s a village. It’s primitive, but at least they wear clothes of some sort.”
Whispering back, Spencer said, “Not that primitive. They must be trading with someone. They’re growing more food than they could possibly consume on their own. We can’t see the river from here, but dollars to donuts they have boats.” She took her phone out of her pocket and began snapping pictures.
“You think they’re friendly?” I asked pulling out my own phone and took a few pictures.
Spence shook her head. “I don’t want to find out to be honest. I mean, this is a great discovery. But the risk is just too high. I’m hoping the portal returns before we get too hungry or thirsty. If we’re still here when it gets dark, we might be able to sneak in and steal something.”
Pointing, I said, “See those guys with the spears. I bet they don’t sleep. Stealing food might be difficult.”
Frowning, Spencer said, “I hope the portal returns before we have to find out.” She grinned as she turned her phone’s camera towards me.
I put my hand up in front of my face. “Don’t take a picture! I’m a girl. And my hair is probably a mess.”
Spencer’s grin faded after she turned to face me. “Aw shit.”
I turned to look behind me and saw two, rather buff men standing right behind us. Neither were wearing shirts and both had longish black hair. They were well tanned and seemed to be only a few years older than myself and Spence. They were grinning at us.
One glanced to his companion and pointed at me. He spoke in an odd dialect of English, but I could understand him. “I want the one on the left. She’s pretty.”
His companion laughed. “They’re both pretty. Oddly dressed though.”
The first one who spoke asked, “Think they’re runaways?”
His companion shrugged. “We won’t know until we strip them. And does it matter? They belong to us now.”
I looked over at Spencer. “I think this would be a great time to run.”
Spence nodded. “I agree. Go!”
We both jumped up and started to sprint down the hill. Our stupid, over-sized pants hindered our speed. But we did manage to surprise the two brutes who just stood there for a few moments.
I shouted to Spence, “Where do we go?”
She shouted back, “Just run!”
The two men had bolted after us and a quick glance back showed me that we had a pretty good start. I kept having to pull my pants up though. It was starting to slow me down.
And then of course, my pants had to completely fall down, causing me to trip and fall. As fast as I could, I wriggled free of my pants. But just as I got to my feet, I felt a strong hand grab my arm. And then I felt the man grabbing my hair.
The man laughed. “Think you could get away from us, little one? You’re mine now!” Still holding my hair, he let go of my arm and with a swift deftness that my eye couldn’t follow, he cut my shirt off with his knife. I stood there naked in the sun, my underwear, also now too big, fell to my ankles.
“Let me go!” I cried as I kicked at the man. He only laughed.
The man’s companion returned, carrying an unconscious Spencer over his shoulder. He was covered with bleeding scratches. When he stood next to me and the man holding my hair, he set the still form of Spence on the ground.
Looking worried, the man holding my hair said, “You didn’t kill her did you?”
The other man wiped some blood from his lip with the back of his hand. “Naw. I had to knock her out. She was putting up a fight.”
The man holding my hair laughed. “She has a lot of spunk.”
The other man frowned as he licked the blood from a cut on his arm. “I hate spunk.”
I turned to the man holding my hair. “Please let us go. We weren’t doing nothing. It’s not like we were planning to steal food or anything. We’re not even supposed to be here! I’m late for a history exam. Can I have my clothes back?”
The man who had carried Spencer shouted angrily at me, “Shut up, slut! No one likes a whiny slave.” He bent down and picked up Spencer and tossed her over his shoulder. “Come on, Bob. Let’s get these girls back to the village.”
“Bob?” I said as the man started to pull my hair. “You’re name is Bob? For reals?”
Bob frowned and jerked on the handful of my hair. “Yes it is. But you can call me Master.” He then laughed.
“Oh my head!” groaned Spencer. Her eyes were closed as she rubbed her head.
“It lives,” I said with a hint of sarcasm.
We both sported collars on our delicate necks with leashes tied to the railing of the pen we were sitting in. I would be gone but for the fact that the knot was intricately tied and I couldn’t figure out how to unravel it. Which I guessed was the point.
“God I had a terrible nightmare. I’m glad that’s over.” She rubbed her eyes.
“Well wake me up to. I’m having the same nightmare,” I growled, not hiding that I was pissed off.
“Why are you in my room…?” She opened one eye, “Shit. It’s real.”
“Yes. The shit’s real. And it’s your fault,” I growled.
“It’s not my fault!” protested Spence. “Did I say, ‘hey, let’s go to some weird future time and become girls?’ No. No I didn’t.”
I jerked on my leash. “Becoming a slave girl in said weird future wasn’t exactly on my bucket list.”
“Now you don’t have to add it… Gak!” Spence nearly choked herself as she tried to stand up and discovered her leash wasn’t long enough to allow her to stand. She felt her neck. “A collar? For reals? Are we in a John Norman novel now?”
“About the same,” I said. “Those guys that found us are now our owners. Your owner is called Frank. But don’t call him that. It’s funny. His wife Mary was none too happy he now has a slave girl.”
Spencer rubbed her head again with her eyes tightly closed. “Why do these people in a primitive society have such blindingly normal names? Shouldn’t they have names like Ungawa or He-who-talks-to-spirits-in-trees or some shit?”
I shrugged. “Well, this is our home town. Just hundreds of years into the future. I would say these are our descendants, except because of you we didn’t get to stay there and have families!”
Spence picked up a dirt clod from the ‘floor’ of the pen we were in and threw it at me. “Will you please knock it off? If I was going to pick a future, I guarantee this wouldn’t be it.”
Frank and Bob approached our pen. Frank scowled, “I swear. You two are the noisiest bitches I’ve ever seen.”
Bob nodded, “It’s like they have no idea how slave girls are supposed to act.”
I gave a thumbs up, “Bingo, Bob! I mean Master.”
Bob just shook his head. “You think you’re cute, don’t you?” He grabbed me and then he then got down on one knee. He placed me over his other knee and proceeded to spank me. He actually spanked me! And they weren’t like the swats my grandmother still insists on giving me on my birthday. These stung!
Bob asked, “What do you call me, little one?”
“Master!”
Bob slapped my naked ass again. “Who’s Master?”
I hesitated a moment and got another stinging slap. “Um… oh… my Master. My Master!”
He pushed me off his knee into the dirt. “That is how you will always address me!”
Spitting some sand out of my mouth, I said, “Yes, my Master.”
Frank jerked on Spencer’s leash. “What about you, girl? Do you know who I am?”
Sitting cross-legged in the dirt of the pen, Spence sat up straighter and gave Frank a sharp salute, “Aye aye my Master. You’re the one. You’re the man. You are most definitely my Master.”
Frank jerked on Spence’s leash. “Cut the shit girl! Unlike Bob, I use a whip. Nobody ever forgets a lesson learned from the whip.”
Waving her arms, Spencer said, “I’m good my Master. See? I learn real quick.”
As he untied Spencer’s leash from the railing, he turned to Bob. “So. What are you going to do with your new girl? This is your first, right?”
Bob started untying my leash as well. “For now I think she’s much too pretty to work in the fields and especially the mines. I think I’ll just keep her around the house so I can fuck her whenever I feel like it.”
Horrified, I looked up at Bob and pleaded. “Hey, I’m really good at being a farm girl. I’ve worked the fields all my life,” I lied.
Bob grabbed my hand and looked at the palm. “Hands this soft, have never seen a farm.” He grinned at me, “Girl, you’re a born pleasure slave. Just looking at those lips of yours makes me shiver in excitement.”
I wanted to throw up.
Frank said, “Even though she’s my first slave girl, Mary doesn’t want her in the house all day. So for now, I’m putting mine in the fields. The farmer pays rent for slave girls.”
Spencer wiped her brow and said, “Thank God.”
Bob nodded. “It’s just too bad girls don’t live long working the fields. Even less in the mines. If you want to keep her, you might try beating some sense into that wife of yours.”
Frank shook his head, “The last time I beat Mary, she broke my arm. Still that’s a point. I’ll put her in the fields for now until I can convince having this girl in the house means I won’t have to pester Mary for sex as often.”
Bob said, “If nothing else, you can always sell her. The pub is always looking for replacement pleasure girls.”
Looking a bit pale, Spencer asked, “Can we just go back home?”
Bob and Frank laughed.
Bob and Frank led us both by our leashes to a low roofed building, that was open on the front. Inside we could see all sorts of metal implements, metal objects like horse shoes, an anvil and big roaring fire. It looked for all the world like a blacksmith shop from the days of the old wild west.
Bob said with a tug on my leash, “One last step to confirm I now own you.”
I looked at my Master questioningly, “Last step? I didn’t see any other steps.”
Frank cuffed me on the side of my head, “You don’t need to know those other steps, slut. While you two were lounging in the pen, we had to clear you with the village elders.”
Spencer laughed, “You mean you still have red tape in a future primitive society?”
My Master reached over and spanked Spencer’s naked butt, “I don’t know what red tape is and why do you keep saying ‘future’?”
Spence rubbed her butt, “It’s nothing Master. I keep trying to make jokes.”
Frank slapped Spence’s butt, “Well stop it.”
A grizzled looking old fart who sported a beard, hair that hadn’t been washed possibly this century and wearing pants and leather apron and had a forest of chest hair, walked up to us. He grinned broadly when he looked at me.
To my Master, the old guy said, “I got yours on the fire right now. It’s probably ready.” He looked over at me again and grinned. “This one’s a real cutie.” He reached over and grabbed my tit.
Swatting his hand away, I growled, “Hey! Keep your filthy hands off the merchandise!”
My Master grabbed my arm in his very strong hand, “I could have you whipped for striking a Master. This is your last warning.”
The old man laughed. “I could use some extra help around here since I accidently knocked my last slave into the fire. Wanna sell her?”
“No.” said my Master flatly. “Let’s just get this over with.”
Pulling out a pad that looked like an order form, the old man said, “Yes sir.” He poised a pencil like object over the pad. “Name of the slave?”
My Master said, “I’m calling her ‘Blossom’.”
I wrinkled my nose, “My name is Mason.”
My Master snapped the leash. “Not anymore, girl.”
The old man suddenly stuck a thick bar of leather in my mouth and tied it around my head. “Better hold her.”
I tried to say “What the hell?” but it just came out as muffled sounds.
My Master grabbed my hands and tied them with a leather strap. He then took a firm grip on my ankle. He had me uncomfortably bent over exposing my thigh. I looked in horror as I saw the old man turn around holding a glowing red brand. I tried to free myself.
The old man shook his head as he held the brand near my bare skin. “Better hold her. She has to be still.”
My Master held me even tighter and the old man pressed the glowing iron brand against my thigh. I screamed in anguish and it was all I could do to keep from passing out.
The old man handed my Master a jar of something. “Put this on the brand for a couple of days so it doesn’t get infected.”
Spencer yelled, “Okay, I’m out of here!” She squirmed against her owner’s grip but it was no use.
We were both branded property of our owners.
“Are you just going to sit there and cry all night?” asked my Master. He was sitting at the table inside his hut, making arrowheads. The room’s main light source was the fire burning in the fireplace, but he also had an oil lamp sitting on the table.
Sitting on a matt on the floor in a darkened corner, I cried softly with the still searing pain in my thigh. My leash was tied to ring mounted on the wall so I couldn’t even move around the small room. I touched the brand on my thigh and winced at the pain.
I didn’t look up. “Yes. This fucking hurts. You’re an asshole.”
My Master frowned. “You shouldn’t talk to me that way, girl.”
“You branded me!” I shouted. “You don’t brand human beings!”
Not looking up from his work, my Master said, “You’re a slave girl. It’s for your own protection.”
I stood up and took a few steps to the end of my leash. “I’m a fucking human being you bastard!”
Bob angrily pushed his chair back and stood up. He took a few steps towards me with his hand raised. “You insolent little shit!”
I just stood there and glared at him. “Go ahead. Show me how big your balls are by hitting a girl tied to the fucking wall!”
He just stood there, frozen for a few moments. I glared at him for a few seconds before collapsing to my knees and began crying again. “What a goddamned nightmare! What a fucking goddamned nightmare!” I collapsed all the way to the floor, balling my eyes out.
My Master knelt beside me. He grabbed a fist full of my hair and jerked my head up. He scowled at me for a few seconds and then his face softened and his grip on my hair relaxed.
In a more gentle tone, my Master said, “It may be hard for you to understand, but this is for your protection. I have to have some way to prove you belong to me. Otherwise anyone could claim you. You wouldn’t want to be taken by someone like old man Billy would you? His girls have missing teeth and fingers. And when he gets tired of them or thinks they aren’t working hard enough, he sells them for hog feed.”
I sat up to face my Master, my eyes wide in horror, tears streaming down my cheeks. I shouted, “You pricks are sick! You’re terrible! I can’t believe this is what we degenerated to.” I turned my back to him and curled myself up into a ball in the corner of the room and heaved huge sobs. I didn’t think I could cry any more.
My Master just knelt quietly in that one spot for what seemed like several minutes. Finally he stood and walked over to me and just looked at me. He slid down the wall to sit beside me. I couldn’t see his face, but he just sat quietly. After a moment, he began to stroke my hair.
In a low voice, continuing to stroke my hair, my Master said, “That really is the reason girl… Blossom…that really is the reason for… um… branding. It’s so someone doesn’t try to claim you. While it won’t completely stop them, it makes you worth less to brigands who would steal you and sell you at a slave auction.”
Still facing the corner, in a small voice I said, “And that’s supposed to make me feel better? That you live in and support a horrible, despicable society where girls… human beings… are sold and traded like some commodity? Oh yes, I’m so relieved!”
My Master stopped stroking my hair. “Is that sarcasm?”
I turned around slowly and just stared at my Master. “Are you serious?”
My Master looked over at me. “Because if you’re being sarcastic, I’ll have to punish you.”
I just looked him in the eyes, “I’m scared. I’m in pain and I hate you.”
My Master’s face darkened. His voice becoming more stern he said, “I don’t know where you and your friend came from, but this is a very dangerous place. There are vicious animals that could have killed you, there are the brigands I told you about and because of your great beauty, others would have sold you without hesitation to a house of pleasure. Those girls never see the sun again. You may think I’m terrible because I branded what was mine, but I can guarantee you that had anyone else found two beautiful girls, unprotected out in the hinterlands would not have treated you any better and most would have treated you far worse.”
I narrowed my eyes at him and said, “Didn’t you say you took me to be your pleasure slave? Seems to me it’s all just more of the same.” The idea sickened me.
My Master pushed his face up close to mine. I could feel his breath. “The difference girl, is that you will only pleasure me. Without my permission, no other man may touch you. That brand protects you.”
For the first time since being captured, I laughed. “Yeah right. You mean a strip of burned flesh will keep one of you sick, knuckle dragging Neanderthals from harming me?”
He nodded and then leaned in and kissed me. And kissed me long and hard. I wanted to push him back. But I feared punishment. And quite frankly, I was just too tired to fight any longer.
After several minutes, my Master pulled away and smiled. He ruffled my hair and got up and went back to his arrow heads. I fell asleep.
I sat on the cold floor of the pub, chained to one of the many rings set into the wall. Several other girls were also chained to the wall. They all looked sullen and none were talking to the other girls.
My Master and Frank had been out hunting this morning and were going to the pub for some ale and something to eat. My Master went ahead and got a table while waiting for Frank to arrive. I was hoping Frank would bring Spencer with him. I hadn’t seen her since our branding.
A few minutes later, Frank arrived, all but dragging Spence with him. She looked tired and pained. Thankfully she was chained right next to me.
I looked at her, happy to see a friendly face. “Hey Spence. Are you okay? You were walking funny.”
Spencer looked up at me with tired eyes. “My Master raped me last night. His wife was away most of the evening so he decided to teach me a lesson.”
“Oh my God!” I exclaimed. “I’m so sorry.”
Spence gave me a dismissive wave, “Don’t be. Your turn is coming. I talked to a couple other girls. Apparently being raped by your Master becomes the highlight of your day.”
I shook my head. “Sheesh. We’ve got to get out of this place, if it’s the last thing we ever do.”
Spencer said, “I know the portal will re-appear. I’m confident of that.”
“But will we know it’s there? And will we be able to get to it?” I jerked on my chain attached to the wall.
Spencer nodded, “Next time we’re together, we need to work out a plan. But we need to get a lay of the land. Right now, I couldn’t tell you what direction we arrived at.”
“I know. We need to get our Masters to take us outside more,” I said feeling despair settling in again.
One of the pub’s girls walked up to me holding a bowl. “Are you Blossom?” I nodded and she set the bowl down by me. As she turned away, she said dully, “Enjoy your meal.”
I picked up the bowl and it contained some pulpy, gooey slop. There was no spoon, so I assumed I’d have to use my fingers. It looked terrible, but I was hungry.
Spencer looked over at me, “So he actually named you Blossom?”
I nodded. “What did your Master name you?”
She shook her head, “I’m not telling.”
The same pub girl who had given me a bowl approached Spencer. “Are you Spunky?”
Spencer glared at the girl as she nodded.
I choked on some of the goop I was eating as I laughed. “Spunky?”
Spunky picked up her bowl and said, “I don’t want to talk about it.”
That evening when we returned to my Master’s hut, he tied me as usual to the ring on the wall, near his bed. But instead of reading (which surprised me that he read), or working on some project, he rolled out a thicker matt on the floor where I slept.
Pointing at the matt, my Master said, “Lay down.”
I looked at him and then at the matt. I couldn’t help but think that oh God, now it’s my turn to be raped. I knew I couldn’t escape it. I just wanted to run out into the night and get as far away as I could.
My Master saw me hesitate. In a sterner voice he repeated his command to lie down.
Tears began to well up in my eyes and I started to shake as I lay stiffly on my back on the matt. I closed my eyes and hoped against hope that it was over quickly.
My Master laid down next to me on the matt. He ran a finger down the bridge of my nose and across my lips. “Relax, little one,” he said in a soft voice. He then slowly traced a finger around one of my nipples. “You are so beautiful.”
He then started to massage one of my breasts as he kissed me. I kept my eyes closed and tried to think of baseball players and wrestlers. But my body responded to his touch anyway. I felt my nipples become erect and I started to moisten.
In my mind I screamed, ‘Why am I getting turned on? I’m being touched by a man!”
His hand slid down to my clitoris and he started to massage it. I couldn’t help but gasp and opened my eyes. My Master smiled at me as he massaged my clit and ran a finger inside of me. Oh my God! I wasn’t expecting this level of feeling. With no frame of reference, how could I have possibly imaged how excruciatingly pleasurable this stimulation would be? My breathing became harder and my breasts began to ache. My pussy had become extremely wet from him sliding two fingers inside me.
I lost all mental control when his tongue slid inside me. Oh God the intense pleasure was insane! The idea of being with a man no longer revolted me. The more he pleasured me, the more I wanted him. I sucked on his tongue. I dug my nails into his back. Oh God, I desperately wanted to feel his cock push into my pussy.
I moaned loudly with intense pleasure as I felt his massive manhood push into me. I almost couldn’t breathe as his cock started sliding in and out of me. Gasping and moaning I started squeezing my pussy against his cock. His moans of pleasure assured me I was doing something right. I wanted nothing more than to please my Master.
When he made one final, hard thrust into me, I squealed, “Oh Master!” and that’s when we both knew that I was his -- mind, body, and soul. He collapsed on top me completely exhausted. He kissed me long and deep. Finally he got up and climbed into his bed. I just laid there, in warm glow of pure pleasure until I fell asleep.
“Thank you my Master for letting me come with you,” I said as we walked through the village towards the river. He had some business to attend to with some of the shops along the river banks.
It had been about two weeks since Spunky and I had arrived in the future. We had settled into a routine of sorts with me receiving some defined chores, like keeping the hut clean, washing dishes and giving my Master baths. I’m not ashamed to admit that the last chore was one I found very pleasurable.
Spunky on the other hand, while she no longer complained about sex with her Master, she continued to feel it was rape. And maybe with Frank it was. I did feel sorry for her. She was also given a lot of work to do by Frank’s wife and so she was always tired.
As the path we were walking that led towards the river crested a hill, I excitedly exclaimed, “It looks just like I remembered. Well, except there’s not a river walk and hotels and building on both banks.” My Master and I had spent several evenings with him listening to my stories about what was now hundreds of years in the past. He didn’t believe me, but he enjoyed the stories.
My Master laughed, “Maybe on the way back, you can show me some of your landmarks.”
“You’re teasing,” I said. I still wore a collar, but I held his hand instead of him holding my leash.
He smiled at me, “No, I’m serious. Some of your wild tales seem to be checking out. There are mounds of rusted metal and piles of some crumbling rock where you said once stood tall buildings. It’s also got me curious that a couple of the village elders are upset that you’re saying these things. They want you to stop.”
“Why?” I asked my Master.
He just shrugged. “I have no idea. They won’t say. But they got agitated when I mentioned it. They dismiss your stories as crazy talk. Such talk could upset the delicate balance of our society.”
I laughed, “Now that’s crazy talk.”
Just before we stepped into a shop, my Master said, “But the funniest thing is what I saw four nights ago. After you had gone to sleep, I stepped out for some fresh air. Out beyond that hill where we found you and Spunky was a faint glow. I ran up the hill and saw a bright rectangle at the bottom of the hill hanging in the air surround by small lightning bolts. Just in front of the rectangle was a female cat being fucked by a tomcat. When the cats heard me, the female ran inside the rectangle and then it just disappeared. Scared me to death. Then last night you told me how you two had arrived. It started to make sense.”
“Oh my God! That was Deankooncies! No wonder he was upset. You said that was four days ago?” My excitement left me breathless.
He nodded. “What did I see?”
I grinned broadly, “That was the time portal! Four nights ago would be about ten days after we arrived. In six days we should see it again. I have to tell Spunky about this!”
My Master frowned, “Why tell her?”
Looking incredulous at my Master I exclaimed, “So we can go back home! In six days we can go back home!”
My Master shook his head, “I knew I shouldn’t have told you. You’re going nowhere. I own you. And I know Frank would never let Spunky go. He loves fucking her too much. And his wife no longer has to do anything.”
It felt as if ice water had been dumped over me. “My Master! Please! That portal means home! I love you my Master, but I love my parents too. I miss my friends. I miss movies. I miss playing computer games!”
Scowling, my Master almost shouted, “I forbid you to mention this to Spunky. In fact, I don’t want you talking to her ever again! You understand me, girl?”
Feeling miserable, I glanced down at my feet and said, “Yes my Master.” I had to figure out a way to talk to her before six days were up.
That night, my Master raped me.
It was late at night. It was the night the portal should return. My Master was asleep. After having rather rough sex with me, he had bound my hands behind me and bound my legs. I hadn’t had any chance to talk to Spunky. I knew the portal would return again in ten more days (at least I prayed it would still be working) but it would be here, tonight! We could go home tonight! I struggled uselessly against my bonds.
I couldn’t sleep. I just sat there sick to my stomach knowing I could be going home instead of being tied up here. I was shocked when I saw the door to the hut slowly open and three men entered. One pointed at me and they hurriedly approached me. I had no idea what they wanted and I didn’t like it.
I started to scream, but a cloth was shoved into my mouth. I bit down hard on the finger that was pushing the cloth in. There was a howl of pain and spit the cloth out. I shouted, “Master! Master! Help me!” Two men jerked me up from the floor.
Instantly awake, my Master jumped from his bed, knife drawn. “What is going on here! Put the girl down!”
One of the men, took his finger from his mouth. He’d been sucking on since I bit it. He sneered, “She’s dangerous! We’re taking her to the hog feeder. And her friend too.”
Pointing with his knife, my Master shouted, “Put down the girl! She’s my property!”
The man that I bit shouted to the other men, “Get her out of here! The hog farmer is waiting.”
My Master ran up to the man who spoke and decked him hard. The man collapsed to the ground unconscious. He then ran up to the two men holding me.
One of them said, “Hey Bob. We don’t want any trouble. We just want the girl.”
My Master shouted, “Put the girl down, Tim!”
Tim looked at my Master as if he had arrived from Mars. “Are you really going to risk arrest over a stupid slave girl? This is direct orders from the council!”
My Master punched Tim hard between the eyes and he fell like a sack of potatoes. With a grunt, I fell to the floor too.
The remaining man let go of me. Angrily he spat, “I’ll be back Bob with more help. You can’t stop us!” He then ran from the hut.
My Master ran after him, but stopped in the doorway. He looked for several moments, then back at me. He frowned and then ran up to me. With his knife he quickly cut the straps that bound me.
“Run!” he shouted. “Run to the glow as fast as you can.”
I said with a cry, “I can’t leave without Spunky!”
My Master nodded, “Follow me!”
We ran between several huts before stopping before one of them. Without hesitation, my Master kicked the door in and ran inside.
My Master cut the leash on Spunky and jerked her to her feet.
“What the fuck?” said Spunky as she rubbed her eyes.
Frank’s wife screamed. Frank said, “Bob? Just what are you doing?”
My Master grimaced, “Helping your girl escape. Stand fast, Frank. I don’t want to hurt you.” He turned to me and shouted, “Run! Run Blossom run!”
I grabbed Spunky by the hand and pulled. I shouted, “We’re blowing this taco stand!”
As we ran out into the night, I could see the faint glow from over the hill. Under my breath I said, “Please God! Let it stay open!”
As we started up the hill, behind us came shouts, “There! Over there! They’re getting away!”
Spunky turned to me as we ran up the hill, “What the…?”
Breathing hard, I said, “Don’t ask. Just run!”
As we reached the top of the hill I could see the portal shining brightly. In front of the portal was Deankooncies getting fucked by that tomcat. You’d think she’d learn. But maybe she likes it. I don’t know. But a sudden fear hit me. What if we scare her and she runs back inside that’s what closes it. I hoped she doesn’t see us.
At the top of the hill, I slipped on the damp grass and fell flat on my face. Spunky was already starting down the hill. She turned and started to come back to me. I started to get to my feet and waved her to go back to the portal.
The men chasing us were rapidly closing in. To myself I said, “Why does the stupid girl being chased always have to fall down?”
About halfway down, I could hear the footfalls and heavy breathing of my pursuers. I just kept running, not wasting time to look behind me. I saw Spunky pick up Deankooncies and hold her tight. The cat did not look happy.
Spunky shouted, “They’re right behind you! Run bitch!”
I grabbed Spunky’s arm and she jumped into the portal. The man behind me was just about to touch me. As we slid inside Spencer’s basement, he quickly spun around and punched the emergency shutdown button on the side of the time machine.
The man inside the portal shrieked with a female voice and disappeared.
Spence and I both collapsed to the floor, trying to suck in air as hard as we could. I looked over and saw the disturbing view of Spence’s junk hanging out as we were both totally naked except for the collars around our necks. And the brands on our thighs.
We both started laughing uncontrollably which was hard because we were still fighting for breath.
“Spunky, if you ever ask me to try out one of your hare-brained inventions…”
Interrupting me, Spence said, “If you ever call me ‘Spunky’ again, I’ll clobber you!”
“Deal,” I said as I sat up. I was suddenly deeply disturbed by the knowledge that a man had pumped his sperm inside of me. I suddenly wanted to throw up again.
I looked at the clock on the wall of the basement in amazement. “If you let me borrow some of your clothes, I might make it to my history exam!”
Spencer pointed to his closet, “Sure. Help yourself. I might just call in sick.”
“And so Mrs. Johnson, that’s why I’m late for school…”
“Hey, thanks for meeting me here,” I said to the beautiful girl sitting across from me.
Blossom smiled. Her smile could melt the hardest of hearts. Since she had her baby and with all the end of school crap, I hadn’t seen her much. Now that we’ve graduated from high school our lives don’t cross much. Well, they didn’t cross much before either. Now that I think about it, I think when she was Mason she tried to avoid me until we time traveled together. Her voice was almost musical, “No problem, Spence. You sounded pretty excited over the phone.”
I’ll admit that I have a bit of a crush on her now. But she seems to be pretty solidly dating Troy these days. Knowing who she used to be, it still shocked me when she did things like she was doing while we were sitting down at the outdoor table at Rosa’s. She had opened her blouse and was just as casual and natural as can be was nursing her baby on her breast.
Before continuing, I studied her for a another moment as I took a long slow slug from my soda. Like I said, Blossom was gorgeous, and unabashedly, naturally so. She looked and moved as if she’d been born female. It didn’t take her long to learn about hair and make-up. I would almost think that all that just comes from being a girl except none of that rubbed off on me when I was a girl eight hundred fifteen years from now.
In fact, even though we didn’t have access to make-up, Blossom always managed to have her hair fresh and gorgeous every day. But then she was actually trying to impress her Master. I just wanted to kick my Master in the groin. In fact, I actually did once. I didn’t think his wife, Mary was ever going to stop laughing.
I leaned across the table and spoke in a lower tone, “I am excited. I’ve done it Mason… I mean Blossom. I just need a few more tests and adjustments.”
Wrinkling her brow, Blossom asked, “Done what Spence? I heard that the fire department had to come to your house last week.” She took a sip of her iced tea. “Twice.”
I grinned broadly, “I built a new time machine. Better than the last one and I think I fixed the problem that swaps genders.”
Looking puzzled, Blossom said, “But I thought the Feds took all your files and notes.”
Grinning again, I pulled a thumb-drive from my pants pocket and dangled it in front of her. “Backups chickie. Backups! And I made improvements. Power is all solid state, so there’s almost no drift.”
Blossom suddenly looked tense. She quietly asked, “Can you go back? Back to the future?”
I leaned back in my seat. “You mean back to that beautiful summer eight hundred and fifteen years from now?” I shook my head, “No gorgeous. We can’t go back to that point in time. But I believe I do have better control now.”
Blossom forced a smile after looking wistful for a moment. She said, “Still. That’s great Spence! Maybe you can just go forward a bit and see if Troy ever asks me to marry him.”
I squinted at Blossom, “You want to marry that twerp?”
Looking indignant, Blossom said, “Hey. He’s nice. He has a job and everything.”
I gave a dismissive wave. “Jobs, schmobs. I just built the ticket to my success.”
Blossom smiled at me, “I sure hope so, Spence. You certainly deserve it. It was so unfair for the government to take your machine like that.”
I started to stand up, “Well, that’s not happening again! Anyway, I wanted you to be the first to know.”
Blossom smiled again, “Thanks for letting me know. I’d come watch but…” she pointed at her baby, “I need to stay clear of large explosions.” She then laughed.
The machine was humming. It was sounding pretty smooth. Nothing erratic or strange sounding at all. I checked the gauges and computer screens for the zillionth time. Everything nominal. Everything looking really good. Deankooncies was nowhere to be seen.
Spence old boy, I said to myself. Today you make history. Again.
I stood beside the machine watching the lights and monitors and listening to its sweet, steady hum. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. I set the displacement knob at just one second into the future. Baby steps.
I hit the start button and the oscillations began to ramp up. To myself, I said, “Three, two one… Let’s jam!” and stepped inside the chamber.
There was a sudden electric arc, the heavy smell of ozone, a loud clap and then…a violent jolt.
“Oh shit!”
Troy turned to me, with more than little annoyance clouding his otherwise handsome features, “Blossom. Seriously. I want to have our own family one day. I’m begging you to put that baby up for adoption.”
“How dare you suggest that!” I gasped. “I could never do that!”
I looked down at the other baby nursing at my breasts and nuzzled her, “No I couldn’t, could I sweet little Spunky-girl!>”
I came charging out of the portal in my tight fitting camo-pants and boots, wearing an olive drab tank top with crisscrossed bandoliers of shotgun shells across my chest. Several men had my Master pinned to the ground and they were beating him. I fired a blast from my shotgun into the air. The flash lit the whole area and everyone’s face was frozen in fear.
“Get off my Master!” I shouted angrily.
The three men that were on top of him backed slowly away from my Master. He looked over at me, incredulous, “Blossom!”
“All right you primitive screw heads, listen up!” I said in a stern voice. Every eye was on me. I raised my shotgun into the air, “See this? This is my BOOM stick! It’s a twelve gauge double-barrel Remington. Top of the line. Walnut stock. You can find this in the sporting goods department.”
I walked up to my Master and nodded to him to get onto his feet. A couple of the men looked like they were getting ready to jump me.
I pointed the business end of the shotgun towards them and I scowled, “Now I swear, the next one of you primates even touches me…” I fired a blast into the ground at their feet throwing dirt up in the air. They stopped their movement and backed away. I grinned, “Groovy.”
Smiling broadly I walked over to my Master and put my arm around him. “Okay you assholes, there’re going to be some changes made around here!” I pointed my shotgun at everyone as I swung it in a wide arc.
“First!” I shouted. “My Master is now in charge. Second! Slaves now get to wear clothes! And Third, Slaves get to eat real food. Any of you lunk-heads disagree? Remember the boomstick!”
My Master looked down at me, brushed hair from my eyes, “I love you, Blossom!”
Staring dreamily into his eyes, I said, “Give me some sugar, baby.” He then bent down and kissed me deeply.
“Mason…”
Grinning broadly I raised my shotgun high over my head, “Hail to the king, baby!”
“Mason!”
“Huh? What?” My eyes focused to see Spencer setting his lunch tray down next to me. As he settled into his seat, I said, “I thought you were going to call in sick today?”
Spence smirked with a shrug and said, “I was, but then I remembered that I too have a test today. In English.”
I took a bite of the corndog I’d been ignoring for the last few minutes. In silence I watched Spencer pour what had to be a lethal amount of salt onto his Salisbury steak. He took a bite and then delicately sprinkled a light dusting of more salt. He took another bite smiled with his eyes closed.
Still chewing and staring into his plate, Spencer said, “Why did you tell Mrs. Johnson about what happened to us?”
I shrugged. “She asked me why I was late.”
Waving his fork, Spencer asked, “Why didn’t you just… I don’t know… lie?”
I frowned at my fellow escaped slave, “Dad always told me that honesty is the best policy.”
Frowning back, Spencer said, “Well, there’s another expression… ‘discretion is the better part of valor’. It didn’t have to be a big lie. Your bicycle had a flat. Your house caught on fire. North Korean agents kidnapped you on the way to school. Something normal.”
I shook my head, “It’s not like she believed me anyway. She just told me to sit down.”
Spence grinned, “But we’ve got photographic proof.”
I shook my head again, “No we don’t. We left our phones on that hill a zillion years into the future.”
Suddenly looking thoughtful, Spence said, “Oh shit. That’s right. Oh, but hey man. I checked the machine and found we were eight hundred fifteen years in the future.”
Frowning at Spence, “That’s a trifle more than the minute you said.”
Acting all indignant, he said, “Well I beg your pardon!”
I sat in silence for a minute, quietly finishing my corndog. I looked over at Spencer and asked, “Do you think you could set the machine for that exact moment we left the future?”
Spence looked down his nose at me, “What, you want to go back there?”
I looked back at my plate and said, “No, no. I was just curious.”
Spencer shook his head. “I sure as hell have no desire to be hog food. But it’s a moot point anyway. My controls just aren’t that precise. I used some big honkin’ vacuum tubes from a TV transmitter for the power. Sadly those tubes allow for too much drift.”
Staring at nothing, I said softly, “I would like to know how my Master is.”
Not hearing me, Spencer asked, “Oh, how did your test go?”
I did a thumbs up, “Ace in the can, man. Ace in the can.”
Spencer set his tray down at the table where I was sitting. “Hey dude.”
I nodded at him and looked out the lunch room window. “Looks like it’s trying to snow. I miss those summer days eight hundred fifteen years into the future.”
Spencer shook his head, “You’re still obsessed with that? I think you’re in love with your Master.”
Frowning, I said, “Don’t be stupid.”
Spencer took a slug of his soda and after setting the can down he said, “Hard to believe that was two months ago. Wow… today! Seems like eight hundred fifteen years ago.”
“Have you ever tried to fire that stupid machine back up?” I asked, biting my corndog. I looked at my corndog and decided I was in a rut.
Spencer laughed. “Dude. I’m actually been afraid to try. Deankooncies keeps walking into the chamber and howls.”
“Awww. He misses his boyfriend,” I said with a chuckle.
I suddenly stopped breathing and clutched my chest. I tried to cough, but couldn’t. I couldn’t speak. I closed my eyes tightly as I suffered an excruciating pain in my gut. I tried to breath but couldn’t. I did throw up. I fell on my back on the table and started writhing in pain.
Spence stood up and grabbed my arms. “Man, are you okay? I know the food here sucks, but…”
Another kid at our table jumped up, “Shit man! If something pops out of his chest, I’m out of here!”
Sounding desperate, Spencer yelled out, “Somebody call an ambulance!”
We were waiting for the doctor to return with the results of the CT Scan of my abdomen. I had only been a wake for a couple of hours. Mom, Dad and Spencer stood by my bed. Spencer kept cracking jokes and Dad kept hounding me on how I felt. He was hoping to sue the school for poisoning me.
We all got quiet when there was a knock on the door and then the doctor entered the room and walked up to me. He was holding a folder with the CT Scans inside.
“Good afternoon everyone,” smiled the doctor. He pulled some printed images from the folder. “I know you’re all worried about what Mason’s problem is, so let’s just get to it.” He held up an image, “Mason, you appear to have we call a hepatic cyst. Basically a cyst on your liver. These are usually benign and not cause for concern. You were probably born with it. However, in your case we may have a problem.”
I felt a cold rush wave over me. “I’m going to die, aren’t I doc?”
The doctor chuckled, “No. You’re not going to die. But we need to remove the cyst as it’s an unusual size, about an inch long. That’s what’s causing you so much discomfort. The size has me worried as it might indicate cystadenocarcinoma…”
Spencer interrupted, “I think I heard the word cancer in there.”
Not liking being interrupted, the doctor said, “That’s my concern. Even if it isn’t cancerous, the size alone is enough to warrant surgery. The surgery isn’t a big ordeal. We’d use laparoscopy most likely to remove it.”
Mom giggled and pointed at the image. “Funny. It looks like a tiny person. No really. There’s a face. See the eyes? And those look just like tiny arms and legs.”
Spence and I both looked at each other and again I felt like I was hit with ice water. I snatched the image from the doctor’s hands.
I started crying, “Oh my God, Spence! Look. Look! That’s it! That’s what it is. Oh my God!”
Spencer took the image from my hand and studied it. “Naah. It’s just your imagination.”
I grabbed the image back from Spence and slapped the picture. “That’s not a cyst! Look at it! There’s a face! Dammit! It’s my Master’s baby!” I started crying hysterically.
Looking confused, Dad asked, “Baby? Your Master? What are you talking about, son? It’s impossible for you to have a baby inside you.”
Slowly shaking his head, Spencer said, “Well… actually he can.”
Everyone turned to look expectantly at Spencer with their mouths hanging open. He coughed nervously into his closed fist. Looking sheepish, Spencer told Mom and Dad the story we’ve been keeping secret. I just cried.
Dad kicked the side of the time machine. “Bullshit! First you expect me to believe a fantastic lie that you traveled in time. And then you expect me to believe you did it in this pile of junk?”
Defensively, Spencer said, “That’s not junk! It’s a delicate instrument.”
Dad kicked it again. “It’s junk. It doesn’t even look like a Tardis.”
Tapping his finger against his lips, Spencer said, “That’s not a bad idea…”
Slapping the side of the machine, I said, “Dad! It’s not a lie! Spence and I went into the future with this thing. Eight hundred and fifteen years to be exact.”
Dad folded his arms. “Where is your proof? You have pictures? Did you steal the captain’s log?”
Studying the floor, I said, “Our phones are still in the future. And Dad, we traveled in time, not abducted by aliens.”
Mom said, “No wonder you haven’t answered lately.”
Dad’s eyes went wide, “You lost your phone? I paid good money for that! I’ve been paying on a phone that’s a thousand years away?”
“I’m sorry!” I exclaimed. “We dropped them when our Masters captured us. And it’s eight hundred and fifteen. But hey. What about our brands?”
Still folding his arms, Dad said, “Tattoo parlors do that don’t they?”
Pointing at my pants covered leg, I shouted, “Do you really think for one moment I’d inflict that much pain on myself?”
“You and that goof-ball standing next to you probably got drunk one night and had it done,” said Dad, scowling.
“I don’t believe this!” I shouted.
Dad stepped towards me and bellowed, “But you expect me to believe that you and what’s-his-name went a thousand years in to the future, changed into girls and had sex with your Masters. Yeah. I buy that. Not!”
I suddenly winced from internal pain and heaved. I held up my hand and said calmly. “I’m okay. I’m okay.”
Dad said with some worry in his voice, “Mason, we have to get that cyst removed. The doc said it’s growing and if it gets much bigger it may damage some of your organs.”
“No!” I exclaimed. “I told you! I’m having my Master’s baby!”
Mom looked really confused. She said, “But son, your body isn’t designed to have babies. Your baby has nowhere to come out.”
Dad snarled, “Don’t encourage him!”
“I’ll have a C-section,” I said, trying to sound reasonable.
Spencer said, “Mason, don’t you remember? The doc played along with you. He said if that was a baby it’ll wind up crushing your organs and killing you before it could survive outside the womb. Which you don’t really have.”
Dad pointed at me and shouted, “We’re scheduling a surgery appointment to get that damned tumor removed!”
Mom nodded and looked nervously at her feet, “Your father’s right, Mason. That tumor has to go.”
I held my stomach with both hands and shouted, “This is my Master’s baby!”
I pushed Spencer out of the way as soon as he answered the doorbell. I didn’t even look behind me as I darted down the hallway to the cellar door.
Spencer looked confused, “Hey! Now what arrr…”
I flung the door to the cellar stairs open. It banged loudly against the wall. I bolted down the stairs and made a bee-line to the time machine. I ran up and hit the power button on the side of the machine. I heard that whine start ramping up.”
Breathing hard, Spence ran up to me and said, “What the hell are you doing?”
Sweat running down my face, “I’m saving my baby, my life and your reputation although I think that’s long lost its chance for redemption.”
Spencer tried to push me away. “You’re insane. You can’t get back to your Master!”
Starting to cry again, I said, “I’m not going to try. What’s the minimum setting you have this machine?” I set my new phone on a table and aimed the camera at the time machine and started the video.
Spencer thought for moment, and then said, “Probably all the way to the left would be something like one second. But it’s not reliable.”
I took a deep breath, “That’s good enough.” The machine reached a fever pitch. I started for the chamber.
Spencer stepped in front of me, blocking my path. “I know what you’re trying to do. You think a short instant trip will turn you back into a girl and you just stay here in the portal. It’s not stable. It could just as easily turn you into a monkey or a squid or even a politician!”
“Out of my way, Spence!” I growled. “I’m doing this!”
“No you’re not! You aren’t going …aaahh!” cried Spencer as Deankooncies bit his leg.
I pushed him and darted into the chamber along with the cat. There was a loud thunderclap and a bright light.
“Ah crap!” I cried. “It didn’t fucking work!”
From behind me, I heard a frustrated voice, “I beg to differ… Blossom.”
I looked down and saw the boobs protruding in my shirt. My small hands. Long hair falling around my shoulders.
Grinning I stepped out of the chamber, “I’m a girl! Look! I’m a girl!”
With a howl, Deankooncies darted from the chamber and disappeared.
Spencer looked at me and sighed. “Yes. You’re a girl. So now what?”
I grabbed my phone and shut off the video. “I’m going public! You’re going to be famous, bucko. You invented time travel.”
“But it’s not stable!” Spencer protested.
I wasn’t listening. I was sending the video to everyone I could think of.
I looked up as Spence set his lunch tray down at my table. He took a deep breath and exhaled. “My God. It’s such a zoo.” Heavy with sarcasm, he continued, “Thanks so much.”
I grinned at my friend. “You’re welcome. Oh come on! You know you love this. You always dreamed of everyone thinking of you as this great scientist. Well, there you go.”
Spencer took a bite of his chicken fried steak…or what looked like chicken fried steak. “I wanted to be famous…but not quite this famous. Everyone’s staring at us.”
I frowned. “You’d think they’d never seen a pregnant girl eat a corndog before.”
Smirking, Spence said, “Well, in this school, that’s not as unusual you may think.”
We were famous. We both had been on every major news show you can think of. Video of us standing in by the time machine. The video of my transformation went viral. Interviews on late-night talk shows. And not to mention all the requests Spencer was getting for sex changes.
Most of the mania was starting to settle down so we could get back to some kind of normalcy. I intended to stay in school for as long as my gynecologist allowed. She said my pregnancy was perfectly normal which was incredible under the circumstances.
Dad had been really pissed at me at first. He was not at all happy that his son was now a pregnant girl. And just when he was finally adjusting to me being a girl, my old gaming buddy, Troy, asked me to the prom. Can you imagine? Me going to the prom? With a boy? Dad was not happy he was going to have to pay for not only a prom dress, but a maternity prom dress as well.
And then there was the call from my brother away at college. He congratulated me on the time travel, but chastised me on becoming a chick., It was like a step down to him. Even some girls felt that way.
And, everyone calmed down after my assurances that I would step back into the machine and return to being a boy after I gave birth. In all honesty, I couldn’t imagine being a girl my whole life. Being a girl…and pregnant…was exhausting.
“So how’s Deankooncies?” I asked as I nibbled on my corndog.
Spence forced a smile, “She’s doing great after she gave birth to that litter of six kittens.”
I nodded. “At least we know why she was so irritable.”
He squinted at me. “Are you wearing make-up?”
I grinned. “You like? Cindy is showing me how to do make-up. It’s fun!”
“I bet.” Spencer’s smile faded as he stared into his food tray.
Feeling a bit of dread, I asked, “Is there something wrong?”
Spencer nodded slowly. “Two things. You’re not going to like either one, but I have to tell you.”
I furrowed my brow and in a hushed tone I said, “What? Don’t tell me you’re pregnant too!”
Grunting a humorless laugh, Spence said, “No. Though that might be better.” He drew in a long breath and sighed. “Now, this is all speculation and we can’t say with any degree of certainty, but this is a theory my buddies and me came up with. Having disturbed the natural flow of time by just going to the future, and returning, then you making that small jump to change sex and now that we know of a particular future…that future will now probably never exist. Bob and Frank will probably never be born. None of that will ever happen. Those two weeks we spent up time is nothing more than a mobius strip in a bubble off the main flow of time.”
I started to cry. “What? Of course he exists! He fucked me, goddammit!” The lunch room suddenly got quiet as all eyes turned to us. I looked around and lowered my voice. “I’m pregnant! He squirted his seed inside me.” I pointed violently at my stomach. “Explain this!”
“Calm down,” said Spencer as he tried to hide his face with his hand. “You’re making a scene.”
I stood up and cried, “I am not making a scene!” The lunch room went completely silent. I looked around at everyone staring at me. I sat back down and lowered my voice. “Okay, I’m making a scene. But I don’t get it. If Bob doesn’t exist, how am I still pregnant?”
Spencer scratched his head and looked away. Finally he looked directly at me. “It’s complicated. Look, time is fluid. No future is set in stone. By participating in the future, we altered it. Just like when you make an observation, you alter your observation by observing it!”
I knitted by brows together with my mouth hanging open, “Just what the fuck did you just say?”
Taking another deep breath, Spencer said, “I’m saying that no matter how good I make my time machine, it’s impossible for you to return to your boyfriend. Okay? I’m sorry.”
I started crying. “Bob is dead!” I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand saw a black smear. Ah shit I thought. Stupid make-up!
Spencer shook his head. “He’s not dead. He never was and never will be. That’s different from being dead.”
“Not to me!” I shouted. I started crying little sobs for a few minutes. Spence just stared into his tray.
After a few minutes, I calmed down. Spencer had handed me a tissue to wipe around my eyes. I was afraid to look into a mirror. Trying to not start crying again, I said, “You said there were two things. What’s the next disaster you want to tell me.”
Afraid he might hyperventilate with all the deep breaths he was taking, Spence glared into his lunch tray. “The fucking government!”
I looked sideways at Spence. “What about the fucking government?”
Raising his palms defensively he said, “Now they assured me there’d be no problem if you wanted to use the time machine again to return to being a boy. But. And this is the big but… about ten guys in suits and military uniforms came to the house. They said they were taking my time machine. I asked them why. They said so it could be studied by top men in the government. When I asked who, all they would say was that it was top men.”
“They took your time machine.” I just stared coldly at Spencer. “Well if that ain’t just fucking peachy.”
Still staring into his lunch tray, Spence quietly said, “Oh. And one more thing.”
I threw up my arms in exasperation. “Oh my God now what?”
“Your mother asked for one of Deankooncies kittens…”
“Aaaarrghhh!” I snarled through clenched teeth. I felt my face and neck muscles tensed. I had a death grip on my Mom’s hand.
“Ten centimeters…”
“Push. Breathe…”
I tightened my grip on Mom’s hand. “Aaaah! Why didn’t you talk me out of this!” I snarled.
Mom said, “I did try honey. Keep breathing. It won’t be long now.”
I was uncomfortable. I had been on my back for what seemed years. I couldn’t imagine doing this without an epidural, though Mom said she didn’t use one with me. Even though there was a sheet draped over me, I hated having my legs up in the air with my nether regions on full display.
“Push…”
“Breathe…”
I turned to Mom, tears streaming from my eyes. “There’s not even anyone here I can scream at that I hate them for this.” Mom laughed a little. She softly stroked my matted hair. Dad didn’t want to be in the delivery room. They wouldn’t let Spencer or Troy in because they weren’t family. I was shocked that Troy wanted to be here.
I also deeply embarrassed when a group of doctors came through the labor and delivery room. My doctor stopped them and asked them how they thought my delivery was progressing. So I had eight men standing there and staring at my all-together pointing and commenting.
The pain was excruciating. I felt a wave of nausea flow over me. I turned to Mom and trying to breathe, said, “God, Mom. I’m never doing this again!”
Mom smiled and said, “We all say that.”
“Here comes the head…”
“Push, mom. Push…”
And suddenly the pressure was gone. And then I heard crying.
“It’s a boy…”
I felt a wave of desperation. “Where is he? I can’t see him.”
Mom said, “They’re just cleaning him up and taking his vitals. Don’t worry Blossom. You’ll see him!”
A smiling nurse came into view carrying a tiny bundle. “Here mom. Meet your new baby boy.”
I started crying as I reached out for him. I stared in awe at the tiny figure in my arms. I looked up at Mom, “Oh my God Mom! Look! I have a baby!”
Mom smiled at me. “He’s beautiful. And now you’re a mom too. Have you decided on a name?”
Not taking my eyes from my baby I said, “Bob.”
“She needs some rest,” said the nurse to the crowd of people in my room. “You are all going to have to leave for now.”
Mom, Dad, Spencer and even Troy were next to me while I was in bed in the hospital room. There were also several reporters and a couple of news cameramen.
I looked over at Dad, holding Bob. “How do you feel, grandpa?”
Dad just beamed. “I feel great! I can’t wait to teach him football.” He handed him back to me.
Spence walked over to me, but declined my offer to let him hold my baby. I said, “Isn’t he gorgeous? Don’t you wish you’d gotten pregnant too?”
Spencer shook his head. “No, I’m fine. And yes, he’s gorgeous. He looks just like Frank.”
Glaring, I snarled, “Spunky, you’re damned lucky I can’t get up.” Spencer laughed and walked away.
For a moment, I just held my little baby Bob and stared at him in wonder. Never in a zillion or even eight hundred and fifteen years would I have ever thought I’d experience something like this. I was suddenly overwhelmed by sense of deep sadness. I was holding my baby fathered by a man who now would probably never even exist. It boggled my mind.
At the foot of my bed, I heard a reporter ask Troy if he was the father. He quickly said no and walked away.
I looked up at Mom. “Isn’t he beautiful? Oh God, Mom. I can’t believe I’m a mommy!”
I really wasn’t paying much attention to the reporters in the room. The nurse was trying to chase them out. But a time traveling boy returning pregnant and then becoming a girl and giving birth would naturally be a big story I guess.
“So, now that you’ve given birth, do you plan on going back to being a boy?” asked a reporter trying to get near to me. I didn’t really pay him much attention. I couldn’t take my eyes off my baby.
Mom looked at the reporter, “No. I don’t think she’s going to.”
And you know what? She’s right.