Very soon I realized that there was something very wrong here. It was like a bad dream, perhaps it was a dream and what do you do when a dream takes a turn that you don't like. You make every effort to wake up. I pinched myself very hard under the table and that did nothing, there was Frank looking at me like I was a frog under a microscope. I finally got up and announced that I needed to take a bathroom break. Frank started up as if to stop me and then he relaxed almost as if he realized that there was no place for me to go, I walked back torward the break room, from whence I came and ducked into the janitors closet where I had gotten my jumpsuit. I peeked out the door and plotted my next move. Frank was up right after me and had followed me down the hall but I guess he assumed that I had indeed gone into the bathroom He didnt go after me, just waited, blocking my exit. In a few moments there were APs at the door to the bathroom as well and Frank was relating his story of me as a madman who had come out of nowhere. He pointed to the bathroom and one of the APs went inside and returned instantly with much hue and cry that I was not there. Everyone then went into the bathroom and then back out into the hall where I could hear them thru the door. The speculated that perhaps I had gone thru the open window. I could not believe that they were not going to check the closit where I hid. But nevertheless I sat there waiting for another four or five hours while things calmed down and finally every one went home for the evening.

Title unknown

Dave Netherton

B1onder@pacbell.net

178 Briarcliff Drive

Folsom, Ca 95630

916-203-5006

word count tbd

OK, so here I am resting comfortably on the hot asphalt between two cars. I mean, I was asleep so I must have been comfortable, but now that I am awake, I realize that it is hot and the asphalt is pretty warm. I sit up and rub my eyes and look around. I am in the parking lot behind bldg 280 at McClelland AFB. I must have fallen and bumped my head on my way to a meeting or something. At least that’s what I was thinking when I next noticed that I was naked!

Absolutely stark nekkid! Now that got my attention and I am think that I must have been mugged or something. I was quite disoriented and confused. I looked at my watch to discover that I had none. Even that was gone! No shoes nothing. What a spot. I looked around and it seemed to be pretty quiet for a parking lot with perhaps three or fouir thousand cars. I did notice that there was something strange about the cars, but I was unable to pin that one down. The immediate problem was to get me into some clothes and get some help. I worked my way over to the back of the cafeteria and Credit Union. I knew there was a back door into the travel office located between them. My old supervisor had an office there and we used to come and go thru that door when we played cribbage during lunch. Funny the things you remember when under stress. I was in the break room behind Franks’ office with no trouble.

Fortunately there was a phone in there and I figured that I would give Frank a call and ask him to come on back to the break room on the QT so we could get me out of this mess. I picked up the phone and could not remember his number. Go figure! I never forgot a number. I then thought I would call my own office and have Suzie get on the case, but I couldn’t remember that number either. While I wsa agonizing over my suddenly poor memory, I was watching for someone to come back to the break room and catch my naked butt sticking out and embarrass the dickens out of both of us. Nobody came back but I did notice a janitors closet in the corner. Opening it I found Coveralls and rubber boots. I did not imagine that they would fit me, but I was surprised to see that there was a pair that nearly did. I am six feet five and over two hundred pounds which is unusual. Until, that is I remembered that the sealant crew used these same coveralls and they were quite roomy. The rubber boots were designed to fit over ones own footwear so they were a good fit over my bare feet. Thus clothed, I was feeling a little better about my situation when someone I did not know came into the break room.

Busted, I stood and walked past them and out into the hall and on to Franks office. He was not there at the moment, but I could hear his voice elsewhere in the room. I sidled into his office past the questioning looks of his secretary, I think her name was Margie. So there I was waiting in Franks office, trying to figure what had happened to me. I did not remember what I was doing in the parking lot at all, other than the fact that I was probably on my way to one meeting or another. The clock on Franks wall told me that it was morning, so I could have been on my way to a late breakfast with my golf buddies. For the life of me I could not remember even the month or the year. I knew who I was, that I was married and that I worked there at McClellan. I had a secretary named Suzie, or was it Verna? or perhaps it was Sandy, or ??? Now I was getting even more confused. There was something more going on here.

Finally I could hear Franks secretary speaking to him about me. She told him that there was a strange man waiting in his office and did he want her to call the police? He calmed her down and walked in. I thought he might shut the door when he recognized me, but he did not. As a matter of fact his expression showed that he was a little uncertain about who I might be.

“Frank! Its me!” I blurted. He was unfazed and fixed me with a look that frightened me a little. He turned to his secretary and motioned her to make the call. He then sat down across from me at his conference table and asked me what I wanted. I tried to get him to recognize me. I spoke of our past together and our cribbage games. He just looked at me like I was from Mars.

I have been invited to join my oldest son to enter a short story writing contest sponsored in memory of Robert Heinlein. I am adapting my ideas so far in attempt to move into the SciFi Fantasy genre. So far I am going with the temporal displacement of my lead character back in time about twenty years. He finds himself wandering about naked at his place of work among some of his former co-workers and is astounded that none of them recognize him. Even though he is currently twenty years older than his current station in time and clean shaven and bald and heavier, he is still surprised that no one recognizes him. He has tried to contact the earlier version of himself and when he actially does, hangs up the phone, totally shocked to discover that there is another version of himself on the other end of the line, some several hundred yards away. Thus begins the story,,,Can our hero get back to his place in time? Can he discover what brought him to this predicament? Can he use the process to make a difference in the future? Is there a profit to be made from this situation? Personally? Socially? Is there really danger from being in two places at the same time? Is there danger from being in the same place at the same time as your former self? Is this story at all plausible?

And as always,,,,, Film at eleven,,,, stay tuned.

OK this classical music is getting to me. I can feel myself getting older and more dried out as each moment passes. I need the change the music before someone comes in and places a lily on my chest.