The Other Tim

        Tim Badson walked through the park on a nice Sunday evening. He was whistling to himself. It had been a good day. He remembered fondly the time he had spent with Lucy by the lake. They had talked and laughed for hours. He’d even fed the ducks that had been circling around them, looking for scraps of unfinished bread. It had been an idyllic setting. He hadn’t wanted to leave, but he still had his English paper to write. Why was he even studying English? Stupid subject, he muttered under his breath. Mr Grays was an ass anyway; he would probably get an F. To be fair, he had been spending most of his free time with Lucy. Not much studying going on! But Tim didn’t regret anything. Who needed Shakespeare? He’d do better on the next paper. But worry entered his mind as he thought about this, and his stomach gave an uncomfortable lurch. He was barely scraping by. Getting an F would probably see him fail the entire class.  

        The sun was well past the horizon now, and it was becoming hard to see in the dimly lit park. Tim wasn’t worried. He knew the park well enough. As he approached the small gate that separated two parts of the park, he grabbed hold of the top and vaulted over it, as he usually did. Only this time, he hit something hard and fell backwards. A shout and a cry of pain told him he had hit a person.

        Sitting on his ass, he rubbed his forehead. He was going to have a bruise.

        “You okay?” he called to the other person. He couldn’t make them out in the gloom. The other person hadn’t fallen over. In fact, he couldn’t see the other person at all. “Hello?” he called out. Tim got to his feet and peered over the gate. Nothing. He looked around at the bushes. There was no one around. “What the hell?” he muttered. This was strange. He was sure someone had been there.  

        He reached down to open the gate. The small latch was rusted and wouldn’t come up easily. He yanked it up and it snapped off in his hand.

        “Damn!”

        He threw the rusted piece of metal to the floor and opened the gate. As he walked through, he hit something again. No, someone! There was another cry of pain. He took a step back and reached out a hand. It touched something fleshy; something like another hand. But there was no one there. He applied a bit more force, but so did the other, invisible person.

        “Who’s there?” he said, his voice shaking.

        “Where are you?” someone replied. Tim dropped his hand and shivered. This was creepy.

        “Can’t you see me?” he asked. No reply. “Are you still there?” Nothing. He reached up again, and felt his hand meet the other hand again. As soon as they touched, Tim could hear a voice.

“- see you!” the voice was saying.

        “Sorry,” Tim said. “I couldn’t hear you when I put my hand down. Where are you?”

        “Me?” the voice said in a high voice. An oddly familiar voice. “Where are you?”

        “I’m in the park,” Tim replied. “By the gate. I seem to be talking to an invisible person on the other side of the gate.” His head started spinning as he spoke. This was ridiculous.

        “I’m in the park too,” the other person said. “I’m also facing the gate. This is weird!”

        “Tell me about it,” Tim said. “Maybe one of us should step aside, and let the other one past?”

        “Wait, what do you mean past? You’re not even here as far as I can see. How would I let you past?”

        Tim thought for a moment.

        “Just move aside and I’ll walk through,” he said.

        “Just like that?” the other asked.

        “I was planning on going this way anyway. What are you afraid of?”

        “Nothing I guess,” the other replied. “Not if you’re the one doing the walking. I’m going to let go and move aside. You can walk through.”

        “Okay, on three then,” Tim replied. “One-,” but the other had already let go. “Oh,” Tim muttered. “Okay then.”

        He strode through the open gate. He didn’t meet any resistance this time. As he walked over the threshold, the sky suddenly became bright blue. The sun, which had already set past the horizon, was now on the other side of the sky, and perfectly visible. Tim felt his jaw drop and he involuntarily stepped back through the gate. The sky went dark again.

        “W-What?” he mumbled. He glanced around to see if there was anyone else in the park, but it was empty apart from a bird, eating some leftover ice cream someone had dropped. What the hell was going on? He took a deep breath and strode forwards once more. Again, the sky changed to bright blue, and he could feel the hot sun shine on his face.

        It took him a few seconds to get used to the glare until he could look around. He was still in the park, in the exact same spot as he had been a second ago. There were people around, but no one took any notice of him. To his immediate right was a man who was gaping at him, wide eyed, mouth open. His face was as white as a sheet. It was frightening. But what was even more frightening was the fact that the face was his face. Tim’s face. He was staring at himself. Not only was it him, but he was wearing the exact same clothes: a grey t-shirt and blue jeans. He felt dizzy again, and knew that he must be just as white as his doppelganger.

        “What the f-?” they both said at the same time. “Who are you? What is this?” Again, they said it together.  

        Tim raised both his hands.

        “Wait,” he said before the other could speak. “Let’s talk about this.”

        “We should,” the other said. “But I’m kinda freaking out right now.”

        “I know the feeling,” Tim replied. “Especially as it was night time just a second ago.”

        “Huh?”

        “Like, literally, it was dark and now it’s daytime. I was on my way home, and…”

        “Home from where?” the other guy asked, interrupting Tim.

        “From a date, but what does that matter?”

        “A date with Lucy?”

        Tim gasped.

        “How do you know that?”

        “Because I’m on my way to a date with Lucy right now.”

        Silence fell between them. Tim had a strange feeling. He felt as if cotton was surrounding him, lifting him up into the sky. It was curious. The sound of the slight breeze, of the trees swaying, of the birds singing, all became quieter. The cotton was enveloping him. It had felt nice at first, but the feeling was becoming uncomfortable. He could still see the other guy in front of him. He was speaking but his voice was so faint! He saw his doppelganger raise a hand and slap him hard across the face.

        It was as if someone had turned the sound back on. Everything was loud, and had come back into sharp focus. His cheek seared with pain. He felt his eyes watering.

        “What did you do that for?” he said crossly, rubbing his cheek.

        “Sorry,” said the other, looking sheepish. “You looked like you were going to pass out or something. It freaked me out.”

        “I felt weird… Wait, what’s your name.”

        “I’m Tim. And I get the feeling you’re Tim too, right?”

        “Yeah. But this is so weird! You said you were on your way to see Lucy?”

        “Yeah.”

        “What time is it? What day is it?”

        The other Tim looked at his watch.

        “It’s two o’clock. It’s Sunday.”

        Tim looked back towards the gate. He glanced at his own watch. It said eight o’clock. He held out his wrist to let the other Tim look at it. His eyes widened.

        “So what? You’re from the future?”

        “It seems that way.”

        “But that’s impossible.”

        “I’m gonna have to disagree with you there, Tim. Should we call you Tim 2?”

        “Why am I Tim 2? You be Tim 2.”

        “You’re the Tim from the past, it makes more sense.”

        “I guess… So how did the date go?”

        “It was great, but wait. Should I be telling you this? From every time travel movie I’ve ever seen, you shouldn’t know about the future.”

        “That’s dumb. If I was the one from the future, wouldn’t you want to know the lotto numbers?”

        “I guess.”

        “Do you… have the lotto numbers?” Tim 2 grinned.

        “If you’re really me, you’d know we’ve never bought a lottery ticket in our life.”

        “Oh. That’s true.” He thought for a moment. “Are you really from the future?”

      Tim stepped aside.

        “The gate’s wide open, buddy. Walk through.”

       Tim 2 looked unsure. With a brief glance around him, he sighed, walked forwards and stopped just before the gate. Then, he leaned his head towards the opening, so that his body stayed on this side. Tim watched as his doppelganger’s head disappeared and then reappeared a few seconds later.

        “It’s true,” he said softly. Tim 2 was white as a sheet. Tim watched as he saw the other Tim’s eyes roll into his head. He thought he knew what was going on. He reached up a hand slapped Tim 2 across the face. Straight away, his eyes came back into focus.

        “Cotton?” Tim asked. The other nodded, but said nothing. Colour had regained his face. “So what do we do?”

        “What do you mean?”

        “Well, I was thinking, you know that paper due in tomorrow?”

        “Yeah,” Tim 2 replied slowly.

        “Well, you go home and do it, and I’ll go see Lucy. It's the best of both worlds. We don’t screw up another exam, and we don’t stand Lucy up.”

        “Yeah that sounds good, but how about you do the paper and I’ll see Lucy?”

        “That won’t work,” Tim said.

        “Why not?”

        “Because I don’t want to do the paper.”

        “And you think I do?” Tim 2 said hotly. “You’ve already had your date with Lucy, it’s my turn. You do the paper! You’re the one feeling guilty about it.”

        “You feel guilty too!”

        “Yeah, but you have six more hours of guilt than I do. Ergo, you are the one who needs to do the paper.”

        “Ergo?”

        “Yeah I said it!”

        “Is that even how you use that word?”

        “This is why you need to do the paper. You need to learn.”

        “Hey, I have six more hours’ worth of knowledge than you!”

        “You don’t seem any smarter,” Tim 2 snarled.

        “This is getting us nowhere.”

        “You’re right,” Tim 2 said in a softer voice. “I’m going to see Lucy! You can do what you want.” He started walking forwards, toward the gate.

        “Wait!” Tim cried, but it was too late. Tim 2 had disappeared through the gate into the past. “Idiot,” he said and almost laughed. He waited a beat, expecting Tim 2 to reappear. After a few moments, he started to worry. “Tim 2?” he said. Nothing. Of course, he wouldn’t be able to hear him, he was in the future. He laughed at the absurdity of that statement.

        Tim decided to go and get him. He walked towards the gate and went through. He closed his eyes just as he reached the threshold.

        An odd noise made him open his eyes. He almost fainted. He was no longer in the park. He was in the middle of a field. The odd noise he’d heard had been made by a small boy, sitting a few feet away. The boy now stood and pointed at Tim.

        “How did you do that?” he squealed. The boy was probably about ten years old. He had a mop of dark hair, and the same blue eyes as Tim. In fact, Tim knew straight away that this boy was him. His ten-year old self. He even remembered sitting in this field before it had become a park, years ago. But what the hell? Where was his life? Why hadn’t he moved back to his own time? Where was Tim 2?

        “Hold on Tim 3,” he said to the boy, who looked confused. The gate had gone but he knew where it was supposed to be. He stepped back through the time portal.

        When he opened his eyes, he was in the park again. He breathed a sigh of relief. He looked around. There was a bench near the gate. He was sure it hadn’t been there before. An old man was sitting on the bench. He had long, matted hair and a ruddy, weather-beaten face. He looked up at Tim, his face showing mild surprise.

        “I almost didn’t believe it would happen,” the old guy said, his voice rough. The man looked as if he'd had a tough life.

        “Who are you?” Tim asked, although he thought he knew.

        “You know who I am. You can call me Tim 4 in your head if you like. I’m what you will become unless you listen very closely.” He took a shuddering breath that rattled in his lungs. He coughed and continued.

        “You need to go back through that portal. Keep your eyes open and keep your mind clear on where you want to go. Think about that moment before you ran into Tim 2 and go back to your life. Go back to Lucy, go back to your English paper. Get an F, I don’t care! Just don’t do what I did.” He closed his eyes. Tim watched him as a tear fell down his face.

        “What happened to you?” he asked.

        “You don’t want to know. Just go home!” he almost shouted the last part, in his exhausted voice.

        “You need to tell me,” Tim said, in almost a whisper.

        The old Tim sighed, and then patted the bench next to him. Tim sat down.

        “I was like you. I was you! I got lost in time. When Tim 2 disappeared, I followed, and found the young Tim, Tim 3. Then I found me, I mean the old me, who told me to go home, like I just told you. But I didn’t listen. I was panicking, I just turned around and went straight back through. I ended up far in the past, when I was a baby, in a stroller, walking through the field with our mother. Once, I even ended up in a time when I wasn’t even alive! Each time panicking more and more. I had never been so scared in my life. I couldn’t find anyone who would believe me. I couldn’t get back to a time that was even close to the right time. It took me years to figure out how to travel to the right time. And then it was too late!” he spat this word, his tone bitter. “I was too old to go back to when I left. I had to go back to a later time, where people had already grieved me. I had disappeared long before, and they had all moved on. Lucy was married, and had children, and I had nothing! It was lonely, Tim. It’s not a life to live.”

        “But you figured it out? You figured out how to travel to different times at will?” Tim asked, amazed.

        The old Tim eyed him carefully.

        “Yes,” was all he said.

        “How do you do it?”

        The old man shook his head.

        “I can’t tell you. You must go back. This life needs to end, please!” Tears were falling freely down his face now. “You need to go! Go back! Remember, think about exactly when you want to go, think about Lucy, think about the park, think about that stupid exam paper, and don’t close your eyes! Keep them damn eyes open!”

        Tim stood uncertainly. He rested a hand on the old man’s shoulder.

        “You look like you need to rest,” he said.

        “I will rest,” old Tim nodded. “When you are home.”

        Tim faced the gate, his mind reeling with everything the old man had said. He glanced back, and looked into the old withered face, which was staring back at him, old Tim was pleading with his eyes.

        Tim nodded, turned back to the portal, thought of nothing, closed his eyes, and stepped into the unknown.