Saving Marlilyn

  Chapter 3 - Another Day

  Claire couldn’t sleep at all that night. She tossed and turned and made trip after trip to the bathroom, just to stare at herself in the mirror. She was nervous and scared, but also excited and invigorated. She was ready to “right what once went wrong.” That was something they used to say in an old TV show, Quantum Leap. The show took place in the future where Sam, a time traveler, wanted to travel back into his own lifetime to right wrongs. Something went wrong and he kept leaping into other people’s bodies and was unable to get back home. He just kept leaping from person to person. “To right what once went wrong,” they used to say in the introduction. That’s exactly what Claire wanted to do. She just hoped she didn’t get lost in the past while saving Marilyn.

  “Auggie’s machine is different,” Claire told herself. She wasn’t going to leap into people; she would still be herself. She tried to reassure herself, but her nerves were frazzled. The trip was a risk no matter how you looked at it.

  Claire did everything she could but just couldn’t sleep. She finally decided it was too late to try to go back to sleep so she took a shower, got dressed, grabbed a large black purse and headed downstairs to make some coffee. She was hoping the aroma would wake Auggie. She already had her 60s outfit picked out, a pair of white pedal pushers and a plain blue t-shirt with loafers. She figured that would blend in pretty well in 1962.

  Claire grabbed the newspaper from outside and sat at the kitchen table for a while, sipping her coffee and contemplating the day to come. When she finished her coffee, she went to the den to stare at her future. She sat the purse down next to the machine.

  LOKI was huge, ominous in fact. It looked like the den had been taken over by some alien life form, a huge silver octopus with countless tentacles. She giggled at the thought.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Shit!” Claire shrieked. “Don’t sneak up on me like that.” She was so caught up in her plan that she didn’t hear Auggie come down the stairs. She was glad to see he was already dressed and ready to go, though.

  “Claire, there’s no way a guy my size can ‘sneak’ downstairs. You must have been really caught up in whatever is so funny to not hear me.” Auggie laughed.

  “I was just thinking that the den looked like it was taken over by an alien,” Claire admitted. Auggie let out a huge laugh.

  “You are definitely my wife,” He said, and continued laughing. Claire looked annoyed.

  “Now that you’ve had a good laugh, are we ready to start?” pleaded Claire.

  “No, we’re both going to have a good breakfast.”

  “Yes, Mrs. Stanfield.”

  “Who is Mrs. Stanfield?”

  “She was the crazy book mobile lady that used to come into our class and teach us little life lessons, like the four food groups and how important it was that each food group was represented in every meal.”

  “Well, o.k., class, how about eggs with cheese, toast, hash browns and orange juice? That sounds pretty rounded, don’t ya think?” Auggie said, smugly.

  “I’ve had my coffee, thank you Mrs. Stanfield.”

  “Oh no you don’t, young lady, you’re going to have a complete and balanced meal before you set off on any journeys,” Auggie said in the highest voice possible.

  “Alright, but I’m not cooking,” Claire said, looking more annoyed.

  “Like I couldn’t have guessed that,” Auggie replied with a chuckle as he walked to the refrigerator to gather his ingredients. Claire picked up the paper and started reading. She came across an article about a double lung transplant patient who needed money to pay for the operation.

  “Oh my God, TAKE THAT BILL MALBER!”

  “What?” Auggie asked, laughing again.

  “When I was in the seventh grade, Mr. Aulton would have these current events quizzes every Friday in History class. It was usually a battle between this annoying kid, Bill Malber and myself. We weren’t any smarter than the other kids, we were just the only ones arrogant enough to keep raising our hands. Anyway, one Friday Mr. Aulton asked what organ transplant operation had been performed that week. I knew it was lung or liver, but I couldn’t remember which. I raised my hand anyway. It was between me and Bill and Mr. Aulton picked me. I answered lung,” Claire said, pausing.

  “Of course, Bill thought that was hilarious. He laughed at me in front of everyone and said, ‘you can’t transplant a lung, stupid.’ Well, now you can transplant two, so in your face, Bill Malber!” Claire declared.

  “Oh my God, how do you remember this stuff? Talk about holding a grudge,” Auggie laughed.

  “Well, he made fun of me in front of the whole class and tried to make me look like an idiot. Lung, liver, they’re very similar sounding. It was an easy mistake to make, and that jerk made fun of me, the little creep. It’s unfortunate that someone needs the operation, but I’m glad the technology exists now.” Claire said matter-of-factly.

  “Actually, they’ve been transplanting lungs for a long time,” Auggie said, matter-of-factly. Claire gave him the evil eye.

  “Not two, they haven’t!” Claire replied.

  “Acually,” Auggie began, but stopped abruptly when he saw the glimmer in Claire’s eyes. “O.K. honey,” he conceded. “Remind me never to make fun of you.” Auggie said, laughing again. Claire gave him another disapproving stare.

  “Is breakfast ready yet?”

  “I’m putting it on the plates now, sheesh, woman.”

  “Good,” she mumbled under her breath, “you can’t transplant a lung, HUH!” Auggie was laughing again as he laid the plates down on the table.

  “Would you forget about that, we’ve got bigger fish to fry,” he said. Claire scarfed her food down like there was no tomorrow and Auggie did the same, albeit unwittingly. They were soon ready for the adventure ahead.

  When breakfast was over, Claire and Auggie headed off to the den, both shaking with anticipation. Auggie fired up the machine, and once again it roared and buzzed to life.

  “Strap this on tight,” Auggie said as he strapped the device onto her arm under her sleeve.

  “Ow, tight is fine, but don’t cut off my circulation,” Claire pleaded.

  “There, how’s that?”

  “Good,” Claire said, rubbing the outside of the devise.

  “O.K. Let’s take this baby for a test run.”

  “Test run? Didn’t we cover that yesterday?” Claire asked, frustrated.

  “With animals, yes we did, but now we need to do a human test.”

  “Can’t we just get on with it, man?”

  “No” was Auggie’s simple reply. “Stand on the pad.” Auggie was very serious at that point, so Claire knew there was no need to argue anymore. She had to endure any tests Auggie’s little heart desired. “O.K., you know I love you and I know you love me, so nothing else needs to be said because nothing is going to go wrong.” Auggie’s declaration gave Claire pause. She knew he was just being overly cautious, so she just smiled as he retreated to the control panel. “You will only be there for five minutes, just long enough to check out the scenery and be sure it worked. Try to look at the design of the house and cars on the street. That should give you a good idea of the timeline.”

  “House, cars, got it.”

  “O.K., are you ready?”

  “As I’ll ever be.” Claire said hesitantly.

  “That’s not the answer I was looking for, Claire. I want you to be sure that you want to do this. There are plenty of other people I could find if you are the least bit hesitant about it.”

  “I know, I know, I’m fine, really. I’m ready. I want to do this. Besides, you wouldn’t trust anyone else enough to keep this a secret and you know it.”

  “You’re right about that, but I need you to be certain.”

  “O.k., I’m certain, let’s do this.” Claire sounded surer this time.

  “Alright, but if there is any trouble, whatsoever, you can hit the button in the center to take you bac
k early, otherwise, the timer will automatically bring you back in five minutes.”

  “Got it.”

  “May the force be with you,” Auggie smiled slyly.

  “You are so weird, Augiwan Kenobe,” Claire laughed.

  “Here we go” he said with a grin. The machine was activated and the now familiar banging and buzzing serenaded Claire. She caught a glimpse of Auggie biting his nails before everything disappeared in a bright flash. Her stomach dropped as if she were plunging down the first hill of an enormous roller coaster. She saw flashes of light and then blackness for just a split second before being blinded by sunlight. Her knees went out from under her and she landed on the ground.

  “Oh my God, that was weird,” Claire said as she stood up in the side yard where the den used to be.

  She began to look around. The house was a different color and of course there was no den just as they had calculated. “It worked. Oh my God.” Claire stood dumbstruck for a moment before realizing that her five minutes were counting down. She found her footing and immediately struck out to the front yard to look around.

  The yard looked much the same, but with a better garden and shrubbery. “The trees, oh the trees,” Claire thought. The beech and the old elm in the front yard were a lot shorter than they were only a minute before. But, it was when Claire directed her glance to the street that she began to realize the scope of what had just happened. The cars on the street were definitely not from the twenty-first century.

  Claire spotted her grandfather’s 1959 Chevy Impala. He loved that car. He drove it until the day he died. She would recognize it anywhere. She turned over her arm and pulled up her sleeve to check out the timer and realized she only had four minutes left, so she headed down the stairs toward the street.

  Claire stopped dead in her tracks as she heard a female voice yell, “Hey!”

  Claire turned to see her grandmother, on her knees in the side garden staring at her. She was wearing a big straw hat with a white sash, red pedal pushers and a white tank top that revealed a little too much arm flab. She must have been about 40, Claire thought.

  “What are you doing there, girl?” The lively octogenarian inquired.

  “Umm.” Claire had to think fast. “I’m sorry; I wanted to go to the store, so I cut through your yard as a short cut.”

  “Short cut?” Her grandmother asked. “This isn’t Grand Central Station, you know.”

  “I know, ma’am, I’m sorry, it won’t happen again,” Claire turned toward the steps, prepared to run.

  “Be sure that it doesn’t. Who are you anyway? I don’t think I’ve seen you around these parts before.” Claire didn’t know what to say but she knew she had to end this now.

  “I’m visiting my aunt Edna down the street.”

  “Edna Shergren?”

  “Yes.” Claire knew her grandmother didn’t socialize with Edna Shergren, no one did, in fact, because, as Claire’s mother had told her time and again, she was a mean old lady who did nothing but yell at anyone who tried to knock on her door. Her mother had told her a story about her grandmother once agreeing to be the campaign manager for a local councilman simply because Edna was trying to block his appointment. They had quite the rivalry. It had something to do with old boyfriends, lies, and a stain on a dress, Claire thought. She wasn’t clear on the details, but she also remembered stories of her own mother pulling up ‘old lady’ Shergren’s flowers just to spite her. Her mother said it was because Edna would take every opportunity to yell at any kid in the neighborhood.

  “I really have to go now, Aunt Edna will be angry with me if I’m late,” Claire tried to break away from the conversation.

  “In that case, you’d better run girl, you don’t want to make old Edna angry.”

  “Yes ma’am. Thank you ma’am.” She hesitated for a moment to take in the lively woman before her who was her grandmother as she had never known her. She saw her mother’s eyes and Claire’s own nose staring back at her. “Good-bye.” That word meant more to her than she could show at the time, because she never got the chance to say good-bye to her grandmother who died suddenly when Claire was a teenager. Knowing she was almost out of time, Claire dashed down to the road and started walking toward the old hardware store.

  Everything was different. The library was an empty lot filled with weeds and the block across the street was entirely empty except for the bank that had been standing since the thirties. She stopped to marvel at how little the bank had changed over the years considering how much everything around it had changed, but time was running out, and she knew she had to get out of sight before the timer ran out. She ducked behind the bank just in time to disappear unnoticed.

  She was brought back to the lab with a flash of light and another jolt. “Whoa,” she said and quietly breathed a sigh of relief when she laid eyes on Auggie standing by the control panel smiling.

  “Oh, Thank God.” Auggie was relieved as well. “Thank God, thank God, thank God,” he repeated as he ran to give Claire a hug.

  “Hey, you sound like you didn’t have faith,” Claire faked being cross.

  “No, no, I knew the machine would work.” Auggie grinned slyly. “I’m just glad you didn’t get yourself in any trouble,” he said, patting her on the head.

  “Smartass.” Claire gave Auggie a crooked smile.

  “Alright, Claire, I’m dying to hear, what was it like, what happened, what did you see, who did you talk to?” Auggie was jumping up and down.

  “First of all, you told me not to talk to anyone,” she said matter-of-factly.

  Claire proceeded to tell Auggie the entire story, but conveniently left out the part where she spoke to her grandmother. She knew if she told Auggie that she had contact with her grandmother he would pull the plug immediately. He had that whole space-time continuum thing from Star Trek on the brain. No contact!

  With Claire’s careful omissions, Auggie was thrilled with the results of the test. “How long was I gone?” Claire inquired.

  “Only a few seconds,” Auggie said, grinning ear to ear.

  “Really? How does that work?” As soon as the words came out of her mouth, Claire knew she was in for another long explanation.

  “When you’re working with space/time...” Auggie began, but Claire zoned out, concentrating on what she was going to do when she went back. “...and that’s why it was only a few seconds to me.”

  Finally Claire could ask the burning question: “When can I go back?”

  “We can do it right now if you want to, now that we’re certain it works!” Auggie was still excited that his invention was a success.

  “O.K., how long can I stay? A day?”

  “No way, not an entire day.”

  “What? Why not; we know it’s safe?”

  “Yeah IT’S safe, but what about YOU?”

  “HEY!”

  “Seriously Claire, do you think you could go through an entire day without speaking to someone?”

  “So I can never speak to anyone?”

  “No way, you could change time, that’s nothing to play with.”

  “Then what would I be doing there?”

  “Observing, what did you think?”

  “Observing,” Claire paused to think for a moment. “I can do that,” she declared, then quickly changed the subject. “A few hours at least, then?”

  “A few hours will be alright. Let’s try a half-day. Eight hours should do it. I want you to check out as much as you can, especially the civics of the situation.”

  “Civics? 1962 is hardly a study of ancient civilizations.”

  “I know, maybe we should try a different date.”

  “NO.” Claire said a little too emphatically. Realizing her mistake, she tried to justify it. “I was just kidding; the ‘60s were a turbulent time in U.S. history. It’s a perfect place to start. It’s got to be safer than the wild, wild west, right?” She grinned in an odd sort of way, wondering if she had pulled that out of her ass.

/>   “O.K., you’re right, let’s do it. What date should we use?”

  “Let’s stick with the one we’ve been using, why mess with success?” Claire asked anticipating the okay from Auggie.

  “What time?”

  “Why not start in the afternoon, then I can check out day and nighttime scenes.”

  “Claire I don’t want you out alone at night.”

  “It’s the early sixties, Auggie, I’ll be fine, I go out alone at night now for Pete’s sake.”

  Auggie stared at Claire suspiciously. “Alright,” he conceded, “Are you ready?”

  “As I’ll ever be,” she said, spinning around. “Wait, my purse.”

  “Purse?”

  “Yeah, if I’m going to be walking around I should look normal...women have purses.”

  “Works for me, where’s your purse?”

  “I’ve got it.” Claire said swooping the purse up off the floor. “Ready.”