This story takes place 28 years in the past and 27 years in the future. We start in the future. I will invent a spray that let me see time. Some say I simply ran across the spray and didn’t actually invent it. However, I was the first to figure out how to use spray-on deodorant to go back in time.
At first I could only see a field that was sort of glowing around me. With practice I was able to move in and around the field. I realized I was moving in time. It was a good thing I took it slow because as I moved in time I remained in place. This may not seem like much but you have to remember the earth is spin at something like 600mph and the earth is moving around the sun. With some practice I found I could surf through time and remain in the same relative place. It was exhausting, but with practice it became somewhat easier.
For weeks I wondered what I could do with Time Spray. I finally came up with a plan while watching baseball.
I went to bed early and ate a big breakfast the next morning. I went to the bank. This branch has been around since the 60s. They have a clock on the wall with a calendar on the deposit desk. In the rest room I sprayed a heavy dose around me and took off. I rode a time wave back to 1980. First thing I did was get a meal. I had about a hundred dollars in pre 1981 money on me. I took a nap. Although I was moving through time, it seemed like it took about four hours to surf back 55 years; I was worn out.
For my next jump I allowed myself to drift against the time current so I was also moving east. I popped back in the time stream in Detroit. I found the apartment. I heard a shotgun blast. I checked my watch, the police report must have been off. I jumped back another five minutes and fine tuned my reentry for maximum affect. I pulled up as the shotgun pellets were in mid-air. I sprayed Dean Stratton with Time Spray. Yes, Dean Stratton the famous Detroit Tiger’s baseball player.
Back in 1980 the Detroit Tigers were ridding high and looked unstoppable. They would probably win the pennant if not for the untimely murder of Dean Stratton. For the entire season, my friends and I had followed the path of the Detroit Tigers from bums to heroes. My fortunes were tied to the Tigers. I was gambling and it seemed I couldn’t lose. When Dean Stratton was killed in 1980, not only did the Tigers lose their star player but they lost their playoff hopes, and I lost all my college savings.
I grabbed Dean Stratton and pulled him out of his frozen time stream.
"Hey, what’s going on? Who are you?" Dean asked.
"My name’s Craig. I’m here to rescue you."
"Rescue me from what? Say, where did you come from? I didn’t see you come in."
"I came through time, to pull you out. You'll be dead in a couple seconds."
"What kind of cock and bull story is that?"
"See that guy with the shotgun? Notice the pellets suspended in mid-air? Do you know who that is?" I asked.
"No. Who is that?"
"That is the boyfriend of the girl you’ve been missing with."
"How do I get out of this?"
"We’re going to go back in time; then you call the police and slip out the back."
I took his hand and told him, "This is going to feel a little weird but don’t fight me."
I pulled him backwards about fifteen minutes. It was harder to surf with a novice than I thought.
"Okay, you got about fifteen minutes to call the police and make your get away."
"How can I thank you?"
"Just keep playing as well as you have and stop messing with other guy’s women."
"How to I get a hold of you?"
"You can’t. Right now I’m just a college student at Moorhead State University. I’ve never met you and any thing you tell me would sound silly and strange. I’m coming to you from 55 years in the future. Your best bet is to keep this little event to yourself. No one will believe you. They will think you’ve lost your mind.
Dean shook my hand and I said goodbye. I gave myself another dose of Time Spray and surfed 55 years back into the present- no sweat.
The Tigers didn’t win the World Series but they did win the AL Pennant that year. There was a new MSU diploma on my wall next to a photo of Dean Stratton with myself and all my friends. I guess he did find a way to thank me.
