Monday, August 14, 2006

What If You Had A Time Machine?

Over the weekend, I watched the ancient version of "The Time Machine," starring Rod Taylor and Yvette Mimieux (equally ancient actors). Although the "special effects" (I use that term loosely!) are totally antiquated, it was still fun to imagine going back or forward in time.

I started wondering whom I'd want to see, or where I'd want to go if I could "time travel." I'd first want to go forward about 200 hundred years…and hope Earth was still here! I've always been a space buff, so maybe I'd get to take a trip to Saturn, Mars, or beyond. Maybe a wormhole would take me beyond our galaxy, just like Jodi Foster in "Contact." I can't imagine anything more thrilling, at least until I threw up from motion sickness!

Then, I'd want to go back in time to around 1850 so I could meet my great-great grandfather and warn him that he was about to disappear. He left Southern Indiana on a flatboat trip down the Mississippi to New Orleans, and was never seen or heard from again. It's assumed that he was murdered and the produce he was carrying, was sold. But, what would happen if I could go back and warn him? Would his oldest son's life (my great-grandfather) be changed forever? Would I even exist?? Scary thought.

The third book in my series, "Cynthia's Attic: Curse of the Bayou," is based on his disappearance, and how best friends, Cynthia and Gus, travel back through time to try to save him from imminent danger. Since I don't have access to a time machine, guess I'll have to be content creating my own story and ending.

Where would you go? Who would you want to meet?

Mary Cunningham
www.marycunninghambooks.com
Cynthia's Attic: The Missing Locket
Cynthia's Attic: The Magic Medallion

2 comments:

Erin said...

I would go to England and discover Shakespeare's identity. Was he really the Bard of Avon like so many believe? Or was he someone else?

Mary Cunningham said...

Interesting question, Erin, and fascinating subject!

I've always assumed that William Shakespeare was the one and only "Bard," but wouldn't it be fun to be able to find out for sure? Not to mention the fascination of London during that time period. I wouldn't want to stay too long, though, because it wouldn't be convenient to give up the...uh, the "conveniences!"