Temporal University

I appeared suddenly in a place I’d never been before. At first glance, it looked like a large commissary, with young men and women milling about the place. Some where hurrying to their destination, some were sitting with their friends chatting.

I gathered that somehow I was in some kind of college or university due to the sheer amount of textbooks being lugged around. I looked behind me and there was no exit, only glass windows looking out into the world.

In my hand was a piece of paper that had a printed schedule on it, directing me to where I was supposed to be going despite the fact that I had no idea how I got there in the first place.

I felt compelled to see what the first destination was, and wandered around the halls ultimately finding the room where I was supposed to be. I walked into the room, and there were a few people hunched over textbooks at their desk, intensely concentrating on the words below them.

I took a seat and looked around the room, still puzzled at the predicament I was in. How had I got here? Why was I supposed to be in this classroom?

The walls held even more bizarre sights. Three clocks adorned the walls, with engraved plaques beneath each one. The leftmost clock said “One hour ago”, the middle read “Now”, and the last said “One hour from now.” As confused and displaced as I was, this only astounded me further.

Another student entered the room and sat next to me. I noticed his eyes on me and turned to look at the stranger, his face covered in a wide grin.

“Uh, hello.” I said, sheepishly.

“First time in the class?” he asked, still quite amused by my confusion.

I could only nod. I attempted to get out the first in a series of questions to determine where the hell I was, and how I ended up there, but he cut me off before I could speak a word.

“Look, here’s the crash course. Just close your eyes, slow your breathing, and try to imagine yourself disappearing. I know it sounds crazy, but just try it.” He explained. “Here, watch me first.”

I continued to look at this overly friendly person as he turned to face forward. He closed his eyes tightly and clenched his fists. I did a double take, as it appeared that he was becoming translucent. I blinked my eyes in disbelief, trying to clear whatever substance had caused my eyes to fail me. That’s when he disappeared entirely.

I looked around the room, first searching for signs of the mysterious student, then looking at the other students trying to see if they were responding to what seemed like an elaborate prank. They paid neither me nor the absence of their classmate any attention.

Just for laughs, I decided to play along. I closed my eyes and concentrated on my breathing, feeling my heart slow with the rhythm. I imagined myself fading from existence, of following the other student to wherever the hell he had gone.

At first it seemed like nothing was happening, then I could hear muffled sounds in the distance. The chair beneath me suddenly seemed unstable and incapable of holding my weight. I snapped open my eyes to see the world changing color in front of me, and suddenly I dropped to the ground as if the desk I had been seated never existed.

The sounds went from muffled to ear piercing. I was no longer in the classroom, but sitting in the dirt of a large field. I could hear what sounded like gunshots in the distance, and the air was filled with thick smoke that smelled of gunpowder and death.

I ducked suddenly as a low flying plane flew overhead, and I looked up to see it. It resembled an old WWII fighter plane, and it was emitting smoke from the rear. Someone had shot it, and it seemed like it was about to go down.

I felt a strong hand on my shoulder, and I flinched and spun around on the ground to see who it was. It was the stranger from the classroom, and the look of amusement no longer graced his face, instead replaced with concern and fear.

“Oh no, we have to get out of here. This is a mistake, you have to go RIGHT NOW.” He exclaimed, shouting over the sounds of battle.

He grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet, forcing me to run towards a large hill in front of us. As we passed over the hill, I viewed the chaos and destruction around us. None of this was right. The uniforms of the soldiers resembled that of a time long passed, and the technology and weapons they were using matched the time frame of their uniforms.

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!” I screamed at him, but he wasn’t listening. He was searching his pockets for something, and finally produced what looked like a small sticker.

“Hold still,” he explained, although I could barely hear him over the noise. Fearful, but unsure of what to do, I followed his instructions as he peeled the sticker off the wax paper. He looked at me for a moment before slapping me on the forehead with the sticker in his hand.

The world collapsed on itself, and everything went dark. I closed my eyes, fearful at what I might view next, when I heard the low buzzing of the fluorescent lights. I slowly opened my eyes and discovered I was crouching on the ground in the classroom I had been in previously. Only this time no one was in the room.

I looked up at the clocks on the wall, and was startled to discover that an hour had passed since I first walked in and sat down. I stood up, brushing the dirt off my pants, and hurried out the door. The class schedule was still in my hand, and for the first time I paid attention to the text written at the top in blocky bold letters.

It read “Welcome to Temporal University.”

About the Story: The above was part of a really intense vivid dream I had last night, and may be the start of something I want to develop further into a novel or screenplay. As with the rest of the content of this site, it’s protected under the Creative Commons license.

Should I continue to develop this into something more?