The Portal

Right after the breeze hit him, the dead silence of the cave was gone and it was suddenly replaced by music. David knew the music almost instantly, as it was Lionel Richie. His mom always listened to his music so he knew it well. When David opened his eyes, he was back in the living room of his childhood home. He let go of Ricky’s hand, and looked around. Everything looked similar to what he saw earlier in the day, but there were small differences like the music that was playing in the background.

“Why are we here?” David asked, “I was just here.”

“You’re thinking too small,” Ricky replied, as he was smiling because he knew the truth. “The question isn’t where we are, but when.”

“When?” David repeated, “You mean we just traveled in time?”

“Wasn’t that bad, right?” Ricky said, almost laughing at David’s face.

“So,” David said as he looked around, “How far back did we go?”

“Dad!” Ricky called out, “It’s Ricky!”

David’s face was one of shock. He hasn’t seen his father in over ten years, and the last time was at the old man’s funeral. His heart skipped a beat and he even held his breath for few seconds as he waited for a reply.

“Dammit Ricky!” the familiar voice called back from the kitchen. “How many times did I tell you not to travel here unless it was...”

When David’s father walked into the room, he was the exact same age David was and he stopped speaking when he realized that Ricky wasn’t alone. To see him again after all these years was shocking, especially since the man that stood before him was much younger than the last time he saw him.

“Ricky,” the old man started, “Who is this man?”

“This is David, Dad.” Ricky answered, “And go easy on him, he just used the portal for the first time.”

Rather than say anything, David watched as his father walked up to him and gave him a big hug. His father then took a step back and looked over his younger son.

“You’re strong!” he complimented, “How often do you hit the gym?”

“Not much,” David honestly answered, “My job keeps me in shape.”

“I see,” the elder Jones in the room said, “And what do you do, son?”

“You didn’t tell him?” David asked Ricky.

“No,” Ricky said, “I was hoping you’d get a chance to tell him yourself. All I told him was that you were not doing anything illegal.”

“The opposite, actually.” David said, as he dug into his back pocket and pulled out his badge. “U.S. Marshal.”

His father looked at the badge, and then back up at his son. “I guess all those summers playing cops and robbers wasn’t a phase after all.”

“Not quite,” David confirmed as he put the badge away. “How is this possible?”

David’s father took a deep breath. “This really is his first time. Come with me and let’s talk.”

Ricky put a hand on his brother arm, “I’m going to check up on mom. She could probably use a hand in kitchen. You talk to Dad and we’ll meet back up for supper. Okay?”

“Alright,” David said, just going along with it.

After his brother walked away, David followed his father into his den. David slowly walked inside and then took a seat in one of the leather chairs that was located in front of his big desk. As he sat down, his father held up a bottle.

“No thanks,” David said, holding up his hand, “Maybe later.”

“Okay,” his father replied, sitting down in his chair behind the desk. “Tell me David, how long has it been?”

“Eleven years,” David replied, almost instantly.

“It’s good to see you,” his father said, smiling back. “I wanted to show you the portal, but there was a part of me that couldn’t do it.”

“Why is that?” David asked.

“You were so rebellious,” the old man said, “I knew that I had to let you go out and find yourself first. The last thing I want to do is hold my children back and burden them with something that could tie them down.”

“And I never came back,” David said, feeling bad he didn’t keep in touch with the old man after he moved out of the house.

“Communication is a two way street, sport.” his Dad said as he poured himself a small drink. “If we didn’t talk, I think we are both to blame for it so for my part I’m sorry.”

“Thank you,” David said, trying to keep his composure. “So how long has this portal been in the family, and why does it only work for us?”

“Okay,” David’s Dad said as he drained the glass much like how David did earlier when he was talking to Gail. “This portal was discovered a little over a hundred years ago, after our first ancestor traveled to America bought this land to start a farm. It took a while for our people to figure out what it was and how it worked, but about fifty or so years later, we started to get the hang of the portal and started to use it properly. Thankfully we didn’t create any world ending paradoxes while learning how to use it on the fly.”

“But Ricky said the key was our blood,” David remembered, “How did that happen and why can’t anyone else use it?”

“We have a few theories,” his father replied, “but the one I think is more likely is that we were the first ones to use it, so because we went first our blood was the default setting. That’s why we’re the key, dumb luck.”

“Works for me,” David said, taking a deep breath. “I think I’ll take that drink now.”

His father smiled as he grabbed another glass and poured two more shots. “Is scotch okay?”

“It will do,” David said as he grabbed a glass, and tapped it against his father’s glass before taking a sip. “Damn, this is really good!”

“It should be,” his Dad responded, “It’s over two hundred years old.”

“Wow,” David said, looking at the glass. “So you’re a time traveler too?”

“Every member of our family has been for over a hundred years.” His Dad said, also sipping his glass. “Some took to it really well, while others walked away and lived normal lives. I actually did the best of both worlds. I kept my teaching job while doing travels on the side.”

“How did anyone not notice you were gone?” David asked, as he didn’t remember his Dad disappearing to take all these trips.

“Let me explain,” his father said, taking a deep breath. “Time moves slower when you’re in the Portal.”

“I’m not in the Portal.” David said, confused. “I’m home.”

“No, you and Ricky are still in the cave.” This father corrected him. “And you’ll be there until your time is up.”

“And when does that happen?” David asked.

“Two days,” his father answered, “The longest you can stay in the portal at a time is forty-eight hours.”

“Then what happens?” David inquired, eager to know more.

“The the portal brings you back,” his Dad replied, “And you open your eyes back in the same cave as if you’re waking up from a dream.”

“So we can’t get trapped here?” David asked, thinking about it.

“That is a good way to look at it.” Dad concurred, “If you find yourself stranded on a deserted island or in jail, the longest you’ll be stuck is two days and the Portal will break you out.”

David paused for a moment, still thinking “What happens to the people around us when we go?”

“It’s like a concussion grenade going off,” his Dad explained, “There’s bright flash and when everyone gets their sense back, you’re gone. As far as they’re concerned, you vanish into thin air”

“So, we can jump in and out without any care in the world,” David said, thinking about the possibilities. “That is so cool!”

“We can’t be that reckless,” his father said, sounding like he knew and didn’t approve of what his son was thinking. “You have to be responsible to make sure time doesn’t break off and change in any major way. For example, you can’t go back and kill Hitler.”

“Really?” David said, shocked. “How come?”

“Cause we already tried,” Dad answered, “If you thought that punk was bad, you should have seen the sick bastard that took his place after he died. Germany ended up winning the war and we almost screwed everything up. It took breaking almost every rule we had to fix that colossal mess.”

“So the most obvious ideas are not as easy as they look,” David said, as he put his glass back down on the desk. “I could use a refill there, pops.”

“Sure,” his father said as he poured him another two fingers. “As I said before, time moves slower in the portal. Every day that passes here, you’re only losing one hour in the portal. So after two days of being somewhere else, you will only wake up in the cave two hours after you left. That’s how you never knew I was gone. I would spend half a day hiking to the cave, spend a few hours in the portal and then hike back on the same day. I did a few trips every weekend and stuck to my day job during the week. No one had a clue what I was doing and I preferred to keep it that way.”

“That’s neat,” David admitted, “And where did you go?”

“Not enough time to tell you all the stories,” Dad admitted, “But I’ll share a few when we’re at the table tonight. Right now we need to go over the rules regarding using the portal.”

Before the old man could say anything more, a loud sound came from David’s pocket. He reached and grabbed the smart phone that was singing to inform him of an alarm that he had set. It had been a few hours since he set the alarm to call his boss and update him.

“What the hell is that?” his father asked, looking at the small, black rectangular shaped item.

“Oh, it’s just my phone.” David said, turning off his alarm. “That was my alarm to call my boss back, but that probably isn’t possible right now.”

“That’s a telephone?” his father repeated.

“Yeah,” David said, as he realized that his father died long before the smart phone was invented. “It’s pretty much a small computer. I do almost everything with this thing.”

“And it’s portable?” His dad continued to inquire.

“Sure is,” David said, “Everyone takes their phones everywhere with them. It’s especially nice in my profession, because we can be called upon at any time no matter where or what we’re doing.”

“Who made it?” the old man inquired.

“This one was made by Samsung,” David honestly answered, “But if you’re fishing for stock tips, Apple is the way to go.”

“They make computers,” his Dad replied, “Don’t they?”

“These are computers,” David informed him, “That’s why they’re in the market for them. They basically created what we know now as the smart phone. So, if you want to make some big money on the side, then I suggest you invest in Apple and never bet against the New England Patriots... unless they’re playing against the Giants.”

“Alright,” his father said, as he was writing this down. “Good tips.”

David put the phone back into his pocket and drained the rest of his drink. “I’m not breaking time right now telling you all this, am I?”

“No,” his father replied, “As a fellow traveler, I know the rules and will not use what you’ve given me to create problems. Yet I would normally ask that you be more cautious in your future travels. Not everyone will be able to handle you walking around with a computer in your pocket. Some might try to steal it so they could reverse engineer it and become the inventor of it. We have to be mindful of where we are and not change things too drastically, because like I said with our Hitler example, the results might not be what you’re hoping for. Time has a way of making things much worse if you try to meddle too much. We can only dabble in history, tinker with it so it’s not as bad as it could have been.”

“I get it,” David said, “Pull out a few cards, but don’t send the entire house tumbling down.”

“Pretty much,” his father concurred, “As much as we want to go back and stop President Kennedy from being shot, there are some events that are just too big and too complex to tackle.”

“Noted,” David said, “Can’t save Kennedy, and we can’t kill Hitler.”

“Do you plan to be a full time traveler?” his father then asked, “Or are you going to do it part time while being a Marshal?”

“I’m not sure,” David said, trying to be honest. “Ricky really dropped a lot onto my plate in the last twenty-four hours. All I wanted was a quiet Christmas at the office, catch up on some paperwork. This is not what I had in mind.”

“You’ll get used to it,” his father said, “And no one is asking you to quit your job. The portal is there for you to use a little or as much as you want. It’s your birthright, but no one is going to force you to walk in. What you do, where you go, and what changes you make is up to you.”

“Thanks,” David replied, “I appreciate the no pressure approach.”

“Let’s get to the dining room,” his father suddenly said as he stood up, “I’m sure you’re dying to have your momma’s cooking again.”

“Oh crap,” David said as he stood up, “I forgot all about her.”

“Come on son,” Dad said, giving his shoulder a friendly slap. “Let’s go surprise the shit out of your mother, because I don’t think she knows you’re here either. I think she made her Hawaiian ham again.”

“Ugh, I hate her Hawaiian ham,” David confessed, “I hate pineapple too.”

“Really?” his father said, surprised. “Thanks for telling me, but you’ll have to put up with it today. I’ll make sure she doesn’t make it too often going forward for you. Deal?”

“That’s a deal,” David approved, “Thanks Dad.”

“No problem, kid.” The old man replied, “Let’s go eat.”