Many books have been written about time travel. I think that each of us would like to go back in time in order to correct some annoying mistake. Or, conversely, go back several years into the future to see what surprises the coming year or decade is preparing.
But is such a journey possible, at least in theory. What if the time system is best described in Stephen King's The Langoliers. If you remember, the main characters of the writer, along with the plane flying from one city to another, fall into a temporary funnel. Moreover, only those people who for some reason slept remain alive. All who have been awake dissolve into obscurity at the moment of a temporary leap.
The past, where the heroes go, is so different from the usual picture. It is like a pale shadow that is rapidly melting under the midday sun. There are no people or cars. The airport is empty, the broadcast is silent. After exciting and tragic adventures, the heroes manage to return to the present. But they get a few minutes ahead. And the picture is the opposite: the future approaches them swiftly and inevitably, and covers them like an ocean wave.
What if the future and the past really look like King's, the past fizzles out, evaporates. It just doesn't exist. And the future is every new minute running towards us.
The topic of temporary collapses, loops and stratifications has always been interesting to me, although I have nothing to do with physics and other exact sciences. I am just a reader, a humble humanist, shocked by King's revelations. But, as they say, what interests you the most is what you get.
Once a strange incident happened to me. There is no logical explanation for it, except that I really accidentally fell into a time gap. Time loop if you like. And it didn't look like King's. If only because I made time travel alone, and this is scary. And also - you won't tell anyone too much, because they will look askance and suggest two options: either I’ve gone crazy, or I went over too much. In this case, the appropriate option is the first. For at the moment when everything happened, I was driving. Therefore, the option "went through" disappears immediately. Neither this evening, nor the day before, I didn’t take alcohol, nor did I take any other amusing and relaxing substances. The only one who could confirm the reality of what happened is my dog, but she has not yet learned to speak.
I went to the dacha. The dog slept peacefully in the back seat. It was a weekday, so the flow of cars at the exit from the city was small, and by the middle of the road it completely dried up, dissolving into the branches of the roads.
The music played quietly in the cabin, the September evening flashed quickly and gave way to a dark autumn night. I briskly passed a large settlement. Ahead of me were waiting for 10 kilometers of a well-lit track, winding through the villages. Suddenly a hiss was heard in the speakers, and the music stopped. The wave left - I thought, but I did not try to catch it. The last signs of civilization were left behind, and I realized that I was driving in total darkness. I had to frantically turn on the high beam, the fires of those who did not turn on the lighting on the track.
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The headlights confidently cut through the darkness, and it became clear that there were no lights along the track. This surprised: did they really dismantle it? I did not have time to be surprised by this fact, when suddenly strange sounds were heard from the speakers. No radio station plays this kind of music, not even the one that specializes in retro hits. The cheerful melodies of my childhood about how wonderful life is in the country made me shudder and get covered with huge goosebumps. The car shook so that my teeth clinked, and the dog grumbled in displeasure, woke up and stared sleepily out the window. The car jumped on bumps, every now and then getting into holes.
I stopped and left the salon. The silence around you could touch with your hands. The only light source was the headlights of the car. Instead of silence, I began to feel the asphalt with my eyes and feet. Hmmm, but he's not. Just a road covered with stones.
So, wait, where did I miss and turn the wrong way? It just can't be, I'm right everywhere! I left the town and that's it: the radio station in the receiver, the lighting on the road and the road itself disappeared. Thoughts flew rapidly. It seemed to me that I had missed something important, vital, without which it would be impossible to move on and live in general. The dog asked to go out. I strapped on the tape measure and released the beast. Her reaction was amazing: instead of joyful jumps through the bushes, a set tail and a wary gait. Without even marking the territory, she rushed back to the salon and began to bark, urging me to do the same. Uncomfortable, scary, lonely - these are the key emotions that were at this moment. Loneliness, cold and scary. But worse was only music from the past, which poured hoarsely from the speakers. I dashed into the salon and muffled the radio.
The sound of an approaching vehicle was heard in the distance. Either a tractor, or an old car. I rushed into the car and started from a place at the limit of the engine's capabilities. I didn’t want to meet anyone in this uncomfortable place until my hands were cold. At the risk of breaking the suspension, I drove the car forward over bumps and bumps. At some point it seemed to me that we fell into a huge hole. The impact was the same force as the first time, and the belt latches clicked. Whether there was a lapse in consciousness, I will not say, but suddenly I realized myself on a lighted track. She turned on the radio: the pleasant music of our time. Smooth asphalt under the wheels.
I am still lost in conjecture about the nature of this incident. Whether it was a temporary loop or a short-term travel back into the past. I am pondering whether I did the right thing, that I did not wait for someone to arrive. And the more I think, the less logical explanations I find. Or maybe it was just a short dream? But when I remember the acute feeling of loneliness and melancholy that gripped me, I understand - no, I did not dream. I was really there. One. In someone else's time and space.