  In the beginning – AIC The TTP – OEM – 01003 was vibrating with an ear- aching resonance as I snuggled into the anti-matter chair.
My uncle was due any moment now. This was his prototype time travel portal, the one he had been secretly working on in his basement. Off late he had been upbeat and had a twinkle in his eyes, a sign that invariably meant that he had had a breakthrough.
I was his sole confidant and friend a relationship balanced by my enormous patience and his need to validate his work. I was supposed to wait for him and he was already 3 hours late and I was hungry. It was way past my lunchtime. So I began fiddling around with the knobs which reminded me of salami. I was breaking a cardinal rule with my uncle. NEVER EVER TOUCH ANYTHING. But then he had broken one of his own “NEVER EVER BE LATE, TIME IS EVERYTHING”.
This fascination rather his fanatic obsession with time was a well documented affair. He had won the Nobel price for his research in time but now his continuous public research was marred by the recent global ruling by the UNTCC, the time control wing of the UN, to restrict time research to the future, a dictum which my uncle failed to meet eye-to-eye. For him everything was a circle, much like his head now. “without a past there can be no future” he said.
This had lead to the basement experiments. I called it the “Dexter’s laboratory”. His father having named him after the cartoon character. Fitting actually Sir Dexter Dietrich. I woke up with a start. I must have dozed off in the chair. Where the hell was uncle Dexter? My stomach was like a raging furnace, panting to be fed. Frustrated, I banged my hand on the console. The TTP started vibrating and resonating. It sounded like a foghorn being buffeted in the wind. Atleast something was finally working. The computer screen was lit up and was showing the message “Please provide the destination time” I laughed aloud and said ‘Please take me to the beginning of time.’ Suddenly the arm clasps slammed on and the harness tightened and started to oscillate.
The vibration had increased and a blue band of light fluxed its way in front of me. I opened my eyes and found myself sitting on a rather damp rock amidst the most fabulous sight I have ever seen. Lush green foliage with animals running and jumping all around. The air, clean and fragrant. Birdcalls rang out, interspersed with the whistle of air breezing through the bamboo clumps.
I jumped off the rock and tried to orient myself. I began walking around trying to recollect what had happened. One thing I was sure that I was amazingly hungry. So I headed off in the direction of the trees which had fruits dropping off them like leaves during autumn. On the far corner I spied this stark nude couple walking hand in hand. I reached the trees and in the middle saw this rather strange apple tree. It had just one fruit, while all the others had so many. Any way the apple being my favorite, I plucked it off and bit into it. ** END 1 ** I was well into the apple, when the nude couple walked up-to me. What was I to say?
“ whateverlings, I come in peace”? I offered the half eaten apple to the lady who took a bite and offered it to the man. ** END2 ** 
