The Smoke of Time (standard:science fiction, 3876 words)
Author: Uri Meir	Added: Jul 15 2007	Views/Reads: 3233/2192	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A 36 Year old Israeli goes back in time to 1980

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

calm, and I realized I can recognize all the car models – most were 
Subaru. The bus must have taken its time, since only after a long while 
– I wasn't in a hurry, though – it reached the old bus station in Tel 
Aviv. I was surprised, but let my feet take me to the 901 route, which 
took me to the old bus station in Haifa. It seemed quite new. Anyway, I 
took number 10 to Hadar, downtown. That was all consolingly familiar, 
no surprises. The radio played Shlomo Artzy – "After all you are a 
Poem", the driver probably having tuned to IDF Radio, and I thought, 
once again, about that girl whom I think is a poem. So, in a somewhat 
dreamy frame of mind, I reached the bookshop. It was surprising how 
Hadar had hardly changed since I was growing up here. The only change 
had been several delis here and there, of people who came with the new 
wave of Russian immigration, but other than that, everything was just 
the same. Oh, and the Science Museum. I decided to walk up there. But 
the building now was... damn, just the old Technion building; it was 
weird. I haven't seen any Russian deli en route. Deep inside I already 
knew what was happening around me, and realized what I should do – I 
should have a look at a newspaper. I went to the Steimatzky paper 
stand. An old, yet new, sign. I checked the paper, and my suspicions 
were verified. You should only trust the name, the price and the date: 
Jan. 31, 1980. I think I always knew this was going to happen, or 
thought it's going to happen, or got ready for it. The philosophy 
doesn't matter now – just the economy. I have some money, I have some 
brains, but that's about all. For God's sake, it's nearly four in the 
afternoon now, and there's no place where I can lay my head down for 
the night. I remember very clearly where I used to live, but that house 
doesn't have a place now for 37 year old me. Even ten year old me 
hardly found his place there and he didn't need all this, my life then 
were complicated enough. My life now is also complicated, but who 
knows, perhaps this will add some simplicity to it, something it'd lost 
a long time ago. Yes, simplicity. That's exactly what I was looking 
for, right? I didn't know what will happen if I meet myself, so I went 
to the bookshop, perhaps I'll get an idea there, they have such a great 
collection of science fiction books. It's really cute, this bookshop; 
all of Heinlein's sixty titles are neatly arranged, roughly according 
to their publishing dates. The Star Beast, The Moon is a Harsh 
Mistress, Stranger in a Strange Land. When I saw Time Enough for Love, 
I remembered how difficult it is to meet your mom when you are already 
older and she's not, and I then realized what I should do. I should go 
to Eli and Aviva, they have a large house. Mom and dad will visit them 
tomorrow evening, like they do each Friday, but I'll hide myself. I 
will explain the whole situation to Eli, it will be OK, and our 
financial situation is also about to improve, so what's to worry about. 
I stood in front of the door and smiled. After they died, Gaby replaced 
it with a modern security door, but this one still was the good old 
one, with the oak panels and the metal knocker that seems to be made of 
brass but was harder. Its center was carved into some beast of prey. 
Aware of the fateful consequences, I gently knocked on the door. Eli 
opened the door. How come Eli was opening it? Perhaps Aviva went 
shopping. He didn't recognize me, since he never really saw me like 
that, as an adult. “Hello,” he said, and I recalled how tall and 
handsome he was before he became stooped. His smoke filled voice easily 
drew a smile from me. “Hi, remember telling me to read Heinlein?” “No, 
who are you?” “I'm Uri Meir, Peter's and Rachel's son, and anyway, you 
can't really recall telling me to read Heinlein, since you haven't said 
it yet.” “I don't follow, would you like a donation?" “No, I want to 
tell you something about the future.” “This sounds dumb, but perhaps 
you can at least tell me some good story. Come in.” I came in. I went 
straight to the cow statue on the marble mirror frame in the entrance 
hall. It was brand new. “So how was the conference?” I was glad I 
remembered – two years of preparations, three days of madness – and a 
month ago it was all finished. “How do you know about the conference?" 
I heard Aviva coming in through the kitchen door and starting to 
arrange the shopping, emitting the all so familiar sounds. Eli heard 
her too: “Darling, can you make some coffee for both of us, there's 
some guy here who claims he's Uri Meir, but is much older." To me he 
said: "You really look a little bit like your dad.” We entered the 
living room. “Just a sec,” Aviva's voice came flying over the books and 
the heavy leather sofas. Two minutes later she came in, all smiles. For 
a brief moment I shut my eyes and saw her. Not Aviva, Shelly. How come 
I suddenly remembered her? I opened my eyes and kept with the 
conversation as if nothing unusual happened. “So, how is it there in 
the future?” Eli asked, and Aviva smiled quietly. “I'm not sure, here 
it's safer though.” “How do you mean?” I explained my idea to him, but 
he wasn't impressed. “OK, about Prime Minister Begin I can believe 
anything, and about finance minister Horvitz too. It is possible that 
they are going to change all our coinage within a month's time, and 
there is an advantage in the early warning you gave me, if I start 
collecting 1980 pounds now. But this isn't the real thing, right, you 
must tell us what happened with the stock exchange." “For the next 
two,three years you are fine. After that, chaos.” “Oh, this is a little 
bit much more interesting. What sort of chaos?” “There's going to be a 
war in Lebanon, the stock exchange is going to crash, people might even 
think the messiah is dead.” “Now you bring the messiah in? Perhaps 
you'd like some cold water?" I refused politely. “But carry on, how 
about South Africa? De Beers, you know?” “Yes.” I smiled to myself and 
explained all that happened with Nelson Mandela. I cursed myself for 
not having taken more courses about the Israeli economy, but we still 
managed to weave quite a good plan out of my memory threads and his 
thoughts. I knew he only had till 1996, after that I'll have to talk to 
Gaby. I suddenly realized I can't even recall the funeral, but how can 
I ever forget the Shiv'a, when this act of terror happened in Tel Aviv. 
After that, we really would get into big money, Gaby and I, 
unfortunately without Eli, but go figure how to tell him that. Back to 
the present. We still had three and a half weeks, and it wasn't much 
time. The Agora coin with a defective ear of grain, Lucky I remembered. 
He immediately found an auction. It wasn't for the money, but for the 
principle – he won't let Horvitz screw him. I wondered what he's going 
to tell dad tomorrow night, but I trusted him. I slept in Gaby's room, 
since he was in the army. The next morning I woke up lazily and went to 
the kitchen to have something to eat. Of course, Aviva didn't ask any 
questions, and I knew where everything was. I was nice to her, and that 
had always been enough, even when I lived here in 1987, in seven year's 
time. It's a bit funny that, now as then, I'm without family. I went 
walking up Sea Lane Street. I had time to kill, and suddenly it hit me. 
Shelly again, I don't know why of all things it was the smell of the 
sea that reminded me of her. Perhaps it was the mastic tree, a shiver 
ran down my spine. They say there's no love like first love, and for me 
there really wasn't. There were girls prettier than her, but not like 
her. No one was prettier than her. Probably that cool wind, with the 
Friday morning smells of Haifa, managed to defreeze what I didn't know 
got frozen. An ancient sight as well has got its moment of creation, 
and I was near, time,wise and space,wise. When I did remember, it was 
already impossible to forget Shelly, the girls' scout leader. All of a 
sudden, after so many years, I remembered how wide she used to open her 
mouth when she laughed, I mean, for God's sake, when she is laughing. 
She's here, and if I want to, I can see her. Oh no, I can't even 
remember where she lives. Never mind, Haifa is not such a huge city, 
we're bound to meet in the end, and then... I didn't have a clue what 
then. Like a song. I wanted her so much as a kid. I was ten, she was 
seventeen. Then I grew up a little, and she grew up a lot. Up until age 
fourteen I was still hoping and she kept coming to scout activities 
even after she enlisted to the army. She was a freak of the scouts, 
oops, I forget, you would have said then that she was crazy about the 
scouts. Then she just disappeared. I never saw her again. As an adult I 
did search a little, they said she went abroad, wanted to become a 
singer. What could I have done as a kid? Then all had been lost, and no 
other girl has ever managed to capture my heart since. Strange. Does 
this mean I actually waited for her all these years? Am I such a 
romantic fool? Tomorrow, if only there is some scouts activity, I shall 
see her. I hummed an old tune to myself and walked down Sea Lane Street 
back to Eli's and Aviva's house. Our situation was never better, at 
least strategically. There'll be some compromises, but not too painful 
ones. The time I spent at their place passed quite pleasurably, the 
same as when I was a kid, meaning to say I read books and every once in 
a while took something to munch from the kitchen. It was funny 
listening to mom and dad arriving in the evening, talking like two kids 
who just got married. I wanted to go and say hello, but then remembered 
that time is a complex thing, so why play with it. I don't really want 
to meet dad when he's younger than me. Don't want to fight him. I sure 
don't want to meet mom at that age, I well remember what happened to 
Lazarus Long. I went on reading without disturbing them. When Aviva 
went to bed she said I was right. I read a bit more and went to sleep. 
A long walk awaits me the next morning, and then I shall see Shelly. 
10:00 am, How great, how frightening, and I believed I was no longer 
afraid of her. From quite afar I could already hear the kids' voices, 
and see in my imagination the various shades of khaki, the yellow and 
green ties and the crooked lines ready for the morning drills. I wasn't 
worried in case I would be asked what I was doing there, since I easily 
passed as someone my father's age. I also didn't worry about meeting 
myself. Myself at ten had such fixed habits that I would find it very 
easy to slip away from him, it wasn't really much of a challenge. And 
then, as I was walking down a path decorated by fresh chrysanthema not 
yet in blossom, I saw her. I froze, as if time stood still. People 
believe that time erases imperfections, but in this case memory had 
just muted her beauty. Now, with spring not even in full swing, she 
took my breath away. I felt weak and dizzy. I remembered taking a deep 
breath. Even though I tried, I couldn't smell her, just the mastic tree 
and some false yellowheads. The tiny raindrops that decorated her 
reddish hair sparkled with golden rays of light back at me. Down that 
riverbed the sea splashed bright and clear, and I wanted to walk there 
with her. But, like then, I was speechless, and she simply didn't see 
me. I saw my younger self from afar, walking clumsily, surrounded with 
friends despite my being overweight, chatting with Zachi (a pang in my 
heart) about the Nimzo,Indian opening in chess, staring at Shelly out 
of the corner of my eye. My younger self would have never dared stand 
there like this, right in the middle of the path. At least on that 
account I improved a little. She didn't notice me, while she talked 
with Haim. I recalled how in a month's time they will start going out 
together. Even now, as I was listening to her then, I could hear her 
voice becoming dreamy as she spoke to him, of him. I realized she's 
lost for me, now maybe more than then. That then was happening now, she 
was here with me, yet still she wasn't. I went down to the dry 
riverbed. I remembered the usual place for the girl scouts' activities 
and found a nearby tree behind which I could hide and listen to her. It 
worked. Among the melange of voices of the silly girls from my class I 
heard her quiet alto, against which my heart did the Rumba. I'm no 
great expert on dancing, but I can swear it was the Rumba. Only when 
the scout activity ended did I realize how lost I was. My steps took me 
back to Eli and Aviva's house. I knew that within a month I'll be rich, 
and then richer still. I should wait till she is separated from Haim, 
and in the meantime just plan ahead. Planning was always my strong 
side. I remained with Eli and Aviva a couple of weeks more, and then 
Albert and Nira helped me find a small apartment in nearby Ein Hod. 
Naturally, everyone agreed to keep “my little visit” – that's how we 
all referred to it, secret from my parents, from me, from my sister 
Tali, and also from Yair and Micha, my then best friends. There was no 
choice. And who are my best friends now? Each Tuesday and Saturday I 
watched Shelly from afar. I took walks in the riverbed and wrote poems. 
At last, after all those dreary translations I was in the right mood 
for poetry, and with such a muse it was no great surprise. Two months 
later I found out that I was right. She did separate from Haim, and I 
was on that footpath once again. The chrysanthemums started to blossom, 
the anemones had withered a long time ago, and there was Shelly. “Hi.” 
“Hi, do I know you?” “It depends.” “What?” “Do you read science 
fiction?” “I have a subscription for the “Fantasia 2000” magazine, 
why?” “Because you know me – but as a ten,year,old kid.” “Hold on, you 
are Uri, right?” “Wow, how did you guess?” “I'm good with such riddles, 
time travel paradoxes. Just for the record, you are a really sweet 
boy." “Thanks. I think.” “Right, I have to go to the scout activity.” 
“OK, perhaps I'll be back next week." “Do come.” She smiled and I 
thought I was going to faint. Luckily she walked fast and so couldn't 
see this. Now I need to be careful, Very careful and very patient. 
Shelly won't be mine at least till the end of this decade, but I'll 
meet her a lot, if I'm careful and smart, perhaps even once a week. 
Maybe we'll find some common topics to talk about. I went to buy 
“Fantasia 2000.” My current idea was a bit complicated. There was a 
price to pay and much technical detail. I wanted to consult with 
someone, and so found a quiet moment with Eli. “What do you think of 
the Smoke of Time?” I asked, a bit hesitantly. “Uri, what's up with 
you? You suddenly decided to become a poet?” “What if I did? You think 
I should stay around this year?” “Do you have a choice?” “Not for the 
next twenty seven years, but what then?” “Then you decide! Not more 
complicated than deciding what's going to happen in two minutes' time!” 
he said hoarsely, and didn't even realize how right he was about 
himself. I'm a slightly different character, and had other ideas, more 
appropriate for me. A few weeks later things started to clear up. 
Shelly continued smiling for me, occasionally, and both of us waited, 
our hearts beating hard, for the new issue of Fantasia 2000. She 
started to believe I was part of her future, but I wasn't sure whether 
that was a game she played, or if she really believed that. In any 
case, I couldn't yet tell her about the Iranian nuclear bomb. Patience. 
Eventually I'll have money, and knowledge, and even some poems. Perhaps 
they'll be published. I didn't know whether this was going to work. But 
poetry is all that matters, if I'm not mistaken. I shall build us a 
safe home, away from the Iranian bomb, away from Ayatollah Khomeini, 
who will eventually die, much later than everyone expected. I don't 
have to worry any more about the future which starts at 2007, and I am 
familiar with all the future till then. We could always return here 
together, to this quiet, peaceful place, to our childhood paradise, if 
we only enter time and time again, at the right moment, into the Smoke 
of Time. 


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