The Importance of a Good Breakfast
12. Peace and quiet. For now.
Smelling salts are nasty things, probably among the most hideous smelling objects on the face of the planet. James had nearly passed out when he become curious and taken a huge whiff of them when he was in elementary school. They had the opposite effect on him this time, causing him to bolt straight up and smack heads with Mel.
Twenty minutes later Ruds had managed to drag another package of smelling salts over to wake up both of them. Groggily they sat up, rubbing their heads. Large bumps had swollen up on both of their foreheads where they had connected. “Mel,” came James’ weak voice. “Is there any way I could convince you to just kill me now?” This elicited a small chuckle from his friend.
Slowly she rose to her feet and sat down heavily in the pilot’s seat. The main viewer had gone dark once they had landed. Mel leaned forward and cleared it, giving them a view of the outside world. Large trees surrounded the time ship, and sunlight filtered down to the ground in small patches. There was little sign of wildlife, but that wasn’t much of a surprise, given how skittish wildlife was around new things, especially new things that popped out of thin air. About the only movement came from the branches of a tree directly in front of them, where a pair of squirrels were having a competition to see who could scold this new item the loudest.
James watched as Mel picked up the pamphlet and flipped through it, stopping a couple times to read a section more closely. Finally she rose to her feet. “C’mon,” she said, walking to the back of the main bridge. “Let’s get ourselves patched up, and then maybe we can figure out what exactly we are going to do about, well, everything.” She led him down a passageway to a small room.
The room had a few different computer displays on the walls, which were painted what was supposed to be a soothing green colour. There was a bed against the far wall and some cupboards were on the wall to the left. It was enough for James to figure out that this was obviously the medical bay. He went and leaned on the bed as Mel walked over to the cupboards and started rooting through them. His arm was throbbing, and so was his head. That, along with a still slightly nauseous stomach, made him a rather unhappy individual.
Triumphantly Mel pulled out a small cylinder shaped object with blinking lights on it. “This should do the trick,” she said before pressing it against her forehead. The swelling immediately lessened, as did the redness. She walked over to James. “Hold still, this might sting a little.”
“Sting?” was all James had time to say before she pressed it against his arm. He cringed, but all he felt was a pleasing warmth spread through his arm. And then it felt like someone had grabbed his arm and pulled it off. A second later, everything was fine. Gingerly he moved his arm around and felt no pain whatsoever, except for a small bit of tightness which simply came from not having moved his arm in a while. Quickly he reached up and stopped Mel from touching that thing to his head. “Does it feel like that every time?” he asked warily.
Mel simply shook her head. “I don’t really know,” she said. “I’ve only been injured once. Now quit being a baby. This will help in the long run.”
“Well, at least let me do it to myself.” Taking the cylinder, he pressed it against his head. This time the warmth spread through his head without the accompanying pain. Apparently the first dose was the painful one, and after that your body could handle it. He gave the cylinder back to Mel, who put it back in the cupboard.
Silently they walked back down the corridor to another room. This one had a couple tables set up and a long counter. Behind the counter there were a couple heating elements, as well as a sink. The walls were painted a garish green colour. Come to think of it, thought James, pretty much all the walls in this particular time ship are a green colour. I wonder if we can change that. Get a little variety.
They walked behind the counter and through a small swinging door. A small kitchen with food preparation areas, as well as a small cooler was arranged in a rather efficient manner. The cooler was found to be well stocked, and soon a meal was prepared. Taking their food, they went outside and sat on a log. As they ate, they discussed their next move.
“Where are we, exactly,” said James, looking around cautiously. It had been Mel’s idea to go outside, and that is where they had ended up despite James’ wishes. He just wasn’t sure how safe it was out here.
With a smile, Mel breathed in deeply. “We are in northern Saskatchewan.”
“Ska-what-a-wha?”
“Saskatchewan. It’s a province in Canada. My dad brought our family up here last year, to a cabin near a small town called Ile-a-la-Crosse. The fishing was awesome, and the scenery was about the nicest I’ve seen anywhere. I thought it would be a nice quiet place where we could rest for a bit and get our bearings.” She took another bite of her meal. “And we’re back far enough in time that we don’t have to worry about many people around here. Maybe some Native American tribes, but I don’t think that will be a problem. We’re buried pretty far back in the bush.”
James looked around appreciatively, his fear somewhat mollified. It was rather nice here, with luscious vegetation that was brilliantly coloured. The wildlife was slowly returning to normal. More squirrels ran around the branches of the trees, chasing each other from branch to branch, making death defying leaps to neighbouring trees. Every once in a while they would stop to stare at the two teenagers sitting in their territory, but there seemed to be little threat there, so they would carry on in their little games. Insects buzzed lazily around, leaving the two humans alone. James even spotted a few ducks flying overhead, only to be surprised by an eagle swooping into their midst. The eagle gave a cry and flew away while the ducks squawked noisily to themselves, flying away rapidly. James chuckled to himself. Stupid ducks.
“Okay,” said Mel finally. “What exactly are we going to do?” She looked at James expectantly.
“That’s a really tough question to answer. We need to get more information somehow, because we really don’t know very much. Let’s see what we do know.
“First, I am apparently the saviour of the world. Second, we have to travel through time and fix something, or more than one thing. Third, um, actually, that’s about all that I’ve got. You?”
Mel thought for a bit before brightening. “Gordon mentioned once that the time machines came from the future where there was a secret organisation devoted to preventing time problems. I think he wanted us to go to them and get some information. Though I don’t know how much we can trust him.”
A shrug. “I guess all we can do is give it a try. My question is how are we supposed to keep ahead of Gordon. He obviously knows more than he was letting on, and he also didn’t supply us with much helpful information, plus he knows how all of this works. We’re flying blind.” He smiled cockily. “Fortunately, that seems to be my area of expertise.”
They finished their meal and headed back into the ship. Clouds were starting to build, it looked like a storm was about to hit. The squirrels watched as the ramp closed on the odd, wheel-less cart. A moment later, it winked out of existence. Two moments later, a lightening bolt struck where the ship had been, starting a fire. Fortunately, it had been rather damp, and the accompanying rain would quickly put the fire out.
The ducks sat huddled on the lake. General Quack barked out a few orders to his troops, and some words of encouragement. That eagle had nearly taken out the scouting party, but not before they had spotted their target. Of course, now the target had left again, but the tracking device they had planted would take them to wherever they needed to go. He ruffled his feathers, shaking the water from his back. It was time to report to the cows.
Twenty minutes later Ruds had managed to drag another package of smelling salts over to wake up both of them. Groggily they sat up, rubbing their heads. Large bumps had swollen up on both of their foreheads where they had connected. “Mel,” came James’ weak voice. “Is there any way I could convince you to just kill me now?” This elicited a small chuckle from his friend.
Slowly she rose to her feet and sat down heavily in the pilot’s seat. The main viewer had gone dark once they had landed. Mel leaned forward and cleared it, giving them a view of the outside world. Large trees surrounded the time ship, and sunlight filtered down to the ground in small patches. There was little sign of wildlife, but that wasn’t much of a surprise, given how skittish wildlife was around new things, especially new things that popped out of thin air. About the only movement came from the branches of a tree directly in front of them, where a pair of squirrels were having a competition to see who could scold this new item the loudest.
James watched as Mel picked up the pamphlet and flipped through it, stopping a couple times to read a section more closely. Finally she rose to her feet. “C’mon,” she said, walking to the back of the main bridge. “Let’s get ourselves patched up, and then maybe we can figure out what exactly we are going to do about, well, everything.” She led him down a passageway to a small room.
The room had a few different computer displays on the walls, which were painted what was supposed to be a soothing green colour. There was a bed against the far wall and some cupboards were on the wall to the left. It was enough for James to figure out that this was obviously the medical bay. He went and leaned on the bed as Mel walked over to the cupboards and started rooting through them. His arm was throbbing, and so was his head. That, along with a still slightly nauseous stomach, made him a rather unhappy individual.
Triumphantly Mel pulled out a small cylinder shaped object with blinking lights on it. “This should do the trick,” she said before pressing it against her forehead. The swelling immediately lessened, as did the redness. She walked over to James. “Hold still, this might sting a little.”
“Sting?” was all James had time to say before she pressed it against his arm. He cringed, but all he felt was a pleasing warmth spread through his arm. And then it felt like someone had grabbed his arm and pulled it off. A second later, everything was fine. Gingerly he moved his arm around and felt no pain whatsoever, except for a small bit of tightness which simply came from not having moved his arm in a while. Quickly he reached up and stopped Mel from touching that thing to his head. “Does it feel like that every time?” he asked warily.
Mel simply shook her head. “I don’t really know,” she said. “I’ve only been injured once. Now quit being a baby. This will help in the long run.”
“Well, at least let me do it to myself.” Taking the cylinder, he pressed it against his head. This time the warmth spread through his head without the accompanying pain. Apparently the first dose was the painful one, and after that your body could handle it. He gave the cylinder back to Mel, who put it back in the cupboard.
Silently they walked back down the corridor to another room. This one had a couple tables set up and a long counter. Behind the counter there were a couple heating elements, as well as a sink. The walls were painted a garish green colour. Come to think of it, thought James, pretty much all the walls in this particular time ship are a green colour. I wonder if we can change that. Get a little variety.
They walked behind the counter and through a small swinging door. A small kitchen with food preparation areas, as well as a small cooler was arranged in a rather efficient manner. The cooler was found to be well stocked, and soon a meal was prepared. Taking their food, they went outside and sat on a log. As they ate, they discussed their next move.
“Where are we, exactly,” said James, looking around cautiously. It had been Mel’s idea to go outside, and that is where they had ended up despite James’ wishes. He just wasn’t sure how safe it was out here.
With a smile, Mel breathed in deeply. “We are in northern Saskatchewan.”
“Ska-what-a-wha?”
“Saskatchewan. It’s a province in Canada. My dad brought our family up here last year, to a cabin near a small town called Ile-a-la-Crosse. The fishing was awesome, and the scenery was about the nicest I’ve seen anywhere. I thought it would be a nice quiet place where we could rest for a bit and get our bearings.” She took another bite of her meal. “And we’re back far enough in time that we don’t have to worry about many people around here. Maybe some Native American tribes, but I don’t think that will be a problem. We’re buried pretty far back in the bush.”
James looked around appreciatively, his fear somewhat mollified. It was rather nice here, with luscious vegetation that was brilliantly coloured. The wildlife was slowly returning to normal. More squirrels ran around the branches of the trees, chasing each other from branch to branch, making death defying leaps to neighbouring trees. Every once in a while they would stop to stare at the two teenagers sitting in their territory, but there seemed to be little threat there, so they would carry on in their little games. Insects buzzed lazily around, leaving the two humans alone. James even spotted a few ducks flying overhead, only to be surprised by an eagle swooping into their midst. The eagle gave a cry and flew away while the ducks squawked noisily to themselves, flying away rapidly. James chuckled to himself. Stupid ducks.
“Okay,” said Mel finally. “What exactly are we going to do?” She looked at James expectantly.
“That’s a really tough question to answer. We need to get more information somehow, because we really don’t know very much. Let’s see what we do know.
“First, I am apparently the saviour of the world. Second, we have to travel through time and fix something, or more than one thing. Third, um, actually, that’s about all that I’ve got. You?”
Mel thought for a bit before brightening. “Gordon mentioned once that the time machines came from the future where there was a secret organisation devoted to preventing time problems. I think he wanted us to go to them and get some information. Though I don’t know how much we can trust him.”
A shrug. “I guess all we can do is give it a try. My question is how are we supposed to keep ahead of Gordon. He obviously knows more than he was letting on, and he also didn’t supply us with much helpful information, plus he knows how all of this works. We’re flying blind.” He smiled cockily. “Fortunately, that seems to be my area of expertise.”
They finished their meal and headed back into the ship. Clouds were starting to build, it looked like a storm was about to hit. The squirrels watched as the ramp closed on the odd, wheel-less cart. A moment later, it winked out of existence. Two moments later, a lightening bolt struck where the ship had been, starting a fire. Fortunately, it had been rather damp, and the accompanying rain would quickly put the fire out.
The ducks sat huddled on the lake. General Quack barked out a few orders to his troops, and some words of encouragement. That eagle had nearly taken out the scouting party, but not before they had spotted their target. Of course, now the target had left again, but the tracking device they had planted would take them to wherever they needed to go. He ruffled his feathers, shaking the water from his back. It was time to report to the cows.
Holy cow! A restful day for our two intrepid time travellers. Will they be able to finish their task easily? Can they outwit the giant talking purple dinosaur. Does the future have any Cheerios? Perhaps we will find out in the next instalment of:
The Importance of a Good Breakfast.
Same Schlakenheisermandervorsonovichenburger time, same Schlakenheisermandervorsonovichenburger place!
The Importance of a Good Breakfast.
Same Schlakenheisermandervorsonovichenburger time, same Schlakenheisermandervorsonovichenburger place!
posted by Pants since 1986 @ 1:28 p.m.
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