The Curl

"He reached in and pulled out the rose. It had rotted in a matter of seconds, or so it seemed. The once lush, green stem had bent inward, drooping in his hand, and the red petals had mostly fallen off, save for a few that looked almost the color of dried blood. Peter's eyes stung with its beauty."

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Well...huh.

That was an interesting read, for sure. A little unsure what the goal was. So, is he stuck in a timeloop forever then? Has he condemned to killing himself over and over?

If that's so, what exactly is the moral of the story? What's the lesson?

Still, all in all, a thoughtful read. Um...it's an odd article to see here though. Did I miss out on what this week's Escapist theme is?

RentCavalier:
Well...huh.

That was an interesting read, for sure. A little unsure what the goal was. So, is he stuck in a timeloop forever then? Has he condemned to killing himself over and over?

If that's so, what exactly is the moral of the story? What's the lesson?

Still, all in all, a thoughtful read. Um...it's an odd article to see here though. Did I miss out on what this week's Escapist theme is?

Fiction.

And it's a great story, in my humble opinion.

I enjoyed the story, well written, kudos, etc.

What I don't get: the flower, which as I understand it, was placed "inside" the device, was subjected to a week's worth of time, in the instant of the device's activation. When Dr. Izof entered the device, had he recalibrated it to lock time relative to the interior of the device, and roll it in the opposite direction?

I find it somewhat ironic that I had deja vu in the midst of reading this. Once again, it was a well-chosen subject put into an equally well-written format. It kept me hooked, at least.

Thanks for the compliments, I'm very proud of the story.

RentCavalier:
If that's so, what exactly is the moral of the story? What's the lesson?

Must everything have a moral? If you really want one, take your pick: "man should not tamper..." or perhaps it's more human, about loss and taking the completely wrong way to deal with it. Whatever you get from it, really. ;-)

Geoffrey42:
I enjoyed the story, well written, kudos, etc.

What I don't get: the flower, which as I understand it, was placed "inside" the device, was subjected to a week's worth of time, in the instant of the device's activation. When Dr. Izof entered the device, had he recalibrated it to lock time relative to the interior of the device, and roll it in the opposite direction?

Not precisely. The flower was sent back in time a week, so that the flower was already in the box for a week when he went to open it.

Very good story.
Reminiscent of PKD's "A Little Something for Us Tempunauts."

righthanded:
Very good story.
Reminiscent of PKD's "A Little Something for Us Tempunauts."

Thank you. And I haven't read that story, but Wikipedia gave me a summary, and there appear to be similar elements.

Tom_Rhodes:
Not precisely. The flower was sent back in time a week, so that the flower was already in the box for a week when he went to open it.

The joys of time travel. That answers my one question, and opens so many more... for example, if the flower had been there the whole week, wouldn't Tiffany have seen the old one there when she put the new one in? The other aspect being... if Dr. Izof was transported back in time many years, to a point where the facility doesn't even exist, then he either displaced, or replaced, whatever had been in that space prior to his arrival in it. I guess we don't know from the story, but did they put the table and box in the room a week in advance, so that it didn't just appear to their past selves? And if so, when the table was sent back in time, did it replace the table from a week ago with its aged self? Were that to be the case, I would never, ever step inside that space, for fear that a later someone might send something back at a bad time, and replace my heart with a lab rat. Which brings up even more entertaining possibilities where someone 50 years ago just happened to be hiking through the desert, and suddenly dropped dead, because their brain now contained a timer. Imagine the autopsy!

Yar, matey. Yes, time travel has problems. I actually do have logical explanations for all of those things, but...meh...typing...

Excellent read, thanks very much!
Well done on not making things too complicated too, most time travel stories get a bit heavy on the brain.