Tim's Links

[Tim]

Important

Rex and Hannah Chronicles Wikia

Charmed Reset Reality

Charmed Destined

Alexander Palace Time Machine


My profile on FanFiction.net

[Tim]

Others

Doctor Who Ratings Guide

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Garfield Website

Space: 1999 Fan Fiction Site

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Amazon.ca

Gwinevere Rain's Wiccan/Pagan Site

Mystery Theatre Radio Show

I found this site a few weeks ago. It has the old Mystery Theatre Radio shows on them. Thirty years ago, one of my local radio stations ran it late at night, I was hooked. It was nice to find these shows and hear them again.

One of my favourites was a story called A Long Way From Home, based on a story by Ambrose Bierce.

Set in 1862, it told the story of a young man in the Union Army, during the Civil War (we never learn his name). During a heated battle in Tennessee, he turns and flees (leaving his mortally wounded best friend behind). However, he is hit in the back of the head and passes out.

He briefly wakes in a hospital, before blacking out again.

The next thing he knows, he finds himself on a country road, with no idea how he got there or even where he is. He meets a local doctor, from a nearby hospital, and finds out he's still in Tennessee. When he asks the doctor where his unit is, the doctor asks him how old he is. When he says he's 19, the doctor cryptically replies "Yes, that would be about right."

Getting nowhere with the doctor, the protagonist heads for the nearest town. Along the way, he meets a few other people, but their answers to his questions only further confuses him.

Finally, when he gets to into town, he sees a gathering of townspeople. A U.S. Senator is giving a speech, commemorating the very battle the protagonist fought in. Confused, the protagonist heads towards the stage where the Senator is speaking, hoping to get some answers at last. Before he can get there, he slips on a patch of mud (it had rained the night before). He heads up staring into a puddle, at his reflection. To his horror, the face of an old man is staring back at him. He then realizes that decades have passed, that he cannot remember, and dies of a heart attack.

The closing dialogue reveals the year is now 1927, sixty-five years after the battle. Apparently, the protagonists head wound induced a condition in which he could not retain short term memories (Drew Barrymore's character in the movie, 50 First Dates, had the same condition, due to a vehicular accident). He could remember everything up to the time he got wounded, but all memories afterword would quickly fade.

This story haunted me for years afterword. Can you imagine losing all those decades. It's no wonder the shock killed the poor fellow (he was 84, after all, and he still thought he was 19).

Check it out when you can.

[Tim]

Fantasy & Science Fiction

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