Jim was playing with rocks in the garden when his father entered the house and said

"Jim don't you have anything better to do then to play with rocks?"

"Yes father I do."

"Then go inside and do something useful."

With that Jim went inside the house. Jim was terrified by his father. His father was a very strict man. He was a man in his mid thirties, with crew cut hairs and a clean shave and a stern face, he was a retired lieutenent from the army. A man of discipline.

One night when Jim woke up to drink the water he thought he heard something from his parent's room so he sneaked up to the door and through a crack in the door he peeked in the room. His father had a whip in his hand and his mother was bent over the bed. His father said to her

"I asked for was a glass of milk with almonds not with the cashew nuts. This will teach you a lesson not to forget next time."

And hit her with the whip on the back. Seeing this Jim went hurried back to his room and strated sobbing. The next morning when he woke up and went to see her mother in the kitchen he saw that she had a swollen eye and red patched around her wrists. He didn't hug her though because that would hurt her wounds on her back. He asked his mother

"Mother why don't you leave daddy? Let's go away from here please."

His mother smiled faintly put her hand in Jim's hairs and resumed cooking. His father from his study called

"Jim come here."

"Yes father."

"Your teacher from school called she said your test results are in, you scored 16 out of 20."

"Is that bad father?"

"Bad? It is worse is this what we send you to school for? Come closer."

With trembling steps and face turned down he went closer to his father. He made himself ready for a slap but his father grabbed him from the ears and lifted him up. He screamed from pain but his father didn't let go.

Some years later when he was 13 years old. One morning his mother was out to run some errands. Jim was playing in the courtyard on the swing that his mother had tied to a branch the night before. He heard a shout

"Jim where are you come here at once."

It was his father. He was in the study with a glass of wine in his hand. He said

"Jim tell me have you finished your homework?"

"No father, but I was abo. . ."

"Close the door."

Jim froze at his place fear creeping on him.

"JIM DO I HAVE TO CLOSE THE DOOR MYSELF?"

Jim was trembling with fear, tears on the edge of his eyes but somehow he couldn't move a muscle.

"alright then." His father rose and closed the door.

A faint voice of Jim squeaking could be heard for about half an hour. Then everything was quite.

That night his father went to his room at his bedtime and said

"If you tell a soul what happened today remember I will feed you to the hounds."

This went on for a few years whenever Jim made a mistake his father would call him in the study when his mom would go out. He never dared say this to anyone. Whenever he felt angry he would punch the wall and cry alone.

The sessions in the study stopped when he was almost 17 . Then one night he decided to run away from the house so that night he slowly crawled out of the window and dropped on the ground and ran away. But the nightmares stayed with him. He had insomnia. He stopped punching the wall only to replace it with cutting his wrists just to check if he's alive or not.

A few years passed by now he was a mathematics professor at a University. He was earning a very handsome income and had a very caring wife. But still the nightmares from his childhood haunted him.

His wife often asked him

"You know Jim you don't have to suffer alone through this."

"Thanks Val but the things I faced a child are not worth talking about. My father trated me very badly."

"Ok take your time but if you want to talk to somebody I'am around. Now take your medications and go to sleep."

He woke his wife in the night and said

"Val I need to let these things out."

"Ok."

"You see when I was a child My father abused me. . . He sexually abused me. . . I. . I hav. . ."

And Jim started crying

"I am sorry Jim. No one should suffer through that. He was a monster."

"Yes I hate him for that. Every day of life I wish I never had a father. He wasn't always like that though. He changed when he returned from the war when I was about 12 years old. Before that I admired him he was my hero."

At that moment his mobile buzzed he looked at it. It was a video.

"Witness the world's first time machine. The scientists at Minnesota have finally did what once seemed an impossible dream. Come and see the past and the future exist in the present."

He stared the screen for a while and a smile came on his face, then he went to sleep. That night he slept the best sleep he ever slept. The next morning he skipped his job and went to Minnesota. There was a mob outside the center. After waiting for one and a half hour Jim went inside. The host spoke

"This ladies and gentlemen is a time machine."

Someone from the crowd yelled

"How do we believe you? How can you show us it works."

The host said

"We will need someone for that. So who wants to test it?"

And Jim went up to him and said "I would try it." The host told Jim about what button does what and how to set the time. He told him to set the time to 10 minutes in the past. As Jim did it some lights flickered and the machine started rattling and vanished. Just to appear 10 minutes in the past. Jim saw himself in the crowd and was completely surprised like the other people in the crowd.

When the show was over and everybody began to leave Jim sneaked in the room where the time machine was and set it to 25 years past in time. The machine strated lights flickered white lines appeared outside the window and brought him to the past. He was in front of his parent's house. A big mansion facing a garden with a fountain. He took a big breath went in the house slowly to his father's room beside him. He took out the knife and started stabbing him until he had emptied all his anger. As he began to leave he saw that his 10 years younger self had witnessed all of this so he hurried back to the machine and went back in his time.

2

Little Jim saw his father die right in from of his eyes. His father was his hero. He wanted to become like him. Before he could see the face of the killer, the killer got away. Jim burst out crying. He locked himself in a room and didn't came out for days. He didn't even ate any food. He decided that he will avenge his father's death.

Years passed Jim was became a scientist at Minnesota. His anger for his father's killer increased. But still he had no clue as to who killed his father. He searched everywhere but he failed.

One day his partner came to him and said

"Jim I have a brilliant idea with both our minds combined we could do it."

"Do what Chris?"

"Jim let's build a time machine."

"Are you sure we can make it. Many have tried and failed."

"Oh Jim come on there's Nothing that brain of yours can't solve. I know we can do it."

"Fine then."

So they began working on the time machine. Almost 5 years passed and after many failed attempts and many upgrades they finally made the time machine.

"It's ready Jim how should we test it?"

"let's step into it."

"But what time should we go to?"

"Let's go to the time of world war 2."

They went in the machine and set te time and date. The machine's lights started flickering and the machine started rattling and after a while all went silent.

"Did it work Jim?."

"Only one way to find out."

As they stepped out they saw that people were roaming in the streets and pamphlets were fluttering in the wind. As they were taking this all in they saw up in the sky far a plane dropped something and after a few seconds there was a blast. Seeing this they hurried back to the machine to their own time.

"We did it Jim. We did it. We made the World's first time machine. Jim where are you lost?"

Jim had a blank look his eyes looking distantly at something. Then his face lit up and he said

"Yes we did indeed. You must be tired go home and take some rest. I'll close the lab when I'll leave."

"Yes I am a bit tired, I am going but don't stay for too long big day tomorrow."

With this Chris left. As he did Jim began collecting the papers lying around . He then stepped in the time machine and set the time and date on the night his father died. A few moments later he was in the lawn on his parent's house. He saw his father through the window preparing to sleep. A few seconds passed and the atmosphere changed there was a sound and soon another time machine appeared there. As the door opened the other Jim came out. Now both the Jims were face to face with each other completely surprised as to what is happening. Before they could react the main gate of the house opened and their father came out with a shotgun in his hand. A second passed followed by a loud bang.

THE END