Time and Tide
I boarded the cruise ship Nostalgia. At eighty I feel so tired, for the past fifty years my health has been in a declining spiral. Like me,everyone embark with one thought in mind,to recapture his or her youth.
In the year twenty-thirty,the branch of science called Oceanology discovered a correlation between high and low tides,the phases of the moon and time travel.
It was arrived at by a complex mathematical equation.
In simple terms the discovery was thus:
In certain parts of the world when a full moon and a low tide come together,you can go out with the tide and for every mile you go out,then immediately come back,you find yourself ten years in the past.
To come back to the present,you do the reverse of what you did to go to the past.
And so,here I am in twenty thirty-five boarding a cruise ship to the past,to the decade of the nineteen seventies when disco was king.
I went to the berth on the ship and the stewardess gave me a jab on my arm to put me under.
I put the key in the ignition and started the seven-ton truck. The truck vibrated as I moved along the cobbled back streets of Cricklewood.
At the roundabout of junction thirteen of the A34 and M4 I met a group of hitchhikers. Two girls and one boy about my age were standing on the side with a sign that said;
"Plymouth."
I braked to a stop,opened the door and they clambered in. They sat on the seat and the girl;a redhead leaned near the gear stick towards me.
"Do you mind if I switch the radio on?" she asked
"Go ahead." I replied
She turned the dial on the radio and the announcer said;
"Welcome to radio xyz,from today it's disco music week."
The music started and she swayed in her seat.
"Are you going to the disco tonight in Union Street,Plymouth?" she asked while seductively looking at me.
"Sure," I answered.
The disco music blasted from the radio,while we discussed the merits of music in society and different dance moves.
My passengers disembarked and we promised to meet up at the disco in union street.
I went inside the disco,strobe lights flickered here and there in the semi-darkened venue. I walked to the bar and my three friends greeted me with a little dance routine. W e bought our drinks and watched the dancers on the floor as they moved to the seductive beat of the music.
The redhead took my hand and said;
"Let's dance."
I followed her on the floor and we started to move. Our feet moved by its own volition as the spellbound jazzy rhythm washed over us. Our bodies moved in harmony as we glided stylishly on the dance floor.
Over the years,the number of our group increased by six. We meet up at the disco once a week for a chat,dance and just to have a laugh.
Me,I don't do the London to Plymouth run anymore. It came to an end one day. Let me tell you about that day.
I was leaving Plymouth to go to London whe I picked up a girl hitchhiker. We were driving past Plympton when she switched the radio on.
A song came on and to my dying day I will remember the first seven words.
The woman singing the song started to sing;
"Memories,memories.
Oh,memories.
Take me back."
The girl leaned towards me to switch off the radio.
"Leave it on," I said.
The haunting melody caught me unawares.
Then I realised that I am young and strong again.
I laughed.
"Yippee!" I screamed
"I know you!" I said to the girl.
She turned towards me and started to speak.
"It's time to come back," whispered the stewardess in my ear.
"No! I cried. I want to go back there again."
"Don't hanker after the past," said the stewardess.
"I am eighty and my days are coming to an end. I don't want to die!" I sobbed.
"Listen, she said. Does the tree worry about losing its leaves and dying in the winter months? Of course not. It knows that it will be re-born in the spring. Take a leaf,so to speak,from the tree and realise that when you pass away from this mortal realm,it will only be a phase,the life cycle of mortal man.
So enjoy what you have today. No matter how bitter or sweet,the only time for you is now." 24258210
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