The Time Machine

Past, Present and Future In story books, there is a power that will allow you to travel back in time. See the things that no one else has seen; give knowledge and take it in return. This power always comes with a caveat, and it almost always backfires. It is the topic of Mina's favorite stories. As she has aged, ten years old now, and been allowed to grow beyond her father's influence, she has discovered passions of her own. Time, oddly enough, is one of these passions. Clocks and watches are a part of it. Mina loves nothing more than to take them apart and piece them back together, figuring out what makes the gears turn, and how they match up with the slow passing of the sun. They have moved three times since leaving their country home, and each time has put them some place a little better. There are still cardboard boxes spread out around their newest home in the city when Mina comes over to Shaba, who is sitting in a chair and mending her daughter's skirt. She is stitching pockets onto the inside of it as well, for all the watches and bits and bobs that a child might want to carry around. Different, Shaba thinks, from stitching your coin pouch to your skirts and yet somehow still the same. "Maa," says Mina. "Where did your necklace come from? I want one for my dolls." Shaba laughs. She ties off the thread and sits the skirt aside, then hefts her daughter up into her lap. "We will make your dolls necklaces of pearl white beads. How does that sound?" Mina thinks on it for a moment and then nods her head agreeably. "Okay, maa! But I still want to know where your necklace is from! I've never seen you take it off." "It is very important to me," says Shaba. "And so, I keep it on at all times, in case I might need it." Mina purses her little lips together and cocks her head to the side. She's growing out her hair and it falls in rivulets over her shoulders. "How can you need a necklace?" "This is a very special necklace," says Shaba. "It comes from some place far away and has more use to it than just making your mother look pretty." "What does it do?" Mina asks, and then she gives a gasp of childish delight. "Oh! Does it have magic powers? Can you use it to travel through time?"