text: (This was originally a comment I left in the r/WritingPrompts thread. Wanted to share it here!) \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ &#x200B; It was a Sunday and I always hated Sundays. I hated them more these days, or should I say *those* days, because I'd usually sit and binge watch some sci-fi show on Netflix with a beautiful Chai Latte ordered straight to my door from the Starbucks down the road. But in the 1800s, there was no Starbucks. I'd finally done it. Invented time travel. I was 1 out of 8 Billion people who knew that it was incredibly possible. But it was too bad that I was stranded in Victorian England. Being the first person to develop time travel wasn't as amazing as I thought it would be. It turns out, travelling through time is easy. Travelling back, well... that's a bit more complicated. I arrived here two weeks ago. I tried to go back, trust me, I really did, but as soon as I realised it was a success, I took the time to have a victory nap (three all nighters in row can do that to you) and when I woke up, the machine was damaged. Parts were missing and it looked like it had blown up. I did everything I could to fix it, but the parts I needed didn't even exist here and I didn't understand why it had malfunctioned. My adventure to 1800s London was unwillingly extended. I was walking along the streets now, wearing a gothic garment I had managed to find in the street. It was slightly tattered and dirty, but it was clean enough and considering the time period, I'm sure I fit in better than when I arrived here in my System of a Down tee and black skinny jeans. The jeans alone would have got me in trouble just for being a woman. There was piss and shit every step I walked. The streets were uncomfortably busy. Beggars poured out of every walk way and rich noblemen strut highly on their horses. I couldn't have felt more out of place if I tried. The only remnants I had from my 2010s life was my doc martins that hid underneath the long skirt of this tattered dress. The longer I stayed here, the more depressed I felt. All of my family and friends were probably so worried. I wonder if the police were looking for me? None of them had any idea I wasn't even in the same *time* as them anymore, let alone the same place. I could be standing in a spot the cops are looking for me right this second, but because I'm 200 years behind them, they'll never see me. I felt doomed. Hopeless and the more time went on, the more angry I felt. How could I have been so stupid? I was an engineer! I was a smart person, a rational person. How could I have so arrogantly trapped myself time surfing? I was careful not to mutter anything too loud. The streets were so packed. A few people had given me strange looks as I was passing as well. Attention was *not* what I wanted here. When I eventually get back to my time, at least my acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize will be excellent comedy material. I was looking for objects I could use for the time machine repairs. I had studied how different parts do different things and I was sure that even if I found the base ingredients, I would get myself out of here. I couldn't vote, I was jobless and I had no suitor. This time was not *my* time. I had already acquired some of the things I needed, but the more 'modern' stuff, I just couldn't find anywhere. As I turned down one of the bustling streets in to a wide lane, I heard something that totally broke my focus. I could hear someone humming. Normal I suppose, there wasn't a great deal to do in this time, humming was probably as commonplace as checking your phone. But something about the tune really startled me. I walked slowly towards the humming. There was a window at ground level that was open. There was no one actually in the lane with me, so the sound had to be coming from this building. I ducked down so I wouldn't be seen and carried on listening. I recognised this melody too well, but I couldn't put my finger on it. It was an eerie tune, but there was something about it that really reminded me of space and the heavens. "*Aaaah- aaaaaaaaah"* The voice continued to hum. That's when my brain finally clicked. Without even thinking, I started singing the words really quietly. *"Because the world is round it turns me on...."* My voice was nothing more than a whisper for the first few lines, but as the song continued, I was ready to make myself known to the person humming. *"Love is old, love is newLove is all, love is you...."* And then the humming stopped. There was a brief silence and then the sound of footsteps. "Whoever is outside my window, I suggest you show yourself right now or I'll blow a whole in the wall." Without even hesitating, I stood up and a man slightly older than myself stood on the other side of the window, a revolver in hand, pointing at me. I held my hands up and started stammering "I-I-I I'm not going to hurt you. I just have a question. I-I-I *know* this song really w-well, it's o-one of my fave..." He fired the revolver above my head and I screamed. "PLEASE DON'T KILL ME. I JUST RECOGNISED THE SONG." He walked over to me on the opposite side of the window. Completely silent. He looked me up and down and even poked his head out of the window to literally look me up and down from head to toe. When his eyes got to my feet, he started bellowing so loudly, instead of comforting me, it scared me. "You're a *looooooong* way from home Doc." He slapped his knee through his laughter. My face flushed red, slightly embarrassed. "H-how do you know that?!" I asked. "Well for a start, Doc was meant to be in pun to Docs on your feet. They don't even exist until after the second War. The World War. So let's cut to the chase little girl, how did you get here? To this *time?*" "I'm not a little girl." I muttered. The man laughed again. "Only little girls get stuck when time travelling. When it comes to this field, you are but a child, Otherwise, you wouldn't still be here would you? You wouldn't be stuck." "H-how do you know all th-" The man laughed again, all he seemed to do was make fun of me. "I-I created a device that allowed me to travel back, but its fried. Parts are gone. The things I need to fix it I cant find." I clenched my fist, feeling my own disappointment again. He stopped laughing by this point and his expression returned to serious. He lowered his gun finally and sighed. "I should have known really. Of course it was too good to be true." He said as he walked away from the window and in to another room. I stood awkwardly outside the window, unsure what to do. I just stared into the window and the space he once stood in. \**click!\** Next to the window, a door unlocked and was opened and his head popped out from behind it. "Come in. We need to talk." I hesitated for a second, but entered regardless and he led me back into the room, this time I was on the other side of the window. He carried on walking through it into another room, but paused as we stood outside. "Before we go in here, I need you to understand that it wasn't anything personal. It was the first time I'd seen a TT machine in 6 years. I have been stuck here that long. I felt a glimmer of hope, but my judgement was clouded. I think fate brought us together and now I intend to honour that." I remained silent, mainly because I was confused by what he said. But 6 years stuck here? That's hard to hear from anyone. The door opened and I gasped. Inside, was a machine that looked almost identical to the one I had made. There were parts scattered all over the room, in fact, very *certain* parts... "MY PARTS!!!!?????!" I screamed. The guy looked to the floor in shame.