The Men Who Travelled Far Away
And witnessed the past
When I entered Professor Fleisher’s room, he wasn’t there. His chair was empty.
“Raj, I am here.” I turned around to see the Professor coming out of what I thought was a high-tech Porta-John.
“What is this?” I asked, pointing at the Porta-John looking machine.
“I have been experimenting with traveling faster than light. This machine makes it possible. It can take you light years away from Earth in an instant!”
“Wow!” I moved around the machine. “What’s that?” I asked, pointing at a large lens attached to the machine’s outer surface.
“That’s a space telescope. As you move light years away from Earth, you can point the telescope at Earth to see past events. You can look back in time.”
“I always wanted to witness Kennedy’s assassination,” I said.
“We need to travel 565 lightyears away from Earth to see that event. Hop on. Let’s go!”
We stepped inside the machine. The Professor entered the distance to travel and pressed GO. The machine came to life with a whir. After about five seconds, the sound died.
DESTINATION REACHED flashed on a small screen.
I pressed my face against the telescope’s eyepiece and adjusted the focus. What I saw took my breath away. Kennedy was being assassinated live before my eyes! I was catching the light from the assassination scene that left Earth 565 years ago!
We traveled further away and witnessed significant past events on Earth — the invention of flight, fall of the roman empire, the invention of agriculture, and many others.
I asked, “Can we see the Neanderthals?”
“Sure, why not?” Professor entered the distance and pressed GO. When we reached the destination, I didn’t see the Neanderthals, but...
I smiled. “Professor, I think you entered the wrong distance.”
“Why?”
“I can see the dinosaurs!”
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