Glitch?

Professor Jenkins increased the voltage to the left dipole inhibitor.

“Easy now,” he thought as the miniature black hole formed in the cloud chamber. Micro-detritus began to vibrate, moving towards the newly formed singularity.

“Ding Dong!”

“Damn it!” he said to his cat, Heisenberg, sitting atop the home-fusion reactor.

He swung the front door open to find his neighbor, Bo, or something like that, staring back at him.

“What’s that?” Bo asked pointing at the contraption sitting at the curb in front of the house. A sign reading “Free” taped to its side.

“It’s a time machine,” said the professor. “You can have it. I don’t want anything to do with it.”

“Ya don’t say,” Bo offered understandingly. “What’s wrong with it?”

“Nothing. It works perfectly,” the professor said, at first insulted. Then, a bit quieter, “But it may have a small glitch.”

“You see, every time I go back in time, I change something. I know they say never do that but, nothing ventured, nothing gained. However, when I return to the present time, everything is the same as when I left. Watch.”

The professor went to the machine at the curb and threw a few switches. In an instant, he found himself in a volcanic field before the formation of life on Earth. He picked up a chunk of humus and tossed it a few feet to the left. A moment later, he was back in the present; Bo standing there with his mouth agape.

“Holy cow, professor. One moment you were there, then you were gone and then you were there again. Did you time travel”

“Take this away. It’s all yours.” Jenkins said.

He returned to his lab. Heisenberg was still sitting on the fusion reactor, waiting for him. Such a good dog.

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