The Time Travelers Mistake

I was the lucky one. Somehow I had made it all of the way through the screening process to become the world's first time traveler. The decision had been made not because of any special qualifications that I had, but because of one simple fact. Everyone felt that I would be the most careful about not doing anything that could change our present time while I was in the past.

There was big argument over what time period I should go to. Should I just go a few days into the past, or should I go back millions of years. The decision was made that I would do both. I would first go back a few days, just for a test run. If all went well with the test run, then I would go back millions of years to see what out planet had really came from.

Many precautions were taken for my first excursion into the past. I was placed in isolation for three days, in a place that I did not know the location. This was so I would not be tempted to interact with myself, and change things in anyway. As I came out of isolation, I was given a full medical exam, and when I passed that, I began to prepare for my trip. I said goodbye to all of my friends, just in case something happened, and went on my way. I was saddened by the fact that my wife was not there, but she had came down with the flu while I was in isolation, and no pathogens could be allowed into the area while I was in it.

The trip a few days into the past went well. When I arrived in the past, all of the scientist around, the media that had been made aware of out test run, and myself all celebrated the world's first time travel. I stayed a short time, and then I went back to my time, where the celebration was still underway. The test run was now over. It would soon be time for my foray into the distant past.

For the second trip into the past, I was given much equipment to test the ways of our world in it's infancy. I once again stepped into the time machine, and into the past I went. I took many pictures, pulled out all of the equipment so they could run their tests. I looked around in personal wonder, and made sure to take my personal notes, and then I prepared to return to my time. As I finished packing the time machine and was fixing to go back to my time, something irritated my nose, and I sneezed. Must be allergic to something here in the past I thought as I closed the door and pushed the button to get back to my time....

MILLIONS OF YEARS LATER

The alien ship went to scout the third planet in this unknown system, it looked like the one planet that might be able to sustain life. A good atmosphere, plenty of water, and plant life, but no animal life had evolved here. The aliens were confused by this, until a probe sent back information from the planets surface. It seemed as if bacterial life flourished before animal life did here. Specifically, a very strong form of influenza looked as if it had millions of years to mutate on the surface of the unknown world. Too bad thought the aliens as they flew off, it would have been a nice place to live had the animals had only been around before the bacteria.