First Day

Reginald Walker adjusts his tie in the rearview mirror while smiling from ear to ear. Reggie, as his friends call him, the few he has left anyways, tries to remember the last time he felt happy or excited, but he cannot. Depression has severely crippled his last few years. He looks down at the three fingers on his left hand and tries to scratch the two that are missing but immediately stops.

“Damn itching,” Reggie mumbles then straightens himself out, checking his collar in the mirror. “New day, new job, new me. I can do this,” Reggie convinces himself as he takes a deep breath and exits the car.

Reggie makes his way into the airport and finds his supervisor Larry Colter.

“You are really early Walker,” Larry comments.

“If you’re on time you’re late,” Reggie responds.

Larry laughs, “that sounds like military mentality. But your shift won’t start until the briefing so you’re early for no good reason.”

Reggie shrugs and looks at the ground.

“Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate your enthusiasm,” Larry reassures him, “how about you just walk around for a little, get to know the airport?”

“Okay.”

“Okay, I’ll see you at the briefing.”

Larry and Reggie give each other a friendly nod then part ways. Reggie makes his way up to the terminal and starts walking around. The sun has not yet risen and there are only a few people about. Reggie approaches a coffee shop and waits patiently at the counter while Nia, the lone employee, is working below the counter. She stands up and gasps when she sees Reggie, putting her hand over her heart.

“I’m Sorry,” Reggie apologies, “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s okay,” Nia says, “you just caught me off guard. What can I get you?”

“May I have a large regular coffee please?”

“Simple order,” Nia grabs a cup and starts to fill it.

“I like simple things,” Reggie smiles.

“This pot just finished brewing.”

“Sounds like good timing.”

“You sure you don’t want the new cinnamon roll espresso macchiato?”

Reggie leans in, “I don’t even know what that is.”

They both laugh. “It’s basically liquid candy with a heavy dose of caffeine,” Nia explains as she hands him his coffee.

“Sounds frightening, I’ll stick to the old fashioned stuff.”

“$3.00”

Reggie puts down a five dollar bill and smiles, “keep the change.” Passengers are disembarking from a flight and quickly fill up the area. Reggie thanks Nia then moves out of the way as a line starts up behind him.

“Definitely good timing,” Reggie whispers to himself. He observes the passengers as he walks, looking for anything suspicious. He passes the gate where the plane just landed and notices a small brown box on the floor by the window. He looks around to see if someone just briefly set it down, but all the passengers are walking away from the gate. Reggie stiffens as he stares back at the box. He feels his two missing fingers start to itch as he thinks about the suspicious package that took those fingers after it exploded during his last tour in Iraq. He closely examines the box while keeping his distance, looking for any indication of what it might be. As his eyes focus, he thinks he’s looking at a large book. Unsure of himself, he gets on his two way radio.

“Colter this is Walker, over” Reggie says.

“Yeah, what’s up?” Larry responds.

“I’ve got a suspicious package, over” Reggie tells him.

“Wow your first day technically didn’t even start yet, you’re really getting the jump on things. Okay, describe it to me and leave out the overs.”

“I’m at gate 28 on concourse A. There’s a small brown package over by the window. I think it might be a textbook.”

“A textbook?” Larry asks.

“Yes, I can see what I think are white pages. Do you know how kids use to wrap their textbooks in those brown grocery paper bags?”

“Yeah, I’m old, I remember that.”

“Well, it looks like that. A large textbook wrapped in a brown paper grocery bag.”

“Does it look wet or are there any wires?”

“No, there’s nothing extra suspicious, just the package itself.”

Two more gates have planes land, and the passengers start to quickly fill up the area.

“What’s your suggestion,” Larry asks, “do you want to go see if it’s a book or should we send the robot?”

Reggie looks around at growing number of people. “I don’t want to cause a panic. I think it’s just a book. I’ll go over and look.”

“Are you sure?”

Reggie looks at his hand, “if anyone is going to be cautious here, it’s me.”

“Okay, go for it, I’m standing by.”

Reggie takes a deep breathe while staring down the package. He sets his coffee down and slowly makes his way to the package. He walks up to it, examining it form side to side the whole way. He stops right in front of it and gets back on the radio.

“Hey, I’m standing right next to it, it definitely looks like a textbook.”

“Did you pick it up?”

“No, not yet. Wanted to make sure first.”

“Look, to be honest, we pick up suspicious items all the time. Most people only call it in if there’s something bad inside or else they just take it to the lost and found.”

“You’re right, I’m probably being overcautious.”

“Being cautious is good, but if it’s just a book...”

“Yeah, okay, I’m picking it up.”

Reggie reaches down and grabs the book. He feels the edge of the hardcover and runs his finger over the outside of the pages. Finally confident it is just a book; he lifts it off the floor and stands up. Instantly he is holding the book in the middle of a field. The airport is no longer there, nor is the highway. He looks towards the river and sees that the bridge is gone. He turns again towards downtown and instead of a skyline sees only a few wooden houses off in the distance.

Reggie becomes nervous and starts to sweat. “What is happening? This can’t be real!”

Reggie stumbles through the field towards the houses. He stops when he sees people riding on a horse drawn carriage some distance away. He stares in disbelief as he realizes his city is no longer there. Reggie looks down at the book still in his hands. He opens it up to the first page, revealing the title, How to Travel Through Time.

“Oh no,” Reggie gasps.