LIVING IN THE PAST
My name is Abigail Westminster. I am twenty-eight years old and live near Liverpool. I've been involved in academia my whole life. I received a bachelor's degree in history when I was fifteen. Since then, I have received Masters' degrees in Linguistics, Biology, Archaeology, and Zoology. I recently got my PhD in Anthropology. My thesis focused on the social customs of primitive tribes.
I was recently contacted by the renowned physicist Doctor Manfred Johannson. He contacted me by phone and told me he was very interested in my writings and wondered if I would visit him to discuss a possible collaboration on a project he was working on. I explained to him that I had no in-depth knowledge in Physics, but he told me my background would be perfect for his project.
So, I flew to Helsinki and met the doctor.
Ove tea, and after signing a non-disclosure agreement, he explained that he had successfully developed a method of time travel. He had tested it himself and had successfully traveled back as far as CE 30 to witness the birth of Christianity. He explained that he wanted to go back approximately 35,000 years to the rise of Homo Sapiens and document their culture. Unfortunately, his advanced age of ninety-two made it dangerous for him to make the trip himself. He felt that my academic interests were perfect for me to be the time traveler. At first I had a hard time believing him. We discussed it over the next few days.
Finally, with my interest peaked, he gave me a demonstration. Together we walked into a shimmering wall and emerged into the early twentieth century. I thought it must be some kind of trick. We spent a month in the year 1922. We had dressed appropriately for the period. I was very uncomfortable with the amount of undergarments that I wore and the restrictive nature of the outer clothing. And the antiquated treatment I was subjected to as a woman. We represented ourselves as a Professor and his granddaughter. I read various newspapers and travelled around and became convinced that I was indeed in the year 1922. Finally, we stepped into another shimmering wall, and emerged back in his laboratory. The clock next to the shimmering wall indicated we had been gone for a little over three minutes.
I was flabbergasted. He tried to explain to me how it worked, but it was beyond my comprehension. But he was giving me the opportunity to participate in the greatest journey in history. Of course, I agreed.
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So, we spent some time making our preparations. Manfred, which he insisted on me calling him, said he had programmed the field for what is now Northern France, the Normandy region. Since he had no idea what the appropriate dress was, I wore a simple black leather skirt and a purple blouse. In my backpack were several electronic scientific instruments along with a camera, tape recorder, digital video recorder and other items we thought might be useful. I had a supply of antibiotics, quinine, and other medical remedies. My task was to document the culture from anthropological, social, linguistic, biological, zoological and historical perspectives. On December 21, 2021 I stepped into the shimmer.
I emerged in a fern covered dale with a stream running through it. It was cold. The trees surrounding it were filled with raucous birds. At one point, I saw what I was sure was a huge mammoth lumbering near the tree line. And some large deer or elk. I tried to snap a picture but found the camera didn't work.
No sign of human life. I decide to follow the stream and see if I could find a village or something that indicated human presence. On the way, I tested all the equipment and found that none of it worked. The pack was heavy, so I discarded the useless devices. At one point, I had to cross the stream. My shoes got soaked so I sat on a rock and removed them. I had left my pack some thirty feet away.
And then he appeared. A clearly human figure. Tall and dressed in animal furs. What skin I could see was covered in matted hair. Even on his cheeks until just below his eyes. He was holding a wooden spear with a pointed rock on the end. And he stunk!
We looked at each other. I'm not sure who was more astonished. Then he came over and grabbed my hair and removed me from the rock. He pointed down the streamway. When I just stood there, he pushed me roughly and pointed again. I started walking barefoot, abandoning my backpack with all my supplies. I walked in front of him. At times when I slowed, he gave me a firm push in my backside with the spear.
We finally arrived at our destination -- a cave mouth set in a rock wall. I was pushed in and met with stares from a group. Eight other males and seventeen females by my count. The females were almost as hairy as the men. Their hair wasn't as thick and furry as the males, but their arms and legs were covered, although their faces were not. The females were huddled near the walls of the cavern, while the males sat around a fire near the mouth. Clearly a patriarchal society. Three of the females were obviously pregnant.
I was pushed towards the females. At first, they looked scared. And very suspicious. But soon they were inspecting me with curiosity They were enthralled by my blond hair and several tried to pull it out. There was not a blond in the group. And the stench was overwhelming.
They stripped my blouse and brassiere off. All the females were naked from the waist up. Then they went to work on my skirt. They hacked at it with some crude ivory knives until the ragged hem of it was only halfway down my thighs. My silk panties were removed. They were astonished again at how hairless I was. They tittered at my shaven pussy. Now barefoot, my breasts hanging out and wearing a skirt that a stripper would be proud of, I took my place with the other females. I tried in vain to be inconspicuous. At one time, the male who had found me came over and grunted. He pointed at himself and said 'Mok'. They were not very vocal, occasionally voicing some one-syllable guttural words. So much for linguistics. I decided if I spoke in sentences, they would return to being afraid and suspicious of me.
For three days I stayed with the females. I helped cook some small animals that resembled rabbits and squirrels and birds at the fire. The males took these when they were done and ate, with animal juice and grease trickling down their chins. Occasionally one of them would toss me and the other females the remnants. What was left on the bone was mostly charred gristle and sinew. The first day, I ignored the meal they had given me. On the second day my stomach was rumbling, and I ravenously gnawed at the bone and tore off the gristle and chewed it. Later that day, one of the men returned with a crude bowl full of squirming slugs. When I wouldn't eat it, the foraging male forced my mouth open and pushed one of the slugs into my mouth. He clamped my mouth shut and worked my jaw so that I was forced to chew it. Mok was watching and grunted his approval when I swallowed the treat.
I determined later that the slugs were a mild hallucinogenic. And maybe had some aphrodisiac qualities. The saliva in my mouth activated the chemicals. The longer the squirming slug was in my mouth, the more potent the effects. Not unusual for primitive tribes. Although the drugs were usually obtained from flora and not fauna.
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