Chapter 1

The divorce ended amicably. Sharon and I remained on speaking terms and all. However, I wasn't pleased when she told me that she was moving back to Richmond, near her parents. It would mean less time with my kids. I thought about trying for a court injunction, but I understood that having free babysitting (Sharon's parents) would help both of us out. And I like Sharon's parents. They had sent me Omaha steaks for Christmas this past year, even though I was in the process of no longer being their son in-law. The kids would be in good hands, and I'll just have to make the most of the time that I have the kids.

Of course, I was pretty much wiped out financially. The sale of the house didn't net much for me. I let Sharon take a bigger chunk of the money in order to get a decent house in Richmond in a decent school system.

But the small two-bedroom condo on the outskirts of Akron that I had was very quiet and lonely. I didn't go out much. I was afraid that I'd turn into an alcoholic or something if I went out too much. So, I stayed in for the most part and chatted on IRC and worked on my bonsai trees.

I hadn't really made many friends here in Akron. Sharon and I had only moved here about 2 years ago, due to my promotion from my employer, a major tire manufacturer (what else is there in Akron?). Sharon hadn't made too many friends, either — so I really couldn't fault her for wanting to get the hell out of here, especially since the winters can be so brutal.

I thought about going out, dating, etc. But I guess I was kind of grieving that my marriage had fallen apart. While I wouldn't have minded some physical contact with a female, I wasn't sure I wanted to deal with anybody else's baggage right now.

I wasn't a total antisocial loner, however. I don't want you to get me wrong. I'd go to lunch with co-workers, and about once a week I'd go to the bars with a few of my colleagues for happy hour. I just left before everyone else.

And there was Lisa, my closest friend from work. She was going through a divorce as well, and so we compared horror stories about lawyers a lot. She had season tickets to the Indians, and on several occasions took me as her "date" to the game.

I think she might have been attracted to me. I'm bad at reading body language and stuff. But it did seem that our relationship had changed slightly after that first baseball game that she took me to. Like she was resigned to the fact that I was "just a friend" or something.

Anyway, that's the state of where I was in my life when I met Kenneth. 33 years old, living alone, and officially divorced for six months.

Kenneth scared the shit out of me.

It was July, and I had just had the kids for two weeks. I had driven them back to Richmond, and had turned around and driven right back. I was going on about 5 hours of sleep in about 48 hours. I was tired, and needed a shower in the worst way.

It was 11:30 in the evening when I finally pulled into my garage. I went into the condo and...

There was a big burly man, about 40, sitting on my couch, watching TV. My heart leaped, and he stood up and started talking fast, trying to calm me down.

"Don't be scared. I'm sorry to have intruded. If you can give me a second I'll try to explain. I don't mean you any harm and I'm not a burglar or anything," he said, or something along those lines.

I pulled out my cell, my heart racing, and stammered to the intruder, "Make it quick, or I'm calling 911."

He took a deep breath and said, "You won't believe me, but I hope you'll try to. My name is Kenneth Hackshaw, son of Josh Hackshaw. Grandson of Rod Hackshaw. I'm your grandson."

I looked at him as my brain tried to process what he said. "Right, buddy. Try again," was all I could muster to say. The guy was older than me. And Josh was only 6 years old.

"I know you're not going to believe me, and I don't have a lot of time to try to explain. If you have a seat, I'll tell you my story, and then I'll leave. No harm done. Please?"

While the guy was much bigger than me, he seemed too earnest for my approval that I complied. Maybe if I did what he said, he'd leave without incident. I sat down. "Okay. Explain how in the hell I could be your grandfather."

He sat across the room from me, on the lazy boy, and said, "Okay. This will sound to fantastic to be true, but I hope to give you something to prove what I'm about to say. But let's start. I'm Kenneth, and at this point in my life, I'm 42 years old, from the year 2071. I've concocted a sort of time-machine that allows me to go to a moment in time for about 45 minutes."

"Okay..." I said to the crazy man.

"Nobody knows about this machine, and I'm afraid of what will happen if anyone else figures out how to break the time barrier. Anyway. You were always my favorite relative. You had given me all of your sci-fi books when I was a child. And it was from you, introducing me to the likes of Phillip K. Dick and William Gibson that I became a quantum physicist. And I have to say, it's really great to see you young and healthy."

I murmured an "uh-huh..." as I listened to my 'grandson' tell his story. I certainly didn't expect this whacked-out tale from an intruder in my house.

"Anyway, I've only got about 11 minutes left before I'm gonna be zapped back to 2071. And I won't be able to come back, because I'm not sure about the health effects of time-travel. I came to you now, because I'm in a bit of a pickle in my time. Legal trouble. And I thought you'd be my best chance at helping me."

Fat chance, I thought.

"I sort of ... what am I saying, 'sort of?' I manufactured contraband robots, and the FBI is about to bust me. I need to get rid of the evidence, and hopefully, get something in return to help me pay my legal bills. I came here now, because I knew that within the next two weeks, you were going to sell your old comic books, and I'm hoping to maybe make a trade for them. I know that you only got about $100 for the comics, and I'm hoping that you'll recognize that what I'm offering for them is much more valuable."