10th july 2003
from H.G.Wells' wastebasket

The machine was at last ready for use, and he settled into its padded seat and passed his hands over the controls.
'First, the future, by Jove!' and he twisted the dial to take him a few years hence.
His first perception was one of a tremendous pain in his joints and muscles; his next, that his vision was blurring and dimming. He slumped in the seat, almost unable to lift his head. With a great effort, he moved the dial back to its original setting, and normality was restored.
After some thought, he decided to try travel into the past, but was again disappointed when he found he was becoming too short in the leg to reach the controls; lest he be trapped in infanthood, he returned to the present.

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