How have you been?

I have missed you so much Dad

I have missed you Victor

My departure was very sudden and in a way I was glad that you did not fully understand my final illness

What do you remember?

Well mummy said that you were very ill and the angels might take you to heaven if you did not recover

And then you died

Mummy said you were in heaven and very happy

I suppose you are wondering why I am here

Mummy is still quite well

But I do not see as much of her as I should

You are in trouble Victor

Where have you been?

You can probably guess the answer to that question

Suspended

In a way

Did you really die in 1963?

Physically yes I was stricken by a deadly disease

Do you not remember how tired I was during our Blue Anchor Holiday?

I was too young to remember that

I said I had worked too hard

You have broken one of greatest rules of time

I know

And in thirty-eight minutes you will be destroyed as time implodes around you

That was the price I had to pay for Viola

She is dust in space you did nothing

I did something

Is that why you are here?

To witness my destruction

No

I have come to help you

I am beyond help

I know you are

But do you think that time will recognise your face as it crushes you

Let me put it this way if you chain an enemy of yours to the base of a swimming pool do you think that the incoming water recognises the man that it will drown?

Time is abstraction

Time has no memory

If you light a match in a gas filled house

You will die in the resulting explosion

But the gas like time is abstract

If you did not light a match and opened the windows then the gas would dissipate harmlessly into the air

What are you saying to me?

In just over half an hour I will swop places with you

You will sit in the back of the car and I will sit in the driver’s seat

I will be crushed

I cannot let you do that

I am your father

All fathers are willing to die for their children

There is nothing strange in that

In the fifty-four years since I died I have just been suspended

I thought I would travel l time as you have done

But no I have been in time-suspension

I thought it might have been my illness

But it was not

I was flawed

And like a withering flower I was left to droop and die as I had done when I was alive

But in time you do not die

You are suspended

How did you return?

Just because I was in limbo it did not mean that I was not aware of what was happening

I have followed you and Viola since the day I drew my last breath

When she became diseased

I watched you in the little shed at Blue Anchor Railway Station

You are such a brave boy Victor

I was so proud to have you as my son

But before we exchange I have a story to tell you

Please do not interrupt me as time as you appreciate is short

I will listen to you father

This will be a little hard for me as I have never lied to you

Please go ahead

Well in the olden days there was Peter and Margaret and little Victor

This little family always took their holidays on the Somerset coast where Peter grew up

They were an unremarkable family

But at the same time they were the most unique family on earth

Mummy told you that you would not have any brothers or sisters because she had problems down there

You were so young that it probably did not register

But we had to tell you nonetheless

That was not the truth

You had had a brother and a sister born in 1951

What!

Please Victor please do not interrupt

Mummy gave birth to twins in the April of 1951

But these were very strange twins

They were conjoined

Siamese twins if you like

Well we were not prepared for this and we arranged for them to be taken into care

Do you not remember that mummy and I used to go away every two weeks to see poor Aunt Mavis?

Aunt Mavis died in 1955

We were visiting the twins in their home in Sussex

Mummy and I were going to tell you when you reached an age but this would have made so sense to you at a young age

You thought Viola was you cousin

She is in fact is your sister

Victor/Viola can you not see the connection?

And then it all went wrong

In 1961 I leaned that I was suffering from a time disease just like Viola

I had to retire from work and that is why you spent so many holidays at Blue Anchor during that period

People supposed I had a terminal disease as I was a heavy smoker

But that was just a screen

But here is the awful part of my story

I infected Viola during one of my visits and it became vital that she and her brother were separated

In the 1960s this was more or less unheard of

So I did what you did

I altered time

But did it not work well

Yes I did not visit the twins on that fateful weekend

But I still infected her

I did not cause a time warp as when you saved Beryl from drowning

As yours was a one off 

But it was very strong

 

I had visited the twins with mummy on a great number of occasions so my time warp was not that apparent

This said it is likely to be the reason for my suspension

My punishment

Although time does not exist as an entity

Technically I cannot be punished

It is like placing you hand into a flame

It will burn your flesh

The laws of time dictate that

But it will not burn you for being foolish

Time is the same

2×2 will always make 4 within time

The answer will never be 5

That is the law

But the answer can sometimes be 5

You Victor have recreated the mathematics

5 was now the answer

Very few do it

I did not

My time-flaw was insignificant

Yours sadly was very serious

We have six minutes now

A perfect number

That will give me time to complete my story

When we are within one minute of the time-warp then we will change seats

6

Here is the final part of the story

When I heard that Viola had become infected I knew that separation was the only answer

So did mummy

So we arranged for a time separation

In the autumn of 1963 there was serious fire at the Sussex home

Two patients died

The conjoined twins died in each other’s arms

All very dramatic but it was a smokescreen

Our story even made the papers

A father with a terminal disease has in his last days had to the suffer the tragic deaths of his conjoined twins

But this was all a smokescreen

5

The burial was a sham

We used weighted bags to simulate as both Viola and you were being separated

Me!

Please do not interrupt

Time is short

You were not born in 1954 but in 1951 and Viola as you must gather is your twin

Why do you think that she haunts your living memory?

But her brother wants to harm her

I have nothing but love for Viola

It is like two yolks in an egg?

Good Victor and Bad Victor

Basically you want to rescue and destroy Viola at the same time

You are the same person

I have seen her brother

4

But have you touched him?

Yes the stationmaster placed his hand on my head when I was crying at at the station in 1962

The stationmaster was only the host

Beryl was Viola’s host for over fifty years

You can touch a host

Both you and Viola have identical scars under your ribs

Have you never thought about these imperfections?

Yes but she said that she accidently set me alight when camping and that we received our scars at the time

Those were your scars of separation

3

There is so much more to say and now we have less than three minutes

When we exchange seats we must do so twenty-eight seconds before the event

Twenty-eight is a perfect number

This will give you an advantage

I do not know whether you will be able to rescue Viola but my sacrifice may help you

But before you find Viola you must defeat yourself

I cannot give you any advice

You may fail and Victor will consume what is left of Viola

She will be no more

Not even dust in space

But then again you might succeed

And give Viola life

2

We have less than two minutes now please prepare to change seats

I will tell you when

But I have one last thing to tell you

And to some extent this is the most tragic

Your mother died when giving birth to you in 1951

But she is alive

I saw her last week

Your mother is Beryl Quail     

But she ran the campsite shop

That was a total smokescreen

Beryl Quail was your pseudo mother

I buried your mother in 1951

But what about the Olympics and all the fame

A smokescreen dear boy

So you are saying that Viola used her mother as a host for over fifty years

Exactly

But Viola looked totally different from mummy

You saw what you wanted to see in Viola

I do not know what Viola looks like

Or if she has an image at all

1

Be brave as we are within the last minute together

Please leave the car when I ask you to and when I give the signal take my place in the back seat

50

Just remember the good times

We good times we had together before I went away

What a happy family we were

40

Those Blue Anchor holidays

Oh Those Blue Anchor holidays

35

What happy days they were

33

Please leave your seat now

30

We are in position 

Goodbye Victor and Good Luck

28

Nothing happened

There was no great flash of light

My father just glowed pink for a semi-second and disappeared

0

I waited for a few minutes and then left the car and walked as fast as I could into Bristol City Centre

My head was spinning

I knew I had to return to Blue Anchor

The answer lay there

I was not sure what my next move would be or indeed if I could move freely in time again

Would I risk my father’s suspension?

If I did move would I be able to rescue Viola?

I could not answer these questions

As I walked towards Temple Meads I could see a pinkish glow in the sky although it was quite late

Most people thought it was just the reflection of the street lights on the low cloud

But I knew who was there

You may have won this time Victor

You were always Daddy’s favourite

But I am coming after you and when I have consumed you I will consume Viola

She is my sister as well as yours  

 

To be continued