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