August 9, 2010 - In Time

Prompt: Create a character that has an unusual phobia. Write a scene that causes that character to face his fear.

Source: writersdigest.com

Response: In Time

I glanced at the chicken soup cans. Who knew when a worm hole could open up on the soup aisle and you could get sucked into a time period when they didn't even have antibiotics?

I checked chicken soup off my list without putting any in my basket. Didn't want to risk it. What if I went back to 1950 and then contracted polio before Jonas Salk had a chance to discover the vaccine?

I was walking past the coffee beans when the lights began flickering and the ground began to shake. I dropped to the ground. I could feel the warp of time travel on my body and suddenly I was coughing and I could see blood on my hands.

I think I screamed. Tuberculosis! Much worse than polio!

The lights came back on and I ran to find a worker, leaving my groceries on the floor. What if I had gone back to before 1905 and there wasn't even a vaccine?

I came up to the girl. "What happened?" I asked.

She said. "It was a tremor. Oh, you've got a bloody nose, let me get you a tissue."

I held my nose and tried to breathe. I wondered what year it was. I wondered if the tremor had triggered time travel or if it had just been a tremor.