The Book (standard:fantasy, 6472 words)
Author: Goodsharkey	Added: Aug 29 2003	Views/Reads: 4061/2673	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
This is a story about time travel and love..

Daniel sat on the crowded bus. The rain was pouring outside, so the
windows were completely steamed up. He wiped away some of the 
condensation so he could look out onto the dark street. Brightly lit 
shop windows called out to the wet shoppers like beacons. He loved the 
autumn with it's dark evenings. He loved to cuddle up with his wife on 
these dark evenings. In ten minutes he'd be home and he could cuddle up 
with her with a nice bottle of wine. He looked around the bus at his 
fellow passengers, all of them soaked to the skin. There was always 
that musty smell on a bus when it rained, as the seats get damper 
through the day. He looked down at the paper bag on his lap. In it was 
the book he'd just bought. An old book. He loved old books. He had 
quite a collection now. Some were first editions. With a little more 
time they might be worth something. This book was special because not 
only was it old but it was about meditation and dreams. He knew that 
Mandy loved reading about her dreams and she always wanted to have a go 
at yoga. With this book she could learn the art of meditation. The 
book, with it's battered leather bound exterior, had cost a little more 
than he would have liked, but as the subject matter would appeal to his 
wife he didn't feel so bad. The old guy on the stall, where Daniel had 
bought it, had said it was at least 100 years old. Written by a Tibetan 
monk. Daniel carefully opened it and looked at the faded, brown  pages. 
He tried to imagine the little monk writing his knowledge and wisdom 
down after a hard days meditating. I bet the little guy  never thought 
his life work would be being read on a busy bus on a cold wet autumn 
evening, he thought. He slid the book back into the paper bag. Soon 
he'd be at home curled up on the sofa opposite a blazing fire with 
Mandy and a glass of wine. 

Daniel had studied the book for a week now. It was full of thoughts and
ideas about life, dreams and death. The monk that wrote this certainly 
had time on his hands. Mandy had taken to the book as well. She had 
read the section on  meditation and every night had decided she would 
take a little time to try it. Daniel had managed to convince her it was 
a good buy that first night he'd brought it home. Obviously he hadn't 
told her the correct price he'd paid for it. He felt he should protect 
her from the truth. Not that he'd lied about it being expensive, but 
he'd just cushioned the blow a bit for her. After all, it wouldn't help 
her relaxation any if she'd got mad over the price. Now Daniel was 
engrossed in some notes that were hidden in the dreams section. It 
suggested that it was possible, if one was relaxed enough, to travel to 
a memory in your past. Not just to remember it, but re-live it. You had 
to be able to visualise being there, so the memory had to be detailed. 
You couldn't just think of a date on a calendar, but rather you had to 
see the point you wanted to return to in your mind almost like a 
photograph. Then there was an incantation to be repeated over and over 
until you reached the correct 'plateau', as the little monk had put it. 
Once you had successfully done this, apparently it was possible to 
return via your mind to that exact place and relive the moment actually 
in a physical sense. Daniel was fascinated and had always loved the 
idea of reliving some of his child hood moments. This would be perfect. 
He felt he had learnt enough from the meditation section to give it a 
go. However, the book had also mentioned that it was dangerous to stay 
in this state for long. So it was recommended that it should be endured 
for no longer than five minutes, especially to begin with. It wasn't 
clear what would happen after this time but it didn't seem to be good. 
Despite this he decided to try. Daniel lay on the bed with the book 
lying face down on his chest. He set his alarm clock to go off in ten 
minutes time, this would give him a few minutes to relax, then he 
placed it on top of his bedside unit, next to a black and white 
photograph of Mandy. He'd always loved that photo. Mandy was down 
stairs reading one of  her magazines. He loved Mandy's magazines, they 
were so informative. He always hoped he'd learn some inside information 
about women. It was like he shouldn't really be reading it, as if it 
was out of bounds. He closed his eyes and began to relax. He had learnt 
the incantation from the book and began repeating it again and again in 
his head, so that this was all he was concentrating on. Everything else 
faded from his mind. As soon as he felt a calm wash over his body he 
began to picture the place he wanted to return to. It was going to be a 
school day. He was eight years old. He'd always enjoyed being at school 
and for some reason, twenty years later he could still picture that 
particular moment in time. He slowly felt himself becoming totally 
relaxed. He mentally pictured the scene in his mind. That summer's day 
at school. That's where he wanted to be. He continued to repeat the 
incantation under his breath. His body felt heavier and heavier, almost 
as if he was sinking into his soft bed. Then he felt a jolt through his 


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