Revelation

I decided to walk home. Well, back to the demolished house that may or may not have been mine. As I walked down along a better footpath than usual, I tried to work what my situation was. This was 2006, but it wasn’t the 2006 from before. The Shifter took me somewhere, and then I handed over antiseptic to someone who had been waiting impatiently for my arrival in…wherever. My legs were sore. There were two dead people in the backyard of my, the – whatever – house. I didn’t know if my mother was alive. The holder had destroyed my home. The science lab at school had been secured electrically, and a fire extinguisher had exploded. I’d picked up a microscope on the instruction of an arrow that was now leading me down the street that was cleaner than I remember-

That was it. I stopped in the middle of the street.
Cleaner. Better.
I suddenly understood what I was doing, and sank to my knees.

I shook with brutal, terrifying panic.

I’d travelled back in time to the 1700s, and I’d interfered. I'd given the man something from MY TIME. I'd returned back to 2006, but it wasn’t the same 2006 as before. I’d changed history by bringing antiseptic back before it was invented. That’s why everything was cleaner. By taking a new technology back in time, I’d accelerated the progression of the human race.

‘Shit,’ I stammered. ‘Shit, shit, shit. Oh God.’