Autumn Term: Time Travel
This term our Journalists have been flying through time to bring your unusual and surprising stories.
The Truth Kills
By
Robert Ebner-Statt 8WB
He examined the immaculate
carvings in the machine’s side before blowing off a layer of dust that had made
its home there. He flicked a switch and stared in awe as the metal pod came to
life, wondering where in time to travel to first. The man exclaimed “Take me to
the day I get married” and stared hopefully at the space around him, yet his
face fell when nothing appeared to have happened. He peeked round the doorway
to the bustling school corridor yet nothing had changed, everything was as it
had been before.
The man
took his seat in the silver chair once more and said “Take me to my first
child’s barmitzvah”, another scene in time he longed to see, but still there
was no hum of machinery or flash of light and to his dismay when he surveyed
the corridor the same children were playing, everything was the same. The man’s
cheeks turned red and rage consumed him, had he done all those things for this
– a piece of junk.
The man kicked the pod aggressively, so much so that a dent
formed but lights started flashing in the bulbs. A smile appeared on the
gentleman’s face as he took his seat for the third time.
“Take me to the day I die.” This time sound
erupted from the machine, the bulbs started spinning and changing colour. A
flash of light then swarmed around the room and the man had to cover his eyes.
Cautiously he got up and looked into the corridor, yet there they were, the
same children. Nothing had changed. The man’s cheeks turned red once more as he
jumped on top of the pod, breaking the glass and most of its contents. Then a
woman appeared from the shadows brandishing a revolver and screamed “What have
you done to the time machine I made?” The man replied “It didn’t work.”
Time Travel to the Chanukah Story
By
Aaron Jaffe 7BH
If I had the lucky chance to visit one time period, I would
love to visit when the Jews had the festival of Chanukah. The location was
found somewhere near Babylon, but ruled by Greece. The Jews lived in these sort
of comfy but not the best caves where they would secretly learn Torah and spin
Dreidels (spinning tops). I admire the braveness of these wonderful people,
including the Maccabees. I would have loved to join and be part of the search
for the missing oil.
Let’s picture me, it’s Chanukah and I’m just about to
receive a present as I’m writing this now. This present is beautifully wrapped
in blue and gold decked with silver dreidels. I tear open the paper to find
another box with no signal of what it could be. I rip open the box with full
energy and see a pair of black and white Virtual Reality Goggles. I get them
opened and working and then type into my phone ‘Chanukah’. It came up with
102,000 results. The top one was in the eyes of Yehudah Maccabee. The third one
however, sparked my attention; it was titled “The Hanukkah Story from the Life
of a Caveman Jew.” I clicked on it and slid in my goggles, fascinated to see
what this person had made out of a technology project.
I was immediately put
into a telephone box, normal like one on the streets of London. Then it started
to twist into a mountainous area. The area was sparsely populated, but after we
rose over the mountains a huge amount of caves were to be seen. The telephone
box landed heavily at the entrance of a cave. The cave belonged to no other
than Yehudah Maccabee, who welcomed me to his tent. He taught me everything I
needed to know like when to learn Torah, and how to hear properly when the
Greeks were coming. I also properly learned the game of Dreidel, which
surprisingly had passages of Torah on them so whilst the Jews would play they
could read their Torah. I left the cave and thanked all of the caring and kind
people who were in the tent at this time. I still couldn’t believe that all of
this was on a VR box.
I left and walked around the village until I found a cave
that said “Aaron Jaffe and Guests.” I entered and went to check out this cave.
There was a lovely table which had a secret compartment where they hid Torah,
Chumashim and more. Thanks to the Maccabees, I knew how everything worked. I
opened up a cup to find a whole selection of different dreidels all with a line
or even a paragraph of Torah on them. Suddenly, I heard the secret sign and
took out my dreidel and started to spin it round and round. The Greeks were
getting closer by the second. Then I heard them reach next door. I stayed
confident and the general took one look and went away to the next cave. I
sighed a breath of relief, but made sure only when they had passed by every
single cave to whip out the Torah and start reading again. Lunch was latkes,
typical that we eat them on Chanukah as well. Then, everybody got into war
clothes, and I found out that I had missed all the fights and this was the last
fight between the Ancient Hellenist Greeks and the Jews. If the Jews won, we
would retain our land and go back to the Beit HaMikdash. I was chosen to be not
at the very front but not at the very back. Somewhere in the middle, I found
the first Greek to fight with, whipped out my shield and cut him right in the
leg. I took out a couple more, and then started to move to the front row where
I fought the main generals. I was so close, and managed to kill about 50, but
then we realised everyone was dead and the small group ran in big excitement to
the Beit HaMikdash.
We spent hours recovering the place and was on the search
for a bottle of olive oil. Suddenly out of the corner of my eye, under a sink
lay a bottle of oil. I shouted at someone to examine the oil, and it was indeed
a kosher sealed bottle of oil. The bottle would only last for one day, so
everyone worried. By the time it ran out, there would be no olive oil. We lit the
Menorah, in hope and G-d gave us a huge present, a candle lit for eight days. I
was congratulated by Yehudah when my phone buzzed. The video had ended and I
received an achievement on the app for coming this far. To receive this much
information in detail from a Virtual Reality game was just incredible and as I
took of my goggles, I came back to reality where my family was gathering to
light the Chanukiah and sing Maoz Tsur.
Victorian Adventure
By Amelia Kay -7ZG
We
have all fantasised what it would be like to time travel, to live as Cleopatra
or to be in a Roman Garrison. I have just taken part in a brand-new travel
experience. No more planes, no more long lines at passport control. Instead
travel in style with the company ‘Travel time limited’.
I
arrived at ‘Travel time LTD’ company’s building. They gave me coffee, a
luxuriously rich chocolate biscuit and a change of Victorian clothes and said
that the tour would begin in 10 minutes. I started off with a simple tour
around the house I would be staying for the day and a half. They showed me the
larder and where the food was kept. Much to my surprise, there was no fridge or
freezer so I would have to go shopping for fresh food and hope for the best
that the food does not go off and I don’t get food poisoning from it when I eat
it! Then they showed me where I would be sleeping. Again, I was surprised to
see what looked like a normal bed, only to find out when I sat down, it was a
lumpy, straw mattress. I have no clue how they got to sleep at night in the Victorian
times (I guess they just got used to it after a while). The toilets were
probably the most disgusting thing that was in the house. Once you were done
with your business you had to empty out all the nasty excrement you have left
behind. I couldn’t believe my eyes; a little metal basket was supposed to be a
bath. You had to fill it up half way to not waste any water, and then you were
given the dirty and torn piece of cloth to wash my face with. Room service was
non-existent so I had to go to the market. This holiday is self-catering taken
to the extreme.
Then
I was taken to go have a look at the market where I would be doing my shopping.
It was just 2 little stalls and the rest was delivered to my house. One stall
was for meat, another fruit and vegetable. No souvenir stand to be seen. I got
taken back to the house to get going straight away with my Victorian
experience. The first thing I did was start to cook dinner. I was given a whole
Victorian cook book for recipes. One of the main courses were ‘Suet pastry
filled with tender steak and kidney in a rich gravy’ which obviously sounded
satisfying to me, and for dessert ‘bread and butter pudding’. I started cooking
and there was a bit of a disaster in the kitchen and we ended up eating
nothing, so I would not recommend the food mainly because there was none!
Next thing we did was go right to bed and again I did
not get sleep. The bed was so
uncomfortable; it was like it had needles sticking out of the cover. So, I
would not recommend getting a Victorian mattress EVER! I got up and dressed
made breakfast which was not the best but better than last night. We had a full
English breakfast with ‘Eggs, vegetarian sausages and toast’. I then had to go
to the market to get some more butter, beef, sugar and tomatoes. Before we
started I was given 5 shillings and was told to spend them wisely. I must say
the market was fantastic and I enjoyed that experience so I would recommend the
Victorian market. Once I got back home I had to start preparing the lunch,
Cottage Soup which was the most disgusting thing I had ever tasted in my life
and I would not recommend this to absolutely anyone. Nobody should ever have to
eat that filth.
So
over all it was an interesting experience to see and feel what it would have
been like in those times and I would recommend if you would want to know what
it was like but I would not recommend the food. If you can afford the deluxe
package that includes a Butler and chef then I would take it.
The Carousel
By Ilana Long
7ZM
Lying in my beautifully made coffin, I lay in pure silence waiting
for night to fall so I could finally go for my dead night walk with the
girls. The second the sun disappeared
over the ageing gates, I didn’t get the new old energy I was waiting for -no-
instead I was suddenly overwhelmed with a powerful need to sleep. My head
started to spin and with it my body fell back into the coffin, except I didn’t.
I was falling and spinning through a maze of mirrors and as I
reached the bottom I saw a blinding light, then covering my eyes I entered the
Carousel. It was just like the carousel that made me like this, the same eerie
atmosphere and place where time and life stopped for me. I didn’t go on the
ride, the worst and last mistake of my first life so this time I did. I sat
down on the cold horse and the ride lurched into the air with an ear-splitting
screech. The ride went faster and faster and faster until the fairground
disappeared and when I finally opened my eyes I wasn’t dead or on the carousel
but in Trowbridge walking down the street with my mother and brother. My dad
left us at this age, so I hated living there when I was little. As we walked
down the road I saw a man proposing to a gorgeous girl and I couldn’t help but
smile, then as we crossed the road I saw a child running up to his parents
after school and I wondered “how did I miss out on all of this joy when I was
young?”.
In the blink of an eye I was back on the carousel and spinning
higher and higher until I felt like I would fly off the carousel, but I didn’t
except the white light came back. This time I was on the Alps and I felt like I
was freezing to death (bad joke) even though just up ahead of me was this
fairy-like village. When I entered the village, I saw this huge party in the
middle of the town where everyone was dancing and having an amazing time
whereas I was there muttering and shivering all the time saying, “why didn’t I
take part in all the experiences that I was offered!”. Out of the corner of my
eye I saw this light coming back for me and this time I welcomed it with open
arms. Back on the carousel I hardly noticed how the carousel slowly was
decreasing behind me until the horse started galloping forward and before I
knew it I was riding this bright white horse through a never-ending world. The
mirrors started to appear again and each one was full of the best moments of my
life.
Then I woke up back in my coffin and
this time I was full of this new, bright energy, a sudden will to live again
and that was the first time in my second life that I smiled. As soon as I
smiled I was flying and as I got higher my skin regained its beautiful olive
colour, my shiny brown hair tumbled down my back and for the first time in
decades I could hear my heart beating. When I opened my eyes all the colour
came back into the world and I stepped of the carousel which had now saved me.
Then I stepped into my new life.
Plastic Apocalypse
By
Max Morris 8ZO
I slowly tapped my foot on
the floor expecting a hellish polluted planet in one billion years’ time but
as I put my foot on some fresh soil I realise that this new futuristic world
is… plastic! Oh sorry, you don’t know me or how I got here! Let’s start
introductions, I am Max and you are… ahhh you don’t talk, that’s fine. I, Max
Morris got here by creating a time machine. But how? It is rather simple, I
just created a potion that takes me there with a simple splash of water,
witch’s water, and a bucket of human blood; you think I’m in your era? No! I am
in the year 4056; magic didn’t exist in your time. This book exists as I gave
it to one of your past publishers. Magic is everywhere in this new era
as that was the world’s way of saying you can use this magic to make fix your
mistakes but of course, humanity ruins the world instead of fixing it.
I wander
around and find a door built into the plastic as I push out of it I see
humanity at its worst; people with super strength throwing cars at each other;
people with water magic drowning each other and people with fire magic burning
down houses. I cry in frustration about how humanity is ruined! Then I drink my
potion and go back to my time. I warn everyone but no one will listen… humanity
is doomed unless you, in the past can fix it. Please help save the world!
Tudor troubles
By Edan Phillips - 9WH
I’m in an enormous hall, thousands of grimy, ill people surround me and
squeeze and rub against me uncomfortably in one of several sections of it.
above me in booths and in front of me are several more wealthy-looking people,
wearing big fluffy hats and beautiful robes.
These people are more organised and don’t seem to be struggling to see
as much as the people in my significantly larger section are. All these people
are sitting down as I am, facing the same direction and hurling rotten fruit to
the front of the room; the scent overpowers the disgusting stench of the people
hurling the fruit. In front of everyone is a stage with wooden flooring and a
generic backdrop. On this stage is a selection of props including a coffin.
There is a twelve-year-old boy inside the coffin; the boy is dressed like a
woman and is pretending to be dead. There is a 16-year-old man sitting on top
of the boy’s lap, dressed in velvets with blonde hair. This man is
unconvincingly crying and screaming into the air as he unsuccessfully tries to
dodge the fruit and they splash against his cleanly-shaven face like a rock
splashes on water. The yelling is like a battle to be the loudest screamer
between the man on the stage and everyone else, and so far, the crowd seems to
be winning. Above the stage, looking extremely bemused and disapproving at the
same time, is an important-looking red-headed woman in her thirties; she is
wearing a beautiful blossoming frilly white dress and is caked in makeup. This
woman is her majesty queen Elizabeth the first, in her pride and glory. The
queen gets out of her seat furiously and yells, above everyone else, with a
sense of leadership.
“Order! Order! Let the show go on” and everyone went quiet abruptly. The
man on the stage continued with a monologue about love and death, and then
proceeded to drink from a vial of orange liquid. As the kid in dressed as a
woman starts to wake up, the man slumps at his feet, falling off the coffin
with a loud thud. The kid then yells in anguish as he lifts his sword to his
torso and pretends to kill himself. The two boys and a barrage of other
costumed people, who came from backstage, walk slowly to the edge of the stage
and give a bow to the audience. The audience takes the opportunity to cheer and
scream loudly in delight as the curtains fall.
Most of the people in the audience then proceed to
leave the hall excitedly and contently. I just sit there, looking at all the
greasy seats, obviously never cleaned. I noticed however, now that no one was
in the hall, that everything was pristine, everywhere except the area that I
was sitting in. Around my seat I could hear rodents gnawing the legs of the
chair but everywhere else the walls were pristine, the paint hadn’t even
started to flake, which was weird for me, as my area was so dirty, but before I
could consider any more detail, an ancient man with a large coat on went up to
me, his feet making a clop sound every time they hit the floor. The man went up
to me and croaked “excuse me sir… the theatre is closed.” I left without a
second notice, the dust shuddering from under my feet.
A JFS Journey
By Joshua Reuben 7BB
Last Sunday I was walking with my family through the City when we
reached Duke’s Place. My father mentioned that this was where JFS started in
1732. “I wish I had been there”, I thought – no long bus rides to school, no
SIMs and no SATs, for a start”.
Suddenly, I felt like I was floating, and in a flash, I was at a table
at the back of a very strange classroom. Then I noticed we were wearing caps
and a very uncomfortable uniform. It was a navy-blue jacket and a grey jumper,
which I was used to, but a very big and thick starched collar that made it difficult
to breathe. In the corner of my eye, I saw the JFS logo on the wall.
“Concentrate, Reuben!” screamed an elderly man. “Now, class, take your
slate and calculate 2.67818 divided by 1.414, using your log tables”. “Log
tables – are they something from the IKEA catalogue”, I muttered.
“Shhh” said my neighbour, as he pointed to variety of sticks on the wall
“the beak has a vicious temper and he’ll beat you for talking in class.
I struggled to write on the slate, but somehow managed
to get through the lesson without coming to the teacher’s attention. Next
lesson was Biblical Hebrew and this time the ages of the pupils ranged from
ages 8 to 15. Surprisingly, I was taught by the same teacher but he gave us a
block of text and told us to add the correct vowels and stresses. Fortunately,
my neighbour let me copy off him, down to the last sheva nach.
“Oi, are you cheating boy, you know what the punishment for that is.” A
wiry hand grabbed my ear and dragged me to the front of the class.
“Put out your hand, Reuben!” He shouted, as he took the larger cane off
the wall. I awaited six of the best, which I had read about in books, though
never thought I would experience at first hand, so to speak. But just as I
heard the whoosh of the cane, I was back in the twenty-first century with my
family in Dukes Place. “Actually” I said to my sister “perhaps it is better nowadays.” I never
found out if they had a reflection room.
Snow fall
By Sophie Shaw 9AA
If I could go back to one particular time, I would go back to the last
time it snowed. I vividly remember building what seemed to look like a colossal
snowman. Winter didn’t stay for long: I woke up the next morning, and the
snowman wasn’t there. I wasn’t upset by this – Chanukah was just around the
corner! I remember on all eight days, I would open a gift – I would search all
over the house to work out where it could have been hidden. Everyone would sit
at the dinner table in the evening, but eight days went by very hastily. Up
next was my birthday and my family would be there, celebrating. I think now
that if I could go back to a specific time, I would visit all of these days in
winter and enjoy each of them.
