Vienna, Austria, 1798

November 27th, 4:37 PM

Everything after I pressed the 'go' button on the machine happened insanely fast. One second, everything was dark. I fell into a deep sleep of some sort as I traveled through the quantum realm, then ended up in what looked like the eighteenth century. When I first woke up, I was in an alley on the side of a building. I knew the trip wouldn't be a walk in the park, but the dizziness I experienced resulted in a splitting headache. I tried walking around for a while until the pain went away, but I didn't feel any better until I was in a neighborhood with a bunch of mansions. That's when a carriage passed by, and the driver went into a frenzy when he saw me, considering I wasn't wearing anything near the correct clothes. The carriage crashed into me and a nearby garden, sending us all to the ground.

"Oh my goodness, are you alright?" asked a young woman helping me up. She looked about my age, with braided brown hair and intense caramel eyes that looked like precious stones in the sun. I was speechless at first at the sight of her.

"Sir?"

I blinked back into reality.

"Oh, um, yes. Yes. Thank you." It hurt to stand, but I chose not to say anything,

"Sir, you're bleeding." She reached her arm out and gently touched a scrape on my forehead. I couldn't help but stare at her while she inspected it.

"You need treatment. Follow me, I'll take you to my home."

I collapsed as soon as I tried taking a step. The young woman turned around and gasped.

"Oh dear, forgive me, I should have known. Here, let me help."

She put her arm around my waist and let me lean on her as we walked. A couple walking by gave us strange looks as we passed by, but she didn't seem to mind.

"And what may I have the pleasure of calling you?" she asked when we reached the door.

"Stephen. McAdams. And you?"

"I am Daphne Schmidt. It's nice to meet you, Herr McAdams."

"You too. Thank you for helping me get up and walk and such."

"It's my pleasure. You did cause quite a ruckus back there."

I smiled sheepishly and nothing was said until Daphne got me seated in her house, which was more of a mansion if you asked me.

We were greeted by another young blonde woman in a more casual dress, whom I thought was a maid.

"Herr McAdams, this is our maid and my closest friend, Rebecca," introduced Daphne.

"Good afternoon, Rebecca," I greeted, to which she responded to with a small smile and a curtsy.

Daphne cleared the glass coffee table and set a pillow down on top of it.

"You may rest your leg here. I'll get the treatment supplies."

I did as she said, and rested my foot on the pillow. When I looked back at Daphne, she was looking in some cabinets in the kitchen and whispering something to the maid. I saw her blush furiously and playfully hit Rebecca on the arm.

"Rebecca, you shan't say things like that!" she whisper-yelled.

I smiled softly and waited for Daphne to return. Once she did, she began wrapping my foot in an awkward silence. I thought of something to say to lighten the mood. Anything.

"I suppose you're wondering about my clothes," I blurted out.

She looked me up and down and nodded, chuckling dryly.

"Yes, actually I am. I've never seen anything like that attire."

"Well it's a long story. . . and not exactly a believable one. Let's just say that I'm not from here."

"Well that's rather obvious-"

"No. That's not what I meant."

She looked up from bandaging my foot and narrowed her eyebrows at me without saying a word.

"I'm not from this, uh, this era."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I'm from the year 2025. Almost three centuries in the future. I'm a physicist and mathematician. A couple days ago, I built a time machine, and I tested it out a few minutes ago. . . and now I'm here. That's why I look so different."

The look on Daphne's face wasn't exactly what I expected. It was more stern than surprised.

"Herr McAdams," she stood up, "if you are wanting to insult my intelligence then I would think twice about that-"

"No, no, that's not what this is at all. I'm being serious. Please trust me."

"Prove it, please," she requested.

"Sure, let me just, uh... "

I looked for something in my pockets and took out my Apple Watch. Daphne looked at it with intense curiosity.

"This is a modern watch. It can do several things, like call people across the world, send messages, and play music. Here. Take a closer look."

I held the watch out to her, and she took it with cautious hands. I couldn't help but smile at the wonder in her eyes. Her interest grew when she pressed a button and started to play "Yesterday" by The Beatles. I was going to show her how to turn it off, but she refused. A smile began to form on her lips.

"Is this the music where you're from?"

"Not exactly. It is in the future, but not as far as 2025. I don't usually listen to the most modern music," I explained.

"Why not?"

"It's just not my thing. I prefer stuff from the late 20th century."

"I like it."

She glanced at me and smiled.

"It must be nice," she said, "not having to go to a performance or play an instrument in order to hear music."

"Do you not like going to concerts?"

"Oh, I love it. . . but there's always so much going on. Sometimes I wish I could just sit by the fireplace and read a book while listening to Le Nozze di Figaro."

She let out another sigh, and I looked at her sympathetically.

"I didn't know you cared about music so much."

Daphne sat down next to me and began treating the scrape on my forehead.

"It's the reason I live. I play the cello. I'm at peace when I'm around music. I can be playing it or listening to it or learning about it, but it all bewitches me. It's as if my soul wants to sing out to the world whenever I play, and I convey that energy through my cello. All of the emotion just wells up inside of me, so much so that I get chills all throughout my body."

"That sounds really beautiful. I wish I was as poetic as you are."

"I have noticed your strange speaking habits. I suppose language changes over time. Does no one speak the way I do anymore?"

"Some do, but it's not the majority. Obviously I'm not as sophisticated."

"Well you did invent a way to travel through time. I don't think that's an easy thing even where you come from, otherwise I would have already met a visitor from the future."

"Yeah, that much is true. Thanks."

I smiled softly as I watched her while she played with my watch. It seemed her favorite feature was the endless songs in my playlists.

I made awkward eye contact with Rebecca, the maid. She had an eyebrow raised at me as if she was ready to gossip about me to Daphne as soon as I left. The thought made me blush, but more importantly, it reminded me that I had lost track of time.

I cleared my throat and stood up. My left leg still hurt if I tried standing on it, so I did my best to keep my weight on my right leg.

"I'm sorry, Daphne, I have to get going. I have a room full of other scientists waiting for me. I wouldn't want them to leave before seeing me return."

"Of course. Forgive me, Herr McAdams," she apologized, "I didn't mean to take up your time."

"No worries. In fact, I had a nice time here. I had always wanted to visit Europe. By the way, you can call me Stephen if you want."

"Of course, I forget some formalities may have gone out of practice."

I smiled as the two of us stood awkwardly. I didn't know whether it would be better to do a handshake or a bow as a goodbye. I decided on the bow. With a limp left leg, though, it came out as more of an awkward lean to the right. Daphne couldn't help but stare at my lousy attempt to be a gentleman. She let out a laugh when I stood straight again, and offered to walk me to the alley, to which I respectfully declined.

I had already limped to the stone path past the door when I heard her call out my name. I turned around.

"Will you be back anytime soon?" she asked.

I smiled and nodded.

"Of course I will. Maybe next time, you won't have to see me limp so much."

She giggled, nodded, and gave a curtsy.

I looked at her for a few more seconds before turning around and walking back to the alley where I would be able to use an app I made for the machine in order to make the trip back. I braced myself for the headache I would have when I got back, and pressed the 'go' button.