Lime Green Time Machine

The funeral was sad
(No big surprise there)
Dark clouds
Rain
It was just like in the movies
Newmar stood in the back
Taking hits off of a pint of Jim Beam
Mixing tears with pain
A poem, a quote, a mound of earth
And his Uncle Pete was buried
Newmar sighed
As his mind wandered back

It was the fourth of July
A bar-b-que with his family
He was playing in the dirt
With toy tanks and plastic dinosaurs
When he suddenly felt a weird vibe
He caught a feeling of something very bad
And very hot
He jumped up and tackled Uncle Pete
Knocking him down and safely away
Just before the grill exploded
In a huge fireball
For no reason at all
He had saved his uncle's life

"You've given me time", Uncle Pete had said
"Someday I'll do the same for you"

After the funeral he went home
To a big yellow house
That his uncle had left him in his will
He stood in the living room
And looked at Uncle Pete's stuff
Books, photos, and the like
Mere objects that were all that was left of his Uncle Pete's life
It made him feel empty
For Uncle Pete was also a trusted friend

Then
One night
Drunk on white wine and memories
Newmar found himself in the basement holding a cardboard box
A post-it note on it said:
"You gave me time
Now I've done the same for you"
It was signed by Uncle Pete

Inside the box were a couple of thousand
Styrofoam pellets
A strange looking lime green belt
And a small blue notebook
He took the belt and book upstairs
Sat down in a chair in the living room

And
An hour later was the owner of his very own time machine
That Uncle Pete had built from scratch
And even though Newmar was amazed
He still felt empty inside

Newmar examined the belt
There were knobs and buttons on it
And some small lights
On a panel on the front
It didn't look real
It looked like something out of Flash Gordon

All at once there was a flash of light
And a popping sound
Air being shoved out of the way
Standing next to Newmar
There was another Newmar
Exactly like himself
But he wasn't holding the belt
He was wearing it

"Hi!"
He said
"I'm from the future. Why don't you give it a try?"

Newmar put the belt on
Set it for a minute in the past
And pushed a button

There was a popping sound
Air being pushed out of the way
Newmar was looking at himself
Holding the belt

"Hi!"
He said
"I'm from the future. Why don't you give it a try?"

He watched himself put the belt on
And then set it for a minute in the past
And push a button
A flash
And a pop
And he was alone again

He went upstairs
Got very drunk
And thought about things

In the weeks that followed he saw
Martin and Lewis live
David Bowie in 1972
Blondie
Marilyn Monroe arriving at various movie premieres
The Marx Brothers on tour
His parent's wedding
His own birth
And so on...

(he resisted the urge to visit Uncle Pete
he just wasn't ready for that)

He had fun
And learned a lot
But
He still felt empty

See...
Newmar needed a purpose
A mission in life
A reason to live
He needed to feel full

One day
While visiting the fifties
He took in a movie
And before it was over
He knew what he had to do

So he returned to his own time
And went to a coin shop
And bought all of the fifties money he could
And went to the fifties
And bought comic books
And returned to his own time
And sold them
And bought fifties money
And went back
And bought more comic books
And returned
And sold them
And bought fifties money
And went back
Over and over again

When he was rich
He went around town and bought even older money
And packed a bag
And bid his house goodbye

Standing on the pier
In Santa Monica
He threw the belt into the ocean
Thankfully
It sank

Then he hailed a cab

There are no questions
That money can't answer
So when he signed the papers
There were smiles all around
And he picked up new daughter
And walked out of the orphanage
And smiled wide himself

"Are you really my father?"
She asked

"Yes. I am now."

"Then can we get some ice cream and go see the new Clark Gable picture?"

He watched the sunlight
Dance through her hair
And he patted her head
And smiled again

"Anything you want, Norma Jeane,"
He answered
"Anything at all."

Then he stooped down
And gave her a hug

"He gave me time"
He whispered
"Now I'm doing the same for you."

He didn't feel empty