The Timetraveller

Every light was blinking red, Elliot frantically hit button after button, trying to get the ship back under control, while the Time-o-meter was spinning free, going back thousands of years every second. He had pressed the emergency cut off about a million times a this point, but nothing happened. Was it even connected to anything? The emergency signal button also showed no indication of working.

Breathe. He told himself. You're an engineer. You can fix this.

Except he had never so much as glanced over the workings of a time machine. He spent his days optimizing baking factories at Bread co. He pushed down the erupting panic and looked around the one-man capsule. Slick lines, and soft edges everywhere. Not a screw to be found. The controls were also bare bones: Start, Stop, a dial for the time, a touch screen with a map for the place. No windows, just a screen, that usually displayed information about arrival time, but now only showed flickering static.

Suddenly the Time-o-meter chimed a happy "Ping!" and came to a stop: 100.000 BC The screen flickered to live again, displaying "Arriving shortly" in different languages. Seconds later Elliot was flung upwards, the seatbelt cutting painfully into his shoulders, blood rushing to his head. The capsule was falling.

He strained against the forces, lifting the little cover on the eject button of his seat, hopefully this one worked.

He pressed it. The lid of the capsule popped open immediatly and he was shot out. Now pressed down into his seat, air rushing by his face, stinging his eyes. After what felt like an eternity the parachute opened. He pushed down the urge to throw up, blinked tears out of his eyes, and looked around. He was floating high above the trees. Everything was green, untouched forests, meadows, a river snaking through it, mountains to the left of him. It was a beautiful sight and for a moment he just took it all in. Then the capsule crashed into the ground below him and went up in a fireball.

Elliot managed to land in a small clearing, getting his parachute only slightly caught in the trees lining it. His legs shook badly and he had to sit for a while, trying not to panic.

Breathe. Breathe.

He could hear his heart hammering away, the blood rushing in his ears. But slowly he calmed down. He listened to the forest. Birds singing, insects flying, squirrels running up and down trees. It was peaceful in a way. Dreadful in another. Would anyone come for him? Unlikely, he hadn't planned on coming to 100.000 BC and as far as he could tell none of the emergency messages had made it through. He pushed down the newly swelling panic and finally got up. He could see thick smoke above the trees. If there was anything of value in the capsule, it would be gone now.

Okay, shelter, food, water he told himself. Wait, no, other way around. Water. Food. Shelter. He had seen a river from the air, which direction was that? He tried to orient himself. Should probably find out the cardinal directions he thought.

The sun was sinking to the left of him. It was probably afternoon. So that should be west. If he was in the northern hemisphere, which based on the plants and animals he assumed he was. The river should then be slightly east of him. How far was it? It hadn't looked that far from the air. Before he went off he inspected the parachute. It wasn't that heavy and the ropes and fabric could probably be helpful. Would he find this spot again once he left? Probably not. Best take everything with him.

He bunched up the parachute as best and fast as he could and set off. It was a nice day, not too cold, not too hot, blue skies. Probably early summer. He hoped it would stay like this a while, because the clothes he wore - a shirt, jeans, trainers - weren't really made for winter.

He thought he was probably in Europe. That would be good because the winters would be mild, and there would be no animals to worry about besides wolves. And bears. Maybe? Wild hogs. Badgers? Only if he got too close though. Suddenly nervous he looked around more. The forest was alive with sound, but the largest animal he had seen so far were rabbits. It occurred to him, that he would probably have to eat some of them.

And he would have to make a fire. And he had no toilet paper!

One thing after another.

He trudged on, the trees far enough from each other for him to pass through easily. He had seen no fruits or vegetables so far. If he did they would probably be only small, shitty versions of the ones he knew.

Finally, when the sun had started setting he heard the low murmur of a river. Quiet at first, then louder with every step. He ran the last part until he saw the water flowing by. Clearest water he'd ever seen, and teeming with fish. He'd read that once, that back here rivers and seas were absolutely stuffed with fish, until humans had decimated their numbers.

Guess that's food then.

He looked up and down the stream. It wasn't that large, maybe it wasn't the one he'd seen from the air, but water is water. He put down the parachute, walked to the edge and shoveled a good amount into his mouth. It was nice, cool and refreshing.

The fish came so close he could've easily grabbed one. Maybe. If he was quick enough. But before grabbing a fish, fire would probably be good. Or was fire shelter? Speaking of. He looked at the trees nearby. He thought that using his parachute as a sort of hammock would maybe be smart, so he wouldn't have to sleep on the ground.

He picked out a tree he thought would work and tried to climb it. He hadn't done that in a while. Probably a good 20 years, more even. He sweated a lot and his stomach started grumbling but he made it. He draped his parachute over two branches, more like a plane than a hammock really, but it would work. After making sure the ropes were secured tight, he slowly put his weight on the fabric. It shifted and rustled, and didn't exactly instill him with confidence, but it held. There wasn't too much room, but he could probably sleep like this.

He scrambled down the tree and started searching for sticks that he could use to start a fire. After he had collected a small pile of everything dry within eyeshot, he chose two sticks and tried to rub them quick enough to get a spark going. Nothing happened. He tried again and again but all it did was make his hands hurt. He wondered if maybe he should've gone to the burning wreck of his capsule, just to get a torch.

Exhausted he sat back and looked out over the river. Then he saw it. On the other side, ducked behind some shrubbery, looking right at him: a face.