October 6, 1914

Josh suggested, "I would like to see the distant past. Let's go back a hundred years."

The time traveler raised an eyebrow.

Josh said, "Is there something wrong?"

The time traveler replied, "Young man, there is nothing wrong. But to me 1914 still seems like the 'near future,' even though I have taken several journeys. And a hundred year jump would like a trip on a short line, rather than a transcontinental journey. The more pressing question though - are we in Continental Europe? I know that there was a nasty war that happened in 1914, and I would not to land in the middle of it."

Josh reassured him, "I had not thought of that, but the staircase room is not in any place where there was fighting. The staircase room kind of follows it own rules - it often opens out on places that are not part of anything that is like the history that you read in books. Unless the books that you are reading were compiled by the Grimm Brothers, or the guys that wrote the King Arthur legends."

The time traveler perked up. "Very interesting. So does the staircase room always lead to the world of fairy tales?"

"Oh, no. Many times it ends up at a Blockbuster Video store."

"I just got here. I am not familiar with that institution. Did they deal in dry goods? They must not have existed for very long."

"Yeah, most of them have gone out of business. Video rentals. Kind of like the Nickelodeons of your day, but with sound and color. But still, it would be cool to see what would happen with the staircase room if we went back one hundred years."

"Certainly. And as that world is not unfamiliar to me, existing just after my own era, I would have a good chance at guessing how the people in that society behaved. Although it is ironic that I built the machine in part in hopes of escaping - or ending - the ills of my own time."

Josh smiled, "Well, I am ready. Just tell me what I need to do so that I don't screw things up."

The time traveler nodded. "I take you mean, what do you need to do so that you do not accidently cause any harm. That is an excellent thought. Just remember to let me handle the mechanisms, and do not leave it until I tell you to. Several times I have landed in dangerous situations, and I have to react quickly, as you no doubt have read."

The time traveler unlocked the "P" plate, and sat down on the saddle. Josh squeezed in behind him, and stretched his arms around the time traveler and locked his fingers over his belly to hold on. The traveler slid the lever back slightly. Josh heard a click. He could not tell that anything was happening at first. Then, from the periphery of his vision, he saw a blinking white light. He craned his neck - it was an upstairs window, and the rising and setting of the sun invoked the blinking. The time traveler's body was blocking him from seeing the odometer-like wheels. The blinking in the window speeded to a point where the light and the dark started to blur, and then it slowed down again, until the passage of a day lasted five seconds, then ten, and finally, ended with a pale but steady light.

The time traveler said, "Very good. I got it on the square. We will not have to adjust forward. The time is now noon local time, on Tuesday, October 6, 1914. The adjacent area appears to be safe."

Josh released his hold on the time traveler, and slid off the saddle. The traveler locked the plate to hold the lever fast, and then left the machine.

Meanwhile, the staircase room

1. was completely unchanged.
2. looked different.
3. was unrecognizable as the Staircase room.

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