Soon, I stood face to face with this small man from the future. He came to me and laughed. He was not afraid of me at all. Then he spoke to two other people in a sweet and strange language.
A group of eight or ten people stood around me. One person spoke to me. My voice was too loud and deep for them. I shook my head and pointed to my ears. One man touched my hand. Then others touched my back and shoulders.
They wanted to see if I was real. These people were very gentle and kind. They looked very weak. I could easily push them away if I wanted. I saw their hands near the Time Machine. I remembered a danger. I took the small levers (handles used to move a machine) out. I put them in my pocket.
I looked at their faces. They were very pretty like old china (a type of delicate, white ceramic). Their hair was curly and short. They had very small ears and small mouths. Their lips were bright red. Their eyes were large and calm. But they did not seem very interested in me.
I started to talk to them. I pointed to the machine. Then I pointed to the sun to explain time. One man in a purple and white tunic (a long shirt) watched me. He made a sound like thunder. I was very surprised.
I thought they were very smart. But they asked if I came from the sun! This was a very simple question. I was disappointed. I thought people in the future would be very clever. They were more like children.
I nodded and pointed to the sun. I made a loud noise like a thunderclap. This scared them for a moment. Then one man laughed and gave me a chain of flowers. Soon, everyone was giving me flowers.
The flowers were very beautiful. I went with them to a large grey building. I passed the white sphinx (a statue with a lion's body) again. It seemed to smile at me. I was surprised at these people.
The building was very big. A large crowd of people followed me. I looked at the world over their heads. It looked like a beautiful garden. No one took care of it, but there were no weeds. There were tall white flowers everywhere. My machine stayed on the grass near the bushes.
The doorway had many carvings. They looked very old and broken. Many people in bright clothes met me at the door. I looked strange in my old clothes and flowers. We entered a very large hall.
The walls were brown and the roof was dark. The floor was made of a hard white metal. The metal was very old. Many people walked here for a long time. The floor was worn down in some places.
There were many stone tables in the hall. The tables were very low. There were big piles of fruit on the tables. Some fruit looked like large raspberries or oranges. Most of the fruit was new to me.
There were cushions on the floor. I sat down with the people. They ate the fruit with their hands. I was hungry and thirsty, so I ate too. I looked at the large hall while I ate.
The hall looked very old. The windows were broken. The curtains were very dirty. The corner of my marble table was broken too. But the room still looked very beautiful. There were about two hundred people in the hall.
They watched me while they ate. They all wore soft, silky clothes. These people only ate fruit. They were vegetarians (people who do not eat meat). I had to eat only fruit too.
Later, I learned that horses, cows, and sheep were extinct (no longer living on Earth). But the fruit was very good. One fruit had three sides and tasted like bread. I ate a lot of that fruit.
I wanted to learn their language. I held up a fruit and asked for its name. At first, they only laughed at me. Then a man with fair hair told me a word.
It was hard to make the sounds of their language. They thought I was funny. I felt like a teacher with small children. I learned some names and the word for "eat."
But the people got tired quickly. They were very indolent (lazy or slow). They did not want to study for a long time. I had to learn their language slowly.