"I told you last week about the Time Machine. I finally finished it this morning. At ten o'clock, I sat in the seat of the machine. I felt very nervous, like a man holding a gun to his own head, wondering what will happen next. I took the starting lever in one hand and the stopping lever in the other. I pushed the first one, and almost immediately pushed the second. Suddenly, the room seemed to spin. I felt a terrible feeling of falling, like in a bad dream. I looked around, and the laboratory looked exactly the same. Had anything happened? For a moment, I thought I had imagined it all. Then I looked at the clock. A moment before, it was ten o'clock. Now it was almost half-past three!
"I took a deep breath, held the starting lever with both hands, and pushed it hard. The laboratory grew cloudy and dark. Mrs. Watchett came into the room and walked toward the garden door. She did not see me, but to my eyes, she moved across the room as fast as a rocket. I pushed the lever as far as it could go. Night came instantly, like turning off a lamp, and then day came just as fast. The laboratory slowly disappeared. Night came again, then day, then night, faster and faster. A rushing sound filled my ears, and my mind became very confused.
"I cannot easily describe time travel. It is a very unpleasant experience. You feel like you are falling helplessly, and you always feel that you are going to crash. As I went faster, the days and nights flashed by like a blinking light. I saw the sun jumping quickly across the sky. Every minute was a whole day. The flashing of light and dark hurt my eyes. Soon, I was moving so fast that day and night became one long, continuous grey light. The sky turned a deep, beautiful blue.
"The landscape around me was soft and unclear. I saw trees grow and change color in seconds; they grew, lost their leaves, and died. Huge buildings rose up and disappeared like dreams. The whole surface of the earth seemed to change and melt before my eyes. The dials on my machine showed that I was travelling more than a year every minute. The white snow of winter flashed across the world, quickly followed by the bright green of spring.
"At first, the speed made me feel a kind of crazy excitement. But soon, a new feeling took over—a deep fear. I wondered what kind of world I would find in the future. What if humans had become completely different? But my biggest worry was about stopping. While I was travelling fast, I was like a ghost slipping through things. But to stop meant my body would become solid again. If I stopped in a place where there was already a solid object, our atoms would crash together. There would be a terrible explosion, and I would be blown to pieces.
"This fear grew stronger and stronger. The strange sights, the shaking of the machine, and the terrible feeling of falling made me panic. I decided I could not go on. Like a fool, I suddenly pulled the stopping lever hard. The machine flew out of control, turned over, and threw me through the air.
"I heard a loud sound like thunder. For a moment, I could not see or hear clearly. Then, I realized I was sitting on soft grass. A terrible storm was blowing, and large, painful hailstones were hitting me. In a moment, my clothes were completely wet. I stood up and looked around. Through the heavy rain and hail, I saw a huge white shape.
"It was a giant statue, made of white stone. It was as tall as a tree and looked like a winged sphinx, but its wings were spread out as if it were flying. The base of the statue was made of bronze, covered in green rust. Its blind eyes seemed to watch me, and there was a faint, strange smile on its lips. It looked very old and damaged by the weather. I stood and watched it for a long time.
"As I looked at the white shape, I suddenly felt terrified of this future world. What had happened to humans? What if they had become cruel and powerful monsters? Would they see me as a strange, wild animal and kill me?
"Suddenly, the hailstorm ended. The grey clouds vanished, and the warm summer sun shone brightly. The sky was a beautiful blue. I could see huge, wonderful buildings all around me. But I felt naked and afraid, like a small bird waiting for a hawk to attack. In a panic, I turned to the Time Machine. I wanted to escape! The machine was lying on its side. I fought hard to lift it up. It hit my chin heavily, but I finally got it standing. With one hand on the seat and the other on the lever, I breathed hard, ready to escape back to my own time.
"But because I knew I could run away, my courage returned. I looked around this world of the future more closely. High up in a nearby building, I saw a group of people wearing soft, rich clothes. They were looking at me.
"Then, I heard voices. Some men were running towards me through the bushes near the White Sphinx. One of them stepped onto the grass where I stood. He was a very small man—only about four feet tall. He wore a simple purple tunic and a leather belt. He had no shoes on his feet, and his head was bare. He was very beautiful and graceful, but he looked completely frail and weak, like someone who was very sick.
"When I saw him, my fear disappeared. I felt safe again, so I took my hands off the machine and waited."