The Mistaken Time Traveller (circa 2010),

originally published in Bangalore Review as flash fiction,

is actually a science-fiction, narrative, Shakespearean sonnet.

The Mistaken Time Traveller (circa 2010)

MISTAKEN TIME TRAVELLER (circa May, 2010)

I set the time coordinates for May,

the year 2020, ten years from now,

I made the jump but, much to my dismay,

to a parallel universe somehow.

Gas was priced low, but streets seemed deserted. 

Open storefronts were few and far between. 

Notices in their windows alerted

adherence regarding “Covid-19.”

As though for surgery, patrons were masked. 

I suppose the entire populace,

because they took one look, and I was asked

to leave unless I wore one. Such a fuss!

None seemed sick, the air breathable to me. 

…  too weird,  I returned immediately.