Backwards
SCAT: Can You Do That?
One
of the challenges I set for myself when writing Ebenezer’s
Locker was
to come up with an original approach to time travel. It took some
serious thought, since the topic seems to be covered from every angle
in fiction.
Of
course, you’ve got your standard walk-in box that takes you forward
or backward in time, as in H.G. Wells’ The
Time Machine,
or the TARDIS in Doctor
Who.
There the external device that pulls you through time when you’re
near it, like the gadget in Joe Haldeman’s The
Accidental Time Machine
or the antique radio in Edward Bloor’s London
Calling.
And there’s space travel that unintentionally turns into time
travel (thanks, Einstein), which is the premise of Planet
of the Apes.
There are even time travel spells in some fantasy literature.
The
key for completing my task was to find the essence of my story, and
convert that somehow into a time travel technique. Ebenezer’s
Locker
is about psychical phenomena, or the existence of spirits separate
from the body. That was my answer.
And
so I invented SCAT, Semi-Centennial Astral Transport. Well, I had one
of the characters invent it. The idea is that, by using a spell, a
psychic can order his spirit to jump forward in time, letting it
visit the future after his death. But the time travel must be by
chunks of fifty years (hence the “Semi-Centennial”).
That
was half the challenge taken care of. But I needed living characters
to be able to use this technique, and I needed them to go into the
past. Although I won’t give details here about how it works, I’ll
just say that this is how “backwards SCAT” was born.
Unfortunately
for Rhonda Zymler, the main character in Ebenezer’s
Locker,
backwards SCAT is kind of a stressful experience.
About Ebenezer's Locker
A
hundred years ago, Corbin Elementary School's building housed Dr.
Ebenezer Corbin's School for Psychical Research. It seems that a
couple of old spirits are still wandering the halls. It's up to
Rhonda Zymler to find out what they want.Ebenezer's
Locker follows
the adventures of Rhonda, a sassy sixth-grader who's having
trouble finding her place and identity. Getting to know these spirits
becomes Rhonda's quest. The more she digs, the more perilous her task
becomes, and to complete it she must take two trips back in time.
This story blends the realities of an economically-challenged modern
American town with supernatural elements. What Rhonda finds not only
gives her life a sense of purpose, but changes the fortunes of her
entire town.
Excerpt
One
last thought passed through my mind before I was SCAT-ted a hundred
years into the past. I tried to say, “Do we know how I’m going
to get back?” But I couldn’t force my mouth to move.
The
world went fuzzy. My heart crashed and banged like a rocker’s drum
kit. I felt lifted and pressed down at the same time. There were
colors, every possible color, swirling everywhere, and then forming
sharp-edged shapes, and then sprayed like fireworks. I heard sirens,
screaming, a thousand ambulances, and a million dog whistles.
Then
silence. What I noticed first were the smells. Men’s cologne. Old
wood. Mothballs. Then the sounds. Creaks and scrapes and breathing
and talking and wind and plumbing and birds and footsteps and someone
slurping a soda. I had superhero hearing.
At
last my vision started to clear, but nothing looked right. I saw the
little room through a giant magnifying glass. There was too much
detail. I could count the stitches on the blanket over the cot and
see three layers of varnish painted on the desk. Yet, in the mirror
opposite me, I couldn’t see myself. Looking down at where my hand
should be, I saw only the floor. I tried to pinch my cheek. I
couldn’t feel anything.
Footsteps
and floor creaks grew louder, and I heard a deafening CLACK as the
lock turned. The door opened inward.
As
you can see, SCAT is not an ideal method, but time travel never is.
Even Doctor Who often has trouble controlling his TARDIS.
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Ebenezer's Locker by Anne E. Johnson
