A Riddle on Time

Colonel Lance Riva woke up one morning to a place he could not recognize. There was dirt on his arm and some on his face. He must have slept a long time, but he could not tell exactly how long. He clearly remembered having slept with his back on a soft bed. Somehow, he did not expect to wake up the next morning literally on the side of a road.

He brushed the dirt off his hand. He asked himself. 'Is this part of a dream?' 'How did I get in here?' He scratched his head in disbelief. Someone must have dumped him on the side of the road, but he could not think of anyone doing it on purpose.

He saw a car come by, and while his body still aches from extreme muscular pain, he tried to stand up to call for help. But the car resembling a Ford Mustang went fast and did not stop. It was followed by another car, a Dodge Challenger, that went even faster. The air was cold, and the trees that dotted the side of the road somehow made him feel this is unknown territory. He walked, trying to find any sign where he could be, but the highway's long stretched is seemingly endless. He saw a lighted payphone and immediately rushed to it to call his office. He lifted the receiver and at once greeted by a recorded voice that says, "please insert coin to dial." He checked all his pockets for coins but did not found any. He frisked his breast pocket and found an identification card instead. He examined the ID close enough to read the name aloud, but he could not believe what he just saw.

'Henry De La Vega?' He mumbled.

'But I am Lancelot Riva!' the colonel said to himself. He cannot be the man on the ID. It clearly is a fake! But the photo on the ID was his. He felt alarmed and confused. How could that be? He wanted to get to the bottom of it. Someone is playing tricks on him, and he needed the right people in the office to ask for clues. He checked the phone for direction on how to use it, and he found the operator number 0.

He dialed the 0 number to ask for assistance.

A woman's voice answered him.

"Hello, how may I help you?"

"Operator, can you connect me to the police station?"

"Is this collect or charge?" the woman asked.

It's been ages since the colonel had used a primitive public phone. There's no way he hears that sort of unusual query.

Guessing what to answer, he decided on saying, "It's a charge."

The woman had a soothing voice, and there's a genuine concern from how she answers her call. "What name is the calling party?"

"Colonel Lancelot Riva."

Moments later, the woman came back in.

"Hello, the station does not know any Colonel Lancelot Riva. They don't want to accept the call."

Colonel Lance suddenly lost his temper.

"I am their boss, for ch_issake!" Then he quickly apologized for his mistake.

" Sorry, miss...can you call back? I beg you. Can you repeat my name-Colonel...Lance-lot-Riva, Chief of Police."

"Okay, no problem."

The woman called back to the station.

"I'm sorry, Colonel...but they don't know anyone with that name."

"Okay, miss. How do I make a call here?"

"Insert a coin, Colonel. Thanks and have a good day." The colonel heard a background noise telling the date.

The colonel quickly shouted, "Wait! Hold on for a second for me."

"Yes, Colonel?"

The colonel's eyes grew wider as he asked the question. "What again is the date... today?"

"Uh, it's 15 of August…" the woman replied.

"And the...year?"

"It's 1970. Thank you for calling. Bye."

The line went dead.

Colonel Riva was motionless. It was a moment that he felt his jaw literally dropped. His hand acted as if it was frozen as he tightened his grip on the telephone. Moments later, the phone made a busy signal tone, and it woke the colonel up from slumber. His hand shook as he placed the phone back slowly on the bulky placeholder. A chill ran down his spine. How can that be? He cupped his mouth with his hand, unable to believe the things around him. Did he hear the most outrageous thing ever, or is his mind just playing tricks on him. What 1970? Did the woman mention the year before he was even born? As he tried to digest every moment that happened -his knees suddenly weakened, and all he could do was sit still inside the telephone booth. For some fifteen minutes or so, he tried to accustom himself to where he is and what he is possibly up to. There might be a reason why this is all happening, and getting up is the first step to understanding what it is all about.

When he saw a passing automobile, he raised his arm and waved at it a couple of times. The car, an old Dodge truck, slowed down and stopped a few meters away from him. A hand from the inside of the car signaled for him to make a quick run.

Colonel Lance Riva hopped inside the car and settled at the back seat. A man in military uniform was seated in the driver seat and beside him was his wife wearing a green dress.

The man in uniform greeted the colonel at the back. "Hello, young man. How shall I call you?"

Colonel Lancelot Riva remembered who he was. The ID could be his passport to this 1970s journey through time.

"Henry. Just call me Henry De La Vega."

"Okay, Henry, let me introduce myself. I am Lieutenant Marco Davila, and this is my wife, Gloria."

"Hello, thanks for the ride. I've been walking... for quite some time already."

Marco asked Colonel Riva, "I see... Did you seem to have come from far away? Have you been to the Korean War?

"Briefly, sir," Colonel Riva replied, what comes first thing to his mind.

Gloria was a bit jolly and just in her mood of teasing the colonel. She had set her eyes on him, slowly patting her cheek with her left index finger while thinking something.

"You certainly look familiar. Wait! Am I seeing Marian's fiance?" Gloria blushed as she looked in the back seat to gawk at the colonel.

"Marian who?" Marco asked his wife.

"Pardon my husband's forgetfulness." The message was to the colonel and then went back to address his husband. "Dear, have you forgotten? We attended the debut of Marian Meneses, the Mayflower girl at Palindrome Drive two years ago."

Marco's face lit up. "Oh yes, the beautiful Marian. Are you...THE….Henry…. De La Vega?" Marco emphasized the 'THE' in his query.

The colonel found no right answer to respond to it. He cleared his throat before he replied, "Yes, I am."

Gloria buzzed to the colonel, "Excuse us for being so inquisitive. We are just excited you came back."

"Destructive, you mean?" Marco jeered at his wife. Then he turned his eye back to the colonel.

"Henry. You might know it already, but people love to talk trash in here."

"Not all honey, mind if you stay put on your driving?" Gloria interrupted. "There are still lots of peace-loving people who want only good things for others."

She tried to tease her hair while she looked in her small vanity mirror. Then she continued her litany.

"But it's undeniable that a select few love to talk s_it somehow. Crazy, huh?"

Marco looked again at the colonel from the driver's mirror.

"It's good you are here. At least people will now stop speculating."

The colonel felt a bit uneasy from what he heard. 'Speculating about what?' he asked himself.

"How long will you be staying?" Gloria asked.

The colonel didn't know the right answer. He just shrugged his shoulder. There are lots of questions going on inside his mind. He wanted to know why he is trapped in some unknown place and assuming other people's identity. Is there a special task he signed up for that he failed to understand in his briefing?

"I really don't know the answer to that question. I'm sorry."

Gloria seemed rather amused.

"That's great! You got yourself a pass to see our new tavern. We just built a hangout at the town entrance so people going in and out of the city can take a rest for a while. There's a free meal for the first 20 guests. You just become our first, I think."

Marco added, " We are your nearest neighbor in Palindrome Drive so before you even set foot on your way back, get a taste of our baby back ribs. It's on us."

"And the juicy barbecue," Gloria added.

Marco agreed, "Ooh, that's a killer. The best."

The colonel saw the sign of the entrance to the town. They entered a tavern that was newly built on the right side of the road. A couple of cars were parked at the pub's entrance, and one was a Dodge Challenger and another a Ford Mustang. He recognized them as the two cars that passed him earlier. Marco waived at his son sitting on the porch.

"We're here. Look, there's my sixteen-year-old son-Edward. The one that will inherit all this. I hope he finds a new wife soon cause there are not many women here in this part of town. I want a grandson too, you know." Gloria giggled when she said that.

Edward went to greet his Mom and Dad and carried with him some of her mother's things.

"We got guests here?" Marco asked Edward.

Edward replied, "Yes, Dad, my friend visited me and brought their brand new car in here."

"Hmm... It looks like you three are going somewhere?"

"My friends and I are going to get up there- at the Palindrome Drive."

"What for honey?" Gloria seemed confused.

Edward, as we know him later on, will be renamed Hummer-the guy with the Humvee. "You know Mom, to court Marian. They brought a guitar and all to sing for her."

Marco looked at the Colonel.

"Well, Edward, why not tell your friends that they are in for a big disappointment."

Gloria hurried and pulled his young son near the door of the tavern. She then buzzed in his ear and told him the bad news that it is not the right time to do such a thing. Then Edward looked in Colonel Riva's direction, and he seemed to understand what's going on.

"Okay, I will tell them, Mom," Edward said to Gloria.