I never was a fan of buying any books for college.  The prices were phenomenal (and not in a good way!) and the topics less than interesting.  In fact, I only ever purchased two books during my college days, and I bought them -after- we had read through them in class.  One book was a history on math (yes, I'm a nerd) and the other was called "Einstein's Dreams".

Now, before any of you get too excited, this book is not about dreams Einstein had. It's not  a biography or anything of the sort.  In fact, it's complete fiction.  The book is very short as well.  It's about 4 inches wide and 6 inches tall, and only contains 179 pages.  If you're an avid reader like I am, you could easily finish it within a couple of hours and never lose a sense of fascination.  It was one of the few books in college that I read though in one sitting because it gripped me that strongly.

The book is written by Alan Lightman and describes a conversation held between Albert Einstein and his friend Besso.  Albert Einstein is ready to ship off his theory or relativity to the German papers and so his conversations revolve around various manipulations of time.  Each chapter describes a different possibility of the concept, and a few short pages are spent talking about how the inhabitants of such a world would act.  In short, the book reads like 30 very short, very vivid stories.  For example, one chapter talks about a world in which everything tends towards order and organization rather than chaos and entropy.  Yet another talks about this 'center' in which time slows down more and more the closer you get to it.  Some people yearn to travel into the center to prolong a lover's kiss, and some try to increase their lifespan by moving into it and hoping to be 'frozen in time' because it moves so slowly.

The book is absolutely BRILLIANT.  Not only is each scenario completely captivating, but the author has an astounding mastery of words.  He really captures every sense in much fewer words than I'm ever able to, and paints a beautiful image.  Plus, the book is a ridiculously easy read.

I've wanted to re-read it ever since I bought it way back then, but I don't think I've ever had the chance.  I think the book would especially touch any poets or artists, because of the fantastic use of words and emotions.  If you have the time, I definitely suggest reading it.

Anyways, I've also always wanted something else for this book. I think that each individual concept (all thirty of them!) would make a PHENOMENAL movie or novel all of its own accord.  Some ideas could be used in a light manner (such as the one which makes me think of Dr. Seuss stories), while others could be used in a more sci-fi-like setting.

I've been wanting to try this for awhile, so I think I'll take a shot at it today.  I'm going to flip through the book and stop at a random page. I'm going to read that chapter, and then I'm going to attempt a short story.  Ready?

Alright, I'm gonna try this.  

*flips to a random page and reads*

......

This might be challenging, but I'm gonna try.  lol
(And oh my goodness... how I love this book! I want to quote the whole chapter at you guys, even though it's probably less than 500 words! ha!)

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22 May 2025

Jael sat on the balcony of her high apartment, gazing down at the streets below.  Being so late at night, it was difficult to spot anything meaningful, but she could watch the way the traffic zipped left and right, hounding stop lights and propelling forward at yield signs.  Her fingers tapped impatiently on the cold metal and she tried to ignore the way the breeze disrupted her night gown.

She was bothered.

Having slept late into the night, her dreams had been interrupted by a disturbing vision. Despite how badly she wanted to deny it, she knew what it was: a Projection.  People had them all the time and abandoned dreams and lifestyles for the chances at assured success, but Jael wasn't so sure she was ready to accept that.  As hard as she tried to think about other things, only one filled her mind: the image of herself in a nurse's uniform tending a young man's head injury.

The Projection had been so clear that she knew she should go into nursing school, but at the same time, the idea continued to upset her.  She was already paying for school to get her degree as an English major and had been greatly enjoying it. Although her parents and even her school would be accepting since this happened all the time, she still wanted to be a nay-sayer.

Someone honked their horn down below, drawing Jael's eyes towards the drama.  A man had been crossing the street and suddenly halted, his feet planted into the tar.  She couldn't make the figure out, but he suddenly turned on his heels and hurried in the opposite direction.  Someone else must have had a Projection like hers, and as always... everyone around him seemed to accept this and move on.  The traffic moved forward and things carried on as though nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.

Jael glanced further into the horizon and let her eyes follow the infamous 124th Boulevard.  Everyone in her city knew the story:

A man named Benjamin had dreamed of connecting Barthsmore to Valinton.  Gathering a large crew of construction workers and engineers, the highway was slowly completed and a bridge began to form over the river separating the two towns.  However, half way through the project, the time line jolted and gave Benjamin a glimpse into the certain future: his dream would never be accomplished.  He told everyone of this vision and boldly proclaimed that he would be the first to prove a Projection wrong.  He, in essence, would alter the time line.  A week later, however, a crane carrying a beam suddenly malfunctioned and the cables snapped.  Benjamin who had been direction the crane, died instantly under the weight of the beam.

His team immediately abandoned the project, but it didn't stop others from trying.  Over the past 40 years, various groups of people had tried to complete the half finished bridge, only to find themselves unable.  Some couldn't accrue the funding necessary for such an endeavor, while others would be called away on new business.  Some simply couldn't get their proposals approved by the city.  Whatever the case, Benjamin's Bridge was probably one of the better known unfinished landmarks.

It now teased Jael across the horizon, as though laughing at her dismay. She knew she was faced with a very crucial decision:  should she follow the road of definite success?  Or should she fight the Projection despite its infallibility?  Most people were content enough to head towards the path time showed them.... but some never were.  Organization and peace seemed to follow those who shot towards the goal like an arrow.  While daring plans and spontaneity seemed to follow those who didn't.  Who would fare better in this world of fitful time?  Those who had seen the future and lived only one life?  Or those who had not seen the future and waited to live their full lives? Or perhaps even those who denied their futures and lived two lives?

As the sun began to climb into the sky, Jael pushed away from the balcony and resolved herself not to mention the vision to anyone.

_________________________

Jael greeted her mother at the dining room table with a small smile on her face.  "How did you sleep?" Jael asked the older woman as she sat down.  The TV was blaring in the background and she smell of slightly burnt bacon tickled her nose.

Her mother smiled a little more warily than normal as she joined Jael at the table.  The chair squeaked on the tiled floor and a puff of air sighed from the chair cushion.  "I'd be better if it weren't for the constant hoaxes," she said softly, passing Jael a plate topped with a bagel and bacon.  Jael felt a intrigued and more than happy to get last night off her mind.

"Hoaxes?" she asked with a glance back towards the TV.  She could see the reporter talking into a mic and interviewing some average looking people.

"Mmhmm," her mother stated. "Some people are claiming to have had projects about the end of the world.  Things falling from the sky and people dying."  She chuckled despite the grim sentence and rolled her blue eyes.  "You know... there will always be people that lie about projections.  It just seems to be a fad, lately."

Jael was disappointed to find herself thinking back to her own Projection and the image of the man with the head injury.  "Yep," she sighed softly as she ripped a bite from the bagel.  She quickly lost interested in the news stories and shook her head.  "It's a shame, really, but I suppose people will do anything to get ahead in the world.  Remember when Ryan lied about someone giving him $50 for his birthday?"  Jael couldn't help but grin at the memory of her childhood friend, and her mother nodded in agreement.

"Oh yes, I remember!  And the look on his face when his mother gave him a ten and told him he would have gotten more if he hadn't lied!" Her mother let a light laugh into the empty room and Jael felt the corners of her mouth turn up.  She shook her head and suddenly had another more common Projection, feeling the jolt in her reality and perception of time.  This time, the vision was of her arriving to class late.  She shook her head with a small sigh and stood quickly from the table.

"Well mother, it's time for me to get to class.  I'm going to be late."  She paused and gave the older woman a quick wink.  "And this is one I'm not lying about!"  Cramming the bagel between her teeth, she grabbed her bags and headed out the door.

________________________

As Jael sat in the traffic and listened to classical music, she drummed her finger tips against the steering wheel impatiently. The smaller visions like these came more often and there weren't many people that would give them a second thought.  However, Jael didn't feel the same way as most other people.  Every time she saw something of little impact, she felt determined to prove the future wrong.  This was almost an obsession that directed her life and kept her sane.  Although she knew it wasn't possible to feasibly disprove a Projection, human nature still stirred that desire to be disobedient and come out on top.

Surely she could be the master of her own path and not enslaved to abrupt and unpredictable visions?

But of course, Jael didn't drive further than two blocks before a huge wreck stalled the traffic.  As she sat and felt the heat waves magnified by her windshield, she sat back and turned the car engine off, closing her eyes and resting her head.  She could hear the radios from cars next to her in which the drivers were doing the same and waiting for the wreckage to be cleared.  Bits and pieces came to her attention and nearly all the stations were talking about one thing: the alarming number of people claiming to have seen the end of the world.

The radio stations were even taking calls from anybody and everybody claiming to have had a Projection on the topic, and it began to sicken Jael.  Normally Projections brought peace and organization... not chaos and dismay. The fact that people were so desperate for attention was one of the many reasons Jael disliked the jumps in the time line.

After listening to the radios and beginning to feel the heat seep into her skin, Jael was jolted into a state of alertness when the cars around her began honking their horns.  Starting her car, she couldn't help but wonder if she would have been caught up in this traffic if she had chosen to ignore the vision.  However, she knew the answer deep down:  Of course she would have.  People misinterpreted visions on occasion, but there remained the fact that a Projection would always become reality.

_______________

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I'm gonna stop here because I feel like I drag things on.  I think this would need to be a longer vision, but my idea is that she stays in school with her English major.  Eventually, people start ignoring the Projections about the 'end of the world' and view them as either something to wait for, or complete fiction.  Politics become heated and eventually a war breaks out.  The county is overtaken by the enemy and people live in a state of constant alert and war.

Jael never forgets her Projection, but she does stop worrying about it.  She goes on to become a journalist, but one day she is sent to a neighboring city which is being attacked by the invading country.  One of her friends tells her about his own glance into the future which says that the city will win the fight, and so Jael feels no fear of going.

While there, however, the fighting becomes more volatile and Jael must seek refuge in an abandoned hospital.  The casualties are so great that regular citizens are pitching in to help with the wounded.  Jael joins in this endeavor, only to be handed a nurse's uniform which she dons to keep any blood off of her own clothes.    She then thinks she realizes what her Projection was about.

The story continues with her continuing her work, but while tending the young man with the head injury, she realizes that the young man is Ryan, the boy who is brought up throughout the book as being a long lost childhood friend.

I don't know much beyond that.  Maybe they fall in love?  Maybe she ends up dying later on while still in that city?  I was thinking the latter would be better because it'd show that despite her friend's vision of a town victory, Jael's own fate is not so lucky.

I doubt this is a story I would finish writing, however.  It's not my style, and I don't feel like I did the source of inspiration any justice.  LOL

The chapter I read doesn't name these 'visions' as Projections. I just figured in a society where it happens as a normal occurrence, people would probably give them a name.  This also wasn't my favorite view of time, but since I doubt I portrayed it correctly, I would like to at least give a few quotes from the chapter:

"This is a world of changed plans, of sudden opportunities, of unexpected visions. For in this world, time flows not evenly but fitfully  and, as consequence, people receive fitful glimpses of the future."

"Thus, in this world of brief scenes from the future, few risks are taken.  Those who have seen the future do not need to take risks, and those who have not yet seen the future wait for their vision without taking risks."

And then there's the quote that I used in my story, but slightly altered:

"Who would fare better in this world of fitful time? Those who have seen the future and live only one life?  Or those who have not seen the future and wait to live life?  Or those who deny the future and live two lives?"

Singelli : Wow, super long! Very nice book. I think I will like it if I ever get it.

DittoDude44 :  Did you even read it or are you just trying to increase your post count for the TdV?  It really bothers me when people make a post that doesn't even show they've taken interest in the post itself.  If you didn't read enough of it to comment on the content of my post, I'd rather you not abuse my thread to increase post count.

I'm not just talking to you, but to ALL TdV'ers

Singelli : Yeah, I read it... I just was giving my opinion on the story, and saying it was nice and if I ever find  it, I will be sure to buy it, and read it...

DittoDude44 :  And yet... not to be rude... but you CLEARLY tried to make your last post over 30 words, because those are the only ones to count for the TdV.  I know you did, because you basically copied the EXACT same sentence from your last post without adding much to it.  And besides that, you didn't offer any proof that you really read my story that quickly.

I'm not trying to be mean, but it's a little bothersome to post something and know people aren't going to respect your writing enough to actually read it.  It's like me going into the review section and typing 'nice review!' without actually reading what someone has written.

Whenever I read something someone has written, I ALWAYS bring up something in their post and try to -discuss- it with them. This way, they know that I really did care enough to read what they had to say.

I'm not trying to be mean and there's no sense in trying to prove it -now-, but I'd really appreciate it if all the participants of the TdV stayed out of this thread unless they have something meaningful to say.

And I'm not mad at you Ditto.  Maybe you DID read it.... I can't say whether your did or not for sure. I'm just trying to let everyone know because I don't want a bunch of meaningless posts here....

DittoDude44 : ?Come on man. Clearly you didn't read it. Let me break this down. You posted in this thread at 3:17 PM. The last post before this was made at 3:14 PM. So the MAXIMUM amount of time you had from the time you made your last post to the time you made your first post here is 3 minutes. That is assuming you made that last post at the precise second the clock hit 3:14 and ended submitted your post here at the precise second the clock hit 3:17. That is astronomically unlikely, so you really had less than 3 minutes. Assuming your computer opens pages and submits things super fast and you are a phenomenally fast typist, lets say you had 2 minutes and 30 seconds to read Singelli's story, and only 30 seconds to open this thread, open the reply window, type your post, and submit it. With Singelli's story being 2,626 words long, you would have to read that whole thing in 2:30 flat. That means you would have to read at a rate of 1,050 words per minute. That means you could read over 4 pages in a standard novel in a minute. That is not happening, sorry. And that was giving you the time window that gives you the MOST amount of time possible, which is a very unlikely scenario. So you are claiming you can read even faster than that.