1.26.2012

Wrinkling in Time - writercize #157

Whenever I hear or think about the concept of time, the book A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle pops into my head. I read it in sixth grade and honestly can't remember much of the story at all, but I know that I loved it, despite my otherwise lukewarm feelings towards Sci Fi, and should probably read it again very soon. I think of it when I watch movies in which perfect dads open the front door to a freshly manicured lawn and walk along a pathway to collect the morning paper, amid sprinklers. There is a scene in the book that has been permanently etched into my brain about this very scene, in a neighborhood where everyone walks out to get the paper together. The story may have vanished, but the images are strong and sound.

Moving on ... this post is inspired by the title, but as I can't remember the tale it's a different take on wrinkling time. (I think!) 

I want to spark your creative juices and give you the ability to travel into any period of time, past, present or future. Why present? Because you have full control over the topic and can give your younger or older self the possibility to visit your current self. Basically, you can wrinkle time any which way you like.

writercize: You can travel through time, either in your present day body to any point in history past or future, or in your younger or older body to current time. It is only a wrinkled effect, so you still exist in the present as yourself while you are simultaneously projected elsewhere, as though two points in time are touching briefly. 

Where do you go and what is the effect of the time travel? Do you relive a memory by watching it again, experience a period in history that you are intrigued by, look at future generations, observe or attempt to alter?

Leave your time wrinkled experience as a comment or link to your blog to share!

(Post inspired by GBE 2 prompt "Time." GBE 2, aka the Group Blogging Experience, is a Facebook blogging group that provides weekly prompts. There is always room and a welcoming vibe!)

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response.
writercizer sample response:

Today I believe that I would go back to see my Grandma as a girl, to watch her dance and laugh and play and move, to watch her learn and to see what tendencies my own children share with her. If I could have multiple wrinkles in time, I would like to see all the people I love around age five, carefree and imaginative, filled with wonder and excitement for life, and so pure in the way they perceive the world. I would love to see the character in the children of my parents and grandparents, and get to know my husband as a young child.

I am intrigued by different eras, and would be very interested to attend speeches by people like Ghandi and Martin Luther King, but ultimately, I want to know the essence of my family, my loved ones. I would happily learn about other important events as I do now, through books and film, and stick closer to the heart and home in where I go.

19 comments:

  1. Interesting approach to the GBE2 theme!

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  2. I like the idea of going back and seeing the people who made us what we are.Not the big name politicos and famous faces, but the common folk who make this world tick, created our families and our lives. Cool post.

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    1. You said it perfectly: "the common folk who make this world tick, created our families and our lives"

      Thank you.

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  3. this prompt reminds me of the movie "the lake house" w/ sanda bullock & keanu reeves. perfect for val day.

    i want to see my kids as adults and see if i can do anything more or less for them to have good lives...

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  4. Very cool prompt. I'm pretty sure I'd like to see my Mom as a young woman. In elementary school, middle school, as a teenager, a young woman. I'd love to know her as a friend. I wonder how much I have in common with her.

    I'd also love to see my husband as a teenager. I think that would be fun.

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    1. Husbands as teenagers would be so fun, before the days of responsibility. I would love to do the same.

      I like that you want to see your Mom at many different ages. Great idea.

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    1. Time Wrinkles
      She watched each stroke of the paintbrush across the canvas, taking in the look on his face. He concentrated so completely when he painted. Watercolours were backward to her, leaving empty spaces for the light, instead of shading in the darkness. He did them beautifully.

      She noticed this time, the lines on his face, and the shadows beneath his eyes. The secret tell that let us know they would be leaving soon. Now that she was here again, what would she do with the time? How long would it last? Not long enough, she was sure of that.

      He finished sweeping the brush across the canvas in rich tones of russet, amber, and gold. She remembered this one well, it was one of the last. Adobe buildings and turquoise doors. Stages and steps, that moved fluidly from one level to another, but never the same.

      When the lights began to flicker, she kissed his cheek, and quietly stepped into the small ray on the floor. They might be small moments, but they were moments she looked forward to. He would never recognize that this was not the first time he painted the picture that now hung at the base of the stairs. That would be her secret, carried with her through a time wrinkle that only she would know.

      http://bloggitwrite.blogspot.com/2012/01/time-wrinkles-weekend-writercize.html

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    2. Hey! Thanks so much for sending this in. I like the secretive aspect of it, and the vivid imagery. Can't wait to see more from you. :)

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  6. I have that book but never got around to reading it, will have to give it a go now :)

    Wagging Tales

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  7. I'm not sure where I would travel back to in my own life (it really wasn't that exciting!), but I have always been fascinated by the Medieval period in England. I'd love to time-travel to that time period and see what life was really like, or if I make it sound more glamorous. :) I'd probably have to find a prince...

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    1. I think a prince is a smashing idea. :) I was really torn between time travel to an interesting era and visiting people I love.

      I think if I had gone with the time travel, I'd wrinkle right over to Egypt during construction of the pyramids and finally be able to answer how they did it!

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  8. Would love to travel back in time and hang with my mother, during her time in the Coast Guard during WWII, as a contemporary her own age. Be both and exciting time and locale, and really let me get to know her in a way I never did.

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    1. I love the connections to family that I see pop up in all these comments. What a brave Mama you had - a woman in the Coast Guard in the 40s - she must have been (still be?) an outstanding lady.

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  9. Someone wrote about seeing their grandmother. O how I would love that. I would love to go back to when I would travel from New Jersey to the Bronx at 11 years old...yeah all alone. I was a brave heart, because I came from a family of them. And when I'd reach that South Bronx apartment, I was home and safe. Away from the middle class drama of my mother's sickness of drug addicted loneliness and her husband drunkie. I was safe and well taken cared of. Mangoes, curried chicken cooked to perfection, black beans. laughs through all hours of the night with the balcony window being our only breath of fresh air. Imagine the South Bronx and fresh air just don't match but it worked and its a time I endear. My grandmother her words etched into my heart: Do only what makes you feel good. I wrestle with that because I know she did. But in the end, those were her words to me. I loved that woman and if I had another chance to be with her back in time I would love her endlessly.

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