Back and Forth

Birch loved manipulating time.

He was a quantum physicist and looked for every possible way to manipulate time. He was a supreme multi-tasker but also an avid practitioner of Zen meditation. His ultimate goal was to chronicle and master those moments where a pleasurable thing or a frightening sequence of events are perceived in a flash of motion and compression of time, rather than the actual length in which it occurred. The same was true for the opposite, of course. Tedious tasks sometimes seemed to take twice the time passed on the clock, and Birch wanted to master this phenomenon as well.

He believed it was all a matter of perception. If one could master this altered perception of passing time, then one could master the altering of time within his or her reality. Time could be shortened or extended at will.

This quest to explore new ways of manipulating time led him to speed dating.

Speed dating was a compression of weeks, perhaps months or years, of dinners, drinks, and conversations into one four-hour block of time. The rapidity of the chats, the chiming of the bell signaling the moment to switch tables, and the perception-skewing effects of the alcohol all combined to make four hours feel like two.

"Uh oh," a woman said.

Birch looked up. The signal bell rang. An attractive woman in a blue dress stood at the other side of his table. She had piercing blue eyes and was the first forty-something woman he'd met who could pull off wearing lip gloss.

"Don't worry about it," she said. "I'm still dry."

He stood up, not knowing what she meant, and wanting to introduce himself before the conversation went further off the rails. His abdomen bumped the table as he stood. The shake knocked over his drink, spilling it across the table.

"I'm so sorry," he said, reaching for his napkin.

"I've had worse," she said. "The guy at table four belched and then wiped his nose with his hand as I sat down."

"Heck of a way to introduce myself, huh?"

"Like the tree?" She asked, trying to confirm her suspicion.

The question threw him for a moment, but he saw her name tag, which read "Clara," and remembered he had one, too.

"Birch. Yes, like the tree. My Dad was a forester."

"I must be."

He wasn't sure if it was a statement or a question.

"You must be Clara," he said, answering her, he had decided, playful question.

"I do a lot of research," she said, cutting off his next question. "So I don't have a lot of time to date. Why are you here?"

"The same thing."

"Really? Me too," she said, cutting him off again.

"Yes. I'm a quantum physicist, and I must admit I'm using this as part of a research project."

"What are the odds of that? Two quantum physicists at the same speed dating night, let alone the same table."

"You're a quantum physicist?"

"Time, mostly," she said. "Did you know Aboriginal Australians have no words for 'past' or 'future' in their native language?"

The slight change in topic left him bewildered for a few seconds. "Yes. They say that their shamans study methods of time travel via meditation."

"Yes. I did several years of study in the Outback."

"You've met some of the shamans?"

"They weren't sure what to make of me at first. A white woman wanting to learn their meditation methods. After a year or so, they figured I was serious."

"What did you learn from them?"

"I didn't believe it until I saw it. I was in meditation. The shaman was guiding me from across the fire. His voice was this floating song. Then it was everywhere, surrounding me and amplified six times. I felt this weird shift, like I was in freefall. I got scared. My eyes popped open, and there he was. All seven of him."

"Seven?"

"He told me it was normal to be frightened the first time, and that he could teach me to bridge the gap."

"Wait." Birch leaned forward. "Did you say there were seven of him? They weren't other shamans?"

"It took me another year to bridge the gap and then another six months to access the other bridges."

Birch wasn't sure what to say. He thought maybe he'd missed something, or she was a complete loon.

"Have I jumped ahead?" She asked. "I'm sorry."

"No, no," Birch said. "I think I got lost there somewhere."

"Sometimes I shift when I get excited. You're a cutie, after all, so I think you got me jumping."

"Thanks," he said, becoming surer by the moment that she was out of her mind.

She looked right. "Oh, there's the bell."

It hadn't sounded. He was about to tell her this when she stood up and extended her hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Birch." She gave him a business card. "Call me. I think we could have fun together."

The bell rang. He stood up, dumbfounded by the whole scenario. He barely managed to get the card from her hand before she turned away. He wasn't good for conversation the rest of the night.

Birch called her the next night.

"See you soon," she said upon answering.

"Clara?" He asked. "Is that you?"

"I can be there in about half an hour."

"Really?" The boldness of her offer surprised him. "You don't mess around do you?"

"Are you doing anything tonight?"

"No, that's why I called. I was thinking coffee and a longer talk than three minutes, but we can do that here."

"You get me excited, Birch. I don't know if it's the cute factor you have or the quantum physics or something else, but I see you and me fucking in the near future."

He swallowed. "I hope that prediction comes true."

"I've been thinking of you a lot, too."

"So it seems," he said. "I felt a neat connection yesterday."

"I'm glad you called. I've been hip-deep in my research notes from my Australian studies." Her tone had gone from sultry to studious. "I need the break."

"Would you like to take a break here at my place?"

"Hey, yeah Birch. How are you?"

She said it like the conversation had just started. Was she playing with him? Did she have a memory problem? She had been a bit odd during their speed date, but that was part of her charm. Maybe he'd misheard her. He was excited over the thought of sex with her, and his mind had been racing ahead to plans for the night, so he might not have been paying attention.

"I'm great," he said. "I'm looking forward to seeing you tonight."

"Hello?" She said.

"I'm here," he said. "Can you hear me?"

The dial tone buzzed in his ear. Had she hung up? Did the signal drop out? Why would she hang up on him after such a tantalizing call? Was it part of the tease or was she just fucked in the head?

He replayed the conversation in his mind, now wondering if she was going to show up or not. He decided to tidy his apartment in case she did come over. He remembered the Bears game was in progress so he turned on the TV to listen while he worked. He enjoyed football, loving the fact that clock management, and thus time, was so important. The first thing he heard on the broadcast was "...and the Bears jump ahead by a field goal."

He stopped in the middle of the living room as if he'd run into an invisible wall.

"Jumped ahead," he said. "She jumps when she's excited."

The football broadcast returned. "Green Bay has fallen behind thanks to the Bears' field goal..."

"Ahead and behind," he said. His fingers twitched as his mind rearranged conversations. "She was backwards. She was backwards on the phone. She was ahead at the speed date. She's back and forth in time."

He rushed to the phone. He needed to call and confirm his hypothesis.

She walked out of his bedroom. She was buck naked and smelled of sex. He stood frozen, phone in hand, as she walked past without acknowledging him. She poured herself a glass of water from his kitchen sink and then walked back into the bedroom.

He chased after her. The bedroom was empty. The bed was still made. The sex scent was faint. He checked the closet. Empty. He checked under the bed. Dusty.

He backed out of the bedroom, shaking with fear.

"This is a great view," she said.

His head snapped right. She was nowhere to be seen. He was certain he'd heard her voice. He went to the balcony since she'd mentioned the view. Empty. There was no scent of sex.

Someone turned on his shower. He heard the water falling in the tub. He ran for the bathroom, knowing he was losing his mind but somehow not afraid of that fact. He yanked the bathroom door open. The room was dark. There was no running water. The tub was dry.

The intercom buzzed. He ran for it, wanting to hear a real voice.

"Who is it?" He asked.

"It's Clara."

"Really?"

"Of course. Are you going to buzz me in?"

He did. "Come on up."

Someone knocked. He looked through the peephole. His breath stopped.

He opened the door to let her in. She wore a raincoat, high heels, and nothing else. The glow of her skin and her plump breasts grabbed his attention, but only for a moment.

"How did you get up here so fast?" He asked.

"I took the elevator," she said it like it should've been obvious to him.

"But you were up here right after I buzzed you in."

"Of course," she said as she stepped inside. "Can't you tell by my lack of dress that I'm not in the mood to wait?"

He heard the elevator chime. He looked out the door and down the hall to see her step out of the elevator and turn his way. He nearly shrieked and then slammed the door, making her jump next to him.

"Is something wrong?" She asked.

"You were already here," he said between deep breaths.

"I was?" She sounded more happy than confused.

He paced around the kitchen. "You came out of the bedroom, and then you were on the balcony, I think, and then in the shower."

"I got started earlier than I thought," she said. "I was hoping to surprise you."

Someone knocked on the door before he could ask what she meant. He looked through the peephole, laughed once, and the flung open the door to reveal her on the other side.

"Can either of you explain this?" He asked, almost to the point of hysteria.

"I was planning on doing this a bit later," said Clara Number Two.

"When we were in bed," said Clara Number One.

"I thought about tying you up and blindfolding you," said Clara Number Three as she walked in from the balcony.

Birch pointed at Clara Number Three. "So you were out there!"

"Yes, at one point in time," said Clara Number Four as she came out of the bathroom with a towel around her head and fresh condensation on her skin.

"While you were tied up and blindfolded I'd bring in different aspects of me from short distances in time over the course of the night," Clara Number Five said as she walked out of the bedroom, naked and smelling of sex.

Clara One took off her raincoat. "I'd pull off the blindfold and you'd have all of us, or rather all of me, fucking you."

Birch focused on Clara One. "I thought two objects of the same molecular structure couldn't occupy the same space at the same time."

"But we're not," said Clara Two as she slid her hands around his waist and pulled up his shirt.

Clara Three sat in his easy chair and began playing with her clit. "We're all different ages."

Clara Four moved behind her and pinched Clara Three's nipples. "Even though the difference is minimal, our cellular structure is different due to our ages."

Clara Five knelt in front of him and opened his pants. "We can occupy the same space without trouble."

"But I've discovered sexual excitement makes my skills jumpy," Clara One said as she knelt behind Clara Five. She sucked on two of her fingers and then reached down to push them into Clara Five's cunt.

"That's why you were a couple moments ahead of me at the speed date," he said.

"Yes," Clara Two said as she jacked him into Clara Five's mouth.

"And why you were talking from the end of our phone conversation back to the beginning," he said. "You were out of phase."

"Yes," Clara Three said as she and Clara Four played with her tits. "I'd been masturbating before you called, so I started blinking in at times closer and closer to the time you called."

"Of course, masturbation's taken on a whole new meaning now." Clara Four said and then leaned down to give Clara Three a wet kiss.

Clara Five bounced on Clara One's hand and slurped drool over his cock. He kissed Clara Two as she jacked him. Across from them, Clara Four had mounted Clara Three's thigh and was fucking her with four fingers. She rubbed her wet hand on her tits so Clara Three could lick them clean.

Clara Five stood up so she could bend over the kitchen island. "Fuck me," she said. "Hard and fast before more of me pop in and fill up this place."

Clara Two yanked his pants down and off him. He grabbed Clara Five by the hips and thrust into her. All five cried out or moaned around him. Clara One knelt between their legs so she could lick his balls and Clara Five's pebble-hard clit. Clara Two pulled off her raincoat and moved around to grab Clara Five's head. She steered her head to her breasts and Clara Five laughed as Clara Two teased her mouth with her nipples.

Clara Five grabbed the sides of the kitchen island for support. She made a deep grunt of pleasure and slammed back into him as she came. Clara Three and Clara Four moaned as they fingered and kissed each other. Clara One pushed him back so she could grab his slippery cock and suck him off into her mouth. His balls pounded as he shot a thick volley down her throat.

He reached out to grab Clara Five's tits before he toppled backward from the head rush, but she was gone. They were all gone. The easy chair was empty. He was pantless and alone in the kitchen.

Someone knocked. He shuffled, pants around his ankles, to the door. He was almost afraid to look through the peephole.

She was there in her raincoat and shoes.

"Aren't you going to let me in?" The voice came from behind him.

He turned to see a young woman, her hair bobbed short and her body naked apart from a pair of knee-high socks and low-cut panties. She looked familiar.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"That's the nineteen-year-old me," Clara said behind him, making him jump ad almost trip on his pants. She was in her raincoat on the other side of the closed door now.

"So now you're jumping even further back in time?" He asked them.

"It seems that way," said Teen Clara.

He turned back to Adult Clara. "Wait. How did you get in here?"

"You let me in."

"No I didn't."

She smiled. "I think you're about to."

He laughed and, despite being exhausted, opened the door. She was still there, waiting in her raincoat. Her eyes grew at the sight of him, pantless, with two different versions of herself in his kitchen.

"Oh dear," the second Adult Clara said. "I'm having a hard time stopping, aren't I?"

"I'm still not sure if the original version of you has been here or not," Birch said. "Heck, I'm not even sure there is an original version of you."

"We're all original versions of me," they all said at once. "Just from different time points."

He looked at the two Adult Claras. "But which of you is from right now?"

"Neither," said the first, "because right now doesn't exist."

"Time is in constant motion," said the second Adult Clara. "By the time you inquire about right now, the moment has passed."

"Regardless," Teen Clara said, "our jumping is out of control."

Adult Clara One stepped forward so she could stroke Birch's cock, which was already swelling from the sight of Teen Clara's perky tits and supple neck. "It all started when I thought about fucking you, Birch."

"The first batch of you disappeared upon orgasm," Birch said.

"So you need to fuck the jumping out of us?" Adult Clara Two asked as she took off her raincoat.

"Sounds fun," Teen Clara said while kicking off her panties. "But won't the excitement bring more of us?"

"I'm surprised more of you aren't here already," Birch said.

Adult Clara One got on her knees. "I guess we'd better get started, then," she said. Adult Clara Two joined her on the floor.

They jacked his cock into each other's mouths before Teen Clara pulled him to the floor. She crawled over him, stopping to let him nibble on her tits and then her clit before she mounted him to face the older versions of herself.

Birch groaned at the tightness of her cunt as she bounced hard on him. Her bony ass clenched as she squeezed him. She braced on his thighs and snarled at her two older selves.

"Are you two going to help me get off or not?"

One of the Adult Claras knelt over his face. He grabbed her hips and pulled her down so he could lick from her clit back to her ass. He felt someone's mouth on his balls. He could hear Teen Clara ordering the others to pinch her nipples and lick her cunt. Teen Clara clamped onto him and then relaxed. She did it again, and then again and again in rapid succession. He felt cool air on his cock and no weight on his pelvis. She was gone. He was ejaculating into thin air.

The Adult Clara between his legs grabbed his cock and caught some of his come on her tongue. She jacked him onto her face as the Clara above him shivered.

"Oh fuck," she said. "Is that what I look like with a face full of come? Fuck, that's so hot and nasty."

She came hard on his face. He barely felt her washing over him before she disappeared. He groped at the air above him as Clara laughed with his cockhead in her mouth.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"I think you'd better answer the door."

The knock came.

"You're going to kill me," he said. "You know that?"

He got up, filled a pitcher with cold water, opened the door, and threw the water onto Clara, who stood in the hall holding her raincoat open. The sultry look on her face vanished and she sputtered as she tried to talk.

"I'll explain later," he said. "Give me an hour break at least."

He slammed the door.

END