Day 56: The Bookworm (Early Afternoon)
Carter never did wind up with that beer. He wandered out of the bar, got a hamburger, and headed down to the electronics shop to watch the TVs while he ate. The sound was muted, so the stories were a little hard to follow, but it was amazing just to watch the vivid bright-as-life pictures moving around on such big screens. Then he'd made it to the computers and tried using the round thing on a wire to move the little arrow up and down the screen. It was a little fun at first, but seemed pointless in the end, since the arrow never wound up doing anything.
Another thing to do when he got out of here: Buy a TV and one of those teensy tiny computers.
After that, it was to the book store to do a little honest book-gathering this time. It was the least he could do for pinching the animal book, even if it was for a good cause, and despite his smile Carter never could quite meet the shopowners' eyes when he went strolling down the shelving corridors.
His hand paused on a short history of World War II. All he could see was the spine and the title, and he pulled it out a half inch. That was his life right there, everything he'd done (or was going to do, if he got back) for the war effort, everything the Germans had done back, the key to how the Allies were going to finally win that war. There was a big difference between knowing the lay of the world sixty years onward and knowing the exact details of how everything would go down in the last few months of his war. It was tempting to pull it and learn everything he could about his future.
..nah.
Carter pushed the book back in and shook his head with a slight smile. What was the point of a story when you already knew the ending?
[Free]
Another thing to do when he got out of here: Buy a TV and one of those teensy tiny computers.
After that, it was to the book store to do a little honest book-gathering this time. It was the least he could do for pinching the animal book, even if it was for a good cause, and despite his smile Carter never could quite meet the shopowners' eyes when he went strolling down the shelving corridors.
His hand paused on a short history of World War II. All he could see was the spine and the title, and he pulled it out a half inch. That was his life right there, everything he'd done (or was going to do, if he got back) for the war effort, everything the Germans had done back, the key to how the Allies were going to finally win that war. There was a big difference between knowing the lay of the world sixty years onward and knowing the exact details of how everything would go down in the last few months of his war. It was tempting to pull it and learn everything he could about his future.
..nah.
Carter pushed the book back in and shook his head with a slight smile. What was the point of a story when you already knew the ending?
[Free]