I Tried to Fix the World

“My body my choice,” I shouted. My name is Fred McGraw, and I’d traveled all the way from Birmingham, Alabama to be here. I was at a political rally, fighting the new covid vaccine they’d invented. I was trying to change the world, preventing corporations from forcing us to put there medicine in our bodies. Even if vaccines did work, I didn’t want one.

“You should be saying that about women’s rights,” someone shouted back at me.

“Women have rights. Just not the right to force me to get a vaccine,” I said.

“Vaccines save lives,” she shouted.

“Not my life,” I replied. I walked away to go shout at somebody else. Clearly my rhetoric wasn’t getting through to her. She was too ‘well educated,’ listening to doctors and scientists. I was educated too, I had done my research online and have my set of alternative facts that I know are true. Doctors and scientists are just puppets of big pharma.

I had not studied anything about vaccines, but I didn’t feel I needed too. All I knew was I didn’t trust the pharmaceutical companies, scientists, doctors or anyone with a basic understanding of modern day medicine to decide what was best for me.

I had finished protesting after screaming threats to all the crazy vaccine supporters at the rally.

I got in my old, rusted pickup truck and drove to my friend’s hotel. He traveled to Washington, D.C. too, but not for the rally. He traveled here specifically to see me. Dr. Joseph Jones was an inventor and scientist, and a huge vaccine supporter. Despite our political differences, we had managed to maintain a decent friendship over the years.

I was excited for today’s visit. He said he had something special just for me. I got to the hotel, took the elevator to his floor, knocked on his door and he let me in.

“Welcome, welcome, Fred. Come on in,” Joseph said.

“Alright,” I said and moved slowly into his room.

“Whoa, what is that huge machine you have?” I asked.

“I know you’re not going to believe this, but it’s a time machine,” Joseph said.

“Yah, right,” I scoffed.

“No, really, it is. I built it just for you. I’m going to send you back in time to meet someone very special. It’s a doctor, like me, named Edward Jenner. He invented the first vaccine for smallpox in seventeen ninety six. I’m sending you to seventeen ninety five to help him do the research, so you can see how it works,” Joseph said.

“That sounds insane. I don’t think time travel works, but even if it does, this isn’t going to change my mind,” I said.

“Just help him do the research, Fred. When you get back to the future, if your mind still isn’t changed, at least you can say you got to time travel. How many people can say that?” Joseph asked and smiled, his glistening, perfectly white teeth reflecting a shimmer of light that hit my eye.

“Alright, fine. I’ll give it a try. But how do I even find this Doctor Edward guy?”

“I’ve done extensive research and he should be at this very spot on February fifth, seventeen ninety five. That’s where I’ll send you. Just tell him you’re studying to be a doctor and you’d like to volunteer for him,” Joseph said.

“Alright, I’ll give it a go,” I said.

“Whatever you do, don’t do anything to change history. Make sure that vaccine gets invented whether you believe in it or not. Any slight change in the past could dramatically alter the future,” Joseph warned.

“I’ll try not to,” I said.

I took a deep breath, shrugged and sat down in his machine. He pressed a series of buttons and the machine made various whirring, beeping and hissing noises.

“When you’re ready to come back, just press the red button,” Joseph said.

The room started to change, and the hotel walls slowly started to disappear. Everything seemed to be moving backwards, and I got nauseous. Finally the machine stopped moving and I was now sitting in a field of grass.

I stepped out of the machine and started walking around. I saw someone else walking through the grassy field.

“Excuse me sir, would you happen to know where I might find a Dr. Edward Jenner?” I asked.

“I’m Dr. Jenner. How can I be of assistance?” he asked.

“I’ve heard of your work. You’re apparently trying to help people become immune to disease or something?” I asked.

“Well, smallpox, yes. It is my belief that by using the less deadly cowpox, people can build up a resistance to smallpox,” Dr. Jenner said.

“Wait, that’s how vaccines work?” I asked.

“Vaccines?” Dr. Jenner said.

“Oh, right. Those haven’t officially been invented yet. I mean, immunity research?” I said.

“You’re a strange man,” Dr. Jenner said.

“Well, I’m learning to be normal. Speaking of learning, I’d like to help you do your research. I’m trying to become a doctor, I’d like to learn from you,” I said.

“I suppose I can use the help, my previous intern died of smallpox. All the more motivation to create a prevention method and be rid of this disease,” Dr. Jenner said.

He started walking and I followed. We talked for a bit and he explained to me in greater detail how exposing someone to a weak strain of a virus might help the body prevent stronger strains of the virus. Vaccines were starting to make sense. Is it possible I had been wrong? Did vaccines work?

I was starting to question everything I had ever believed in when I tripped over a rock on the ground. I had grabbed on to Dr. Jenner to try and catch my balance, but he ended up falling too. I pushed myself back up and immediately apologized to Dr. Jenner.

“Sorry Doc, I slipped,” I said. He didn’t respond. I turned and looked at him, he was laying perfectly still on the ground.

“Dr. Jenner,” I said. Still, nothing. I rolled him on too his back. He was completely pale. Oh crap, I killed him. Joseph was going to kill me, there’s no way he was going to believe this was an accident.

I ran back to the time machine. I looked at the control panel and had no idea what all the buttons did. I’d press the red button and ask Joseph to send me back in time again, back before I killed Dr. Jenner so I could fix this.

I hit the red button, and the machine whirred, beeped and hissed and everything started to spin and change again. The machine stopped, but I was still in a field of grass. Something must have gone wrong with the machine. Why wasn’t I back in the hotel? I hit the red button again, then several more times and nothing happened.

I read the date on the machine and it read the same day that I had left. I was almost sure I was back in the present. I got out of the machine and started frantically running around and screaming, “Hello, is anyone here. Joseph, Joseph. If you can hear me, I need your help.”

Someone started to approach me from afar.

“Why are you shouting, friend?” He asked.

“Joseph, is that you? I’m so glad you’re here, I need your help,” I said.

“Hey Fred. What are you doing out here in the middle of this grassy field?” Joseph asked me.

“You should know. You sent me back in that infernal time machine to study the first vaccine. I need to go back again, I accidently killed the guy that invented them. Can you send me back too before the accident happened?” I asked.

“What time machine? And what’s a vaccine?” Joseph said.

“Excuse me? That big machine behind…” I started to say and turned around. The time machine was gone.

“Vaccines prevent diseases. You’re a huge advocate of them,” I tried to explain to Joseph but he gave me a blank stare.

“Oh my god. They were never invented. Of course you don’t know what they are,” I said.

“Something to prevent diseases would be nice. Most of the world died during the smallpox pandemic of the seventeen hundreds. We were finally starting to repopulate to decent levels, but when this covid pandemic hit and spread across the world, that crippled most of the human population again. You and I are probably the only two people left in Washington, D.C.” Joseph said.

“I’m going to call my wife, Cathleen,” I said.

“Cathleen? I thought she died months ago. She got covid from your neighbors, right?”

“But my neighbors are vaccinated. Oh god, no vaccines. What have I done? WHAT HAVE I DONE?” I shouted. I now knew vaccines worked, but had killed everyone by accidently preventing there invention. How could I have done this? If only I hadn’t tripped over that stupid rock.

“I wish I knew what you were talking about, buddy,” Joseph said and put his arm around me.

“I wish you did, too,” I said and started to cry.

Copyright © 2/11/2023 by A.H. Mittelman. All rights reserved.