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Where am I? Can’t be. Dave Summers has awakened to find himself back in his old house in Oaklee Road, Workham, City of Lionby. He keeps pinching himself. Surely this must be a dream, yet everything looks so real. Dave sits on his bed, in his bedroom at the rear of the old terrace house. A terrace that was demolished in 1963! Dave’s last recollection before today was falling asleep in his house in Grimlea, in the year 2015. He had had a steady day at the office: Grimlea Careers Centre, where he had worked for about thirty years. The evening had been quite routine too. But without warning, everything had come to this.

Impulsively Dave dashes downstairs into the lounge. He ignores the rumbling of his father’s snoring, which comes from the bedroom at the other side of the staircase. Dave knows, or rather remembers better than to disturb anyone at this early hour. Soon he stares into the sitting room mirror: at his ten year old self! After several minutes prodding his face he takes in the scene. The Sunday ‘papers are scattered before the doorway. Frantically he ceases them and hones in on one detail: they confirm it is 1962!

About thirty minutes later Dave returns to his bedroom after exploring the street outside. Everything is more or less as he remembers it. Admittedly the houses are much smaller than he recalls, but going back to visit old places is often strange like this. With an air of determination Dave finds himself a notebook and pen. His instincts now tell him that he must keep his grip on 2015!  

Dave writes: “This is a true story. Last night when I went to sleep it was the year 2015 and I was a Personal Adviser at Grimlea Careers Centre. Now I’m a ten year old schoolboy living in Lionby and it is 1962. Brazil have yet to win the World Cup this year. Next year J.F. Kennedy will be assassinated. Maybe I will wake up tomorrow back in Grimlea 2015. Yet I might not, and I may lose all my “memories”. England winning the World Cup in 1966. The Aberfan tragedy the same year. Man landing on the Moon in 1969. The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones. Queen, Genesis, Girls Aloud. 911, The Gulf Wars, The Falklands War. The tragic tale of Princess Di. Digital Television. Mobile Phones. The Internet. Sinking ships and air crashes. The pulling down of The Berlin Wall and the breakup of The Soviet Union. The North African Revolutions. My friends and colleagues. For what if I take a different path this time? Meet different people in different places. Could I change history? Only time will tell. Amen.”