The Man from Time

Name: The Man from Time
Author: Frank Belknap Long

Moonson, called the Man from Time, is a scholar traveling through history aboard a Time Observatory in the year 3689, but after twenty-seven days of confident research he is overtaken by a new and unprecedented affliction: Time Fear, an unreasoning terror of the machine's motion and the ages sweeping past its viewpane. Ashamed that he cannot speak his own proud name without dread, and unwilling to let his fellow travelers or his wife, Rutella, discover his torment, he secretly prepares to abandon the expedition. Working alone in the control chamber, he narrows the machine's iris to admit only himself, then steps through into the light of a past era, leaping free just as the Observatory dematerializes behind him. He lands nearly naked in a daisy field beside a country road, where a white-haired motorist in a glass-topped vehicle offers him a lift into town; unable to speak the era's language, Moonson reads the man's suspicious, dismissive thoughts telepathically and lets him drive off. Walking on alone, he crosses a bridge over a stream and eventually reaches a noisy tavern filled with dancing couples, where he sits and reads the minds around him. He contrasts the dancers' uninhibited, natural joy with the rigid ritual dancing of Egyptian bas-reliefs, finding the tavern's freedom stimulating. A surly waiter permits him only beer, taking him for an eccentric beach-goer. Moonson then reads the anguished thoughts of a frightened girl at a nearby table, who is terrified of Mike Galante, the brutal, wealthy man who runs the tavern and controls her through fear. She loves Joe, a devoted young man barely twenty-two, and dreads that Mike—who killed a man at fourteen and spent years in a reformatory—will kill Joe out of jealousy and cruelty. Joe arrives, pale but resolute, and declares he is taking her away that night despite the danger. Moonson, feeling their mutual terror, silently wills them courage, projecting the thought that life's greatness and man's proven courage over pain and grief mean "there is nothing to fear." Joe rises, calm now, and the couple leaves together, pausing to smile back at the stranger in bathing trunks before vanishing into the night. That evening Moonson wanders to a lit cabin, entering wordlessly out of longing for companionship. Inside he finds a youngish, graying writer drinking alone, wrestling with despair, creative paralysis, and fear over his dwindling reputation and his gravely ill wife. Unable to speak, Moonson simply listens with total, silent attentiveness; his calm, fearless presence restores the writer's confidence and creative will. Overwhelmed with gratitude, the writer inscribes and gives Moonson a faded copy of his first book, "This Side of Paradise," signed "With warm gratefulness for a courage which brought back the sun. F. Scott Fitzgerald." Moonson bows his thanks and departs. The next morning, walking across dew-covered meadows, Moonson despairs that Time is too vast for anyone ever to find him again in this one obscure moment of the past. But the Time Observatory suddenly materializes before him, and Rutella emerges, laughing and joyful, having tracked him down. She explains that the Bureau of Emotional Adjustment analyzed his fifty-seven-page psycho-graph and that his desperate loneliness guided her to him, since two people bound closely enough in mind and heart can bridge Time itself. She reassures him that a compulsive fear cannot be conquered alone, comparing his newly discovered Time Fear to the historical "Space Fear" that gripped the first travelers to Mars, and tells him his sensitivity and imagination—not any weakness—are the source of his affliction. She vows they will face and conquer it together, and he will never be alone again. As they ascend back into the Time Observatory, Moonson reflects that, unlike the isolated figure of the passing thought "Others he saved, himself he could not save," he now can help himself, since love and trust make self-knowledge "a shining weapon." Holding his wife's hand, he feels no fear as they prepare for the journey back.

By Frank Belknap Long · First published 1956 · Genre: Science Fiction, Adventure, Thriller · 6,880 words

First lines

Deep in the Future he found the answer to Man's age-old problem.

Daring Moonson, he was called. It was a proud name, a brave name. But what good was a name that rang out like a summons to battle if the man who bore it could not repeat it aloud without fear?

What this Textopian page supports

The Man from Time is listed on Textopian as a novel by Frank Belknap Long, dated 1956 CE.

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Work type: Novel
Author: Frank Belknap Long
Date: 1956 CE
Language: English
Genres: Science Fiction, Adventure, Thriller, Fantasy, Mystery
Length: 6,880 words
Structure: 1 section, 153 paragraphs
Reading fit: Very Easy (5th Grade or below)

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Discussion starters

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Similar titles

Genres

Science Fiction — The plot revolves around time travel and futuristic concepts.
Adventure — The narrative includes a journey through different time periods and the challenges faced.
Thriller — The story contains suspenseful elements and high-stakes situations.
Fantasy — The book includes imaginative and speculative elements beyond current scientific understanding.