Timing is Everything

We spend a lot of time in our house talking about time. Specifically about the space/time continuum.  This is due in large part to our rampant Doctor Who fandom (We are Whovians, the MP and I).

As we were watching a retrospective on the first Doctor (It is the fiftieth anniversary this year and they are featuring one Doctor a month in a special series on BBC America.) our beloved Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) was discussing the notion that the First Doctor had to establish the rules of time travel: essentially that you could not change history when going back in time. You can’t kill Hitler, you can’t stop Pompeii from happening, etc.

The MP articulated what they were saying with the following statement: “You change the sentence, that changes a paragraph and pretty soon the whole story is different.” A light bulb went off in my head: I had bought a copy of Ray Bradbury stories to reread some of my favorites. I ran to my room, found the book and brought it back to him.

I said, “Here – give this story a look. It is called ‘A Sound of Thunder’. It is exactly what we are talking about and it will count as your nightly reading.”

Or as I like to think of it: MP, this is Ray Bradbury. He will become one of your favorite authors in 10 pages or less.

 I love Bradbury, I especially love that 60 years after first being published his stories are still relevant today. And the fact that he was a heavy influence on my favorite author: Stephen King works in his favor as well. I have been waiting to get the MP started reading him so that we could share that journey together. I can’t wait to read “Something Wicked This Way Comes” with him.

I purposely did not big up Bradbury in that moment though. I wanted the MP to make his own mind up about whether or not he dug his writing. And at the ripe old age of 10, there was a possibility that the MP might not be ready for Bradbury.

He took the book and headed back to him room: His grandparents were kind enough to clean up his room and rearrange it for him over Christmas break (seriously, he was ready to film the pilot for “Hoarders Junior” in that cesspool). His room has become his sanctuary to read or work on legos.

I wait patiently for him to return with a verdict and hopefully a discussion about the story.

He returned, eyes bright, grin wide and states: “This is an AMAZING story! This is EXACTLY what we were talking about! He is an amazing author!” and he starts pointing out things that happen in the story, and the ending and holy moly can you believe it!

Then we start talking about Bradbury: What else did he write? What have you read? What should I read next? And and and!! It was more than I had hoped for. And confirmation that he and I are going to have a beautiful literary friendship. We talked a bit about the King/Bradbury connection. I told him about some of my other favorite Bradbury stories. He decided that he isn’t ready for “Something Wicked” based on the description: “The first sentence gives me chills!!”

Instead he decided to pick up the Stephen King book I had suggested for him: “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon”.  What a hit that has been! He takes it back and forth to school and even gave up iPad time at the afterschool program in favor of reading it.

 Every night we talk about what happened and where he thinks the story is going next. He has pointed out things to his father (“it mentions your high school!”) and is just enthralled with the story.

I am convinced that two months earlier the Bradbury wouldn’t have impacted him the way it did in that moment. We aren’t changing history or the course of time but I am really excited that the right moment presented itself and we are on the right road to scifi adventure.