The Edges of Time🔊

In the throbbing heart of downtown Manhattan, packed with towering skyscrapers that nudged the greying belly of the clouds, there rested a quaint little lab. It was a brainteaser, hidden within the ebb and flow of corporate America, named -- 'Edgeline.'

Now, 'Edgeline' was not a mere laboratory; it was an incubation center for the impossible, the very hub of eccentric-energy. Be it work on quantum physics or black holes, from the structure of cosmos to the ingredients of oblivion, 'Edgeline' was the blooming home to it all.

Among its passionate scientists, there was one who stood out - Dr. Edwin Wallace. He was a proponent of the unorthodox, even among the nonconformist souls of 'Edgeline.' Dr.Wallace was a known figure in the scientific community, adored and equally loathed by many for his theories that ended up in the realm of science fiction often rather than the realms of current scientific understanding. His dream was more of a wonderment — to explore the edges of time.

The dream that was impossible till last Wednesday.

Dr. Wallace and his flowingly eccentric assistant, Rosalyn were on the brink of making the first-ever time-modulator — a machine that could transcend time. Near completion, one final step left – activating the modulator.

The countdown began.

Unknown to Rosalyn, Dr. Wallace had used himself as the subject. Amid a flurry of questions by his assistant, Dr. Wallace pressed the last button, and then he disappeared.

All that remained was an echo of his laughter and a question – did he travel in time or had he just evaporated into thin air?

Days turned into weeks, then months.

The world thought him another statistic on the list of scientists who dared to overthrow the laws of nature but failed.

However, not Rosalyn; she believed in Dr. Wallace and his theories. One day, a scribbled note left at the back of her drawer reaffirmed her faith. A message, in his handwriting, dated three years in the future, told her to keep hope and to continue the experiment.

Rosalyn, with newfound belief, now dedicated her life to the lost doctor and his unfinished venture. The remaining teammates, inspired by her relentless determination, joined her to rescue their lost leader.

Years past, failures were aplenty, but steadily the refined time-modulator took shape. One winter afternoon, amid the chirping sparrows and dying sunlight, they did it. The time-modulator was working again, holding the potential to reach Dr. Wallace.

Astonishingly, it was Rosalyn who volunteered to go ahead with the seemingly dangerous expedition. After a tearful, joyful farewell, she hoped onto the portal to the abyss. Low murmuring of the clock, a sudden whirl of wind, and then – she disappeared.

As she landed with a thud onto a strange, yet vaguely familiar landscape, she found herself staring at a small cottage at the foothill of a snowy mountain. The delightful laughter of children wafted over to her from somewhere nearby, and in the midst of it all stood Dr. Wallace, older than she remembered, his hair grey and wild in the wind, but his laughter as hearty as she always knew.

Relieved tears filled Rosalyn’s eyes as Dr. Wallace looked up, his eyes as surprised but full of affection as they were when he had last seen her. He embraced Rosalyn warmly, introducing her to a family she had never known, his family he managed to create in this strange yet beautiful corner of time.

In this corner of time, they continued to live, cherishing the beautiful anomalies that life likes to throw. Their lab, their friends, and their existence in their own time - were they mere stories of reminisce now, ensnared in the edges of time? Only time could tell.

For Rosalyn and Dr. Wallace, they found joy in living in the uncertainty of what once was their past and what would be their future. As though through their beliefs, endeavours, and a little dash of madness, they had transcended to the very edges of time – the dream they had always wanted to live. And thus, they're continuing to live, etching an uncanny tale of determination, friendship and adventure in the interstice of theoretical impossibility.