chair, or else I will find a scientific implement that when inserted rather hastily into your person, will force you to sit still’. While the two men bickered, and throw fleeting glances and cold stares, the low humming nose from the particle machine became a buzz which grew louder, while it forcibly drew more electricity from the generator. The professor slowed the rewinding speed down, believing that it wouldn’t take long before the machine reached the toys beginnings. As the images could be seen clearly again, both men watched what looked like an explosion happening in reverse (an implosion). The Professor’s instant reaction was to pause the machines video footage. The frozen image caught on the screen, showed the teddy’s head shooting across the screen in a motion blur from the speed at which it travelled. In the background of the picture a fireball of flames was being packed away into a car. The assistant looked to his boss with a dropped jaw and the Professor stared back like and older reflection. Realising how similar they both looked the Professor coughed a little, and then said quickly “I think we should watch this part for scientific research”. His assistant added eagerly “yeah, it also looks pretty damn cool too”. As they pressed play the time particles jumped backwards through time slightly from the pause (like a slow connection to a streaming web video).
When the footage began to play again, the streets were clear of debris with no sign of an explosion. The star of the show (Cuddles) could just in so be seen on the screen as a spec in the background. As the camera began to zoom in towards the teddy, the Professor stopped it zooming just in front of a young soldier who’d bent down on one knee to ask a little crying boy, “why are so glum”. Through the tears

the boy mumbled something in a foreign language, which the solider didn’t understand. The solider spoke again gently to the child “I’m sorry but I don’t understand”. Another voice from behind the solider said, in broken English “he said his teddy bears missing”. The stooped solider stood up straight and turned to the man who was holding a map over his sunburnt, bright pink hairless head, (in a poor attempted to keep the afternoon sun off the rest of him). Then sun burnt man said in a slightly hurried voice to the solider “can you please help us, my son and I are trying to reach the train station, could you please show us the way”. The father looked shaky and quite petrified; he also would stop looking over his shoulder. He then added under his breath “it’s not safe in Palestine for us anymore; we need to get back home”. The young solider looked from the boy back to the man briefly, then back to the little boy and said in a calm reassuring voice “first we have a teddy bear to find, then I will show you to the way to the train station, ok”. The solider stooped down again and asked the boy “do you remember where you had him last, it would be best if we started from there”.
The boys father translated the messages between the soldier and boys chat. The little boy raised his hand and pointed a chubby finger across the busy road, aiming it at a battered old jeep. The soldier shaded his eyes with the palm of his hand, to take a better look at the far side of the road. By pure chance he saw a small teddy shaped shadow sitting next to the jeeps wheel. The soldier spoke firmly “I want both of you to stay here, whilst I will get the teddy”. The soldier then tried and struggled to cross the busy road. In the jeeps front seat, a man’s head pop up. The man in the jeep yawned loudly while rubbing his sleep filled eyes and then he surveyed his new surroundings. When the man saw the soldier coming towards