10:15, Mr. Pilgrim

Jonathan Cavalieri
English 211W
Prof Henkle
April 30th, 2009
10:15, Mr. Pilgrim
For a while Billy had been certain that they were right, everything is predetermined and there isn’t a thing to be done about it. He also wondered why people found it hard to believe the things that were so plainly obvious to himself. Lastly Billy couldn’t figure out why, after all the events he had witnessed, and relived, had this moment not been shown to him.
Billy sat cross legged in the stiff leather chair waiting for the silence to be broken. The room was stiflingly plain, four walls and two chairs. In between the chairs lay a round coffee table, perhaps put there for a barrier though Billy.
“Mr. Pilgrim, your family made the appointment because they’re concerned about you. Your daughter in particular told me that you’ve convinced yourself that you can travel through time.” Billy cleared his throat,“it’s easy to be convinced of things that have happened to you” The doctor, a bearded man of around sixty, wrote a few notes in his clipboard and then looked at Billy. “Mr. Pilgrim, what is Tralfamadore?”. “Tralfamadore”, Billy went on, “is the planet that they take me to and place me on exhibit at a zoo.” “They? Who’s they?” Billy answered plainly, “The Tralfamadorians” “Perhaps I wasn’t clear enough, who are the Tralfamadorians?” With a sigh of frustration Billy reiterated that the Tralfamadorians are extraterrestrials that appear to humans in the shape of an upright toilet plunger with a hand atop and that they have kidnapped him and brought him to their planet,Tralfamadore, and put on exhibition at the local zoo. “I see, tell me more about this zoo?
Billy explained that Montana Widhack is not only a famous actress on earth, but also shares a cage with him at the zoo.
“What is her purpose there?” asked the doctor. “She is my mate, they keep her there for me, and I get to couple with her” replied Billy.
The doctor reached into his front coat pocket and pulled out a square white pad. He clicked the top of his pen and swiftly jotted down a few lines. “Mr. Pilgrim, if you really expect me to believe that aliens who can see in four dimensions brought you to another planet and placed you in an isolated cage with a beautiful actress in order for you to be her mate than I’m afraid you haven’t become unstuck in time, as you say, but unstuck mentally. I have no choice but to commit you an psychiatric faculty for an indefinite amount of time. I’m afraid that my only suggestion to you, which can only be taken in hindsight of course, would be not to have spoken a word of this to anyone.”
Billy sat defiantly in his chair absorbing the doctors conclusion. He uncrossed his legs, straightened his tie and waiting patiently to be unstuck from this moment in time.