[ WP ] Time travelling tourists from the future are commonplace at significant historical events . You get home and find time travellers watching you for an unknown reason .

Jasmine sauntered up her driveway in the drizzling rain and unlocked the red door to her house. Once she was in the warmth of her home, Jasmine shook her umbrella dry, placed her purse down and hung her coat up. Her husband, James, came into the landing hugged her from behind, and kissed her cheek, which was red from the wind outside. 
 
 “ Working late at the office again? ” he asked, smiling at her 
 
 “ Yeah, I had all these reports to finish, and my boss is just… ” Jasmine tried to finish her sentence but stopped in tired exasperation 
 
 James put a finger on her lips and smiled “ shh, don ’ t think about work. I ’ ve got a surprise for you, come through to the kitchen. ” Jasmine smiled too, and started to forget her bad day at work as James led her to a candle lit dinner table with flowers, an enticing bottle of Malbec and a meal of her favourite Thai green curry. 
 
 “ The food is probably a bit cold, I expected you to come home earlier. ” James said apologetically 
 “ No worries ” Jasmine said and they kissed. Once they had sat down, and were brandishing chopsticks, Jasmine noticed something move in the garden. “ What was that? ” she asked James “ What was what? ” “ I saw some movement in the garden, I think someone ’ s there! ” 
 
 James walked up to the patio doors and frowned at the garden in concentration, it was hard to see anything at all as the pale grey sky of the daytime was transitioning to a dark blue. He shrugged “ I think it must be one of the neighbourhood cats, let ’ s get on and enjoy our evening. ” As James said this, they both heard a huge clank outside. The sound had unmistakably emerged from their garden. James grabbed a torch and opened the door, Jasmine followed him. The clank struck again, and they began to hear voices. Jasmine shrieked and James shivered, they held each other close and started to walk quickly inside for safety. Jasmine had grabbed her mobile as she left the table and began dialling the emergency services. She looked back at the garden as they were about to re-enter the house and six people emerged from the darkness. As they walked closer to the light coming from the kitchen, Jasmine and James stood in stunned silence. Their fear gripped them to the floor. The six people who walked up the garden were wearing protective suits with gas masks. They spoke to each other in a tongue neither James or Jasmine could recognise. One of the six intruders took their gas mask off and said in accented English “ We are only here to visit, please do not fear us. ” Still petrified, James and Jasmine stared open-mouthed. The man who spoke said something in his own tongue to his fellow intruders and then turned back to Jasmine and James. “ This is the date of nuclear detonation on London, I suggest you take cover. ” 
 
 Jasmine gasped in fear and her hands clenched harder into James. The six intruders spoke amongst themselves, unintelligible to James and Jasmine. They walked back to the edge of the garden, James and Jasmine heard a click and a glass pod came into view. The six intruders crawled into the glass pod one by one and sat down. The scene inside the pod was clearly visible to the frightened eyes of Jasmine and James, each intruder removed their gas mask and sat down. The interior of the pod looked like a first class train carriage, the passengers looked normal. Under those protective masks was an old couple, two parents and their two stroppy teenagers, and two men in what seemed to be the pilot section of the pod. The most senior-looking pilot had a composed face, he looked at Jasmine and James with concerned pity. Jasmine stared back, noticed his freckles and observed how similar the scene in the glass pod was to a normal bus trip. 
 
 The light of the pod cut out and Jasmine and James kept holding each other. The sky was now pitch black, the only thing visible was the light of a plane. A small object fell from the sky and several police sirens sounded. Frightened screams emanated from the neighbouring houses, James and Jasmine took cover on the ground. Then there was silence. 
 
 *** 
 
 In the glass pod Commander Hooper looked out onto the vast stretch of emptiness that was formerly the great city of London. The skeletal remains of some buildings could be seen scattered across the dusty landscape. 
 He turned back to his passengers to witness their reaction. Moonla and Hifta, the two moody teenagers had ceased squabbling and were shocked into silence. Moonla ’ s black lipsticked mouth gaped open. Commander Hooper had been working as a pilot for “ Time Backwards Tours ” for the past thirty years. London 2040, the first stop in the “ Nuclear Explosion ” package never failed to leave the carriage pod stunned. 
 
 Tomda, Moonla and Hifta ’ s father broke the shocked atmosphere like glass. He said angrily: “ Well, why did you land here, in someone ’ s back garden. Why couldn ’ t we have watched the detonation in a more prominent place, like the banks of old Thames River I heard about in history class. ” He sat back in his seat and huffed. “ I paid 30, 0000 krill for the family to travel and watch all of these nuclear detonations, the first one is a disappointment. This is a terrible start to our holiday. I shall call and complain to “ Time Backwards ”. ” The old couple, his wife and his two stroppy teenagers all frowned at this flippancy. 
 
 Commander Hooper retained his professional calm while attempting to address this complaint. “ But isn ’ t every person ’ s life and experience important? James and Jasmine Hooper were just two of millions who died during the nuclear destruction of London in 2040. Actually, those two individuals we saw dying were actually distant relatives of mine, they were my great, great, great, great, great Auntie and Uncle. ” 
 
 Commander Hooper ’ s deputy pilot chimed in “ Yeah, the crew at “ Time Backwards ” are pretty partial to viewing their ancestors – it ’ s a perk of the job you could say. ” Commander Hooper nodded in agreement at this and gave a conciliatory smile to Tomda. The deputy pilot started up the controls to the glass pod. “ Next stop Hiroshima ” he said. Tomda rolled his eyes and said sarcastically, “ well I hope we don ’ t end up viewing it in someone ’ s loo. ” As the pod lifted up off the ground in preparation to travel and thought to himself “ people in 2150 enjoy peace, prosperity, and bountiful resources but they have absolutely no empathy for human suffering in the past. ” 
 
 

