On The Time Continuum

 On The Time Continuum

By Arlene Levin 
(c) 2025 

 

It was a busy day in December.  Absentmindedly I sat at my cluttered desk preparing to pay bills.  Pen in hand my cheque book in front of me,  I took the telephone bill from the top of the pile.  Automatically I filled in the name and amount.  Then I paused and marveled at the moment.  This was the first time I was to write 1984.

As a child, long before I read the book, 1984 was a time so far the future to my young mind it represented the mythical end of time.  In 1983 at the age of 40 I considered the long anticipated marker of my childhood.  A rush of satisfaction brought a smile to my face as I thought of my young self considering the calendar of my youth.

 As the year progressed I would stop and think with a huge grin “1984, I’m living in 1984!Thank goodness Orwells dark predictions never materialized. In fact, 1984 wasn’t too different from 1983, cars didn’t fly, home computers were a few years off along with a Dick Tracey type wrist watch telephone.  For the wealthy, there were  big clumsy cell phones operating out of a suitcase.   But when necessary,  most got along with beepers, answering services, answering machines and a pocket full of quarters ready to return important calls at one of the many payphones on the street..  

 For me, I was caught up in a whirl of new experiences, new friends, more fun and a keen positive outlook.  And, I met my soon to be husband Paul, an event that changed almost everything.  But that is a story for another time.

As 1984 raced to completion I once again found myself sitting at my even more cluttered desk, pen in hand and cheque ready.  Once again I dutifully filled in the name and amount.  Then I paused. The date loomed.  The moments stretched into minutes and then I put the pen down.  I was about to write the new year.   I smiled and thought, “I’ve never even imagined 1985”. On the time continuum I was about to sail into uncharted waters.