Back in Time: A fanfic tribute to the Back to the Future trilogy

Written by Anakin McFly

The light streaked across the sky, twin trails of fire blazing a path across the heavens. And he remembered 1985.

Digital watches one minute out of sync. Clutching a video camera in what used to be Twin Pines Mall, the scent of burnt rubber heavy in the air. A hot metal license plate spinning on the tarmac.

tell me doctor, where are we goin' this time?

The triple sonic booms ripping through the space-time barrier, blue sparks dancing on the windscreen. Flux capacitor fluxing. Temporal displacement.

is this the fifties, or ninety-ninety nine?

Waking up to a world where his parents were his age, experiencing a time that his generation never knew. For the span of one week, being a fifties' kid, ere the lightning struck and sent him back to the future.

all i wanted to do was to play my guitar and sing

Feedback screeching from the microphone. Fingers plucking at metal strings, strident notes in the air. Too loud, they said, too loud. Two words, and dreams were shattered. But dreams could be rebuilt if you only put your mind to it.

so take me away, i don't mind

But he had minded then, that night of November 12th. He hadn't been ready to go. He'd still had a life to live, a life that he wanted to still exist. And somehow, time heeded his wish.

but you better promise me i'll be back in time

He hadn't been. Ten minutes hadn't done it. Trying to start the stalled car, seeing the Lybians' van speed by. Getting out on foot, running, running, watching helpless outside Lone Pine Mall as the bullets hit their target just the way they had the first time. History repeats itself. And for a moment then he had been sure it was all over.

don't bet your future on a roll of the dice

Well, it had worked for Biff. The Luckiest Man on Earth, they had called him, but of course it wasn't luck. Gray's Sports Almanac, 1950-2000. Such were the benefits of future knowledge, though it wasn't just Biff that had benefitted. The drag race, the Rolls Royce – if they had crashed, it would have been the end of so much, and the dreams would have been shattered for good.

you better remember lightning never strikes twice

Three times, actually. Three brilliant bolts of electricity, overloading the time circuits, spiriting Doc away to the Old West. Taking Marty's best friend and sure way home away from him, a hundred years back in time.

please don't drive and eat, don't wanna be late again

How many tardy slips had he collected that year? He couldn't remember now. He wasn't even sure if he ever knew for sure. What he did remember was Strickland's face looming up threateningly in front of him. No McFly ever amounted to anything in the history of Hill Valley. But history changed, oh yes it did.

so take me away, i don't mind

Escapism. That's what it was, really. Zipping away into history, unrestrained by the regular constraints of time. Leave one morning, spend a week elsewhere, then come back and continue that morning, one week older.

but you better promise me i'll be back in time

Time. Time was an arbitrary thing. The future could lead the present as much as the past. The timeline was alive, ever changing. What didn't change was your own personal timeline. You don't get any younger, rejuvenation treatments notwithstanding. Your own time is limited. Your own time can't be relived. You will only be seventeen once.

Marty looked back at the light in the sky, and wished upon the shooting stars.

#