Backward

Jim looked around the deserted science lab. He knew he shouldn’t have snuck back, but he really wanted to see what Mr Jenkins, his teacher had been working on. He had to know what was under the dark sheet at the back of the room.

Jim crept closer, trying not to shatter the fragile silence of the empty school, but straining to see in the dimly lit room. Shards of of early evening light pushed through the gaps in the blinds above the teacher’s desk, confusing the simple layout of the desks with unexpected and often changing shadows. Suddenly he heard a sound, and froze. Had he imagined it? No it was there again, the sound of heavy footsteps. He turned slowly towards the door, and through the frosted glass the beam of an approaching torch lit up the corridor.

“Security guard!” He thought, and without pausing to think, Jim threw himself towards the heavy sheet and the angular project it covered.
As he slid under, Jim tripped on a chair leg and fell head first into what seemed to be a cockpit-like chamber. He banged his head, hard. Blinking back the pain he struggled to keep his eyes open. It was as he started to blackout that he read the display in front of him. There were many numbers and dials, but his last memory was of one word flashing increasingly faster and faster: ‘BACKWARD’.