The air was thick with the heat and the stench of animals as he made his way into the Jericho. He clung to the walls to avoid the busy streets that were packed with people coming and going. He felt unnerved. He was not used to the ways of life here, the sights, the sounds and the smells and it showed in his face.
They had made it clear to him before he set off that he wasn’t to get involved, he wasn’t to change anything and that human contact was to be avoided if at all possible. But that was a big ask, especially in the city. People were everywhere, living on top of each other and there was too much to take in.
The rough sandstone gave him some comfort. He let his right hand scrape its surface as he made his way along the walls and behind the market stalls that seemed to fill every nook and cranny. Where he was going he did not know, somewhere quiet where he could clear his head and make sense of it all.
‘Excuse me sir.’ He stopped and looked up at two men standing in front of him. They were wearing some sort of uniform. He swallowed hard when he thought about the briefing he had been given. ‘How am I going to explain this when I get back’ he thought.
‘I said excuse me sir,’ the smaller of the two men repeated, ‘Is everything alright with you?’
‘Err yes, yes, .I’m just a bit overcome with the heat I think.’
‘We were wondering if you could help us,’ he continued ‘you see there has been a robbery on the road from Jerusalem and you fit the description of a possible witness. Do you know anything about it sir? Poor bloke was stripped and beaten. Robbed of everything he had and left half dead.’
‘What what do you mean?’ he stammered.
‘I mean there was some poor bloke lying bleeding on the side of the road sir and there were three witnesses apparently: a priest, a Samaritan and a Levite, just like you sir.’
‘A Levite, what’s one of those? I’m not a Levite. I was given these clothes to wear on the journey.’
‘Well you certainly look like a Levite to me sir. Are you denying that you didn’t witness the robbery or that you didn’t see the victim? Think carefully sir before you answer as this is very serious. It’s a good job that Samaritan stopped and helped out otherwise who knows what would have happened.’
The sun seemed hotter and shone directly in his eyes from behind the two men. His head spun as he tried to think.
‘I can explain’ he blurted out. ‘You won’t understand. I did see the man lying injured on the ground and I did see the priest but I had to pass by on the other side of the road. You see I’m not allowed to get involved, I’m not allowed to do anything that would change the course of history. They made that absolutely clear before I could come on the trip. It was one of the conditions and I had to sign a waiver. I’ve come from the future, in a time machine, from two thousand years in the future and I’m not allowed to make contact otherwise I’ll lose my deposit. You’ll not understand.’
The two men knew when they were being played. ‘I think you had better come with us sir. History will judge you for this one.’
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 