I was rapt. It was the best
day of my life. I had asked Fiona to go with me and she said yes. I couldn't
believe. I mean it wasn't as if I was a great catch. I was skinny, weak, and
not too smart at school.
Mostly I got Cs and Ds for
marks. And I couldn't play sport at all. I hated football, always went out on the
first ball at cricket and didn't know which end to hold a tennis racquet. And
Fiona had still said she'd be my girlfriend.
Every boy in year eleven at
Hamilton High would be jealous. Especially Mat Hodson. It was no secret that he
fancied Fiona too. I grinned to myself. I wished I could see his face when he
found out the news. He thought that he was so great and in a way he was. He was
the exact opposite to me. He was smart (always got As for everything), captain
of the footy team, the best batsman in the cricket team and he was tough. Real
tough. He could flatten me with one punch if he wanted to. I just hoped he took
it with good grace about Fiona and me. I didn't want him for an enemy.
I headed off to Crankshaft
Alley to see my old friend Dr Woolley. I always went to see him when something
good happened. Or something bad. I felt sort of safe and happy inside his
untidy old workshop and it was fun seeing what crazy thing he was inventing.
Everything he had come up with so far had been a flop. His last invention was
warm clothes pegs to stop people getting cold fingers when they hung out the
clothes. They worked all right but no one would buy them because they cost two
hundred dollars each. All of his inventions had turned out like that. They
worked and they were clever but they were too expensive for people to buy.
I walked on down past all
the other little shop-front factories until I reached Dr Woolley's grubby door.
I gave the secret knock (three slow, three fast) and his gnomish face appeared
at the window. I say gnomish because he looked just like a gnome: he was short
with a hooked nose and he had a white beard and a bald head surrounded with a
ring of white hair. If you gave him a fishing rod and a red cap and sat him in
the front yard you would think he was a little garden statue.
He opened the door. 'Come
in Rodney,' he said.
Tim, I corrected. He always
called me the wrong name. He had a terrible memory. ‘Where's that screwdriver?'
he said. 'It's always getting lost.'
'In your hand, ' I told
him.
Thanks, Peter, thanks.'
'Tim', I sighed. I don't
know why I bothered. He was never going to call me by my right name. It wasn't
that he didn't know who I was. He did. I was his only friend. Everyone else
thought he was a dangerous crackpot because he chased them away from his front
door with a broken mop. I was the only person allowed into his workshop.
'Are you still working on
the Cloner?' I asked.
His face turned grim and he
furtively looked over at the window. 'Sh ... Not so loud. Someone might hear.
I've almost perfected it. I'm nearly there. And this time it is going to pay
off.' He led me across the room to a machine that looked something like a
telephone box with a whole lot of wires hanging out of it. Down one side were a
number of dials and switches. There were two red buttons.
One was labelled COPY and
the other REVERSE.
Dr Woolley placed a pine
cone on the floor of the Cloner. Then he pressed the button that said COPY.
There was a whirring sound and a puff of smoke and then, amazingly, the outline
of another pine cone, exactly the same as the first, appeared. It lasted for
about ten seconds and then the machine started to rock and shake and the
whirring slowly died. The image of the second pine cone faded away.
'Fantastic,' I yelled.
‘Blast’ said Dr WooIley.
'It's unstable. It won't hold the copy. But I'm nearly there. I think I know
how to fix it'.
'What will you use it
for?" I asked. 'What’s the good of copying pine cones? There are plenty of
pine cones already. We don't need more of those.'
He started to get excited.
'Listen, Robert.'
‘Tim,’ I said.
‘Tim, then. It doesn't only
work with pine cones. It will work with anything.' He looked up at the window
as he said it. Then he dropped his voice. 'What if I made a copy of a bar of
gold, eh? What then? And then another copy and another and another. We would be
rich. Rich.'
I started to get excited
too. I liked the way he said 'we'.
Doctor Woolley started
nodding his little head up and down. 'All I need is time: he said. ‘Time to get
the adjustment right. Then we will show them whether I'm a crank or not.'
We had a cup of tea
together and then I headed off home. That was two good things that had happened
in one day. First, Fiona saying she would go with me and second, the Cloner was
nearly working. I whistled all the way home.
I didn't see Dr Woolley for
some time after that. I had a lot on my mind. I had to walk home with Fiona and
every night I went to her place to study with her. Not that we got much study
done. On weekends we went hiking or hung around listening to records. It was
the best time of my life. There was only one blot on the horizon. Mat Hodson.
One of his mates had told me he was out to get me. He left a message saying he
was going to flatten me for taking his girl.
His girl! Fiona couldn't
stand him. She told me she thought he was a show-off and a Bully. But that
wasn't going to help me. If he wanted to flatten me he would get me in the End.
Fortunately he had caught the mumps and had to stay at home for three weeks.
Someone had told me it was very painful.
I decided to go round to
see Dr Woolley about a month later. I wondered if he had perfected his Cloner.
When I reached the door I gave the secret knock but there was no answer.
‘That’s strange,’ I said to myself. 'He never goes out for anything.'
I looked through the window
and although the curtains were drawn I could see the light was on inside. I
knocked again on the door but still no answer. Then I started to worry. What if
he had had a heart attack or something? He could be lying unconscious on the
floor. I ran around to the back, got the key from the hiding spot in an old
kettle and let myself into the workshop. The place was in a mess. Tables and chairs
were turned over and crockery was lying smashed on the floor. It looked as if
there had been a fight in the workshop. There was no sign of Dr Woolley.
I started to clean the
place up, turning the chairs up the right way and putting the broken things into
the bin. That's when I found the letter. It was in an envelope marked with four
names. It said,
'John', 'Peter', 'Robert',
and Tim'. The first three names were crossed out. Dr Woolley had finally
remembered my name was Tim after four tries. Inside the letter said:
TIM
IF YOU FIND THIS LETTER
SOMETHING
TERRIBLE HAS HAPPENED. YOU
MUST
DESTROY THE CLONER AT ONCE.
WOOLLEY
My eye caught something
else on the floor. I went over and picked it up. It was another letter exactly
the same as the first. Exactly the same. It even had the three wrong names
crossed out. Dr Woolley really was the most absent-minded person.
I looked at the Cloner with
a feeling of dread. What had happened? Why did he want me to destroy it? And
where was Dr Woolley? The Cloner was switched on. I could tell that because the
red light next to REVERSE was shining. I walked over to it and switched it over
to COPY. I don't know what made me do it. I guess I just wanted to know if the
Cloner worked. I should have left it alone but I didn't.
I took a Biro out of my top
pocket and threw it inside the Cloner. Immediately an image of another Biro
formed. There were two of them where before there had only been one. I turned
the Cloner off and picked up both pens. As far as I could tell they were identical.
I couldn't tell which was the real one. They were both real.
I went over and switched
the machine on to REVERSE. Then I threw both of the pens into the Cloner. I was
shocked by what happened. Both of them disappeared. They were gone. For good. I
turned it back to COPY but nothing happened. I tried REVERSE again but still
nothing. It was then that I noticed a huge blowfly buzzing around the room. It
flew crazily around my head and then headed straight into the Cloner. It
vanished without a trace.
The Cloner was dangerous
when it was switched on to REVERSE. It could make things vanish for good. I
wondered if Dr Woolley had fallen into the machine. Or had he been pushed?
There were certainly signs of a struggle.
I thought about going to
the Police. But what could they do? They couldn't help Dr Woolley if he had
fallen into the Cloner. And they would take it away and I would never see it
again. I didn't want that to happen. I had plans for that machine. It was mine
now. I was the rightful owner. After all, Dr Woolley had said that 'we' would
be rich. Unfortunately now it was just going to be me who was rich.
I went back to Fiona's
house and spent the evening doing homework with her. I didn't tell her about
the Cloner. I was going to give her the first copies I made from it. At ten
o'clock I walked home through the darkened streets, keeping an eye out for Mat
Hodson. I had heard he was over his mumps and was looking for me.
The next morning I borrowed
Mum's gold cameo brooch without telling her. I decided not to go to school but
instead I went to Dr Woolley's workshop. Once inside I turned the Cloner on to
COPY and threw in the brooch. Immediately another one appeared. I turned the
Cloner off and took out both brooches. One was a mirror image of the other.
They both had the same gold setting and the same ivory face. But on one brooch
the face looked to the left and on the other it looked to the right. Apart from
that they were identical.
I whistled to myself. The
copy was so good I couldn't remember which way Mum’s brooch had faced. Still it
didn't matter. I would put one of them back where I had got it and give the
other to Fiona.
Next I decided to
experiment with something that was alive. I went outside and hunted around in the
long grass. After a while I found a small green frog with a black patch on its
left side. I took it in and threw it straight into the Cloner. In a flash there
were two frogs. They jumped out on to the workshop floor. I picked them up and
looked at them. They were both alive and perfectly happy. They were both green
but one had a black patch on the left and the other had it on the right. One
was a mirror image of the other.
This Cloner was wonderful.
I spent all day there making copies of everything I could think of. By four
o'clock there was two of almost everything in the workshop. I decided it was
time to go and give Fiona her cameo. She was going to be very happy to get it.
I never made it to Fiona's
house. An unpleasant surprise was waiting outside for me. It was Mat Hodson.
“I’ve been waiting for you,
you little fink,' he said 'I heard you were hiding in here.' He had a pair of
footy boots hanging around his neck. He was on his way to practise. He gave a
nasty leer. 'I thought I told you to stay away from my girl.'
‘She’s not your girl’, I
said hotly. 'She can't stand you. She's my ... ' I never finished the sentence.
He hit me with a tremendous punch in the guts and I went down like an exploding
balloon.
The pain was terrible and I
couldn't breathe. I fought for air but nothing happened. I was winded. And all
I could do was lay there on the footpath wriggling like a dying worm.
'You get one of those every
day’, he said. 'Until you break it off with Fiona.' Then he laughed and went
off to footy practice.
After a while my breath
started to come back in great sobs and spasms. I staggered back into the
workshop and sat down. I was mad. I was out of my mind. I had to think of some
way to stop him. I couldn't go through this every day and I couldn't give up
Fiona. I needed help. And badly. But I couldn't think of anyone. I didn't have
a friend who would help me fight Hodson except Fiona and I couldn't ask her.
My mind was in a whirl and
my stomach ached like crazy. I wasn't thinking straight. That's why I did the
stupidest thing of my life. I decided to get inside the Cloner and turn it on.
There would be two of me. Two Tims. I could get The Copy to help me fight
Hodson. He would help me. After all, he would be the same as me. He would want
to pay Hodson back as much as I did. The more I thought about it, the smarter
it seemed.
I would make an exact copy
of myself and together we could go off and flatten Hodson. I wondered what my
first words to the new arrival should be. In the end I decided to say, 'Hello
there, welcome to earth.' I know it sounds corny but at the time it was all I
could think of.
I turned the Cloner to COPY
and jumped in before I lost my nerve. In a twinkling there was another 'me'
standing there. It was just like looking into a mirror. He had the same jeans,
the same jumper and the same brown eyes. We both stood staring at each other
for about thirty seconds without saying a thing. Then, both at the same time we
said, 'Hello, there, welcome to earth.'
That gave me a heck of a
shock. How did he know what I was going to say? I couldn't figure it out. It
wasn't until much later I realized he knew all about me. He had an exact copy
of my brain. He knew everything I had ever done. He knew what I had been
thinking before I stepped into the Cloner. That's why he was able to say the
same sentence. He knew everything about me. He even knew how many times I had
kissed Fiona. The Copy wasn't just a copy. He was me.
We both stood there again
for about thirty seconds with our brains ticking over. We were both trying to
make sense of the situation. I drew a breath to say something but he beat me to
it. 'Well,' he said. 'What are we waiting for? Let's go get Hodson.'
The Copy and I jogged along
the street towards the football ground without speaking. I wondered what he was
thinking. He didn't know what I was thinking. We shared the same past but not the
same future or present. From now on everything that happened would be
experienced differently by both of us. I didn't have the faintest idea what was
going on in his head. But I knew what was going on in mine. I was wondering how
I was going to get rid of him when this was all over.
'Fiona will like that
brooch,’ said The Copy. I was shocked to think he knew about it. He was smiling
to himself. I went red. He was probably thinking Fiona was going to give him a
nice big kiss when she saw that brooch. It was me she was going to kiss, not
The Copy.
At last we reached the
football ground. Hodson was just coming out of the changing rooms.
'Well look,' he said. 'It's
little Tim and his twin brother. Brought him to help you, have you?' he said to
The Copy. Well, I can handle both of you.' He screwed up his hand into a tight
fist. Suddenly he looked very big. In fact he looked big enough to wipe the
floor with both of us.
I felt like running for it.
So did The Copy. I could see he was just about to turn around and run off,
leaving me on my own. We both turned and fled. Hodson chased after us for a bit
and finally gave it away. 'See you tomorrow, boys,” he yelled. I could hear the
other footballers laughing at us. It was humiliating. I knew the others would
tell Fiona about what a coward I was.
I turned to The Copy. 'A
fat lot of use you turned out to be,’ I said.
'What are you talking
about?’ he replied. 'You're the one who turned and ran off first. You knew I couldn't
handle him on my own.'
I realized The Copy was a
liar. I decided to go home for tea. He walked along beside me.
'Where do you think you're
going?' I asked.
'Home for tea.'
'We can't both turn up for
tea. What's Mum going to say when she sees two of us? The shock will kill her,'
I told him.
We both kept on walking
towards home. The Copy knew the way. He knew everything I knew.
Except what I was thinking.
He only knew about what had happened before he came out of the Cloner.
He didn't know what was
going on in my mind after that. I stopped: He seemed determined to come home
with me. 'Look,' I said. 'Be reasonable. Think of Mum and Dad. We can't both
sit down for tea.
You go somewhere else.'
'No;' he said. 'You go
somewhere else.'
Finally we came to the
front gate. 'All right,? I said to The Copy. 'You go and hide in the bedroom.
I'll go down to tea and afterwards I'll sneak you up some food.'
The Copy didn't like it.
'I've got a better idea,' he told me. 'You hide in the bedroom and I’ll bring you
up something.'
I could see he was only
thinking of himself. This thing was turning into a nightmare. 'All right,' I said
in the end. 'You go down to tea and I’ll hide in the bedroom.' So that is what
we did. I sneaked up and hid in my room while The Copy had tea with my parents.
It was roast pork. My favourite. I could smell it from my room and it smelt
delicious.
The sound of laughter and
chattering floated up the stairs. No one knew The Copy wasn't me. They couldn't
tell the difference. A bit later he came up the stairs. He poked his head
around the corner and threw me a couple of dry biscuits. ‘This is all I could find.
I’ll try and bring you up something later.'
Dry biscuits. I had to eat
dry biscuits while The Copy finished off my tea. And I just remembered Mum had
been cooking apple pie before we left. This was too much. Something had to be
done.
Just then the doorbell
rang. I’ll get it,' shouted The Copy before I had a chance to open my mouth. He
ran down the stairs and answered the door. I was trapped. I couldn't go down or
Mum and Dad would see there were two of us.
I could hear a girl's
voice. It was Fiona. A bit later the door closed and all was silent. The Copy had
gone outside with her. I raced over to the window and looked out. It was dark
but I could just see them under the wattle tree. The street light illuminated
the scene. What I saw made my blood boil. The Copy was kissing Fiona. He was
kissing my girlfriend. She thought he was me. She couldn't tell the difference
and she was letting the creep kiss her. And what is worse she seemed to be
enjoying it. It was a very long kiss.
I sat down and thought
about the situation. The Copy had to be sent back to where he came from. This
whole thing had turned out to be a terrible mistake. I had to get The Copy back
to the workshop and get rid of him.
After about two hours The
Copy came up to the bedroom looking very pleased with himself. I bit my tongue
and didn't say anything about him kissing Fiona. 'Look, I said. 'We can't both
stay here. Why don't we go back to the workshop and have a good talk. Then we
can figure out what to do.'
He thought about it for a
bit and then he said, 'OK, you're right. We had better work something out.’
I snuck out of the window
and met him outside. We walked all the way to the workshop in silence.
I could tell he didn't like
me any more than I liked him.
I took the key out of the
kettle and let us in. I noticed the Cloner was still switched on to COPY. I went
over and turned it on to REVERSE without saying anything. It would all be over
quickly. He wouldn't know what hit him. I would just push him straight into the
Cloner and everything would be back to normal. He would be gone and there would
be just me. It wouldn't be murder. I mean he had only been alive for a few
hours and he wasn't really a person. He was just a copy.
'Look,' I said, pointing to
the floor of the Cloner. 'Look at this.' I got ready to push him straight in when
he came over.
The Copy came over for a
look. Suddenly he grabbed me and started to push me towards the machine. The
Copy was trying to kill me. He was trying to push me into the Cloner and have
Fiona for himself. We fall to the floor in a struggling heap. It was a terrible
fight. We both had exactly the same strength and the same experience. As we
fought I realized what had happened to Dr Woolley. He had made a copy of
himself and they had both tried to push each other in. That’s why there were
two letters. Probably they had both fallen in and killed each other.
The Copy and I fought for
about ten minutes. Neither of us could get the upper hand and we were both
growing tired. We rolled over near the bench and I noticed an iron bar on the
floor.
But The Copy had noticed it
too. We both tried to reach it at the same time. But I won. I grabbed it and wrenched
my arm free. With a great whack I crashed it down over The Copy's head. He fell
to the floor in a heap.
I dragged his lifeless body
over to the Cloner and shoved him inside. He vanished without a trace. It was
just as if he had never existed. A feeling of great relief spread over me but I
was shaking at the narrow escape I had experienced. I turned and ran home
without even locking up the workshop.
By the time I got home I
felt a lot better. I walked into the lounge where Mum and Dad were sitting
watching TV. Dad looked up at me. 'Ah there you are, Tim. Would you fill out
this application for the school camp? You put in the details and I’ll sign the
bottom.'
I took the form and started
to fill it in. I was looking forward to the school camp. We were going skiing.
After a while I looked up.
Mum and Dad were both staring at me in a funny way.
'What’s up?' I asked.
'You're writing with your
left hand,' said Dad.
'So?
'You've been a right hander
all your life.'
'And your hair is parted on
the wrong side,' said Mum. 'And that little mole that used to be on your right
cheek has moved to the left side.'
My head started to swim. I
ran over to the mirror on the wall. The face that stared back at me was not
Tim's. It was the face of The Copy.
