Parola d'ordine! A short story by Carlos D'Angelo

Smoke billowed from my wrecked time machine. I sat there, mad at myself. Mad that I was stuck in 1483. Mad that I lost my anchor to get back. All I wanted to do was go back in time and see my family’s homeland. Most everything is gone in the present. As dangerous as time travel is, all the risk is worth it for a glimpse of what the world was like before the destruction.

“What am I going to do?” I asked myself out loud. Sitting there wasn’t the choice, so I pushed my time machine into the woods and covered it with debris.
“I shouldn’t have a hard time finding a rare metal from outer space 600 years before it’s discovered.”, I said to myself sarcastically.
“I’m so doomed.” I kept telling myself as I made my way north along an old dirt path. I could tell horses had been going up and down the path from the horseshit and hoof prints. I figured if I followed it long enough, I’d find something. Good or bad.

I was lucky that my mother kept my great grandfather's renaissance fair garb. I looked wealthier than I thought I would. I wanted to fit in while I was here, so tossed my hat and collar. I felt like I looked like a Shakespeare character, but hopefully not a tragic one. As I made my way on the path I began to realize where I was.
“Milan” I whispered to myself.

I walked along as the dirt turned to cobblestone and I could see children playing and women walking. A bread shop and a merchant. I could smell the bread. Even though I had no way to get home, seeing people like this was comforting. The world is rubble in my time. The comets did most of the damage or played a role in triggering more destruction. Earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic activities. What I am going back too is not pretty. “I can’t stay here if I can’t get home.”
I told myself looking to make sure I had my blade. My first trip a real-life suicide mission. How absolutely Shakespearean.

As I made my way closer I felt a familiar feeling in my breast pocket… My phone vibrated.
I dismissed it in my mind as phantom vibrate or maybe it died and was shutting down. Then I felt it again. So I cut into an alley and pulled my phone from my pocket and was amazed at what I saw….

Wifi Hot Spot Found: iɔniV ɒᗡ
“What in the fuck? Wait wait wait.”
Would you like to connect: Yes No
…..So, I pressed Yes.

Please enter password:
“Really? Its fucking password protected!” I said with my teeth tightly clenched together.
“What could it possibly be?” I thought to myself.
“12345678. Nope.”

I sat there searching my foggy time travel brain for Italian I had learned at compulsory school.
“What is password in Italian? I know this.” Then it dawned on my “Parola d'ordine!”
“Access Denied”
“Shit!”

Then on a wing and a prayer, I typed in p-a-s-s-w-o-r-d
…….. “Wifi Connected”

I was as giddy as a child. I almost forgot I was stranded. After my jubilance passed, I opened my phone to find my internet accessible but unable to interact with. I tried to send messages but it was read-only. I used my locator to follow the wifi signal.

I had to do it in a way that I didn’t look like a madman. My technology would blow their minds and probably get me killed. Every few feet I would dart off into an alley or behind a merchant stand and check to see how close I was. It was nerve-wracking in a constant state of worry I wouldn't be seen whilst excited to figure out how I had wifi in 1483.
Closer and closer I got. I could see the home where the signal was coming from. I rushed to the door and gave a knock.
Knock! Knock!
No answer…

A little harder this time.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

And I waited. As I was about to beat on the door it began to open.
There he stood, Leonardo Da Vinci.
“Holy Shit!! That’s Da Vinci” I was saying to myself in amazement.
“Posso aiutarti?” He asked
I stood there trying to put together what he was saying.
“Posso aiutarti? Posso aiutarti?”

He was saying “May I help you” it only took me a few seconds to figure out what he was saying once I snapped out of my daze.

I was hoping he would understand, he had to understand, “I found your wifi signal”

His face turned from confused to aggravated, “Well, get in here!” he blurted out in plain English, pulling me inside by the arm.

“Wait, you speak english?” I asked.
“Yes time traveler, I speak english.”
“How is that even possible?” I asked in disbelief.

He leaned forward and said,
“I’m from the year 2010.”