Time and Time Again

Time and Time Again Summary

Time and Time Again by H. Beam Piper is a science fiction short story first published in 1947. It explores the concept of time travel through the experience of a soldier who, after a fatal injury, finds himself transported back into his teenage body, offering him a chance to relive his life with the knowledge of his future.

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Time and Time Again Excerpt

Short Summary: After being mortally wounded in battle, a soldier awakens to find himself in his own thirteen-year-old body, retaining all his adult memories. This unexpected second chance compels him to navigate his adolescence anew, armed with foreknowledge of future events.

"He was not surprised, then, when the medics came with a stretcher for him. He felt himself lifted onto it, and then the long ride began. He was conscious of the swaying motion as they carried him back along the trench, and then the lurching and jouncing as they took him up the communication trench to the rear. Once, he heard a medic say, 'I don't think this guy's gonna make it.' He wanted to answer, to tell them not to bother, but he couldn't. Then, after a while, he felt them lay the stretcher down, and he knew that they had put him in the dead pile. He lay there for a long time, unable to move or think, while the sounds of the battle grew fainter and fainter. After a while, he realized that he was no longer hearing anything. He wondered if he were dead, and if this was what it was like. Then, slowly, he became aware of other sensations. He was lying on something soft, and there was a cool breeze on his face. He could hear birds singing, and the sound of leaves rustling. He opened his eyes and looked up at the sky, through a screen of leafy branches. For a long time, he lay there, trying to understand. Then he sat up and looked around. He was in a little patch of woods, on a hillside. Below him, he could see a road, and beyond that, a small town. He recognized it instantly. It was Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and the road was the one that led up to his uncle's farm. He had spent a summer there, when he was thirteen. He looked down at himself. He was wearing a Boy Scout uniform, and his body was that of a boy. He felt his face, and it was smooth and unscarred. He knew, then, that he was back in his own past, in his own thirteen-year-old body. He didn't know how or why, but he knew that it was true. He stood up and began walking down the hill toward the town. He had a lot to think about, and a lot to do. He had been given a second chance, and he was determined not to waste it."