Short Story A Most Ambitious Experiment

A Most Ambitious Experiment

"Now," Robert told his wife, "I am going on a long trip. You won't see me for years, but I will come back and see you."
"Where are you going?"
"I am going into the future. I am sure you will be angry when you see me, but it won't be for long, because once I have seen you, I will then vanish again and you will see me standing in this very spot exactly five minutes from now."
Robert's wife was puzzled.
"I am curious what our 401k will do if I invest in certain options and leave them," he said. "I've decided to go twenty years into the future and see the outcome."
"What if you can't come back?"
A slight pause - then, "I hope I made the right choice."
"What do you want for dinner?"
"I wouldn't make anything for me now, but, five minutes later, I will tell you what I want."
Robert left for the basement. His wife, still confused, but knowing that Robert was a puzzling man, went to the kitchen to make dinner, with or without her husband's request. She was quite unsure what to make of all of it, but, after a few minutes, she quickly forgot the conversation.
Later in the afternoon, Robert's wife walked over to the basement door and knocked. She waited. She knocked again, and, again, nothing. Finally, she opened the door and walked down to the laboratory. Robert was nowhere to be seen. She hadn't heard him come up. Where had he gone?
When supper was ready, and the light outside turned a dim color, Robert's wife called out his name, but no one answered. The house was quite still.
"I don't like this," she thought. "He's never been late for dinner before."
Robert's dinner grew cold, and his wife placed it in the oven to keep warm hoping he would notice it when he came back. In the morning, Robert's plate was still warm in the oven. He had never touched it. His wife looked for him once again and called out his name, but it was to no avail - he wasn't in the house.
After several days, Robert's wife contacted the authorities and told them what had happened. They searched the house for clues, but all they could find was a slightly discolored spot on the basement floor.
< 2 >
"Did he say anything before he left?" they asked.
"I'll be back in five minutes," she said.
After the authorities had left, and after several more days, weeks and months, the case was officially closed. Robert was missing, but since no foul play could be determined, it was decided that he had just deserted his wife. Robert's wife was not pleased.
Years passed, and Robert's wife was able to secure a job that kept her living slightly above poverty level. Day after day, while working, she cursed her husband for leaving her. She would never forgive him. Never! Her face became more wrinkled and the pretty smile she once wore turned into a permanent scowl.
Finally, twenty years to the day her husband had left, Robert's wife was sitting at the kitchen table when she heard a noise coming from the basement. She immediately got up in fright. Who was down there? She heard footsteps slowly walking up the stairs and - finally - the door flew open and there, before her eyes, was none other than Robert. He didn't look any different than when he had left.
"You!" she managed to say.
"Okay, what's the value of our 401K?" Robert asked.
"Where have you been?"
"That doesn't matter. What matters is the value of our 401K. I need to know if I invested wisely or not."
"You left me twenty years ago with nothing to live in and expect to find anything left of the 401k?"
"You spent it all?" Robert asked. "Oh great - that's just great. I'll be right back."
Robert turned and went down into the basement.
"Robert? Robert, where are you?" Robert's wife said but suddenly saw a brilliant blue flash of light and then nothing. Robert had vanished once again.
Robert's wife went back to the dining table. She sat down and tried to think of what had happened. Her mind was muddled. She couldn't think. The 401k had been - had been - she thought - left untouched when Robert had first left, but now - she was beginning to remember different things. The 401k had been placed in a trust. A trust where she couldn't touch the money for twenty years. Then, she remembered that when the authorities had informed her that Robert had deserted her and was never located, that she had him declared legally dead so the trust would be legally hers without waiting for twenty years.
< 3 >
Another flash of light in the basement, more footsteps, and Robert walked into the kitchen.
"The value?"
"I told you I spent it."
"I put it in a trust."
"I had you declared legally dead." Robert's wife said.
"Oh bother," Robert said. "I'll be back again."
A flash of light and Robert's wife was again confused.
"Did I say spent it? Spent what?" she thought. She had tried to obtain some money after Robert had left her. When she had gone to inquire how much was in their 401k, she had found out that Robert had withdrawn the money and had hidden it somewhere - but where?
Another light and Robert was there in the kitchen again.
"Do you know how much you put me through? You left me nothing to live on."
"This will all be a bad dream," Robert said.
"If it wasn't for some gold coins that I found buried in the backyard, I would never have survived."
"You found the gold coins?"
"So that's where you hid the money!" Robert's wife said. "Good. I'm glad I found it and spent it all!"
Robert went back into the basement and disappeared. His wife sat still for awhile expecting him to appear, but he never did. She got up and went to cook. She thought of her husband and tried to remain bitter against him. She suddenly couldn't think of what would make her bitter. Deserted her? He had never deserted. What an imagination she must have. As she opened a cupboard, Robert walked into the kitchen.
"Have you decided what you want for dinner?" she asked. "I haven't started making anything yet."
"Leave me alone, I'm not hungry," Robert said and sat down at the kitchen table.
"What's wrong?"
"Can't you keep your grubby hands off our money for twenty years?"
"What?"
"You can't let me leave you for a measly twenty years without spending everything we have, can you?"
"What are you talking about, honey? You haven't been gone for five minutes and already something is troubling you."
Robert looked at the wife of his youth.
What if he killed her? He could strangle her now, go into the future, see what the 401k did, come back a few minutes before, and live happily ever after.
"May I see that dish towel for a sec?"
< 4 >
Robert's wife handed it to him, and, much to her desperate surprise, he tied it around her neck and choked her, all the while telling her, "Don't worry, this is just an experiment."
Robert went back down into the basement, and twenty years later reappeared in a flash of light.
"Who's down there?" a man asked walking down the basement stairs.
Robert hadn't thought of this. He looked for somewhere to hide, but it was too late. The new owner of the house had a rifle.
"Say your prayers."
"Wait! I can explain!", but it was too late. Robert was immediately shot and fell backwards quite dead - a most miserable end to a most ambitious experiment. The End


Bespreking

Titel: De titel zegt precies wat er in het verhaal gebeurt. De man in het verhaal probeert enkel iets uit, al had hij een dergelijke afloop niet verwacht.

Plot: Op een dag vertelt Robert zijn vrouw dat hij naar de toekomst zal reizen om te kijken wat er met zijn geld gebeurt. Hij zal twintig jaar de toekomst in gaan om erachter te komen of hij een goede investering heeft begaan. Na een tijdje is Robert nog altijd niet teruggekeerd en besluit zijn vrouw de politie erbij te halen. Dagen worden weken en weken worden maanden, nog altijd geen spoor van Robert. Zijn vrouw kan niet begrijpen dat hij haar zoiets heeft aangedaan. Dan, twintig jaar na de verdwijning, komt Robert opeens de Kelder uitlopen. Hij vraagt zijn vrouw, die in tegenstelling tot Robert wel twintig jaar ouder is geworden, waar het geld is. Zij weet echter niet waar hij het over heeft, maar komt er dan achter dat ze het heeft uitgegeven.
Robert vertrekt en gaat weer twintig jaar terug de tijd in. Weer terug is hij erg pissig op zijn vrouw. Ze had in die twintig jaar al zijn geld uitgegeven. Toen kwam hij op het idee om haar eerst te vermoorden, om vervolgens weer de toekomst in te gaan en te zien wat er met het geld gebeurde. Als hij dan weer terug de tijd in zou gaan, zou zijn vrouw gewoon nog leven.
Zo vermoorde hij zijn vrouw en vertrok weer twintig jaar de toekomst in. Hij had echter een ding over het hoofd gezien. Zijn vrouw, die toen vermoord was, woonde niet meer in het huis. De nieuwe huisbaas ontdekt Robert en schiet hem zonder pardon neer. Een bitter einde van het experiment.

Personages: De twee belangrijkste personages in dit verhaal zijn Robert en zijn vrouw. Omdat het verhaal zo kort is, is er niet veel tijd om ze te leren kennen. Roberts vrouw verandert van een vrolijke persoon en een depressieve vrouw, die, als Robert weer terug de tijd in gaat, eigenlijk nooit heeft bestaan. Je leert haar dus nauwelijks kennen, daarom is ze ook een flat character. Dit geld ook voor Robert. Hij is enkel en alleen bezig met zijn experiment, waardoor de rest hem eigenlijk niet zo veel kan schelen. Je komt weinig over zijn werkelijke karakter te weten, dus daarom is ook hij een flat character.

Omgeving: Het verhaal speelt zich vrijwel alleen af in Roberts huis. Vanuit zijn kelder vertrekt hij de toekomst in, om vervolgens twintig jaar later in diezelfde kelder aan te komen.

Vertelsituatie: Dit verhaal is verteld in de alwetende vertelsituatie. De verteller heeft een algemeen beeld over het hele verhaal. Zo weet hij wat er in het hoofd van Robert omgaat, maar ziet hij ook hoe Roberts vrouw zich voelt. Dit zorgt voor een objectief beeld. Het zorgt er voor dat het verhaal wat afstandelijker, maar daarentegen wel wat overzichtelijker is.

Thema: Het thema van dit verhaal is tijdreizen. Uit dit verhaal wordt duidelijk dat het geen goeds met zich mee kan brengen. Roberts vrouw lijdt twintig misselijke jaren, Robert komt er nog niet achter wat er met zijn geld gebeurt en tenslotte gaan ze beide dood. Tijdreizen wordt dus sterk afgeraden.

Stijl: Het verhaal is eenvoudig te volgen en de schrijver maakt geen gebruik van moeilijke woorden. De afwisseling tussen dialoog en verteller zorgt voor een goede afwisseling. Het maakt het verhaal wat luchtiger en interessanter te lezen.


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Eigen mening

A Most Ambitious Experiment’ heeft me erg verrast. En niet op een verkeerde manier. In het begin was het wat verwarrend, maar naarmate het verhaal vordert vallen deze onduidelijkheden weg. In het verhaal voert de hoofdpersoon namelijk een dermate ‘ongewoon’ experiment uit, dat je er wel een paar keer over heen moet lezen om te snappen wat hij nou wil. Eenmaal in het verhaal is het erg leuk om te lezen. De man is constant bezig met zijn experiment, waardoor je steeds benieuwd bent hoe het af zal lopen. Al met al is het dus een leuk verhaal, niets meer en niets minder. Het hoort zeker niet bij de toppers, maar het kan ermee door!

Door: Mike Krath
Bron: http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/