The Time Tunnel

Donny and Bobby, two American boys exploring a forest near a tiny Romanian town, discover a science laboratory in ruins. Adjoining the laboratory is a room with a mysterious tunnel. When the boys come upon a dinosaur that appears to have died quite recently near the laboratory, they look for an explanation in the laboratory files. There they find a paper that says:

"Time does not go in a straight line, from past to present to future, as people think. Rather, it proceeds in a circle around a center in the eternal now . . ."

The boys put together these enigmatic words with the dead dinosaur outside, and wonder if the tunnel holds the answer. Entering the tunnel, their bodies begin to shrink, apparently to nothingness, though their consciousness is unchanged.

Emerging from the tunnel into a beautiful countryside, they meet Hansel, who explains that his father invented this "time tunnel." Hansel has frequently traveled in time with his father, and shows the boys how to encase themselves in time-light spheres. In the days that follow, the trio enjoys travels backward and forward in time. Along the way the boys gain valuable lessons about history, human behavior, and themselves.

They visit:

• The Middle Ages to watch the behavior of certain despotic rulers and their subjects. They wonder how a person can become so filled with hate, and why their subjects did not fight back.

• Ancient Egypt to see how and why the Pyramids were built. They discover Egypt to be a highly evolved civilization that later fell because of too much focus on magical powers.

• Atlantis, where they encounter a civilization with a high degree of scientific accomplishments. The innovative creations fascinate the boys, but they find that in trying to conquer Nature, the Atlanteans had become too dry and non-human for their tastes.

• Ancient Greece to visit Plato’s experimental community, based on his ideas in The Republic, a world that worshiped logic and the State. Here they explore the problems that come with people who close their hearts in the name of reason, a life also too dry for them, though different than Atlantis.

• Normandy, at the time of William the Conqueror, to visit a simple peasant woman. Here they discover the power of love.

• Ancient Greece, again, to visit Diogenes, a renunciate whose philosophy had led him to true wisdom and inner peace.

• Far into the future, to an enlightened age. Here the people enjoy a fascinating array of material innovations, but they also live in simplicity, inner joy, harmony, and love. They share deep wisdom about the body and mind.

• To a small community in 3053 AD, where they meet people (and a dog) filled with happiness and good will.

This story explores life-enhancing spiritual truths through the eyes of two young boys, including how to find true happiness, what qualities bring unhappiness, how positive expectations bring positive results, and what values are important. Through the questions they ask and the answers they receive, Donny and Bobby develop a foundation for wisdom that can help them throughout life.

The Time Tunnel is richly imaginative and inventive yet conveys deep truths in a way that will provide adults and children with fascinating topics for discussion.