🕰️ The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

The novel begins at a dinner party where the Time Traveller, a brilliant but eccentric scientist, presents a model of his time machine to his skeptical guests. He explains that he has been working on a four-dimensional geometry that would allow travel through time. To their astonishment, the Time Traveller makes the model disappear before their eyes. He then invites them to his laboratory to see the actual time machine.

The following week, the Time Traveller’s guests return for another dinner party. The Time Traveller arrives late, disheveled and exhausted. He refuses to answer their questions until he has eaten, but confirms he has been time traveling. After dinner, the Time Traveller recounts his journey into the distant future, the year 802,701 A.D..

He describes a world of beautiful but weak and unintelligent creatures called the Eloi who live in idyllic surroundings. The Time Traveller theorizes that humanity has evolved into two distinct species: the Eloi, who represent a decadent aristocracy, and the Morlocks, who are subterranean creatures responsible for maintaining the world’s machinery.

The Time Traveller’s machine disappears, and he suspects the Morlocks are responsible. He encounters Weena, a young Eloi woman, and they develop a close bond. The Time Traveller observes the Morlocks emerging from their underground tunnels at night and becomes convinced they are carnivorous and prey on the Eloi. He resolves to find his machine and escape.

He explores a ruined museum, the Palace of Green Porcelain, and discovers remnants of human civilization, including fossils, minerals, and decaying books. He also finds a box of matches, which provides him with a weapon against the Morlocks.

As the Time Traveller and Weena are traveling through a forest at night, they are attacked by the Morlocks. The Time Traveller uses his matches and camphor to create fire, driving the Morlocks back. He is overwhelmed by the Morlocks and loses consciousness but manages to escape with the help of the fire. He searches for Weena, but she is gone and he presumes she has perished.

Exhausted, the Time Traveller returns to the White Sphinx and discovers the bronze doors are open. He finds his machine inside and realizes the Morlocks were luring him into a trap. He escapes into the far future, witnessing the slow decline of the sun and the eventual extinction of life on Earth.

The Time Traveller returns to his own time and recounts his experiences to his disbelieving friends. He shows them the damaged time machine as proof of his journey. Three years later, the Time Traveller vanishes again, leaving behind only two withered flowers as evidence of his travels.