The Autistic Time Traveller

Aubrey felt the cool mist of the early fall breeze cross her neck. She’d bundled up before leaving her small apartment, taking the stairs down and out into the late morning of the city. With the wet sidewalk greeting her feet, she stopped for a small coffee at the corner store then she went outside again to meet the quiet like an old friend in the park two blocks away from her building.

The last few weeks had been a whirlwind for Aubrey. Twenty-eight years old, and after a mind boggling number of ups and downs, she was now in possession of approval for a book with a well-known Publishing house, and writing away the hours happily in the warmth of her own place, under the watchful eye of her cat, Sir Winston.

Recently diagnosed as autistic — someone on the autism spectrum, she’d found a strange satisfaction, even a measure of joy in coming to terms with the oddities of understanding her own unique mind functioning. She’d shared the news of her diagnosis with a couple of her closest friends, online relations, but was still mulling over how to — or even if she thought she ought to — share the news with her own parents.

Her Mother would undoubtedly scorn her, tell her she’d always known her child had something wrong with her mind, even though she’d labored night and day to raise her to lead a full and normal life. It was her Dad she would most like…