image source;pixabay

"We've lost him" he hissed.
"What? No! What? How can we lose a six year old boy? He was on camera only a minute ago I was watching the monitor! What's going on? Where's Eddie?" came the reply.
"Eddie? Eddie! Get over here!"
Eddie reluctantly shuffled over.
"Who is monitoring the cameras? Where's the boy? Steve says he missing!"
Eddie looked looked slightly vacant then drawled "Nope" He pointed to the bank of screens; the boy was visible on the far left monitor and everyone heaved a sigh of relief.
"For gods sake! Don't let that happen again! Now we all ready ? good!
cut to camera and
roll
The scene was manufactured by very dilligent artists, they considered themselves artists, and no one would ever be able to tell this wasn't the year 1941, the countryside looked idyllic, a sanctuary of english hedgerows and fields and folk who know the real living of life, a haven to send a child to, to be safe from the horrors of war, every detail was perfect.
and countdown
The numbers commence quickly and the screen flickers and cuts to the perfect scene edged with sepia for full effect, a young woman is seen bent towards a young boy listening to his whispered words and the over lay text proclaims:
'Amazing opportunity! First time ! Live hook up! Yes here at YTFTV the worlds first multi interactive tv/online experience giving you the best in old school tv and the very best on virtual online entertainment! The meeting of the generations!'
Music loud and brash heralds the apparent amazing opportunity followed by more words covering the idyllic image of Old England.
Yes! Join us in real time, that's real time ladies and gentlemen, as we multistream on all media for the very first time this amazing time travel event! This event is proudly sponsored by your government (smaller words proclaim we acknowledge the kind support of the soron foundation, with a very small logo of an eye on top of a pyramid) bringing you the best opportunities in entertainment and education!
cue presenter
"Hello! and welcome! It's all very exciting here! As you can see the interdimensional traveller or INTRAV© is ready and waiting and soon we can go live to the entrance module! It's all so exciting!" blurbled the presenter.
"Where's the boy this time? Jeez will someone stick to him! Make sure he doesn't go anywhere!"
"He's here, we found him" snarled an annoyed man. This was clearly more than his jobs worth he was thinking.
The young lad scuffed his shoes deliberately on the floor, he was clearly bored.
"You're a naughty one you arent yer? You wanna watch yourself you do" warned the bald man glaring at the small boy.
The young lad narrowed his eyes.
"Yes it looks like we are all set! This is it folks! First time in history and you saw it here first! Young Roland Mcberry is to be the first person to use INTRAV© Don't worry ladies and gentlemen" came a male voice in what was a jovial manner "The device has been tested many times! So we know it's safe however this is is the first live transmission multistreamed event of this kind and all for your pleasure!" There was a slight pause as the man theatrically cupped his ear piece, he continued "And yes I can confirm I am being given the signal ladies and gentlemen! This is it! Here we go young Roland will be the first lucky boy to be part of a history making event! Today he will get to visit the meeting place of his grandparents!" the background music emphasised the importance of the statement "and we will be with him to follow every little detail. Now folks young Roland, who surely must be feeling the luckiest boy in the world (roland was kicking the wall looking for another escape route) "What a story to tell his grandchildren ey? Right now he is in pod B, which is the second stage of the module, when he enters pod A he will then be able to step into the actual past, that's right he will be able to step into 1941 and experience the sights and sounds of the era and best of all see the place his grandparents met! And who knows if the timing is right he may even see one of his grandparents! Now obviously folks," the presenter smiled condescendingly "He cannot interact with them, in fact for his safety there is a fully marked boundary showing young Roland at all times the area he must stay within, there will be a full programme after this explaining the physics for those of you geeky enough to want to know" the presenter uttered a low laugh "But also there is a barrier that Roland will not be able to go past should he fall or stumble so you see folks INTRAV© have thought of everything! And this device is proven safer than taking an airplane flight! INTRAV© will be available soon for commercial use!"
The boy steps from pod B to pod A and the words are now running along the bottom of the screen in a continous ticker tape of encouragement to try INTRAV© at the earliest opportunity.
cut to screen, shows the boy picking his nose and staring out through the large glass bubble of pod A
The words babble from an enthusiastic male voice proclaiming this to be the event of the century and the door smoothly glides open and young Roland runs outside into the countryside of England circa 1941.
He looks everywhere seemingly all at once, his young eyes darting from one spot to another then his mind rejoices as he spots the edge of the boundary; it's a small gap, very low down, but he's sure he can make it.
"What the hell is he doing?" shouted a bald man the stress etched on his face, the speed at which a six year old can escape was definitely taxing his patience.
"Jeez get Adam! Get Adam!" he demands.
"Someone is going to have to get out there after him!"
The office became alive with people scrambling to remedy the situation.
The multi-streamed transmission cuts to an apology.
"Get out there and find that little git right now!" barks a fat sweating bloke who is clearly stressed to the point of heart attack, and at least ten men were now assembled in the second pod.
A second apology is shown promising to be back to normal as soon as possible.
"I knew that little git would do something! He's been getting into trouble all day, couldnt keep him in one place!" mumbled the fat man.
The pod a is a little cramped as all ten men squeezed in, booted and armoured and gunned up; it looked like they were about to tackle a terrorist attack. They rush out guns at the ready into the peaceful countryside of 1941. A young woman gasps, and a crowd of children, all between the ages of five and eleven, holding boxes tied with string, and the horrors of war etched upon their faces began screaming. The enemy had landed among them it seemed, in the place they were supposed to be safe.
"Contain the situation" came the orders.
The children and woman were rounded up and placed under the glare of loaded guns.
"We've found him" came the communication.
"Shit he's running again" a frantic voice said.
A shot rings out. It is closely followed by three more.
"Risk is contained" came the communication.
The momentary quiet is broken by small broken sobs and the children are marched into the small railway station nearby along with the clearly terrified young woman.
The armoured men say nothing, roughly shoving the children and young woman into a corner they open fire and in a matter of seconds the woman and children lie dead in a crumpled heap.
"Situation contained and remedied" came the communication
The multistreamed event resumes with a wonderful scene of a town in the north of England and soothing music is played in the background.
"We are sorry for the interruption and we are glad to bring you the latest updates. Due to young Roland not feeling very well he has returned to his home and the next lucky winner is the lovely Alice"
cut to a close up of an excited young girl waiting in pod B.

"That was a right balls up!" complained a thin man who wore glasses that were way too big "Have we checked everything?" The man looked round the room a sea of panicked looking faces all looked back at him with unease, their bodies still hunched over a bank of computers.
" Everything's all right boss, no one will be able to tell a thing, it will be seen as just be a slight hiccup, won't even be remembered by most, the important thing is the INTRAV© is still viable as a time machine"
The fact that he mimicked using air quotes on the words 'time machine; did not go unnoticed and a few grinned.
A monitor blinked into life and being much larger than the rest, and hung high for all to see, meant the sea of faces now paid attention to the image on the screen. The eyes staring out from the screen were already narrowed, yet somehow seemed to narrow more without actually closing.
A strange harsh voice rasped "Fools! to make such an error ! The food source must never suspect!" its lips curled back revealing sharp, thin, yellow, needle like teeth, and drool slithered from the corner of its mouth as it snarled "Make sure everything is on schedule and no more mistakes! Imbeciles" The image was gone, everyone felt sick with fear.

cut to a pretty young girl only eight years old and behaving very well, appropiately showing genuine excitement at seeing some non descript town of 1941 England.
"Is that my nanna?" she asks, excited and eyes gleaming.
"Yes it is" says a woman accompanying her, watching eagle eyed every movement of the young girl. Across the bottom of the screen in every media format roll continous words, ticker tape style;
dont forget folks from July 18th INTRAV© will be available for you to experience for a very special price to celebrate the beginning of this glorious new adventure for mankind! Yes! You too can travel in time! Meet your ancestors! Explore ancient eras!
In very small print right at the bottom it mentions that all trips are taken at your own risk and that INTRAV© are not responsible for any occurrences,damages,loss,or theft, or contra-indications, it furthers mentions that some persons may find it takes longer to return to the present.

thank you for reading

written for the twenty four hour short story please see here for original post https://steemit.com/twentyfourhourshortstory/@mctiller/writers-win-5-steem-august-28-twenty-four-hour-short-story-contest-a-little-boy-or-girl-time-travels-to-when-their-grandparents