The Heirloom Compass

By Nolan Carroll, 12

A September 2024 Monthly Story Challenge Winner

Prologue

Walking along the white sand beach, Elias and Andrea Bohm were enjoying their honeymoon despite being entrenched in the Dark Ages.  Engraved in the soft, powdery sand of Mamaia Beach, their footprints trailed behind them catching the faint rainbow of orange, red, and yellow light created by the setting sun above the Black Sea. The quarter mile wide sandy beach stretched out five miles with the foamy sea green waves crashing against the shores on both sides.

Quiet and secluded, this beach differed from the chaotic and crowded streets of their usual lives in Vienna. Elias remembered his busy life, working sixty hours a week to accumulate the funds for the extravagant wedding venue at the Belvedere Castle. But in seeing his beautiful wife now, Elias knew all of his hours were worth it. Suddenly, a crashing sound occurred and cool water washed up around their ankles, pulling his mind back to the Medieval present.

As the water receded, Elias felt something bump into his foot. Reaching down, he grabbed an interesting Y-shaped stick. “Andrea!” Her head of straight chestnut hair turned, “What?” she asked. “Look at this unique stick!” said Elias. Holding it up for Andrea to see, Elias added on, “It just washed up out of the last wave.” “Oh I’ve seen this before, I think I saw it in a book. It’s called a dowsing stick, it’s used to find water, metal, and ores that are buried underground! Let’s try finding something!” 

Poking around in the soft sand, the stick suddenly stopped as it struck a solid object. Clack. With curiosity, Elias dug around with his hands, wondering what had made that sound. His hand clawed through the sand and pulled out a smooth, metal trinket. As he lifted it from the soggy earth, he was startled to discover this relatively small object was as heavy as a bag of sugar. Elias brushed off the clumpy, wet sand. This dull circular gadget opened like a clam to reveal a compass! Within its smooth, wooden frame, a compass rose was painted beneath glass on aged white paper. The magnetized spindle appeared to be the color of dark oak or spruce wood. Looking at the lid of the compass, Elias thought he hadn’t seen this metal before. It was silver like nickel, but unusually heavy. Elias questioned Andrea, “How old do you think this compass is?” Andrea answered, “I don’t know but it looks special.”

*****************

It was midnight in 1359. Although the stars glimmered above, the night couldn’t shake the gloom. The war general Vizier Mustafa and his army were bravely fighting the siege of Vienna against the attacking Hungarians. Stationed on the Stephansplatz, Vizier’s army built a barricade behind the unfinished Saint Stephen’s cathedral. Planks from destroyed buildings piled in layers to create a block between their soldiers and the Hungarians. Half of the Austrian troops were strewn motionless across the cobblestone brick square as casualties of this catastrophic war. The distraught faces of the remaining forces looked out from the barricade saddened by death and angered at their invading enemy.

As the general crouched behind the bulwark, his stoic expression hid his true emotions. He had proven himself as a smart strategist through years of war, as evidenced by his medals and service ribbons on his jacket. Most military leaders known to him were too rich, too arrogant, and too greedy to care that soldiers and civilians were dying. They only wanted victory. But, he felt grief stricken. To him, these fallen men were not only troops, but comrades. These friends were family. In the moonlight, a glistening tear rolled down his cheek. Mustafa questioned himself, “The casualties of war are too many. Is there another way?” 

The exhausted general wearily checked his compass, which belonged to his wife, Annika. When he left to lead his army she said with hope, “Mustafa, this will give you strength to keep fighting, to save Vienna.” She opened her grandparents’ compass lid to show him the picture of their family, including Lukas, their seven-year-old son. Seeing their faces steeled the general’s resolve to fight till the end to honor the friends lost in battle and to hope for a better future for his family. Returning his mind to the present dilemma, Mustafa looked down at the compass needle to determine which direction to retreat.

Surprisingly, the compass needle started spinning, faster and faster. Taking it as a sign that his wife was with him, helping guide their army to victory, he started moving with his troops behind, trying to find where they might find safety to regroup their remaining force for a final attack. He crossed through the doorway into the incomplete St. Stephen’s cathedral. Glancing down at the compass the needle slowed then stopped.

All of a sudden it was day. The vizier turned around in confusion, seeing warm, colored light beaming through twenty-foot high stained glass windows. To his astonishment, Saint Stephen's Cathedral walls towered above the troops. Giant pillars rose up from the orange and white checkered floor to the roof where arches crossed over the golden ceiling. Vizier Mustafa’s gaze rested on a man with oddly fashioned clothes. Surrounding him, a group appeared to be following him, who were also wearing strange attire. Rather than the troops’ bright yellow clothing and metal chest plates, faces in the group peered out from bland baggy hoodies. Moving closer, Mustafa overheard the tour guide saying, “After 65 years of building St. Stephen’s Cathedral was finished nearly six hundred years ago in 1433.” With his mind racing, the general thought, “Has it really been that long? Are we really in the 2000s?!”

Although Mustafa was trying to wrap his brain around their time travel, the smell of chicken schnitzel wafted into the cathedral from a nearby restaurant. Feeling hungry, the vizier led his army back through the completed stone doorway and into the daylight. People laughed around a gurgling fountain in the middle of the square. Looking back, the cathedral spire loomed above them, poking through the clouds overhead. On the walls beneath, a zigzag pattern decorated the walls leading up to the tower, where he spotted tourists peeking out from the top. They were pointing metal blocks at each other for some reason (also known as cell phones taking pictures).  

Most importantly, Mustafa noticed there were no Hungarians to fight. They had all disappeared, no swords on the ground, no bodies littering Stephansplatz. Vizier Mustafa shouted to his soldiers, “If we want to protect Vienna, we have to get back to wherever, or whenever we were!” He led the army through the door to the ticket booth to access the tower and gather more information. “I don’t think your whole group will fit at the top,” said the receptionist, staring at the hundred men with skepticism, “but what will your payment be cash or credit”? The general answered, “Here you go” as he tossed her 5 glimmering gold coins. The receptionist replied, “We don’t accept gold, we accept euros” he strode out of the building. 

The general was walking down the street now in search of schnitzel with one hundred men. Astonishingly, no one seemed to notice; it was like no one saw their clothes and just assumed they were all a college school group. A few minutes passed before he spotted an ice cream shop called Castelletto. “Let’s get some ice cream!” the men shouted. Not being able to stop them, Vizier Mustafa ran with them toward the ice cream. When entering the shop, the customer number currently read 72. In the countertop freezer Castelletto displayed forty delicious flavors. The military leader grabbed a paper number slip, 73, from a red circular contraption. Into a loud speaker, a worker said “73.” All the army crowded around the counter and talked over each other trying to order. After a deafening multiple minutes everyone had sampled, ordered, and received their various flavors of ice cream. As the soldiers left, the employees sighed with relief.

While eating their melting ice cream, the men walked back to Stephansplatz and sat on benches beside the fountain. On the side of the fountain, the general noticed a plaque and it read, “The Siege of Vienna, 1359. Despite a Hungarian victory, this fountain was constructed in memory of those who died fighting to protect our city.” Shocked and shaken, Vizier Mustafa now realized he’d have to figure out not only how to get back in time but also how to save Vienna. Remembering the men in camo guarding the cathedral, a plan clicked in his head. He now understood he needed to reverse the course of history for the future of his family and his country. 

“SOLDIERS!” Mustafa loudly yelled. One hundred heads turned quickly, so quickly that a few of the men’s ice cream scoops fell off their cones onto the brick. Splat. Going on, the vizier continued shouting his orders, “Snack time is over! Throw your ice cream away! We’re returning to the cathedral to bribe some soldiers.”

Back where they stood after time travel, General Mustafa spotted the few soldiers, clad in kevlar, protecting St. Stephen's Cathedral. The vizier strolled towards the guards, “Hey! Are those things you’re holding fancy scabbards for your swords?” Thinking how dumb this guy must be, not knowing what guns are, the guards explained how assault rifles work. The strategic general explained, “We time traveled from the Siege of Vienna in 1359. Can you come back with us and help us win against the Hungarians with those guns?” One soldier replied, ”You’re not time travelers, you guys are just idiots in costumes.” The other man winked at his friend, “Don’t be so mean!” Turning back to the group, he said, “Sure take us back to your time, see if it works.” Mustafa turned and said, “Follow me.” 

Within the cathedral, the general gathered his army along with the armed guards. Glancing down again at his compass, just like last time, it started rapidly spinning. Bang! A white flash clouded Mustafa’s vision. Rubbing his eyes, the Vizier’s vision eventually cleared, though his ears still rang. Stephen’s cathedral was once again unfinished. He took in the piles of bricks and shattered windows in dark houses and ashes on the ground from nearby flickering fires. They were back on that dreadful night six hundred years earlier, even though it appeared only a minute or two had passed. 

Picking their jaws off the ground, the two modern guards stared at the general and the Hungarians like the air had been knocked out of them. One whispered to Mustafa, “Maybe you aren’t a stupid school group in costumes considering all this,” gesturing around him. “What year are we in, again?” 

Mustafa shared his plan in a hushed tone, “As you can see, we only have a few minutes at most. Our army is limited to using swords. I now know to win the war, you need to shoot the front line of the Hungarian troops. Don’t kill more people than you have to, but we need them to retreat.” With reluctance, the two armed guards agreed with the general’s plan for victory. Although their history knowledge was limited, they at least remembered that conflict between the Austrians and Hungarians was a contributing cause to World War I. One of the guards whispered to the other, “Maybe if the Austrians keep Vienna, we can prevent the millions of deaths in World War I.”

Just as the army was coming to their senses from the time travel the startled Hungarian leader yelled, cutting into the night, “Hey! Weren’t those the Austrians we were fighti-? Before he could say anything else the Hungarian soldiers were rapidly charging at the Austrians.”  And the war began again. 

Clashing and clanging, the swords of the two enemies met. From behind the chaos, the two guards loaded deadly ammunition into their modern guns. With reluctance but a sense of purpose they raised their weapons to fire. “Pop, pop, pop.” The bullets shot out one by one. Ten Hungarians from the front lines fell. For a brief moment, there was no fighting, no sound. Alarmed & confused, the Hungarians retreated, thinking this new weapon must be witchcraft. With relief, Mustafa, his army, and the guards watched as the Hungarians disappeared into the darkness.

Tired from the year of fighting and grateful for the guards and the army, the general turned to the guards and said, “Thank you gentlemen. You saved our city and our lives. We owe you a huge debt.” The guards explained how the general’s decision likely saved millions of lives. “What you may not know, General Mustafa, is that you may have just prevented World War I.” “A world war?” the Vizier questioned in shock. “What’s World War I?” One guard added, “About six hundred years from now, over thirty countries fought wars, killing twenty million people, half of which weren’t even soldiers.” Horrified, Mustafa asked, “What would an entire world be fighting over?” The guard answered, “Well, the important part is how it got started, which began with the Austro-Hungarian Empire.”

Although the general appreciated the future knowledge and how they’d likely saved millions of lives, after a year of fighting he didn’t need a history lesson right now. “Perhaps we should return you to your time.” Circling back to the incomplete St. Stephans cathedral, the compass started spinning for the third time that day. There was a brief flash of light. Then they were back to the high roofed ceilings and the stained glass windows of the finished cathedral. Back in modern times the general turned to the guards and said, “Thank you for everything. You’ve done us a great service.” The guard smiled, “Anytime there’s a war, you can come back and get us,” “Take these for your kindness.” Mustafa handed each of the guards a bright pink plastic card with words that read, Castelletto ice cream “these are Five-hundred euro gift cards for an ice cream shop down the street.” Stunned, the guards called out to him in unison, “thanks,” but he was already gone. The Vizier and his army walked back to time travel to their own time. 

During the next day, Mustafa oversaw the aftermath, tending to the wounded and identifying the dead from this destructive battle. The remaining able-bodied men removed the barricade and cleaned up the debris. Finally, the troops dispersed toward their hometowns. 

Mustafa walked along the cobblestone street back to his house. As he turned onto his block, he spotted the cheerful red flowers on his balcony and the vibrant green landscape, inviting him home. The brightness of the shining sun day contrasted with the darkness of war he’d just experienced. Approaching the wooden door, Mustafa noticed the smiling, familiar face of his son pressed up against the now damp glass. The overjoyed general grabbed the iron door knob, opened the heavy, creaky door, and rushed into the house. “Vater! Vater!” shouted his son jumping up and down. Mustafa scooped up Lukas, hugging him tightly. Setting him down gently, this kind father asked, “Where’s your Mama?” Lukas answered, “Out in the backyard, reviving the roses.”

Mustafa wandered through the back door and stepped out into the yard. He spotted Annika on her knees in the moist dirt pouring water on the wilted flowers. Pausing to take it all in, Mustafa stood admiring Annika’s beauty. Jokingly, he called out, “Annika! You’re never going to save those flowers!” Annika bantered back, “Just watch and see!” She jogged toward Mustafa and hugged him. “I missed you. I’m so grateful you’re safe!” Mustafa smiled. Unable to contain his excitement, he blurted out, “You won’t believe it! Your grandparents’ compass is able to time travel!” 

A surprised look came over her face. “Mustafa, that sounds crazy. I don’t believe it! I would need proof.” “Let me explain,” he responded. “So, we barricaded ourselves behind Stephen’s Cathedral. As you know, it’s not finished yet. The odds against the Hungarians weren’t looking in our favor. I was checking my compass for where we should retreat if the need arose. Then, the needle started spinning like crazy and suddenly, we were in the beautiful, finished St. Stephen’s cathedral!” 

Annika stared at her husband with a confused look, her eyes squinting in disbelief. Mustafa said with determination, “I think I can use the compass to help millions of people by preventing wars like I did with the outcome of the Siege of Vienna.” Astonished, Annika questioned, “You mean to tell me that you won by using the compass?” Mustafa nodded. “I wouldn’t have thought it could work, but yes!” 

“St. Stephen’s in its entirety appeared out of nowhere. Dozens of visitors were exploring the cathedral, all wearing strange apparel. Then I heard a tour guide speaking in English, saying that St. Stephen’s took 65 years to build and was finished over 600 years ago. We traveled to 2024!” Overloaded with information, Annika stood dumbstruck, but then joked, “Huh, sounds like a normal day.” Mustafa smiled while rolling his eyes, “Anyway …” he slowly said with sarcasm. “So … later that day, we saw two guards in heavy gear standing by the cathedral. I realized we could use their modern weapons to win the war. When I asked them to come fight, they agreed, not really believing this all was real. The spinning compass needle jerked us back to the dark night of war.” 

Annika interrupted, “I’m so confused right now, but somehow I believe you. So, what did the guards do? How did you win the war?” “Their weapons were guns, which are used to fire metal projectiles at lightning speed. I asked them to shoot only the front line of soldiers. My strategy in this was to kill as few as possible, but still force the Hungarians to retreat.” Annika eagerly asked, “So did they?” With relief, Mustafa answered, “By a miracle, they did … only because they most likely believed we were using witchcraft.” Mustafa released a big sigh. “I’m so grateful this is finally over.” “Do you think my parents or grandparents knew about this? I certainly didn’t!” Annika asked. “Someday when I have more time, I’ll have to take you.” Mustafa offered.  “When will a general have more time?” Annika realistically asked. “Well, I’m thinking of retiring soon to spend more time with you and Lukas.” Mustafa said. “What I’d really like to do is time travel in order to prevent more wars,” he stated, thinking of the grand-scale difference he could make by talking through conflict rather than through war. “So, why not now?” he asked with a twinkle in his eyes. 

Walking into the unfinished St. Stephan’s cathedral Annika took a deep breath, “Well, let’s hope this works.” Mustafa answered reassuringly, “It will.” There was a brief flash of light. When the glow passed, Annika stood astonished at the beauty of the finished cathedral. Mustafa gently tugged her arm, “I know you want to stay here, admiring how remarkable this building is, but let’s go get this fantastic dessert I discovered in my time travels.” 

Strolling along the gray cobblestone streets, Annika noticed with immense gratitude that everyone in the plaza seemed happier than in their time. There appeared to be less social hierarchy. As Annika’s thoughts swirled in her head, she suddenly asked, “Wait, what’s this mysterious dessert we time traveled 600 years for?” Mustafa replied with anticipation,  “You’re in luck because we’re here!” 

Beneath a sheet of glass, there were forty buckets filled with colorful, smooth or chunky ice cream. While Mustafa grabbed an order number, Annika hungrily looked at the flavors. “Do you offer samples,” she asked one of the workers. “Yes, can I get you some?” Annika selected a few of the most tasty looking flavors, “I’ll take Oreo cookie, rocky road, and pumpkin, please.” After trying the samples, Annika decided on Oreo cookie in a waffle cone. “I’ll have the same.”

On their jaunt back to the cathedral, Mustafa explained, “Having witnessed so many young comrades dying in my many battles, I’ve realized it is not the most efficient solution. It is not an ideal option. We can do better. I think if as countries we work together to talk about our concerns and see each other more as fellow people, we can avoid unnecessary bloodshed.” Annika thought through Mustafa’s words as she consumed the delicious ice cream. “So, you’re planning to stop fighting and instead prevent war through conversation?” Annika asked. “I think that’s for the best,” Mustafa answered.

“Well, you’ve got some work to do then,” Annika said with a smile. “Let’s get you home!”  

  Fortunately, Mustafa and Annika returned just in time for the war ceremony that was to be held that night at the military base to award the general with a special badge of honor for his heroic victory in battle. In his home, Mustafa pulled on his button-up military suit, getting ready for his war ceremony. His wife Annika helped him attach various badges to his vest, thinking about his decision to retire from the military to spend more time with their family and to save lives with the time traveling compass. Relieved  

Walking along the vast, long hallway, Mustafa approached the double steel doors of the banquet room. When the general opened the doors he was deafened by the thunderous roar of applause that broke out. As he glanced around the cavernous room, he spotted steak, chicken, pulled pork tacos, all kinds of seafood along with smooth mashed potatoes and thick brown gravy. Rushing through the bustling crowd to get to the food, many people stopped to shake his hand, or congratulate Mustafa on the victory. After waiting in line, he served himself a combination of steak, pork tacos and mashed potatoes and pulled out a chair to sit down with some old military buddies.

A few minutes passed in conversation. Then, a commander clad in a green military uniform walked up the stairs to the stage. He stood between two flags at a pulpit and called, “Mustafa.” Wild applause reverberated around the room. The general held up his hand for silence. “Let’s give a shout out to the chefs who prepared the exceptional food tonight. It’s been exponentially better than our military rations over the past year.” The silence broke with a few knowing chuckles. “In all seriousness, though,  I know my army and I won this war, but it was at great cost. We lost a great many men in this battle. Although I’m retiring, I will do my best as a diplomat to prevent future wars and save lives!”

**************

Epilogue

After walking into the cathedral’s cemetery, Lukas placed flowers at his dad’s grave and re-read the tombstone inscription written just days before, “In remembrance of the great Vizier Mustafa, who saved hundreds of thousands of lives.” Lukas smiled, knowing that it wasn’t as a general or a diplomat that his father saved lives, but through the time traveling compass. Mustafa really was the chosen one as his name projects. He began a new and important work. As Lukas left the cemetery, he glanced back at his dad’s tombstone, feeling the weight of the compass in his pocket and on his shoulders but also feeling that he wanted to live up to his dad’s legacy.

Photo by Heidi Fin on Unsplash