Short Fiction · Character

Allan Hartley

A thirteen-year-old who wakes one Sunday morning with a lifetime of adult memories and the terrifying certainty that he is not who his father thinks he is.

major

Also known as Allan, Hartley, little Allan Hartley

First appearance: day of the moron

As a major figure in Short Fiction, Allan Hartley is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

The protagonist who wakes up in his 13-year-old body in 1945, retaining his adult memories and struggling to adapt.

In the storyTime and Time AgainOpen this moment free

Allan Hartley is an only child in a quiet 1945 household, the son of a shrewd attorney, and—by his own private reckoning—a grown man trapped in a boy's body. He must navigate Sunday Mass, his father's probing questions, and the ordinary rituals of boyhood while concealing a mind that thinks in words no thirteen-year-old should know. His precocious self-awareness and his fear of exposure make every family breakfast a tightrope walk, and his secret is the engine that drives the story's central mystery.

See Allan Hartley in Time and Time Again Book page

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Character Web

11 connections

A slice of how Allan Hartley sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.

Relationship types

Other

Character groups

Psychics and Literate Agents
Martian Expedition Scientists
Time Travel Agents
Alien Artifact Guardians

+6 more in the full Character Web

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

This is the story's dramatic climax because it presents the protagonist's emotional and psychological peak of…

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In the story

Allan Hartley appears across 6 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

Time and Time Again
The protagonist who wakes up in his 13-year-old body in 1945, retaining his adult memories and struggling to adapt.
He Walked Around the Horses
Not directly present; the chapter focuses on a Prussian lieutenant and Bathurst, but the alternate history narrative echoes themes of temporal displacement.
The Mercenaries
Powerful figure behind Associated Enterprises; provides support to MacLeod via General Hammond.
IV
Not present in this chapter.
Hunter Patrol
Referred to as 'The Guide,' the older version of Benson who has become a dictator, using sonic weapons and chemical control to enforce peace and beauty.
Crossroads of Destiny
The narrator and history professor who observes the conversation and later receives the anomalous dollar bill.

Chapter companion notes

Spoil-light check-ins for Allan Hartley unlock in the free preview.

See Allan Hartley in day of the moron

See Allan Hartley in Time and Time Again