The Time Machine

A scientist builds a machine that can travel through time! In the far future, he meets the Eloi, a child-like race. They live in peace and don't do any work, though the machines around them have been deteriorating for centuries. When he returns to his machine, he finds it's been dragged away. Without that machine, he'll be stranded in the future, so he knows he must get it back. In the dark tunnels below the surface, he discovers the Morlocks, ape-like people who feed on the Eloi. This classic science fiction tale has influenced virtually every time travel story published since its first appearance.