I watched a strange phone ring. Bernice had sat me down after consoling me, then made her way into my closet to find something for me to wear. I was still trying to grasp at the situation, trying to understand why I had come back to this time. Why not any other time? Why not the 1900s? Why did it have to be this exact time in my life?
"Won't you pick your phone?"Bernice walked in with two dresses each hanging from a clothes hanger."My..my phone? I don't..use an android." I said. The last time I used an android was during my last year of college."You do, Karla. And It's ringing. Where is your head these days?" She rolled her eyes then brought the phone to me. The caller ID showed dad.My father. I was very close to him, until the news of the marriage. We got into a huge fight that night and it caused a dent in our relationship, one that was not mended by the apologies after. I guess I took it too hard because I depended on him so much. Just for him to give me up as some gift to cement a friendship.I picked the phone, then pressed it lightly to my ear. I could still feel the anger surging within me, but I tried to keep calm."Karla! My girl!" His voice came through the phone and I sighed."Yes, dad.""I heard you got accepted into college. I am so happy, even though I always knew my little girl would make it." He gave a hearty laugh, and I closed my eyes. I could imagine him rubbing his growing paunch and shaking his head as he did. Hell, he always looked so fatherly and cute doing that."Don't do it." I blurted out."What do you mean? Is something wrong?" His voice pitch instantly changed, and it became so deeply stained with worry that it overpowered the phone static."Don't arrange a marriage for me, dad. Please don't." I said again. I could feel tears sting the back of my eyes.It would have been better attending my husband's funeral as a family friend than as an unhappy wife."How do you know about that?" I couldn't even speak due to the heavy disappointment I felt. It hurt like a stab through the chest. It was even more hurtful that they had been planning it at least 7 years before it even happened.All my life, one thing I have always wanted was to be free. To not be lonely. To laugh as hard as I want. I have no qualms with anyone, and no problem mingling. Just to find myself in a house with no laughter. And the excess lights did nothing to Illuminate the darkness inside, with a husband whose expressions I couldn't even understand..."Just don't. I am your only daughter. Marrying like this...this isn't how I imagined my life, my wedding."He cleared his throat. "Karla? Maybe we should discuss when you come back home."I sighed as the call quenched and kept the phone beside me. I lowered my head, unable to control my tears as my hair fell on the sides of my face. I never did lament my life back then, but maybe coming here by some stroke of fate and miracle, and getting brutally reminded of how free I had been just made me realize how much I had given up. I wouldn't be able to do it again.I hear Bernice's footsteps, and immediately wiped my eyes clean. I was already saddled with so many questions of my own, I didn't want to be asked any more."Karla. Your wardrobe is no good. Why don't we go shopping?"I nodded. "Yes, let's go."She squealed then ran off, as I stood up and went to the bathroom.I took a long, hot bath, my eyes closed for most of the time as I took my time savoring the heat. I stepped out much later, and wore a simple knee length summer dress. I don't even dress like this anymore. I took a sling bag that held a car key, one that I remember getting as an 18th birthday gift from my parents, credit card and the phone I was now convinced was mine, and along with Kate, Bernice and Natalie, we left the house. The worst part of it all was that it was becoming increasingly real, with everything I used during this stage of my life so weirdly intact.Everyone was at different aisles, checking out what looked good for them. Occasionally, Bernice would walk over with something she thought the colour of would fit me, but I always said no each time. I wasn't interested in shopping. I just needed answers. How can I go back? If time traveling was possible because the future already existed, would I create a new future for myself if I did things differently from now? If not, What's the point of being back here? The future would be happening somewhere else and I would be here, stuck in the past?"Bernice, I want to take a walk. Call me when you guys are done." I said, handing her my car key. I didn't even know where the car was.She collected it. "You didn't pick a dress." "Just pick out anything for me. I am not choosy."She nodded as I walked out of the store and took the road to my right. I walked, occasionally having to stop to get my hair out of my face. I only kept a long hair till after college graduation. Now, or in the future I have left, I carried a shiny, black bob.The road got considerably lonelier the more I walked, but I didn't want to stop or turn. It was like there was something I needed to see there, or somewhere I needed to be over there and my feet were propelling themselves towards it.Suddenly, I heard a loud crash as glass broke and shattered, then another large hit and the screeching sounds of tyres that have gone out of control. From a short distance in front of me, I could see the fumes rising steadily. I already knew what it was. A car crash. I turned around, but no one was there. I ran to the victims, and went to the driver's seat. The driver looked a bit familiar, but his face was covered in blood, so I couldn't pinpoint it. I opened the door and pulled him out of it, then noticing there was someone else on the other side, I ran to the other side of the car. I pulled the door open. The person fell out, or at least, half of his body did, while the rest was still in the car. I squatted to his height and took a hold of him so I could pull him out. It availed his face to me, and I couldn't believe my eyes.It was a face I could never forget. The face of my husband, Luke."L...luke?" His eyes were closed, blood flowing from the side of his face. I shook my head to bring myself back to reality as I wrapped my arms around the upper part of his body and pulled hard, freeing his leg from the crushed car. After getting them out, I straightened, trying to calm my nerves. My hands shook uncontrollably as I tried to analyze the situation in front of me.What should I do now? What does someone have to do when they witness an accident? I stepped away from Luke's body and felt around for my bag. I got my phone and called for an ambulance.It took roughly twenty minutes, and I got in with them after saying I was a family friend. They had started resuscitating Luke and putting an oxygen mask over him, but the older, weirdly extremely familiar man was completely still. It scared me to my bones.I don't remember seeing this accident back then, the first time I was 18 years old. So why and how was I seeing it now? What does this even mean for me? I was sure this w
Luke had his head buried in the crook of my neck, and for a second I forgot all the pieces I had been trying to put together. I had been trying to think about just why I was brought back here, to see him from this perspective, and this...it just made me forget."My dad....my dad." He just kept saying into my neck, his breath fanning my skin. I slowly put my arms around him as he pulled himself closer to me. I understood just how much he needed someone right now. To be there for him. Strangely, I found myself willing."I am sorry, Luke." I managed to say as I patted his back. "I am so sorry."Something in me told me I wasn't just apologizing for this one thing, but I kicked the notion away.He released me slowly, and when he looked at me, his eyes were slightly swollen from crying so much. I didn't even know this was how he looked when he was less than calm and collected. I didn't know this was how he looked when he was devastated."I want to go home..." He said to me, his voice bre
The feeling of his eyes on me was electrifying, and I looked down at my feet."So uhm..." I said, and cleared my throat. Being 18 years old made me a lot shyer, and to an extent, I was feeling so much more than I used to. It was like as I grew, I lost the part of myself that felt, and it was a little dizzying to find it again.I had become cold and hard, and maybe...maybe this was the best version of me."I will go back home. And I will make sure to thank you properly.""Thank me properly?""I hope we meet again." He was extremely gentle and shy, and he has a one sided dimple that gave him the pure, innocent look.I nodded absent mindedly and watched his back as he left.It was an especially cold morning, and he was only wearing the hospital wear. I found myself running to my closet. It had all the old clothes, the clothes I used to wear as an 18 year old jolly girl.I checked them for a jacket, and I found only one black one. It was the only dark colored piece of clothing I had and
"You didn't have to do this." I said, lightly kicking the umbrella away as I moved closer. He shrugged. "Made me feel like I was still with dad. It's hard to come to terms with the fact that he won't ever be around."I stopped checking the cookies out and looked at him. He didn't let me comfort him however, as he cracked a smile. "I guess I at least learned to bake." He laughed and transferred the batch to a glass bowl."So how did you get so much flour all over you?""I just wanted to make chocolate chip cookies for the next batch." He said with small laughs punctuating his words."And you made a human cookie instead." I laughed as I said it, and it satisfied me that he found it funny too."You know, my dad and I...explored cooking all the time. I hate to say it, but I was into stuff like that. I still am, but not with the same vigour." He said, as he dusted himself off."So..how did you develop a liking for cooking?"I sat on the kitchen island, watching him talk. Maybe he found
I suddenly lost appetite, as the scene of my first introduction to Luke, 7 years into the future floated behind my eyes, causing me to hear his mother's voice ring in my ears."We have maintained very close friendship with your family, Karla. In fact, your father is the only best friend that my late husband had and acknowledged. Other times, he had his nose buried in science books..."I shook my head and closed my eyes tightly, then opened them again."Are you fine?""It must have been so hard, Luke." I said again, trying hard to swallow the lump that was growing in my throat.He must have thought I was disgusting. He must have thought I was like my father. Or when he looked at me, he saw his late father's pain. I didn't do any of it, in fact, I didn't know, but...he wouldn't know that. I wouldn't even care if I was in his shoes."It gets better." He said, then pushed the bowl of cookies to me. "Do you not like it?""I do. Thanks." But I couldn't help that I had lost my appetite. My
I stopped for a while, just looking at the parcel. It felt like I was looking at Luke's disappointed eyes all over again. He had looked so disgusted. He must have thought I planned it all. Meeting him, helping him. He must have have seen me as an even worse person.I picked the parcel, but then thought of looking around to see if he would be around. He wasn't.I went back home and dropped the parcel right next to the cookies from yesterday. Maybe this travel back in time isn't working out well. Maybe I should have stayed ignorant. That way, with time, he will learn to let it go.Now...he never will be able to.I picked up my phone, but there was no one to call. My dad was the last person I wanted to hear from, and I am not sure I wanted to hear from my mum too. I didn't want to talk to Bernice or anyone. The only person I wanted to talk to was Luke. But I didn't even have his number. I sighed. Even if I did, I am sure he wouldn't pick up.I lay my head on the table, supporting it with
I felt light, like some burden was lifted off my shoulder. This was why Luke's father had brought me back here. Because I had to understand Luke. I had to see him from a perspective that wasn't biased, and now that I did, I made me feel like I had wronged him all through till the time he died. He didn't deserve his wife not shedding a single tear for him.Wait. I looked down at my shadow as I stood just outside, my heart beat picking up pace. The shadows were still two, complete with the silhouette of my hair and my sling back. I gulped.Did I have to go back? Does that mean I could only visit here and not actually stay?I watched the shadows again. They looked closer than the first time I had seen it. Was it some sort of time ticking? Was it the amount of time I had to go back that was passing by?I braced myself and walked in, but instead of attending classes and getting settled, I found myself walking straight to the library. I need more insight on the time travel machine Mr. McG
I woke up much later, my limbs sore from the awkward position I had fallen asleep in. All I did was to make cereal, churn it down my throat and go back to sleep.Reality was honestly just not my forte right now, and it was already sundown. I didn't intend to make too much difference here. It isn't my place, and for all I know, the me that lived during this time would be lurking around somewhere, waiting to return to her place.A gentle knock on my door woke me up, but it was the bright rays of the sun that finished the job. I sat up and looked around. It was all in a mess, but I was expecting only Bernice, so I didn't even bother.The slight knock came again, and I stood, moving my hair away from my face, and slapping off the few strands that had clung unto my lips. I could remember very well that was why I cut my hair short, because I ended up eating it in my sleep.I opened the door, my face a bloated mess that my squinted eyes had somehow found a place in. They widened however, w