Chronological Chaos

It was on Broad Street that Emit walked rather hastily; her small heels clicking and ticking away as if to emphasize how slow she was moving compared to the old cars zooming past her. The wind seemed to be against her as it blew back her grey trench coat and light brown hair so that they fluttered around her. Emit broke into a slight, uncomfortable jog, causing her heavy red messenger bag to slam against her side. She raised her arm to check her watch and when her eyes fell upon her wrist, she realized she had forgotten it back at the apartment. Her hand jerked back down to aid her in her jog. Never mind the watch, she already knew she was late.

The doors of the magazine editing office crashed open as Emit shoved her way through them. She carelessly dropped her bag off at her already cluttered desk and dashed off to the meeting room, sparing no time to take off her coat.

“Don’t even bother coming in. The meeting is over anyway.” Jezebel sneered at Emit. The two had never quite gotten along though Emit had no clue as to why. Jezebel strutted away as rapidly as she had appeared and Emit disregarded her suggestion the moment she left, timidly walking into the room while trying to calm her ragged breath. Running in heels should definitely be a track and field event.

“Where were you? You missed to entire meeting, Emit.” It was the always concerned Gabriel who Emit considered a very caring brother from another mother. He was always there when she needed him without complaint.

“Time wasn’t on my side this morning. I woke up a bit late plus my car completely died on Federal Street and left me stranded, so I had to jog the rest of the way here. Forget about that though. What did they say?”

Emit had finally finished her artwork portfolio and sent it off to a multiple award-winning magazine. After years of developing and discarding countless sketches, she had created a bundle of twenty-three that contained the epitome of her artistry. Each picture had to do with organic nature and she loved each piece dearly, but her favorite piece was that of a tree. Every detail was carefully drawn in this depiction, from the thick, discolored, marred bark, to the near leafless branches that hung loosely in the air, to the blue-green ocean that it seemed to grow from.

“They outright loved it and said they would publish an article about it in their magazine. They’re even thinking of giving you a whole two pages! Emit, you’re going to be in TIME Magazine!” Gabriel was truly excited for her and elated to be the one to relay the joyous message. “The editor of the arts section said he would like to do an interview to give people some insight into the artist; that’s you!”

“Wow.” The news had blown Emit away and she was surprised that she was even able to utter a single word, no matter how short it was. This was the goal she had been trying to reach for as long as she can remember and she could not believe the words Gabriel had just uttered.

“She’s actually speechless for once. Come on, let’s go get your car.” Emit did not object, for she had no work to do anyway. In her jittery stage of preparation for the meeting she had just missed, she was able to focus all her energy into getting her work done relatively early. The two walked out of the magazine editing office after stopping by Emit’s desk to pick up her bag.

Fortunately, Emit’s metallic, inferno orange Chevrolet Camaro was in the exact place she had left it. Carelessly pushed to the left side of the road, it was a wonder that someone had not hit it already. If someone had even dented it, Emit would have undeniably been saddened, for it was the new two-thousand eleven model she had bought with her own funds. This was the embodiment of her first personal and financial accomplishment and oh, did she love her car dearly. Though she was not particularly fond of it today, she was still very thankful it was in her possession.

While Emit’s dull brown eyes were checking her car for any damage, Gabriel had somehow inspected the contents under the hood of the car and determined the cause of its mechanical impairment.

“Hey, how did you get my – ”

“You left your keys on top of your desk so I decided to grab them. I thought they would be useful, just in case we needed to get into your car seeing as it broke down an all.”

“Whatever, Gabe. Why did my battery die?” Emit disregarded his sarcasm and resorted to staring at the messy compilation of tubes and cords that somehow enabled the car to operate.

“You probably left the car idle and running for at least twenty minutes. All I have to do is jump start your car and then you’ll be on your way.” And with that, he turned to retrieve the jump cable from the trunk of his car.

~~~~

Empire Pizza’s stone fire pizza was very saucy to say the least. Gabriel had taken Emit to this particular restaurant because it was close in proximity to their place of work, but most importantly because he wanted to celebrate Emit’s induction into the wonderful world of TIME.

“I still cannot believe that all of America is going to see my artwork. This is my chance to get my name out there, Gabriel. Just imagine, seeing 'Emit Zeitlich' in the title of my own page in TIME Magazine.”

She sighed dreamily and took another bite of her pizza, letting it burn her tongue. At the moment, it did not matter that the pizza was too hot or that the little place was too noisy or even that the pizza itself was not even halfway decent. Emit swallowed her food and took a glance at the rusty clock over the entrance of the restaurant. There appeared to be a thick layer of dust over the face of the timepiece , making it impossible for her to make out the numbers on it, much less the time.

“It’s three twenty-three. We should get going; I’ve got to get back to work.” Gabriel stood up and pushed his chair in, leaving the bill and a small tip on the table.

“It’s my treat,” he said when he received a disapproving look from Emit. She complied this time, deciding not to put up a fuss. After all, she was soon going to be featured in an international magazine. Couldn’t she afford to cut herself some slack?

Once outside, Emit and Gabriel exchanged their temporary goodbyes. They would see each other at work tomorrow anyway. Just as they were about to climb into their respective vehicles Gabriel once again relayed a message.

“Emmy,” he warned “don’t blow this up.”

It was a fairly simple message; do not mess things up even more than you already did today, Emit. However, it need not be said since Emit already knew that she had to behave perfectly as not to give TIME a reason to decline her work at the last minute. She nodded in understanding even though Gabriel had driven away. His blue Honda Civic gradually disappeared, and with her mind reeling, she slipped into her car and pulled out of the parking lot, driving the opposite way Gabriel had.

~~~~

New London, Connecticut was definitely not a tourist area. In all honesty, it was a quiet, boring, and moderately large city with nothing to offer but the fact that it was in a state that was founded by some of the first immigrant Americans. Remnants of the past still remained - a few tall, brick churches here and some old fashion looking houses there. Together they thoroughly enhanced the age of the city.

It was also clear that there was a good amount of natural land that dotted the city. If you looked at the New London from an aerial view, you could see random patches of green that indicated the many parks and small farms that could be found in the area.

The only thing that Emit found remotely interesting was the port where ships passed by every once in a while. It had always fascinated her how the delicate water was able to carry such a heavy burden without distress, yet she could not.

To the port she drove, which was comically located right off of Water Street. The drive was calm and quiet as usual, so Emit decided to turn up the radio as a sort of ambiance to her ride. She stared at the tranquil road through her windshield and sighed. New London had not changed at all in decades. The jaunty yellow speed bump slowed her down and so did the stop sign at the end of Governor Boulevard, and she drove faster after passing them to make up for lost time.

It was when she pressed the accelerator more than necessary that the orange Camaro slipped off the road. In a matter of seconds, Emit’s car had hit the very sturdy trunk of a tree; a tree akin to the very one she had drawn. Emit did not notice this small detail though as the car continued to move at an alarming velocity. As soon as it had registered that she was supposed to crash into a tree, she banged her foot on the brake pedal.

That was strange, Emit thought. Opening the door of the car slowly, she stepped out of the automobile onto the dirt covered road and looked at the sky. It was no longer afternoon, but a beautiful sort of nighttime that displayed a crescent moon. She walked forward, towards a tree she thought she recognized. Her shadow lead the way, and she soon realized it was not a tree she had seen in real life, but rather one that she had created. Drawing closer to it, a very neat inscription became visible on the upper half at the tree. When she squinted, Emit could make out the small words etched carefully into the chocolate bark.

"Through time and space, thou shall not race."

Emit stood there for a moment, thinking about what it could possibly mean. What was the significance of this passé phrase? Emit knew she had not inscribed this in her own illustration, so why was it here on the real life version of her tree?

“Through time and space, thou shall not race. Is it not a thought-provoking statement, Emit?” a smooth voice rang through the silence, deep and unfamiliar. The fact that this place seemed to be empty save for one creepy stranger who knew her name made Emit consider running. But curiosity was simultaneously a vice and a virtue and it was this force that made her turn around to face the speaker.

If Emit had anything in her hand, she surely would have dropped it. Thankful that her keys were safe inside the pocket of her black jeans, she simply stared at the sultry stranger. What a sight he was! Being a good three yards away, it was difficult to see all the details, but his jet black hair and slightly muscular build was enough to make Emit think about him in special ways.

Before she knew or realized it, he shortened the gap in between them, finally enabling Emit to see all that she could. An easy six-foot-three, he was able to look down at the shorter Emit even though her heels gave her an extra three and a half inches. A lean figure could be made out through the thin fabric of his slightly transparent blue shirt and his light wash denim jeans hung loosely on his hips. He shifted his weight onto his right foot and crossed his arms.

Emit’s eyes scanned further upward, to his impossibly smooth yet angular jawline that twitched when she laid her eyes on it. The stranger was smirking at her, taking into account her star-struck demeanor. His green eyes were littered with random specs of gold, making Emit feel as though she had found an ocean of long lost treasure. She was able to see his eyebrow lift up and disappear behind his jagged hair before he spoke again.

“Have you happened to see something interesting, dear Emit?”

There was a certain coyness in his voice, almost like he was taunting her with his words. Of course he knew she saw something interesting, she was staring right at him! This time when he spoke, Emit was able to make out an alluring accent. She hypothesized that he primarily spoke some Indo-European language, maybe Dutch, perhaps German?

Emit chose not to answer his question in order to spare herself some embarrassment. It didn’t happen often, but at the moment, talking to attractive guys was proving to be quite difficult.

“Sprechen Sie Deutsch?” (German: Do you speak German?) she asked before she could even stop herself. Having taught herself German over the course of five years and twenty-three weeks, she was proud to be able to speak a language she had always found so charming.

“Ja.” (German: Yes.)

The stranger’s answer threw Emit off guard as she had been expecting a more elaborate response. A simple ‘yes’ could not answer all the questions floating around in her mind, but she decided not to push the issue. Hopefully she could find out later.

“Groβes kino.” (German: Awesome.)

Immediately, she felt stupid. In comparison to his ostensibly proper way of speaking, her casual, fragmented sentence gave her a reason to question her German. Instead of refraining from speaking it again like she normally would, Emit decided to continue to probe in the language. It didn’t seem like much, but she thought she was being a bit daring.

“Wie heissen Sie?” (German: What is your name?)

“Das macht nichts, aber Sie können mich anrufen Gott.” (German: It does not matter, but you can call me God.) If the smirk he had before was very apparent to Emit, then the smirk he had on now could easily be seen by the entire world. Why was it that this physically perfect guy was quickly turning out to be a jerk?

Emit rolled her eyes and decided to walk away this time, no longer curious as to what this handsome guy had to say.

“You will not be able to get out of here if you do not know the way. And I am positive that you do not possess such knowledge.”

Even though his presumption was true, Emit felt that it was tremendously rude to assume that her knowledge was inferior to his. And so, she persisted on, touching the tree to test if she was able to go back through it. The solid bark firmly met her hand and she swore under her breath. She strode back to her car as the stranger began to chuckle. Emit felt as if she were listening to some sort of musical when the sound escaped his lips, but she quickly focused on putting one foot in front of the other in order to reach her car.

The sand was dislocated by her footsteps, and she thought of kicking it at the stranger. Emit decided against it though, and swung open the door of her car, eager to get home. No longer did she wish to go to the port. Once inside, she locked the doors and fished her keys out of her pocket, hurriedly putting it into the ignition. She turned the Camaro around so that it was facing the tree and pushed down on the accelerator, sending the car zooming straight into the tree.

This time, the tree did indeed halt her, and her body was flung onto the steering wheel. Emit was more shocked than hurt, and surprisingly she could not feel much pain. The only pain she did feel was entirely emotional; her car would definitely be wrecked after ramming into a fifty foot tree! The stranger simply watched as the door of the car was hurled open and Emit shoot out to inspect the damage for the second time in one day.

And it was as if the car was made out of an impervious type of steel because it clearly suffered no damage. She simply stood there shocked and relieved at the same time.

“Strange things occur here every day, Emit. When will you learn that ‘Through time and space, thou shall not race.’? That includes racing in your car."

Emit had momentarily forgotten about him until he spoke, and her wonder began to turn into annoyance; it did not seem like he was leaving any time soon. She gave a defeated sigh in response and went back inside her car to retrieve her keys. For a moment, the jingling of the keys was the only thing to be heard before she stuffed them into her pocket again. The impression on the tree still made no sense to her, and she declined to analyze it. She had done enough of that in her English Literature class.

“Show me where the exit is so I can get out of here.” Her tone was demanding as she had lost her patience with this arrogant stranger. However, he seemed to be her only ticket out of here so she figured she would have to tolerate him at least for a little while longer.

“Where are your manners, Emit?” By now, Emit had realized that he seemed to have a knack for mentioning her name in almost every sentence he said, and it was driving her mad. Not to mention the ironic fact that he did not have manners himself. How did he know her name anyway? She gave him an unwavering, stern look to which he responded.

“I will be nice this time and show you the way to the exit, but you must agree to one condition.”

“And what would that be?”

“You must let me show you around, you know, give you a grand tour.”

This really didn’t seem like such a disadvantage to Emit. She had been curious as to what this place was and why she was here. She would not only find out the significance of this place, but she was also guaranteed a way out. Even though the stranger seemed like an outright fool, his trustworthiness appeared at least somewhat satisfactory.

“Okay,” she said flatly. She did not want to make a spectacle out of her excitement and resorted to giving a basic answer.

“Very well, Emit. Off now to The House of Mirrors.”

Instantly, it sounded like a cheesy name for a place that you would only find in a poorly made haunted house. Emit did not object though, and laughed internally. The stranger offered her his arm and she automatically declined; she wanted to get away from him, not closer. Instead, she began to walk, as did he, away from the tree that also existed on a two-dimensional surface.

“That is where you will finally be able to see, Emit, for you have been blind.”