Clockwork

“Felicity, this might be a little awkward, but this” he lifted up the chain of the pocket watch, “needs to go around both of us.” He slid the chain around my neck and then around his. He was a head taller than me, so I was on my tiptoes to relieve the tight pull of the metal on my neck. This chain was not meant for two.

He pushed the top part he had referred to earlier, and I pouted skeptically as to if he was telling me the truth or not. I suddenly felt as if the room was a giant ice cube; the air around me seemed to freeze in place and grew thick. My body could hardly move through the thickness; it felt as if no breath was coming to my lungs, but I was entirely calm. I wondered if this is what he had meant by “time stops.”

He seemed to ignore my fascination with this revelation and started to twist the tightened head of the tiny watch that was concealed in his hand. Then, the world began to spin. A whole big whir of colors of the bland Quarantine was spinning around me until I felt like I was standing on the inside of a tornado.

One blink of the eye, and I was no longer in the Quarantine. I was standing in the middle of the sidewalk, my neck still attached to this mystery man, in front of the telemarketing company that I had spent two years working at while I got my degree. It was a place I had tried to erase from my mind as soon as I was free by getting my job at the hospital.

Mystery man untangled the chain from around our necks as I noticed the sudden cold that hit my skin. I couldn’t help but smile a little as I noticed the snow flurry that was falling around us. Ten years ago… The day I had lost Danny…

How many times had I: “If I could only go back…” Now I was. I almost couldn’t believe it. Had someone come to me my first time being a twenty year old and told me that I was going to make a terrible mistake and having to be brought to my senses ten years later in order to save the future, I probably would’ve said that they were crazy.

Now I laughed giddily; whether because I was able to see the snow again or I had another chance with Danny, I wasn’t sure. I stood in front of the building that I had once hated and I danced in the snow, kicking up flakes around my feet.

It was only after that that I had noticed the chill, noticing that, somewhere along the way, I had ditched my raggedy doctor’s coat and ended up in some long-forgotten clothes.

I remembered the outfit specifically. I usually tried to stay conservative for work, especially with some of the creeps that I had ended up working with on a day to day basis. My birthday, I had chosen to be a little more provocative. I wore a miniskirt, to appropriate length for work of course, and a tight fitting shirt. Thinking about it, I didn’t know why I had thought of dressing up. I felt so good on that wintery day; maybe I had been planning on going further with Danny than I ever had. All of those good feelings had diminished with every minute that Danny was late. I loved him, but I had gotten sick of it.

“What time is it?” I asked, figuring that I was supposed to be meeting Danny’s tardiness soon.

“It’s three forty-five. I figured I’d give you a few minutes to get used to being back here. Maybe thinking of some kind words for Danny instead of what you did.” He teased me, and I glared.

“So how does this work?” I demanded. “Am I going to have to avoid my past self or something?”

“No! When you time travel, if you are part of that past, you resume your past or future self with the benefits of having the memory of the future. Do you really think you would be wearing that if you were supposed to just be here to watch everything happen? No, you’re rewriting your own future.” He explained.

“Oh.” Part of me was excited that I could have a future with Danny; another part was scared. “So who are you then?”

“No one; a casual observer.” He answered. “I’m from a more distant future than what you are from.”

“So would I be a ‘casual observer’ in your present?” I asked, and he looked like he wanted to choke.

“Not exactly…”

I paused. “Well, is there anything I should know? Anything that I should do to keep from tarnishing the fabric of time or something?”

“Sweetheart,” he grasped my shoulders, “that’s what you’re supposed to be doing. You need to tarnish the fabric of time in order to change your future. You can’t mess this up! At least, as long as you accomplish what you need to do.”

“Great,” I bit my lip.

“You’ll be fine!” He encouraged, linking our arms and starting to walk us in the way of the diner.

The snow seemed to be getting quite colder as we rounded each corner closer to the old place. A cold sweat was covering my skin; I was growing more afraid as ten minutes to four approached.

We got to the old door of the diner and I felt like throwing up. He awkwardly gave me a hug and brushed the snow off of my hair, before pushing me towards the door.

“Wait!” I said, pausing with my hand on the door. “What happens in your present and my ‘distant future’? Do I have more than just a child with Danny?”

Mystery man looked smug, as if he had been expecting it. “I can’t tell you that. Those decisions are to be made by yourself.” I frowned a little and gnawed on my bottom lip – a habit I thought I had gotten over a while ago. Right, maybe that hadn’t happened yet. Wasn’t that after I had ended things with Danny? “The only thing I can tell you is that you do what your heart desires.”

With that, he assimilated into the crowds and disappeared. I turned back to the door in front of me.

Here goes nothing…