Stealing Time #8

Cassie and Kell slept for a few hours, then got up and dressed.  Cassie packed a few necessities in her backpack.  Kell had noticed that she always carried the pack but had never paid attention to what she put in it before.

“Prepared for emergencies?” He asked.

“I learned after a few jumps to try to have a snack and some clean clothes with me all the time.” She grinned as she stuffed a tee shirt for him into the bag.

They locked up and walked down to the coffee shop where they saw the computers for public access.  While Kell logged in, Cassie went to the counter and got them two coffees.  She held out Kell’s coffee and asked him what he had found.

“Look at this!” He said.  “I knew I had seen this before.  It’s like a twisted figure eight.  It’s the symbol for infinity.  There’s more here.” He said as he clicked another link.  The next site told them about a man named Mobius that the Mobius strip was named for.  It showed a strip of paper, twisted, then formed into a loop with the ends taped together. If you were physically able, you could run your finger all the way around, touching both sides of the paper strip without ever taking your finger from the paper.

“That’s cool.  So do you think that’s how time works?”  Cassie asked.

“I have no idea but maybe? It makes sense doesn’t it? We think of time as a straight line, moving in one direction with a beginning and an end.” Kell said thoughtfully.

“The next question I would ask is did your mom know?  Did she ‘jump’?”

“If she did, why didn’t she tell me?  We never made any jumps either.” Cassie said.

Kell cleared the history and logged off.  “I don’t know Cass, maybe she thought she would have more time.” He stopped, thought and for a moment.  “Have you ever jumped to a specific time?”

“No.  It seems like a portal opens when there is a need, like when you were in danger of being killed by the explosion at the center. I don’t know what will happen next…or when.”  Cassie said as they walked out the door.”

They walked along thinking and talking, not really paying attention to where they were going.  The sky was clouding up. Kell realized they were standing across the street from the Community Center.  “Look at the poster Cassie!”

She turned and looked at him and followed his line of sight.  In the front window of the Community Center was a poster showing a large picture of the cold eyed man who was cutting a ribbon on a new facility.  “We have to get close enough to see what it says.” Kell said.

“We have to be careful though – according to the newspaper date we are only two years into the future and we have no way of knowing if you are still involved with the center or their reaction after the explosion.”  Cassie said.

“I know, but I think it’s important.  It’s about to start raining.  I’ll put up my hood and keep my head down.  Just a fast look!  You walk down this side of the street for a few blocks and I’ll meet you.”

“Kell…okay. Just be careful!”

Kell put up his hood and strolled across the street.  There was a light drizzle falling now.  Cassie forced herself to stop watching him and walked up the street.  She pretended to look in store windows as she watched his reflection as long as possible.  It was hard to keep going without looking at him but she didn’t want to attract attention to him.  As she started up the next block Kell came up from behind and fell into step beside her, taking her elbow.  His mouth was set in a straight line and his eyes were blazing.  “What did it say?”  Cassie asked him.

“Just keep walking for a few minutes while I try to calm down!” he said.  Kell was walking rapidly with his head down and Cassie was having trouble keeping up.  She pulled him down a side street into a doorway.

“Tell me. Now!” She said.

Kell took a deep breath. “That man, that Jack Maxwell…he is buying the Community Center! They are renaming it The Maxwell Center!”

“He just keeps showing up!  Kell things are looking a little weird…” Cassie said.

It was raining harder and now there was some lightening and thunder.  “We’re going to have to get inside soon.” Kell said.

“I don’t think so” Cassie said pointing a little to the north.  There were birds all whirling together, trying to stay in one place in the wind.  “I think we better head that way.”

“Oh man, not really ready to do this again!” Kell said. but he let Cassie pull him towards the spot under the birds.  They were getting soaked but they kept going.  A man called out as he ran down the street from the direction of the center.

“Run!” Cassie said and they took off.  They ran up some concrete steps and the wind was getting stronger.  “Have you ever done this in a storm before?” Kell had to yell now.

“Doesn’t matter!  Let’s go!”  The air was doing the shimmery thing again and they held hands and just before the guy following them came around the corner, they jumped.

The heat and humidity hit them like a cloud of steam.  They weren’t near the Community Center anymore.  They weren’t any where Kell recognized at all!

“I have no idea where we are!” He told Cassie.

“I do.” She said.  “We’re near my gran’s house.  We’re in New Orleans.”

Stealing Time #7

It’s dark,  fog brained, pitch.  What is that sound??  Where am I?  Kell struggled up from sleep, trying to make sense of the messages his brain was sending him.  He felt around the bedside table next to him and found the  lamp and turned it on.  “Wha….Cassie, baby, what is it?” Cassie was standing in front of the window, arms wrapped around herself, eyes wide open, staring at nothing.  The sound coming from her made goosebumps on Kell’s arms.

He jump. stumbled to her and tried to put his arms around her but it was like hugging an ice sculpture.  He spun her around so he could see her face.  “Cassie, talk to me!  I’m right here.  It’s ok!”  Kell rubbed her arms and touched her face and she slowly closed her eyes and leaned against him, shaking and limp.

“Give me a minute” she said.  She was ice cold and pale.  Kell pulled her over to the bed and sat down, still holding her.  Tears were streaming down her face now.

“Was it him again?”  Kell asked.

“Yes and you too.  You looked so…I don’t know, bereft!  I couldn’t stand it.  And he  was smiling, happy.”  Cassie cried.  “I hate him!  He’s there when I’m awake and shows up when I’m sleeping.  This time my mother was there too.  I wish I knew what it means, what he wants!”

“I know.  So do I.” Kell was rocking her like a child now, holding on to her, warming her.  Her robe had slipped down off her shoulder and he pulled it back around her.  The shaking had stopped and her color was coming back.  He bent his head down to kiss her on the forehead and as he did she turned her face up to him.  She had stopped crying.

“Do you think you can go back to sleep?  It’s too early to get up.”  Kell asked her.

“I think so.  I’ll try anyway.”  Cassie answered. “Could you get me a drink of water?”

“Sure, be right back.” Kell said.

Kell went to the kitchen to get her a glass and when he came back, Cassie was already in bed.  He realized the robe was on the floor.  She sat up with the sheet wrapped around her and took the glass from him.  He got in the bed and waited.  They had been through so much lately, he didn’t want to misunderstand.  She set the glass on the nightstand and scooted down in the bed till she was laying down face to face with him.  “I love you”  she told him.  “I’m sorry about, well everything.  I feel like it’s all my fault somehow.”

Kell reached for her and folded her in his arms.  “If it hadn’t been for you I would have been killed.  You didn’t ask for this.  It’s happening to both of us.” He said.

“But maybe if I hadn’t come looking for you, you wouldn’t have been in danger to begin with.” She whispered.

“You can’t know that.  Maybe the man would have come looking for me and you wouldn’t have been there to warn me. I’m glad you found me .  We are going to figure this out.”  he said.  “Whatever happens we will face it together and someday we will be looking back at all of this and it will be nothing more than a great story to tell.”

As he finished talking, Cassie smiled and kissed him.  “I want somedays and I’m glad I found you.

This time Kell kissed her and the kiss, at first tentative, grew to more, and they held on to each other and to the love that had come with them through time. For a little while they left  the fear behind and time stopped for them.

Later they talked quietly.  Kell remembered he meant to ask Cassie about her medallion.  “You never take it off.  Where did you get it?”

“It belonged to my mother. Before she died she took it off and gave it to me.  She had worn it as long as I could remember and she told me to never take it off.”  she told him.

“It looks familiar to me. I think I’ve seen that symbol before.  Maybe we could stop by that coffee shop with the internet cafe and search for it tomorrow.  It feels important somehow. It looks a little like a figure eight”  he said.

“I never thought about the symbol meaning something.” she told him, shrugging her shoulders.

“What happened to your mother?  Did she get sick?” Kell asked her.

“No, it was a car accident. She was called in to work on a Saturday and someone ran her off the road.  I called her job when she didn’t come home and they said they hadn’t seen her.  I got a neighbor to give me a ride and retraced her regular route.  If I hadn’t been looking, I wouldn’t have seen her car.  It was a big drainage ditch and the trees and shrubs around it hadn’t been cleaned out in awhile.”  she told him. The driver of the other car never stopped.  She was still conscious when I got to her but she was hurt so bad….. I still miss her.”  She said.  “I was seventeen.”

“Cassie, when did you start uh, ‘time traveling’?” Kell asked.

“Not long after that.” she said.

Stealing Time Part 6

No prompt – just story.

Kell and Cassie quickly scanned the article under the picture of the man.  Kell flipped back to where it was continued and they read on.  “This says he is a businessman from New Orleans and he’s planning on investing in this community where he now has some of his interests.” Kell said.  “It makes him sound like he’s a saint!” Said Cassie shivering.

“I know” Kell was yawning now.  “I am too tired to think .  The last few days are catching up with me, I guess.”

“Me too.  I feel like it’s been weeks since I’ve slept.”  Cassie said.  “I’m tired, but I’m not sure I’m going to be able to sleep.  It worries me that he is out there and  knows where we are.”

“I bolted the door from the inside.  If he was going to hurt us,  he has had opportunities.  I think he is waiting for something, though  I can’t think what.  Maybe if we get some rest we can make some sense of this in the morning.  Do you want to shower first?” Kell was folding up the paper and picking up the sack of toiletries.

“Sounds good.” Cassie got up tiredly and took the sack with shampoo and toothpaste.  A hot shower is sounding pretty good.”

“Cassie headed for the shower and Kell turned down the bed and looked in the closet.  There was her robe.  Now what should he do?  This was weird, to find they were married.  They hadn’t talked about it at all and now….well, with everything they had been through, they would face this too, he hoped.  Listen to me, thinking this is something we have to face.  This had always been easy before, as though they had always known each other. He took the robe off the hanger and knocked on the bathroom door.

Cassie opened the door a little and he could see she was in her underwear. He held out the robe to her and she smiled and said thanks and then froze.  I’m standing here in the door in my underwear like it’s nothing, she thought.  Why was this is so awkward? Now she was nervous.  How did he feel?  The whole marriage thing, they really hadn’t had time to talk about it, to get used to the idea.  She looked at his face and his eyes caught hers and she knew it would be okay.  She trusted him, and he believed in her.  He had the funniest look on his face.  She smiled and he grinned as though he had been waiting for her reaction.  Yes, it would be more than okay.  “Thanks!”  She said and closed the door.  She clapped her hand over her mouth as she felt the uncontrollable giggling start.  It’s the stress, she thought.  She stepped into the shower and let the hot water rush over her, calming her.  She was tired, full, and now clean.  Heaven, she thought.

She turned off the water when she was through and dried off.  Using the same towel to wipe off the mirror, she combed her hair out and brushed her teeth.  She hung the towel up to dry and then stopped and got a clean towel out for Kell and put it over the towel rack.  She pulled on her robe and stepped out into the bedroom.  Kell was sitting on the edge of the bed reading the rest of the newspaper.

“Learn anything helpful?”  She asked him.  “Ask me in the morning when my brain is working again.”  He said. “I’m way to tired to think.”

“Your turn. I even left a little hot water for you.”  She said.  She saw he had turned the bed down, and that he had a clean tee shirt and boxers with him.  She grinned at him as he gave a little shake and closed the bathroom door.  She turned on a lamp by the bed and turned off the big ceiling light.  She checked the lock on the window and shuddered a bit before pulling down the shade and making sure the curtains were pulled shut.  She wandered around the room, looking at their things and wondering what it had been like, picking them out together.  She yawned again and went to the bed and curled up on the pillows.  She could hear the water running and Kell humming in the shower.

Kell came out of the bathroom drying his hair.  He looked up and saw Cassie, sound asleep on the bed.  He sighed,  hung up his towel, combed his hair,and lay down on the bed beside her.  He reached out and touched her face and then picked up the little medallion she wore on the chain around her neck.  She never took it off and now he had the weirdest feeling.  It looked familiar, like he had seen it somewhere else.  He would ask her about it in the morning. He pulled the covers up over both of them and reached over to turn out the light.  Cassie turned onto her side and he curled up next to her, pulling her up against him.  Cassie snuggled a little closer.  Kell put his arm around her and she pulled the arm closer and in minutes, Kell was fast asleep as well.

Outside in the dark, the man in the leather coat frowned.  He stared up at the window where the light had been a few moments ago with hate and determination, turned on his heel and headed back down the street, whistling.

this truly is a bit rough.  I need an English teacher smacking my hand with a ruler on a regular basis.  I’ll go back over it later to fix it,  just had to get it down before it went out of my head.

Stealing Time #5 Sunday Scribbling

Sunday Scribbling prompt was absurd.

Cassie and Kell walked down the street.  The street was familiar and yet it wasn’t.  Subtle differences caused by time. “Look!  The Community Center is still there!” Kell exclaimed.

“Maybe we shouldn’t get too close until we know a little bit more about this time.”  Cassie said thoughtfully.

“You’re probably right.”  said Kell as he glanced around and behind him uneasily

They turned down a side street and headed toward a line of shops.  There were people strolling down the sidewalk.  Some were looking in windows, some talking, and some sharing a cone from the ice cream shop.  About halfway down the street they spied tables and chairs at an outdoor cafe.

“There!  Let’s see if they have pizza.  I know I could think more clearly if my stomach wasn’t growling!”  Cassie said. Cassie and Kell walked down to the cafe and went to the window to place their order.  There was a chalkboard menu to the left of the window and thank goodness, pizza was listed.  Cassie looked at Kell and he grinned and turned to the tattooed, pierced, and bored looking teenager behind the counter. “Two slices of Pineapple and Canadian Bacon Thin Crust and two bottled waters please.” he said.

After he had paid, they found a table and chairs in the shadows and sat down to eat.  Neither one spoke for a few minutes, too busy chewing and licking melted cheese from their fingers..  Cassie reached out and stole a piece of bacon from Kell’s pizza,  “Hey!” he laughed.  The smile kind of died on his face.  It seemed so absurd to be sitting here eating pizza as if all were normal.

“Maybe we need to figure out what we know and then work on what we don’t” Kell wiped his mouth with a napkin and took a swig of water.  We know we are in the future, but we don’t know when.”

“And we know you are supposed to do something – but we don’t know what.” Cassie added. There has to be a reason for my dreams and my uh, ability.”

They finished their water and bundled up their trash and threw it in the can by the counter.  “Come on, lets get a newspaper and some supplies and head back.” Kell grabbed Cassie’s hand and they headed down the street to the drugstore.  They picked up a paper, and some toiletries, coffee and breakfast bars for in the morning.  Kell paid for their purchases and they headed back towards the apartment.

The sun was getting lower and more people were out walking.  Cassie and Kell strolled with the crowd, taking their time.  As they neared the apartment, Cassie glanced in a window as they passed and saw a face reflected that stopped her in her tracks.  Kell stopped and turned to her and saw where she was looking.  As he peered at the window he too saw a face in the crowd that was looking directly at them.  It was there for a second and by the time Kell whipped around to see the real person, the face was gone.  Cassie still stood frozen in place.  Kell grabbed her ice cold hand and rubbed it.  One look at her pale face told him that the face was the one from her dreams.  “Come on Cassie, lets get inside!”  Cassie stumbled blindly, as Kell pulled her along.  He unlocked the door and then relocked it once they were inside.  He flipped on the light and dropped the shopping bags on the table.  “Cassie, talk to me baby!  Sit down here, come on, are you ok?  We are safe now.  We’re inside and he’s gone!”

Cassie slowly sat down and sat at the table shaking. “It was him.  He is here and he terrifies me.  I don’t even know why, Kell!”  She looked up at him.  “I’ve only dreamed of his face.  How can a dream face scare me so badly?”

“Cassie, I’ve never even dreamed of him and it scared me.  There was something about those eyes. They were so cold, even though he was smiling. We can’t let him freak us out though.  You got us this far Cassie.  You’re the bravest person I’ve ever met.  We can get through this!”  Kell, held onto her hands as he spoke.

“That’s the longest speech I’ve ever heard you make, Kell.”  Cassie let out a long sigh. “Ok, we can do this.  I’ll try not to freak out too often.”  As she spoke, Kell picked up the newspaper that was rolled up in the bag and laid it on the table.  They both looked at the paper and there on the front was a picture of the man they had just seen on the street.

Stealing time #4

I’m not happy with this and I’m not sure why.  I’m going to live with it a bit and revise later if I need to.  Made a few minor changes. A few of the sentences were driving me crazy.

For now this is for prompts from Sunday Scribbling – soul mate and Carry On Tuesday #3 There are waking dreams and sleeping dreams.

Kell bent to pick up the letter at the same time Cassie reached for it.  They bumped heads and they both jerked back.  Cassie rubbed her forehead and laughed nervously.  Kell reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.  “You okay?” He asked.

“I’m fine” she said. “Read the letter, Kell!  The suspense is killing me!!”

He picked it up and carefully unfolded the letter.  The paper was thin at the creases, where it had been folded for a long time.

“It’s my handwriting!” He exclaimed.  He sank down on the couch by Cassie and they read the letter.

“If you are reading this and you’re me – you aren’t crazy and this IS real.

I don’t have a lot of time.  Cassie will be back soon and I don’t want to worry her.  I think we will be moving on soon.

Just a couple of things that might help down the line.  Trust Cassie, but don’t leave it all on her.  She is your soul mate. Time to start carrying your part, dude. Cassie is only part of it – you are key.

Trust the dreams – waking and sleeping.  Be careful because as you now know, things aren’t always what they seem.

The guy with the eyes is real.  He’ll come through time to stop you.

P.S. There’s cash in our hiding place.”

Me

Kell dropped the letter on the couch next to Cassie and started pacing, running his fingers through his hair.  Cassie picked up the letter and reread it hoping for more.

“Stop us from what?” Kell had stopped pacing and stared at Cassie. “What does it mean – I’m key?” He asked.  Cassie shook her head, suddenly unable to speak.  There were tears in her eyes and Kell sat down next to her and hugged her.  “It’s ok.  At least it will be.  We will figure this out together.  From now on it’s both of us.”  He told her as he smoothed her hair.

“I wish I knew.  The only thing I know for sure right now is..”

“Is what?”  Kell asked.

“I’m hungry!”  Cassie said.

Kell grinned. “Let’s go check the hiding place and see what we have.  Hopefully this future still has pizza! Come on.”  Kell pulled Cassie up from the couch and started towards the bedroom.  Cassie followed, curious.  Kell opened the closet and moved some clothes out of the way and knelt down.  He reached to the side and pulled the molding away from the floor.  There, in a plastic bag was some folded up money and cards.  He took the cards and some of the money out and replaced the bag and molding.

“You’ve done this before?”  She asked.  Kell smiled.  “Yes.  Ever since I was a kid.  I had a stepdad that would take anything we had to buy booze so I learned early to hide anything valuable.  The letter really must have been from me.  Let’s go find something to eat.”

They headed out the door and down the street.    They didn’t see the man in the leather coat across the street.  He was  standing in the shadow of a doorway across the street.  The man  smiled and threw his cigarette at a cat that ran by him.  He headed off in the same direction, whistling.

For the previous Stealing Time stories click the Stealing Time tag at the top of this post.

Stealing Time part 3

Sunday Scribbling prompt “covert” and Tell A Tale Contest “Childhood Dream” and not the words but the spirit of Carry on Tuesdays

Cassie got up and walked to the shelves. She picked up the picture gently and turned back to Kell.

“I used to have dreams when I was a kid. They weren’t little girl dreams. Sometimes they were scary.Sometimes confusing. The only constant was the face of a person I had never seen.”  She began.

“In all the dreams I was drawn to that face. It made me feel safe and it felt important somehow.  As I got older, I found myself scanning crowds, looking for that face. I was just waiting for something to happen. Then I saw you.  I was walking past the Community Center and saw you standing near the window. You were smiling and talking to an elderly lady and you carried a box out to her car for her. I started walking near the Center everyday after that.”

“So you knew the future before it got here?”  Kell asked.  “Now you’re telling me that you can move through time and see the future?”

“The future isn’t set.” She said.  “When the past changes the future is affected. This is one possible future. ”Cassie sucked in her breath and waited for his reaction.  She watched him covertly trying to read his facial expression to get some hint of how he felt.

Kell walked to the window and looked out. The sun streaming in fell around him and Cassie felt like everything she cared about was wrapped up in that bright glow.

His thoughts were so scattered.  He needed time to figure out how he felt about all this, about Cassie, and about his life. His life was gone now wasn’t it? His old life, that is. Yesterday he knew that he loved Cassie, though he hadn’t told her yet. He was pretty sure she knew it. They had spent almost every free moment together and right from the start they could talk for hours.  It was like they had always known each other. Maybe they had.

“Cassie, I need you to tell me about what happened yesterday. I trusted you and walked away knowing people I cared about might be hurt or dead.  I did nothing for them and I feel like it was my fault. ”

“Kell, I would never have asked you to leave if there was anything we could have done.” Cassie explained. “I know how important that Center is to you. No one was hurt badly and emergency people were already there. Besides, there was only one person who was supposed to die yesterday.”

Kell and Cassie had talked about his dream of making the Community Center into a place that would help everyone who lived in that area. Cassie knew Kell’s heart.  She had looked for him for so long and then when the face she had searched for turned out to be this person that she admired she started to feel like she had been given a gift instead of a curse.

All of a sudden Cassie’s words sunk in and Kell whipped around startled. “Me?” He asked.

“There was another face in my dreams. I could never see it clearly but I saw his eyes. Sometimes when I saw your face, I had a feeling he was watching you, too.” Cassie replied.

“Cassie, who is he?”

“I don’t know Kell, but I know he was responsible for the explosion yesterday.”

As Cassie spoke, she rubbed her fingers over the back of the picture frame she was holding.  It was thick in the middle.   She turned it over and eased a fingernail under the brown paper cover.  As it peeled off, a letter dropped out and Cassie and Kell stared at each other.

If you enjoyed this you may want to read parts one and two.  Thanks for visiting.

Sunday Scribbling 162 Healing (Stealing Time pt 2)

Related Post (Part One of Stealing Time)

What now?  What now?  He’s going along right now but he will have questions and it won’t be long before he expects some answers.  I’ve got to keep him moving!

“Cassie, wait – where are we going?  What about the people back there?  Shouldn’t we help?  They may be hurt!”  Kell asked, tugging on her hand and dragging his feet.

“Kell if we go back, how are you going to explain why you called in this morning?  Don’t you think there will be questions?

“As a matter of fact I have a few myself.  Like how did you know that something would happen this morning? And why don’t you want me to go back?  Cassie you have to tell me what’s going on.”

“And I will – I promise, but we have to go now, Kell.  Come on!”  Cassie pulled him further.  She glanced at the sky and pulled Kell down a side street.  Kell noticed that she kept glancing at the sky from time to time.  Sometimes they would change direction after she looked up.

As they rounded the corner of an old brick building covered with graffitti, Kell saw that the sky above them was full of all kinds of birds, wheeling and squawking.  Cassie seemed to know exactly where she was going but it was really freaking Kell out.

Cassie looked around and seemed to see something that satisfied her.  “This is it.  We just need to wait a few minutes.”

“Cassie, wait for what? What are we here for?  There was a spot in the air directly under the birds where the air looked funny.  It kind of shimmered, Kell had never seen anything like it.

“Kell, please just trust me a little bit longer?” Cassie knew Kell might never forgive her but she had to get him to go with her.  If he stayed then there would be questions about why he wasn’t at work that morning and how would he explain?  If he lied they would figure it out and suspect that he had something to do with the explosion. If he told the truth?  What truth?  that his girl friend had some kind of premonition?  Then they would want to question her and what could she say?
“well you see officer, I am a time traveler and I had been to the future and came back to save my boyfriends life…. Uh, yea.  They would buy that.”

Cassie pulled Kell’s hand and headed straight for where the air looked funny.  The birds were right over their heads now and making so much noise he almost couldn’t hear her as she said “jump now!”

Before he knew what was happening it got ice cold and darker than any night he had ever known.  He was terrified but in seconds it was getting a little lighter and and the painful cold was backing off.  He was dimly aware that Cassie had a death grip on his hand the whole time.  He felt her squeeze his hand and realized he had his eyes slammed shut.  He tried to open them and felt sick to his stomach.

“What the heck was that, Cassie?”  He managed to stammer.  It was getting lighter and it looked like they were still in the alley but not precisely the same alley.  He looked around with wide eyes.

“A portal.  That’s what I call it.  This didn’t come with a ‘How To Travel Through Time For Dummies’ manual.  She tried to smile at him but as she watched his expression warily, the smile faltered and then disappeared altogether.  Kell was staring at her as though she had completely lost her mind.

“Are you telling me we’re in a different time?  I know what you told me but this is… I don’t know, I can’t wrap my mind around it”

“Kell, I don’t know how it all works but we’re in the same place – only it will be different because the time is different.  If we go to the same place your apartment was you will have somewhere to live here in this time.  We need to stay quiet and just try to get there without attracting too much attention until we figure out what this time is.”

They headed back the general direction they had just come and Kell tried not to stare, his mind reeling.  As they turned a corner onto a main street he realized with a shock that this was where he worked and where the explosion had happened just a little while ago.

“Cassie look!”  Kell started to point and Cassie grabbed his hand.  “We have to keep going and get off this street.  As soon as we are inside we can talk, okay?  Just a little farther!”  Cassie led him down the same street that she had raced down just a little while ago, terrified that he was dead.

They got to a door that looked sort of like his and Cassie turned the handle and the door swung open.  They stepped inside and closed the door.  Kell looked around at what was his home but at the same time wasn’t.

Cassie collapsed in a chair and waited for Kell to start talking.  She had no idea what he was going to say but she knew he was going to need some time to process.  She just hoped that when it was all out and he understood what she had done that they would be able to heal.  Would he be able to trust her after this?

“Cassie?”  Kell started quietly. “I need you to back up and start telling me everything.  I thought I knew you.  I thought we had something special, but this?  I have to slow down!  I’m trying to understand.  How do I get back?  What about our lives? ”

Cassie looked at him sadly. “I’m sorry that I lied to you at first.  How do you tell someone something like this?  I had to wait til you knew me enough to trust me and then I had to tell you something that could destroy that trust!  I love you Kell.  Whatever else has happened, I hope you believe that.”

Kell started to answer and as he turned, he saw something on the bookshelves and his mouth flew open.  Cassie turned to see what he was staring at as he strode to the shelves and picked up a picture of a young bride and groom.  “We got married??”

Sunday Scribbling: Confession (Stealing Time Part 1)

Sunday Scribblings Prompt :Confession

Kell just stared at her, silent.

“Please say something!  I know it’s a crazy story. You have to believe me.”

She was so tired.  All she wanted was to lay down and sleep but she had to make him understand.  “I’m not joking, I’m not hallucinating, and if you don’t listen to me, something terrible is going to happen!

Kell put his head in his hands as she spoke and when she stopped, he sat up and looked at her like he’d never seen her before.  What was he going to do now?  He thought they had gotten so close.  He’d never met anyone like her.  They had talked for hours about so many things.  He couldn’t be so wrong about her.

“Kell, Please?”

She had explained it badly. It didn’t really matter how she explained it.  How could she expect him to believe her?  Time travel didn’t exist right?  Except in her bizarre life it did and the only man she had ever loved was going to die, again, if she didn’t convince him.

“Cassie, I know you believe” he started to say.

“I don’t just believe it Kell, I live it!  It’s real.  Please” she pleaded.  “If I am crazy, what could it hurt?  You call in sick and we wait across the street. If nothing happens then no big deal.  I’m crazy, you’re alive, no harm done.”

“No harm done,” he thought. “No harm done.”  Crazy or not, maybe she just needed to be trusted.  “Okay”, he said.  “You win. I’ll call in, but we don’t have to go down there.  I trust you.”

“I’m glad you can say that Kell, but if this was reversed, I’d be thinking you were nuts.  I want to prove it to you.  You have to see..” She trailed off, tired, but glad he would be safe for now.

Kell saw the shadows under her eyes.  He put his arm around her.  “You’re beat” he said. “Let’s get some sleep.  I’ll do whatever you want in the morning.

She lay down and was asleep in minutes.  When she woke the next morning, the sun was pouring in the window.  She stretched and then realized that she was alone.  She sat up in a panic and saw the note on the pillow next to her.  She scanned it quickly, jumped up, and hopped around as she jerked on her boots.  She flew out the door and down the stairs, almost knocking over old man Clay as she went through the foyer and out to the street.

She ran the six blocks to the Center where Kell worked and as she got close she saw the smoke and lights from the fire truck.

“NO! NO!” she cried, sprinting to the next block.  Why didn’t he listen?  She thought she had gone back far enough this time to give him a chance to get to know her, to trust her. She crossed the street and lost herself in the crowd but stayed close enough to see.  She didn’t want to see, but she couldn’t tear herself away.  She was jostled and pushed, not even realizing that she was crying.  She felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Cassie?”

She went still.  She slowly turned and there he was, white as a sheet. She tried to hug him but he held his hand out to stop her.

“Why?”

Cassie reached out and grabbed his hand.  “I’ll tell you all of it, but right now we have to get out of here.” She pulled him between the buildings and through the alley.  She knew they had to hurry but at least he believed her now.  There was hope.