To Turn Back Time

Prologue

 It was early.

The city had slowed to a brisk walk.

All the street lamps were still lit, casting a warm glow over the road. Bright signs hung ominously over dark storefronts while security cameras blinked silently, shooing away anyone with nefarious intentions. The stop lights blinked from red to green and cars slowly meandered through.

The early morning chill forced people to move quickly back with their hands shoved deep in their pockets and faces tucked into jackets. The only noise they made was the occasional soft grunt when they bumped into one another.

Skyscrapers grew like trees all around the streets. The few windows that were lit up were colored in icy blues and mellow yellows and twinkled like the invisible stars above. From a distance, it shone like a sparkling galaxy.

The first rays of sun were barely beginning to brush the edge of the horizon. The black began fading to navy blue and paled to yellow. There were herds of puffy clouds lazily rolling across the sky, soaking up the illumination like a sponge.

And, above it all, on the very top of the radio station–halfway up the tower–was a woman.

Her dark hair whipped around her face and the chilled wind nipped at her nose, clouded eyes fixed on the horizon. Her left hand was clutching the pole so hard it was turning white as she slowly let her body fall away from it.

The chill stung her eyes and they began to water. She blinked several times and then squeezed her eyes shut, bringing up the back of her free hand to wipe away the extra moisture.

She let her head fall down. From where she hung, the people looked like tiny worker ants and the cars like fireflies. She reached out with one hand as if to brush her fingertips against the street.

The woman let out a deep sigh, letting her free limbs fall limp. Exhaustion pulled at her muscles and settled like film over her mind. Sleep tugged at her eyelids.

Before she could fully drift off to another world, there was a loud thud followed by a passionate shout.

Her eyes flew open and she turned to see a group of people standing on the roof, wildly waving their hands and shouting at her. In the distance, sirens wailed and people in the street paused too look up.

Her mouth fell open and her heart sank as her eyes honed in on the single person in the crowd who wasn't worked up into a panic. As she did, the chaos around her began to fade into the background.

His steely gaze sliced into her and pain flared up in her back, but she couldn't tear herself away from his invisible clutch.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see fire trucks rolling up to the building blasting warning sounds and desperate pleas.

So close, but yet, so far.

She finally managed to tear her gaze away, close her eyes, and lean her head back.

It was time.

She couldn't play this game any longer.

It was time to get down and be done.

This charade had to end.

Before she knew what was happening, there was a resounding bang and all she could feel was the force of gravity pulling her down.