A Twist In Time

A Glimpse of the Future

Sometimes I got confused between my dreams and visions.

Since seeing the horrors of the war, I couldn't figure out if I was reliving the nightmare of the war or seeing what was to come.

It was for that reason I was struggling to understand if it was a nightmare of my past or a nightmare of my future I had seen.

Tommy was there, so I only assumed that it was of the future. It was also a future I didn't want.

Seeing him get shot, and from the angle I saw, I was afraid that it would be his death. I knew it was going to occur within the year, Thomas-J was still so small, so it had to be within the new year.

"You alright, love?" Harry asked, resting his hand on my arm as I stared into the glass of whiskey he set down in front of me. I was thankful for the barstool Harry had gestured to when I came in a few minutes ago.

"You ever thought about the future, Uncle Harry?" I wondered, twisting the glass in my fingers as I thought about what this meant. Was Tommy going to die? Was I going to be left alone as a widow with a child?

"After the war, no." Harry gave a shrug and shook his head. "I was only gone for a year and that was enough to see what they all had to go through."

I wonder if he'd say that even when he found out there'd be a second war.

"I fear that the war's not left us, Uncle Harry," I muttered downing the drink and closing my eyes.

"You seen something, sweetheart?"

"No, Uncle Harry, just worried about the things to come," I said not wanting to admit that I'd seen the death of my husband.

"Alright, well, I'll be here if you need me." I gave him a nod, thanking him as he poured me another drink.

I didn't intend to drink that one, but the thoughtfulness of Harry was pleasant. Even when the pub was crowded he gave me his undivided attention. That showed me how much he cared about family.

It made me grateful for my family. Not the one I left behind in the future, my parents, my brothers and Dora, my nieces and nephews. Uncle Al (he was definitely my favourite uncle no matter what Louis said) or any of the others, but the family I had here, in Small Heath.

Tommy, Thomas-J, Polly, Ada, Finn, John and his kids, Arthur, Uncle Harry. Newt and Phineus, and of course, Alfie, no matter how much he wished he wasn't.

They all welcomed me into this world, into their hearts and I couldn't be more grateful for it.

What would have happened if Harry rejected Merry and me that night we turned up here?

I didn't even want to think about that.

"Alright, love?"

I turned to the man as he stood next to me, his eyes glazed over with one too many drinks. He was leaning heavily on the bar, his legs barely holding him up.

"I'm not interested," I told him, dropping my eyes back down to the whiskey glass.

"Don't be like that, love, we could have a good time." He wasn't slurring his words so it made me think that perhaps he wasn't as drunk as he wanted me to believe. I shook my head and scoffed in disgust. "How 'bout we leave?"

"How about no?" I said, turning my back to him and hoping to catch the eye of someone I knew.

"Look, I'm the best you're gonna get."

"Huh?" Did he know who I was? Did he think I was a whore?

"No man's even looked at you tonight, no one's gonna pay you," he said, downing his drink and standing straight. He definitely wasn't as drunk as I thought he was.