Better Than Losing You

Chapter 5

Gray grabbed the crown of the watch and spun it backwards. Even though he didn't look up, he noticed the lighting of the room change drastically as time speedily turned backwards. Before he knew it, it was completely dark, the moon and stars shining down on his dark room.

I've reached 5:00 this morning, he thought. He didn't stop winding until the sun was back up. Now it's 7:00 of yesterday – Sunday – evening. He hurried past this time, as that had been around when he'd entered the bar and met the strange man. The accident took place on Saturday at 4:00 in the afternoon. Just a little longer and I'll be there.

He burned through Sunday in what felt like a matter of seconds, then moved on to Saturday. As he came upon 4:00, his hands started to tremble. Just a little further, he thought, thinking that 3:00 would give him enough time stall Claire and prevent the accident.

However, he soon found that such a thing wouldn't be possible. As he reached 3:45, the crown suddenly froze and refused to turn any further.

"No," Gray said aloud, his heart hiccuping. "No, no! Why won't it go any earlier?" He fumbled with the crown, desperately trying to turn it. No matter how hard he tried, it refused to move past 3:45.

"This is a disaster," he breathed, trying not to panic. "There's no way I can save her in this amount of time!"

Claire had been hit in an intersection right in front of the supermarket. There was no problem except for the fact that the market was, on a good day, the upwards of fifteen minutes away from Gray's house. It would be nearly impossible to get there with enough time to still stop Claire from getting into her car and driving away.

Maybe I could call her! Realized Gray, a spur of hope shooting through him. After starting time again, he grabbed up his phone and instantly pulled up Claire's contact number. Calling it, his leg shook with anticipation. He waited and waited, the suspense killing him.

"Your call has been forwarded to voicemail," came an automated voice from the other end. "Please leave a message after the tone."

"Why doesn't she pick up?" muttered Gray, pulling his hair in distress. He tried to call again, but the same thing occurred.

It's no use, he realized. It's either going to be stopping her head on or nothing.

Deciding there was no sense wasting time, Gray jumped into his car and sped to the supermarket. Unfortunately, traffic was much worse than normal, and it was already almost 4:00 by the time he arrived. He stumbled out of the car and searched around wildly for Claire, hoping that he could at least yell something to her. He tried to call again, but she didn't pick up.

Where the heck is she? He thought, beginning to panic. He whipped his head wildly from side to side, trying to at least locate her car. He glanced at the watch. It was already 3:59.

Then, he found her. She was in her car, heading out onto the main road. Gray's heart leapt in a mixture of joy and horror as he saw her face, so lovely and yet so clueless of the danger at hand.

"Claire!" he yelled, running as fast as he could through the parking lot. "Claire, wait!"

She entered the road, and Gray's hope began to fade. Then, 4:00 hit. Out of nowhere, a great semi-truck came careening into the intersection, blowing a red light and slamming straight into Claire's car.

"NO!" screamed Gray, frozen in place. He watched, tears streaming down his face, as the small car flipped and skidded until it was all but destroyed.

"No," he sobbed again, falling onto his knees and staring unblinkingly at the wreck. I was too late.

As he continued to stare, his grief was slowly saturated by determination. Seeing the accident with his own eyes was so much more terrible than simply hearing about it from someone else. The impact was so much worse. It made him even more desperate to fix things.