CHEAT YOUR FUTURE

I

A wind blows over his face as he stood there, in front of a senile old lady, with crooked teeth, her left eye missing, holding out an apple on one hand and a golden bell on the other.

With a sinister grin, she started singing once more.

'Pitter Patter, Pitter Patter'

'Tick ... Tock... Tick... Tock...'

I looked up and I immediately shifted to the wristwatch on my hand as she repeated her words, eluding me to the illusion she had created. Once again, a strong flash of wind blew over his head, sending a weird, peculiar chill to his skin.

'If given something. Can it change everything?

Are you sure you're able, even in parables, cheat your future?'

She repeated, glancing over the granite tombstone beside me before grinning wildly, turning to me. She cocked her head as if she was asking me a question, waiting for a definitive question.

I... I do not understand.

He thought, memories slowly flooding his head, prompting it to hurt. He grabbed his head, softly massaging his temple as he cried in pain to the point of kneeling before the old lady, who was weirdly now in front of him.

He saw his ragged gray robe and disgusting toenails on his sight before he heard a bell ring. Once... Twice... Thrice.

Then as he slowly raised his head, a flash of light appeared before his eyes causing his head to ring a very peculiar sound, with the bells echoing in his ears.

He passed out.

(Bright's POV)

Tingle Tang. Tingle Tang.

The soft chimes of church bells echoed out my ears as I slowly opened my eyes; I stood confused upon realizing the fact that there was no church nearby except the one twenty miles away. I cleared my throat, together with the thought banishing it from my head as I step out of the mausoleum.

The moment I came to from the ominous church rings, the old woman was nowhere, and strangely it was suddenly sunny when it was clearly reported that it will rain – and it was even really cloudy like two minutes ago. I stood there in confusion, trying to find a reasonable explanation to my dismay. But nevermind. A heave made its way out of my pouted lips; I brushed my nape, softly patting the dust from the time I was lying on the ancient ground on Win's mausoleum.

The lush green leaves of the once dead tree immediately caught my attention the moment I stepped out; I frowned. When did it have leaves? I asked myself, cocking my head back subtly stroking my eyes to the green grasses all over. Then a realization came into my head.

I immediately took my watch out and gasped, heaving out a sigh of relief: 9:21 AM, May 29. I kept my hands and smiled, easing up the tension that was building up in my chest with just a few digits; the time was still same.

I took a step forward; passing by a line of clean, sparkly panteons as I walk. I dismissed my dumbfoundment, trying to think logically, creating random reasons in my head. Then a strong wind blew over my whole body; so strong that it chilled my whole being in an instant and when it left, I stood there in the peak of my confusion. No. The weather report was clear. I took a big gulp, pulling out my phone from my pockets. And those panteons should be shabby, moldy ... there's no way it would be sparkly clean in just a matter of two minutes.