She Writes

When She Searched Through Time

    Elian wasn't like the others. Maybe she had the same dark hair and grey eyes as everyone else, but there was still something different about her. She knew that, her family knew that, even the strangers she walked by on the street could tell she was an odd one. So she left. She packed up a bag and set off to find somewhere she could belong. After months of searching, she realized her only other option was to find a place in a different time. As a girl she had been warned about the dangers of time travel: the scars and the fact that any action can have a huge impact on the times ahead. That didn't stop Elian from searching.

    She stopped at many places, but none of them felt right to her. She'd gone to Germany in 1939, only to be questioned about her religion and almost taken away to some horrible war camp. The one thing Elian had succeeded in doing during that experience was obtaining a small Nazi flag. She also collected a section of the Berlin wall after deciding to leave due to the awful deaths she witnessed there in early 1989.

    Elian carried these objects and more in the bag she had brought from her original home, which was now just a mere memory to her. The only other thing Elian carried with her to keep those memories in her head was a small, rusted clock. It had many dents and chips from being jostled around in Elian's bag, yet it continued to tick. It was no help to her because all sense of time was lost to her, but she kept it because it was apart of her.

    After going to so many different areas of time without finding her place, Elian was beginning to lose hope. Her next stop was to Tennessee, 1968. She's read books about that time in America, but never knew in detail what had happened. The only thing Elian knew was that there were people labeled different, and that's what she was looking for: someone treated differently.

    She arrived on an empty street, a new scar visible on her arm from the era she had just left, and immediately set off to find a place to rest and eat. A shabby homeless shelter nearby caught her attention so she headed over and tried to blend in. She didn't want to start her search until the sun had gone; it would be easier to learn how to navigate around the town with no one else around. As she sat down at a table in the corner of the large room, she noticed a man speaking to what seemed to be a large crowd on a TV nearby.

    "If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been in Memphis to see a community rally around those brothers and sisters who are suffering. I'm so happy I didn't sneeze."

    Elian had no idea why this man was talking about sneezing, but she continued listening and liked what he had to say. He seemed to have the same desires as her: wanting to be accepted. She started to want to meet this man, and share her experiences with him, but it couldn't be. How would she find a way to meet him? Her question was answered by an announcer on the television that mentioned where the man - Martin King - would be staying.

    Time went on and soon the TV transitioned to other news, the shelter was preparing beds, and evening had finally commenced. Elian slipped out the door of the make-shift home, going unnoticed by the small crowd in the room. As she walked down the street observing everything around her, she became aware of a commotion down the road. A flash of white sped past her and sounds of distress could be heard from people nearby. Not wanting to intrude on the situation, Elian darted across the dim street. She crouched behind some trash bins carelessly left outside a dingy restaurant with the sign "Negroes Allowed" pinned up in the window. From her hidden spot, Elian could see a small group of people, including policemen and an ambulance, gathered outside a building.

    As Elian was mentally setting a reminder to go back to that spot later to scavenge for an object to add to her bag, she noticed a person running away from the building which she could now identify as the Lorraine Motel. She knew she should stay where she was to avoid causing more problems, but her curiosity got the best of her as she followed the person, dragging her bag along with her. As she moved along silently, she saw the ambulance workers wheel out a bleeding man in a gurney. A shudder ran through her body as she froze, realizing that this was the Reverend King, the man giving the speech from earlier.

    He obviously didn't belong. Those people in Germany got taken because they were different and the people in Berlin that tried getting over that wall were killed. Is this the ultimate fate of everyone that can't find their place?

    Elian was horrified. There was no way she could end up like that. She needed to be someone, to belong to something. If she failed, what would be the point of all her troubles?

    I can be him. I can take the place of Mr. King. I can do what he has done and work to reach the goals he died to achieve.

    Once the ambulance sped off with the bleeding man inside, Elian snapped out of her trance and realized the mysterious figure she had been following was gone. Her feet started moving before her brain could process what she was doing. She didn't quite know why she was running, but for some reason she felt like the strange figure could help her. I can be him. I can be him. Her brain chanted this in her mind to the rhythm of a ticking clock. All of a sudden, Elian's body came in contact with the stranger. Apologies tumbled out of her mouth, but were literally shoved aside as the man pushed her out of the way and continued to run. The last thing Elian saw were blaring headlights. Then, there was nothing.

    The next day, as police continued the investigation of the death of Martin Luther King Jr, a young woman's body was found crushed in the street along with an old, torn up bag. The body couldn't be identified and was buried under a cluster of trees next to the street where she was found. The bag was searched through, but found to be no help, for it contained queer objects including a broken clock that would not start again, despite the battery being changed.

It was the end of this life for Elian. She had finally -after searching for so long - found a time where she could belong to something, but her time ran out.

    She now belonged to death.