Time Travelling

Chapter 6 -

Focusing on a moving ball was harder than I thought it would be. It sounds pretty easy but this ball flies through the room as you wouldn't expect. All of a sudden it can go quite slow though the next second it goes extremely fast.

"Ben, I'm getting dizzy." I said, still trying to follow the ball with my eyes.

"Okay, we'll stop for a bit." Instantly, the ball dropped to the ground and I sighed.

Ben came to sit next to me on the couch in their small living room. "I hate this." I confessed.

"I know you do," Ben chuckled, "everyone does."

"You know, Angelica told me basic stuff but... Can't you tell me more?" I blurted out. "Please?" Ben shook his head. "Then tell me how you and Angelica became Time Travellers?"

"Well, I can tell you that..." Ben took a deep breath before starting his story. "A long time ago, my mother got very ill. It looked like she was going to die any second, that's how bad. I was helping her to drink some tea before she said "I don't want to die yet." Just like that, we both spinned through some kind of tunnel. As in the cartoon movies, a tunnel with many colours and it kept spinning and spinning... We couldn't see where we were going; we just panicked and tried to hold each other. Eventually, we arrived in the Time Travelling Mangement Zone."

Ben stopped for a few seconds so I asked, "What is that? The Time Travelling Mangement Zone?"

"The TTM is sat in its own time zone. The Mangement consists of people who rule the Time Travelling world. They made us Travel Teachers." He explained.

"It all sounds so easy." I thought out loud.

"But it isn't. There are a lot of rules, Vanessa. You've got to be careful with everything you do now." His eyes showed concern. His entire face let me understand that he meant it, that this is for real.

"How long am I going to have to train before I can switch time zone?" I asked after a minute of silence.

"I honestly don't know. We've never trained a Homeless before. It can be a couple of days but it can be months or even years. You just have to work hard enough, I think..." Ben answered, not sure of his words.

"Let's get to work then."

A week passed and I was getting good at focusing on a moving object. As I was following the flying ball with my eyes again, Ben suddenly announced: "We're going to start with the next part of your training, Vanessa."

"What's the next part?" I asked, my eyes still glued to the ball.

"We're going to talk about your past," - I stopped following the ball as I heard that. - "we're going to refresh your memories and that will lead us to the point where you can arrange your thoughts so well so you can tell yourself to stop thinking about something." My mouth fell open as I stared at Ben. "Isn't that awesome?"

"Why does my past have to get involved?" I felt my expression changing to more of a sad than a shocked one.

"Isn't that logical? You can't use someone else's past. You're a Time Traveller, not a mind reader."

"Do they exist?" I asked shocked.

"How would I know?" Ben shrugged. "So, you're ready to talk about your past?"

I swallowed hard. "S-Sure." I said before clearing my throat.

---

"So - uh - that's - that's it." I sobbed.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Vanessa." I shrugged. No one could do something about it, I thought. "Are you ready to tell some more memories? It may be something unimportant, it doesn't matter what."

I nodded before thinking of a memory and starting to speak slowly. "My mother once told me to never pick up something on the ground because it's really dirty. She said you could get ill from some things. A few days after she picked up some money. I immediately shouted "drop it!". She couldn't just pick up something after she told me not to. Then she tried to make me understand it's just money. Eventually, I didn't understand and she dropped the money because I got mad."

Ben was smiling as I looked at him. "Tell me another one."

I sighed but smiled as I started telling him a memory about Rick. "Rick was a friend of my friend and that's how we met. The first day was in the local park. See, my friend, Ellie, had a huge crush on Rick and she didn't have the courage to meet him alone. I went along and when Ellie had to leave, I stayed because I was having a great conversation with Rick. I remember how he asked me out when I eventually had to leave as well. I remember his big smile when I said yes. I remember how nice he has been to me since the moment I met him."

I started sobbing again. "Take a deep breath." Ben said. "And tell me a next memory."

The few hours I talked, went extremely fast. I felt as I was reliving my past but in a good way. Even the bad memories came up and I got through them. Yes, I cried a lot but Ben was there, listening, comforting.

"Vanessa?" He said before I started another story. I could keep going all night long! "I want you to close your eyes. Think of all the memories you've told me today, but also of the ones you haven't. Try to make sense of everything. Try to sort it all out."

I took a deep breath as I closed my eyes. I saw myself telling Ben stories about my life, I saw myself crying and sobbing throughout. It felt like hours had passed when I opened my eyes again.

"You're ready?" Ben asked surprised. "Have you sort out your thoughts?"

"Yeah, I think so." I answered.

"Wow, I think you set a record, Vanessa. Your eyes were closed for not even two minutes." Ben smiled at me before getting to the serious stuff again. "Now, think of... exactlly two hours ago. What were you doing then?"

"Uh... Talking to you?" I shrugged.

"C'mon, Vanessa, you know details. Try to remember. Close your eyes again."

As I did, the memory of talking about a certain moment in my life flashed in front of me. "Right. I was telling about the water balloon fight in the summer my dad left me and my mother." I said to Ben as I opened my eyes again.

"See? You know."

Another hour passed, filled with Ben's questions. He even asked me what happened on May 13. I hadn't told him but I knew what he meant. May 13 is my parents' wedding day. Ben made me know things that I normally wouldn't remember.

"I think you're ready for the real practice. Mum!" Ben yelled at Angelica.

"What is it, dear?" She stormed out of the kitchen, assuming something bad happened.

"Vanessa's ready."

"Already?" Shock and surprise overwhelmed her.

"Yes, she's great." Ben smiled.

"Ben," I asked quickly. "may I ask what 'the real practice' is?"

"Time Travelling."

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Here you go, I hope you enjoyed it. Leave your opinion below if you feel like doing so. Thanks for reading, I love you for that! See you next time!

:)