Lost Time (#Wattys2016)

Ominous Path

It was the 2nd of January of 2108 , It was just New Year and Keith asked me if I'm going to be fine if he'll move away from the apartment both of us are living in

"But why?" I ask him

"It's um... A Colleague asking me if I can help him with a Project but It's going to be far away and It would be hard to go back and forth from city to city if I'm not going to leave" He replied nervously

I've never seen him like this, well, not recently , The last time I saw him like this was when we were at the Mall , Eleven Years ago.

"Is that so , then sure go ahead and when will you leave? I'll help you pack" I said

"No , I'm fine , But I'm leaving tomorrow..." He said

then the day went on, he was weird throughout the day, I barely saw him that day, I hear him always talking to someone and he locked himself in his room which is unusual and I always hear some "Exy" or whatever words whenever he's talking on the phone 

Then It was time to go to work, on the way to work, He was dead silent, which is again, Unusual for him, He usually talks about something or tells me story when I drive to work, when we got there, he immediately tells our boss that he is resigning and he left the place as soon as possible, I wanted to follow him but I still had to finish my shift

At work , I pondered what Keith could be doing or hiding, usually after work, I go to our local coffee shop and grab a coffee but at the moment all I want to go to is home and I want to see what Keith is doing, I'm almost home, It was already night but there were no lights in our part in the apartment

I parked my car and I ran as fast as possible to our Room, I opened the door but there was no one inside, I checked the house thoroughly, His room is unlocked and he wasn't there, I saw lots of crumpled paper and writings about Time and science stuff that I don't understand

I tried to call him afterwards, but he won't pick up his phone, It was already Midnight and he still isn't home, I was just about to call the police but I thought It would be pointless, I decided to just sleep it off, He has his own keys and he'll probably come home sometime since his stuff are still there

In the morning I woke up and he is finally home and he is packing up his boxes

"Where did you go last night?!" I asked him

"I went to um... a Store! I just bought some stuff that I'd need before I go" He replied

"Then why weren't you answering my calls and why were you late?!" I said

"My phone died and the Bus took so long to pick me up" He said nervously as if he's running out of alibis 

"Well , I was worried about you, You know how the only people we can hold on is each other since we both lost our parents when we were kids" I said

He smiled and said "Well , You don't have to worry about me, You're 3 Years younger than me and If you can handle yourself then don't you worry, I can handle myself, Just trust me okay? Just like how I trust leaving you here"

We hugged, I helped him bring his stuff to his friend's car and then I bid him farewell.     

The following day, I called Keith, He said he had arrived at his destination and he is doing well , I also called the day after that and his friend picked it up and saying he is still asleep , then days after that, he never picks my calls up anymore, neither replying to my texts , as if he has completely forgotten about me. A year later , I called him and he finally answered

"WHAT THE HELL KEITH! Why weren't you Answering my calls?!" I said

"We we're doing this project and we're not allowed to have distractions and we have to focus to that" He said

"It's been a year , I've spend the whole year and you won't even answer my calls, you know you're the only one I have , because of everything that happened 12 years ago..." I said

"I'm sorry about that, but I've been very busy and perhaps this may also be the last time you can call me this year, because we're going back to our project" He said

"Well, I guess that's better than not telling me why you're not answering" I said

"Anyways thank you for understanding, take care of yourself okay? Good Bye" He said

Then he hangs up before I can say anything, much like that fateful day 12 years ago. Now that I thought of that event 12 years ago, Why was I unscathed while everyone was almost burned to their bones except for some other people like Keith but still suffered injury

I looked for my old bag, It was in a box under my bed, I look at the broken Wrist Projector and I thought, If I didn't wanted to buy this at that day, Dad would still be alive. I looked at the broken camera and on further inspection, It actually still works! It just has a broken body and then the last thing on my bag, The Photo , the first photo I took and the last of my dad. It still hurts inside, My Dad was gone and now Keith is away , I feel like I have no family left , although I have friends, It still can't fill the hole deep inside

I continued my routine , "Sleep Eat Work" , Although sometimes my co-workers invite me to parties and sometimes we go to the mall, I also occasionally call Keith but as he said, no one picks it up, my life was pretty average and mediocre and then sometimes I take online classes, this time I took some classes on electronics and their history

Then one day, around December of 2109, I was at my local coffee shop and then I saw Keith on Television with his team, They were being interviewed about the projects that they were doing, they said they were doing something revolutionary and it would completely change the world, They also said they were just from an expedition on the recent Meteor Crash Site and found remarkable findings

So I went home and that night Keith called

"Hey Keith! How are doing?" I said

"I'm great , have you seen the news?" He asked

"Yeah, I suppose since you've called me, you're done with your Project?" I said

"Sadly no, but we were allowed to take a break today that's why I called" He said

"So why did you call?" I asked

"I just wanted to ask how you're doing , also since Christmas is coming up soon" He said

"I'm fine and since you're talking about Christmas? Are you giving me a gift?" I asked and laughed

"I'm sorry I can't bro , I just wanted to know that you're not alone and that you won't feel lonely this Christmas" He said

"I'm fine, Some of my co-workers will probably invite me to their Christmas parties" I said

"That's good then , Anyways, that's all the time I have, Advanced Merry Christmas and stay safe!" He said

"Sure , You be safe too, Good bye!" I said then I hang up

After that months pass again and It's been 2 Years that Keith's been away, I no longer feel that lonely.   In May , My birthday came up and Keith called saying that they're moving back here, but he won't be living with me and they'll stay at their offices and he told me that they also bought a site for their project. After that , We occasionally meet then

After a month , they completed their project and Keith told me that they are preparing for trials