Through Her Lives

The time

France, 1945

- to check the time although it was difficult. A huge crack that went across the glass of the face of his watch obscured the watch-face, he read the time, squinting to see past the grime and crack. It was quietly ticking away but in the square it seemed oddly loud and out of place against the faint sound of traffic, birds calling and the swishing of trees, swaying in the breeze. The huge clock tower opposite him seemed to be showing the wrong time, there were a few minutes left to go.

Standing up and wiping the leaves off his pants, the headlight of a car caught his face. His features were chiselled out so much that he nearly surpassed handsome. He had black hair and deep green eyes.

Eyes that seemed to have seen too much, trying to cover underlying pain and grief. He was dressed in his formal army uniform, everything polished to perfection. It felt ridged on his body, making him stand tall. That night was a clear one, the stars were hard to find and the new moon was so bright lit up the town.

There was a soft calm breeze blowing through the many corridors of cobbled winding streets as if running away from an invisible force. He staggered slightly, trying to get his bearings, feeling the tight pulling from the wound on his neck. He reached up to touch it before looking around. Knowing what was to come, that it was an important night he took in a deep breath, running his thumb over the rusting old metal on the side of his watch.

There had been a time where this time, this day, this year would have scared him into hiding. But no longer was he afraid. He walked slowly to the side of the road, staring intently at his watch. A motorbike went past quickly, breaking his concentration and he looked up at the clock tower still showing the wrong time. It annoyed him. Time was so important yet the clock by which the town is run was wrong. Lost in his own thoughts he absent-mindedly watched the clock as it ticked over to his final five seconds until it dawned on him that he may have escaped it. He stared at the clock, willing it to end that final second. He stared with so much intensity that the world around him lost all importance. He couldn't hear the traffic at all which could be partly why, he never even saw the lorry.