Through the Depths of Time

Lightning struck. The taste of dirt and gravel filled my mouth as I choked in a waking shock. Getting to my knees I could feel the cold, wet surface beneath me. My vision was dizzying. Where was I? I could see no sky above me. Only darkness. As I moved my hands around I touched a wall. Using it to balance, I slowly stood up as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. This must be a dream. With my back against the wall, all I could see was a pathway that stretched as far as the eye could see. Rock walls about ten feet tall, stood intimidatingly all around. What is this?

 

Another lightning struck and the rain began to fall. I sensed I was not alone, but there was no one else in this dead end. Calling for help, the only response I got was the echo of my own voice. I started to walk forward, thinking of everything I knew was certain.

 

My name is Toby Hollice. I am nineteen years old. I was born in Toronto, Ontario. I am an only child. My mother died in a car accident when I was seven, so I was only left with my distant father, Dan. I have dark brown messy hair and bright blue eyes. I have had a girlfriend of two and half years named Holly. I am in my second year of University, studying creative writing. My last known memory was a dinner date with Holly at the Italian Bistro on Forreck Street. It was a bright sunny day, so we had decided to eat on one of their outside tables. We had gotten in an argument over my choice to join the military. Her father had died fighting for our country and she did not want to have to accept the same fate of another loved one. Holly had collected her things and ran across the street when a car hit her. 

 

That was my last known memory. As it all hit me, I fell for the floor during my sprint down the never-ending hallway. Tears joined the raindrops as they hit the cold cement. That should’ve been me. What a twisted fate it was that she feared I would die like her father when in fact she had died in a car accident like my mother. She did not deserve to die. If I hadn’t brought up the military topic she would still be in my arms. But life is never fair. It takes those when they are not ready to go. Our loved ones do not deserve to go. Life is like a flower. It grows and is perceived beautifully yet it can be taken with the snip of some clippers. Sometimes the lucky flowers, the ones in the wild, live a whole year and die peacefully, but others are grown just to be cut down and put in a vase for someone else’s pleasure. Life is not fair, but not everything can be. 

 

Thunder boomed loudly as I got to my feet and ran. The further I went the longer it seemed. Was there no end to this? I could hear my heart beating faster every step I took until finally I came to a fork in the path. The right path was foggy while the left was just as long as the path I had come on. I pondered the thought of taking the path of the unknown, but the left one felt safer. I wanted safety. This was a nightmare I wanted to wake up from, not die in. In a quick decision sprinted off down the left path.

 

When Holly was hit all I could remember was falling to my knees and screaming. The driver of the car had lost control of the wheel after hitting her and crashed into a store wall on the opposite side of the street. A buzzing filled my ears as I saw people run for the car and Holly. Our waitress had run back inside to dial the police. The buzzing grew louder and I could no longer hear my own screams, only seeing the visual of Holly on the ground. Her long wavy blond hair dyed with red blood stains circled her head as she stared up to the sky with her chocolate brown eyes. I remembered crawling over to her laying my head down on her chest. I held my eyes shut wanting to take back everything. 

 

Then I woke up clutching the ground of this dark and dream-like labyrinth. It must have been a dream. Holly was probably snuggled up in her bed with her stuffed bear, Riley. Yes. This had all been some crazy dream. I reached another fork and the same options were given to me. Right had the fog, left was another long path. I took a few steps to the right, but instinct came in and I spun around making another dash for hopefully better results.  I must have been in this dark labyrinth for hours now yet the sky had yet to change. Thunder boomed, lightning struck, raindrops fell. 

 

As I ran for whatever was at the end of that hall I suddenly heard the voice of Holly. She was repeating something she had told me during that dinner date in the Bistro. “Life is full of unexpected things, Toby… But that doesn’t mean you can just make these decisions on your own!” she had said. Unexpected things. Life. The voice sent chills down my spine. I ran for what was hopefully the end of this terrible nightmare. The rain felt cold as ice as it hit my skin. Why was this place tormenting me? 

 

I reached the end of the hall and unsurprisingly I was back where I began. This was a non-stop pattern. It did not seem to be getting any better by the looks of things. Was I supposed to take the foggy path? What lied beyond? The mysterious hallway was not inviting. The fog made vision almost impossible. Taking a few steps in, I turned to double-check the other hall but the fog was already clouded around me. I reached out in front of me and searched for the unknown. 

 

I could hear the sounds of pipes whistling and could smell sewage. Then I saw it. The alleyway was long and dark, but I could see the bright street at the end. Several people walked by the alleyway and I yelled for help. Why could they not hear me? I ran for the street and emerged out onto a busy intersection. I recognized it immediately. On the far corner I could see the bistro. As my eyes adjusted to the bright sun I searched for clues. Why had my dream taken me here? So many questions I had. So many that wouldn’t be answered. Across the way I could see me and Holly bickering over what I already knew. Something seemed different though. As I saw holly get up and grab her things I wanted to run for her and stop her from crossing the road. But I couldn’t. An unknown impulse told me to stay. 

 

The events that I had already witnessed before played out exactly the same. Holly, crying, darted across the road for her car when another had just sped through the intersection. I closed my eyes at the hit and heard the car swerve as it crashed into the store I was standing beside. The clothing store alarms had been set off. As I opened my eyes, I could see myself fall to the ground and crawl over to Holly’s lifeless body. Then I looked at the driver of the car who had smashed her head into the windshield. My mother stared at me with dead eyes. This didn’t make sense. I saw a gaping hole through the windshield on the passenger’s side as well. People were running at me, hands over their mouths screaming. They got down to my feet and then I saw him. My seven year-old self had been found dead on the sidewalk by the alleyway. The same position I had woken up in the labyrinth. The same position I had comforted Holly. 

 

I can remember the day clearly now. My mother was rushing to get me to my swimming lessons at the nearby pool. She had told me to grab my swimsuit and change on the way there. After getting into my swim trunks I had forgotten to buckle back up. As she sped down the road, my mother reached over into the glove compartment to grab her pack of cigarettes. The light was green. The beautiful blond woman was not supposed to be on the road. I screamed and my mother tried to slam on the breaks but we had been too close. Life is not fair to a lot of people. At random it takes people when they are not ready to go. I was just a child. I had a whole life ahead of me. I didn’t want to accept my fate and continued on a life wherein I had survived the accident, grew up with my father, and met Holly. But life would not be fair. I learned that the hard way and I came to accept the fate when I stepped into the unknown. As I turned away from the scene at the intersection, my mother and the lady with blond hair greeted me in the alleyway. They each held a bouquet of flowers, and though they had been cut unwillingly, they were still beautiful as ever. I took their hands, and we headed into the alleyway, disappearing through the fog. 

 

By: Mitchell Finlay