The Picture Perfect Day At the Park

96 4 0
                                    

November 2021

A few weeks after Carmilla had returned to find Laura could time travel in April 2020, LaFontaine had found a way to begin altering Carmilla's treatment so maybe she could also target where and when she travels to.

True to form, Carmilla tuned them out when they explained how, but it had something to do with alleles.

In the past year and a half, Carmilla had continued to struggle with this. LaF surmised that it might be that the time traveling is like a "muscle"-- Carmilla had been using hers for so long that suddenly trying to get her condition to do something new would take more time than Laura, who had figured out how to control her time traveling from the start.

Laura's travels were pretty periodic - once a month or so, and she was usually able to be back before Carmilla even noticed she was gone.

Her eyes would light up as she talked of her travels-- most of them were to go back and see Carmilla's childhood somehow, but she never dared to interact with her. And a few had been to go back and observe her own mother. Those stories were Carmilla's favorites.

The time they did have in their present time was usually spent working, or out and about, enjoying the freedom of living in the moment, or spending time with Sherman. They traveled around the world on one-way plane tickets and daydreamed about how one day, Carmilla's condition would be under control enough that they could start their family.

Carmilla's traveling became less and less frequent again with the treatments, but when she did travel, Laura found herself getting better and better at finding Carmilla.

~*~

May 1997

"Whoa," Laura says as she gets her bearings.

"This attic is starting to become a motel for time travelers," Carmilla comments from beside her.

Laura looks around the attic and her eyes widen as she takes it all in. "This is before my mom died," she comments, noting that none of her mom's clothes are up here.

Carmilla nods gravely, having already wandered around the house while waiting for Laura to appear. "May 1997."

"Wait! Oh my god! We have to get dressed and get to the park!" Laura squeals excitedly, grabbing the clothes Carmilla must've gotten from Laura's mother's room while waiting for her.

She makes a detour on their way downstairs to get more clothes.

"What is that for?" Carmilla asks.

"Come on!" Laura says insistently, tugging Carmilla out the front door while ignoring her question. "To the park!"

"Calm down, cupcake," Carmilla grumbles, almost losing her footing as she's dragged down the street by Laura. "What is the goddamn hurry?"

Laura does slow down, mostly because they're getting looks. "You'll seeee," she replies excitedly, bouncing into the park.

She stops short and tugs Carmilla back when they see Past Carmilla appear behind the shrubbery. It takes her a moment before Past Carmilla realizes where she is, and frantically looks around for some clothes.

"Damn, do I always look so confused?" Carmilla whispers as they duck behind a tree.

Laura giggles and nods. "It's endearing."

"Nuh uh," Carmilla grumbles.

It doesn't take long for a small girl to come strolling down the path, angrily grumbling to herself.

Past Carmilla calls out to Past Little Laura, startling the girl. Past Carmilla takes a step towards her and Past Little Laura starts to yell until Past Carmilla lunges forward and clamps her hand over her mouth and muffes her scream.

The Time Traveler's Wife - The Other SideWhere stories live. Discover now