Once Before

5 - 1812

"Don't be silly, it can't be! Not bloody possible!" I scolded myself for what must've been the 50th time today as the incredibly silly idea creeped itself into my mind. Though foolish as it may have sounded, I couldn't help but think if it really was possible - that I had time travelled. 

Even the word made me want to register myself into the nearest mental institution. Not that the ones in the past were going to be helpful, from what I gather through films. 

"What do you think Otto?" I asked as we made our way up towards the cliff, overlooking the coastline where Amelia and I were at not long ago, or maybe not far from now? 

"Do you think it's possible that we've travelled back in time?" I asked him again, "The real question is why are you even here with me?"

Thinking about travelling back in time was one thing, saying it out loud was another. 

After the bone-chilling, breath taking, bigger-than-life and certainly too-much-to-wrap-my-head-around realization that I might have travelled back in time a few hours ago, I excused myself rather abruptly from the lady who lived in my house and made my way around town.

Ashford is by no means a big town, which didn't surprise me at all, but what did surprise me was how little things have changed over the past hundred years. Everything, from the layout, to the streets, the shop fronts where everyone buys their clothes and food from, and even down to the number of steps on the cobblestone stairs, were all the same. 

Had it not been for the people who were dressed differently, the newer buildings which weren't there, or even the number of horses as opposed to none from where I came from, I would've successfully fooled myself into thinking that I hadn't left at all. 

I tried tracing back my steps in an attempt to remember what had happened right before I woke up here, but all I could recall as I closed my eyes were darkness, with the occasional flashes of bright light, and the feeling of being pulled away while, at the same time, being enveloped by a freezing force. 

Perhaps the lightning from the storm was responsible for sending me back in time? Or did I hit my head against a rock yet again as I was drowning, thus resulting in a strong, realistic hallucination? Or even a life-threatening coma, a case of being in between two worlds? 

And if this was all simply a dream, it meant that I could do whatever I want without facing any consequences. 

I could rob a bank or sneak into a castle, set a tree on fire or steal a horse, and it would not mean a thing. So why is it that the only thing that comes into mind was jumping off the cliff that now stood and dipped right in front of me?

Looking down the cliff below, the violent waves crashing against the coastal rocks - neither of which were no match for one another other, hypnotized my senses. As my mind drew blanks, I found myself swaying to the breeze, wondering what it would be like to be down there, to feel the wind rushing through my hair and dress, before coming into contact with those forces of nature. 

It was also then when my mind replayed several memories which have been seared into my soul, leaving me vulnerable and helpless - images of angry dark blurs, the feeling of complete desperation as I tried to break free from the force that was holding me captive, my lungs on fire and my arms and legs growing weary of its unrewarded efforts, all as I slowly sank deep into the ocean, accepting my fate of premature death by drowning. 

My breath hitched and I jumped back towards the safety of dry land, far from the edge of the cliff  which I had been contemplating to jump off from not a minute ago. My heart was racing just as it had when I was drowning all those years ago.