Dating Father Time's Daughter (Book 1)

Chapter 14: Too Little and Too Late

On this cool spring night, the moon served as Joe's only companion. He returned to the scene of his humiliation. As he glanced down, he saw that the ground was still moist from his tears. When he looked up, he saw that the large green hill had a streak of dirt, which outlined the route Inertia took before slamming her bike into Summer. The still water functioned as a mirror reflecting the night sky above.

Draped in a large white t-shirt and shorts, Joe closed his eyes and focused. If he was going to help Pixie, he needed to master his abilities. Joe took short breaths and cleared his mind from all distracting thoughts. He wanted to become one with nature. Entropy was all about controlling the molecules that composed every element on earth. If he was going to create chaos, then he needed to maintain order first.

Joe inhaled and felt the night air fill his lungs. His body positioned towards the still water. That was his target. Water was nothing more than an oxygen atom covalently bonded to two hydrogen atoms. All he needed to do was disrupt the bond and produce chaos. This was basic chemistry.

His long arm stretched out in front of him and his open palm aimed at the motionless body of water. He felt his blood rushing through every vein in his body. Power was charging at the tips of his fingers and all he had to do was release it.

"Entropy!" yelled Joe.

The water in the lake swirled at a sluggish pace. Foamy bubbles started to rise at the top of the water and the sound of crashing water steadily increased in volume. Joe held out his second arm and opened both his palms towards the water.

"Entropy!"

Nothing happened. The water slowed to a halt and the bubbles popped. Joe's open palms curled into fists and his head sunk low.

"Why are you upset? It looks like you made significant progress" said a celestial voice.

Joe swung his head over his neck and saw the tallest woman ever. She was easily nine feet tall and wore a long white gown that reached the pair of white slippers over her feet. Her light blue-ish and white hair was full and seemed to levitate around her neck and shoulders. A bright yellow halo circled her forehead and she had unlocked gold chains around her wrists. Even more, the woman's feet did not touch the grass—they hovered a foot off the ground.

He took a step back and felt his knees buckle. The woman smiled and held out her hand, which radiated in a golden light. Although startled by the woman's sudden appearance, Joe sensed that he was safe. So, he reached for her hand and grabbed it. A surge of power bounced inside of Joe's body.

"My name is Freida, though most people know me as Free Will" she said.

Joe fought to control his astonishment and answered,

"Oh... nice to meet you, Miss Free Will."

"Freida is just fine," she let go of his hand and pointed towards the water, "now, why were you so frustrated a moment ago? It looked like you did pretty well."

Joe sighed, "I didn't. I barely have control over entropy. Wait? Do you know about Time Keepers?"

"Certainly. I know about the Seasons, Father Time, and Pixie," Freida paused after saying her name, "She's in trouble Joe."

"You know me?!"

Freida nodded her head, "I know about every life form on this planet. As Free Will, I empower all things to walk their own paths. I empower them with the strength to defy the script written for their lives by Destiny and to start a new story. I empower them to start a story where they are both the star, the director, and most importantly, the writer."

Tears swelled up at the bottom of Joe's eyes. He was in absolute awe of Freida. His jaw hung low.

"That's so cool! You're the reason people can be whoever they want to be in the world!"