𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕋𝕚𝕞𝕖 𝕋𝕦𝕣𝕟𝕖𝕣

ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕝𝕠𝕘𝕦𝕖

Time

It's a funny thing isn't it, time.

It passes by so quickly that people can barely tell the changes happening around them until it's too late.

My whole childhood was like this. I would watch the world change around me from the shadows in which I felt safest. I seemed to be the only one that would notice these changes, and when things did change I couldn't do anything about it. I was always too late, that was my life story and it was stupid of me to think that this time would be different.

The more I think about it the more outrageous the thought of anything being 'too late' is. In a timeless world full of possibilities worlds like ' too late' seem like nothing but restrictions. A big yellow caution tape blocking me off from something I shouldn't be able to do, something that I shouldn't see.

But now I've seen it. My wife's once rosy cheeks are tinted gray and there's this strange smell of death lingering in the white hospital room she was put it. How did this even happen?

I subtly glance around the room that my son and I stand in, staring at the blank walls as if time was frozen in place. What a mess. After everything that had happened, everything the two of us have been through, all our hopes and dreams....what a mess

Fuck

I ran a hand through my hair, pushing it back as my eyes fluttered closed. In those seconds her laugh seemed to travel through my mind and wrap itself around my heart. I could still remember it as clear as day, the yellow light shining through the window kitchen and onto her red hair, setting it aflame.

I could smell the blueberry pancakes on the stove mixing with her usual strawberry vanilla scent. I could hear the coffee brewing, but this time her laughter stopped. It was replaced with the pitter-patter of raindrops hitting the window. Memories, it's funny. I've thought about my times with her so frequently, but I've never felt the need to cry as I do now.

My hands drop to my side, where I grip onto the golden clasp tightly at the thought, the possibility of it not being too late. It's never too late.

Not for her at least.

"Father, is s-she really gone," Jack asks with a shaky voice as my eyes open to meet the abnormally blank walls. His grip on my sleeve shakes as I stare at her, a deep frown crossing my face.

Such a bright boy, yet such a stupid question.

The blank beep continues to drone out my thoughts, and my voice seems to shrink back.

You think they would put something, anything in this room to make it feel a bit warmer. I shake my head, fuck. This room, this air, everything's wrong with it. Everything. I'm unable to think... unable to breathe...

I need to get out. I need to stop wasting my TIME!

But why, why was she taken away from me so soon? What am I supposed to tell Jack? Or our 6-month-year-old daughter Adaline?

Why...

Why

WHY

WHY

WHY

I shake my head again as the tears begin to flow freely down my cheeks.

Why did it have to be her? Why did I have to be a family embedded with this curse? Hadn't I already won? I met her, I saved her life and here I am-

Why

A few tears more slip from my eyes. I watch them through my blurry vision, staring at the white blanket ahead of me that she was under. I let out a small sigh as my grip on the bed loosened. This room disgusted me, she wasn't dead. There was no way she could be, and even if she was I could help her, it wasn't too late.

Fuck the rules, fuck the curse. Fuck it. I am not going to lose her, and no ancient curse was going to stop me from bringing her back.

"Don't worry Jack, everything will be okay" My voice is calm, opposed to how I feel. My hand clasps around the golden chain, pulling it up until I catch a glimpse of the watch. Staring at it, my frown deepens and for a moment I'm lost in thought. Breaking the rules, god I wasn't 17 anymore I'm thirty-two, I have two children and no time for being a rebel. Plus what If I'm caught, what if-

I shake my head and raise the watch, fingers shaking ever so slightly as I glance at her once shimmering face once more. In the end, it wouldn't matter, my children would have their mother and I would have my wife. Nothing else in this cruel world matters.

Memories flood back into my mind the longer I stare at her, whispers of I love you and secrets we had shared. She was the one I could always turn too when I was going through struggles. And I, her. More importantly, she was my true love, and I knew that there was nobody else like her.

She was my chance at happiness, and now she's gone.

And so, I turn the clock to the right, mumbling a low 'it's going to be alright' as I feel the room slip under my feet, and just like that time became a liquid itself.

It's never too late.