Time's Ticking

The Courtesy Call

Dear future people who find this log:

I’m pretty much fucked.

I'm here hiding in the universe equivalent of an alleyway known as a superposition to escape the angry nanny who wants to murder me, also known as the Timekeeper. I could regale you with tales of my adventure through the seven parallel dimensional worlds with multiverse time travel but I’m not kidding when I say this: I could die and disappear out of existence at any moment. If I’m found, that is. So I’ll start with how I met Time.

What is time? “Time is a continuous sequence of events that occurs in irreversible succession. From the past, through the present, and to the future.” It’s logical this way, but the superstitious, like my parents, think of time as a being, an entity, to keep the perfect system running that is our universe.

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But what happens if someone breaks time? What happens when someone beats the system? Some may call it luck, and others call it karma.

My aunt was always superstitious about time. During our family reunion, when I told her about needing to get new batteries for my watch, which had died yesterday, she mentioned while beginning to pray, “People die when they run out of time, my boy.”

A child came up to me holding a messily half-eaten muffin. “Did you know that Peter Henlein made the first watch in 1505?” Ugh, that's Alexander; that child knows more than the Library of Congress. I love him, but he can be so annoying.

The smell of turkey with cheap store bought gravy hung in the air. I hate family reunions. Don’t get me wrong, the food part is great. I just don’t like the hugs part and all the formalities.

My reckless dad tried deep-frying the turkey this year and almost burned down our house as a result, but hey, at least it’s juicy.

I don’t know why I thought about the watch that night, and if I hadn't thought about it that night, maybe I wouldn’t have dreamed about it that night. Was this the butterfly effect? I was supposed to learn about shit like this in school, but honestly, I don't care. Anyway, maybe if I ignored my aunt, the Timekeeper would have passed over me like a shark looking for fatter fish to eat. Maybe.

That night I had a weird dream. Not weird as in I was uncomfortable, but weird as I never had one so vivid and detailed. The first thing I saw was a bus station. It was pitch black outside. Not even one star hung in the sky. This was my morning route to work.

I was never one to be late, so I checked my watch 5:20; the next bus was the 5:30 service, and it would be here any moment. After waiting for what felt like an eternity, I was in the safety and warmth of the bus.

Rechecking the time, I ideally wanted to be early for work so I could finish earlier. 5:20, my watch read.

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Making a face, I shook it a couple of times to see if I could get it restarted, but no cigar. I sighed and opted to stare out into nothing except the endless rain. Two blinding lights suddenly cut through the impenetrable darkness. I threw my hands up just in time to brace my head for the impact.

A blow followed so hard it caused my head to go numb. My hands scoured my head, looking for a wound that I desperately hoped wouldn't be there. Upside down, pinned and bleeding out, the last thing I remember was tetanus ringing in my ear and the voices of screaming people.

My eyes snap open and I bolt up in a cold sweat, my body shaking, heart pounding. It was still pitch black outside. 5 AM. Yay. I thought naively; I'm not dead. But for some reason, this dream seemed off to me. It felt real, and I remember it perfectly. My alarm went off, and my head nearly went through the ceiling as I jumped to the sudden sharp, angry chirping. Brushing away the thoughts, I got prepared for my work. Shower. Overalls. Boots.

***

Through all of it, I just couldn't shake that sinking feeling. Walking to the bus station, I could hear my superstitious angel aunt on my shoulder, insisting that I walk. So I did. I would be late, but I was too rattled to be near people anyway.

My day continued pretty much as usual after that. A couple of my coworkers tried to talk to me, and there was a small kerfuffle in the dining area, but the same old monotony continued as usual. I walked home that afternoon.

When I flipped on the tv, my heart dropped, sweat started dripping down my face, and I changed the channel again and again. … 12 dead in a massive highway pileup. The reports are still coming in, but they have closed the I-35 for now. Residents will have to use the streets to bypass the closed-off- I turned off the tv in panic and sat down.

Had I just dodged death? Calling my aunt, it rang seven times and went to voicemail. Goddammit. I started pacing.

***

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My watch helpfully informed me it was 6:15 PM. How long had it been since I got home? Fuck. I need food and rest. I’m not thinking clearly.

I stumbled to the kitchen to drink as much water as I could stomach before slumping into bed like a slug. The sweet release of sleep settled in as the busy world drowned out around me. *2:37 AM* I should really leave my phone outside my bedroom.

When my phone rang,
I didn't know why I picked it up. Unknown Caller. But my mind became curious, and I picked up my phone. “Hey Allan, It's an emergency. I'm outside your room right now. Can you let me in? I'm you.”
“Hold up, who are you?” I groaned while throwing on my clothes.

Running on autopilot, I walked over to the door and peeked out the viewport. There was me. I was covered in blood with a gun in my hand.

I idiotically opened the door, and before I could close it, other-me bodied the door open and slammed it shut. I watched blankly as he pushed my nightstand over the door and jammed it against the wall. I’ve gone fucking insane. Other-me said, “You’re not going insane. You’re me, and I’m you. I know what you are thinking right now. This morning, you caused a gitch in time by not getting on the bus, and now the Timekeeper is coming after us. We are an anomaly. We shouldn't exist, so it's coming to destroy us.” Once the shock settled in, I regained the mental capacity to look at mirrored me, and I saw he was bleeding from under his shirt. I went to get my first aid kit and some QuickClot, but me stopped me. “What are you doing?” I hissed.
“I’m saving your life - my life. It's going come to kill me instead of you. Take my watch. Find Rogue. You gotta move fast if you want to survive.” The world again blurred as adrenaline took over, and I climbed into my car putting my foot on the floor. Then I saw it. An uncanny black being with infinite extremities rose over houses until it swarmed closer and closer and enveloped the place where I grew up. The screams of other-me still ring in my ears as I speed down the highway.

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