Turning it back

     Had it not been for that stupid card, I would have been sipping my warm cup of honey by now... I swiped the card through the sensor to the left side of the door. There was a beep, followed by a sound of locks being unlocked. I turned the knob, entered my suite, and shut the door behind me.

     On the inside, the carpet shifted from red to light brown. The wall on the other end was completely made of glass, although the blinds are in the way. The living room was wide, with white leather sofas facing the television which was built into the wall to the left of the door. Nearer to the glass wall is a grand piano and a snooker table, next to each other. To the left, a wall with two entrances at both ends, with a floor to ceiling book shelf in between. The entrances lead to the kitchen and my personal gym. To the right, my bedroom, behind an automatic sliding door and partition of sycamore glass. I let out a heavy sigh. This suite, as beautiful as it is, is as lonely as its owner. I have no attachments to this place. Even if it were burnt to the ground I would not give two fucks about it.

     I slipped out of my sleeping robe, put on a pair of fresh underwear, and slowly made my way into the kitchen. I had made myself a cup of honey and sat myself in front of the kitchen table, facing the blinds of the glass wall. My eyes caught a glimpse of the calendar, the date was the 23rd of September, 2038. Suddenly, hundreds of images filled my head, images of the day that made me realise, that what I have was not only a gift, but also a curse. A curse that no human being should bear. I never thought reliving the past could ever be so painful. The memory was vivid, as if it happened just a moment ago.

     It was the 23rd of September, 2037. There was a heavy downpour all over Evensburgh. I was walking towards a grocery store in my trench coat when a loud roar of thunder was accompanied by a flash of lightning. A short distance away was a child that started crying. The mother bent down while holding an umbrella, trying to comfort the child. A strong turbulence blew and the mother lost the umbrella to the winds. By some ugly twist of fate, the advertistment signboard on the rooftop came toppling over, and was on its way down onto the ground, where the mother and child were at.

     My immediate assumption was that the lightning struck the supporting wires behind the signboard, while the gust of wind broke the main structure at the bottom. Whatever the case, the words "GET OUT OF THERE!" came out as I shouted at the top of my lungs. The pair did not seem to notice, as my voice was drowned out by the pattering of rain.

     There was a loud crash, and at the same time, a hint of cracking bones going off with it. A flurry of thoughts came rushing into my head. No way. There should have been something I could have done! They were innocent! Why didn't they see it coming? Why didn't I see it coming? If only I had enough time!

     "That's it! TIME!" I yelled.

     Tick, tock.

     I did not know how much time I had. I only knew it was at most, ten seconds. Ten seconds was all I had to try and do something, and it was barely enough to do anything at all. I rushed towards the pair, shouting at them "GET AWAY! GET AWAY!" The mother, who was lightly brushing the child's hair, lifted her head to look at me with curiosity. The turbulence came, and for some reason, caught me by surprise as I lost my balance and fell onto my right shoulder. The fall knocked the wind out of me. I winced, opened my eyes, only to see the umbrella flying off with the winds. The mother said something to the whimpering child and stood up, walking towards me. I quickly pointed up at the falling signboard and mouthed the words 'signboard', but the mother did not seem to catch it. She turned back to look, only to see her child getting splattered to bits below the signboard.

     She kneeled while letting out a deafening scream of despair, hands ripping her long, soaked hair. A few bystanders stopped to see what has happened. No, this cannot be the end of it. I don't want things to end this way!

     Tick, tock

     Another ten seconds, another chance to save them. This time, I prepared myself for the turbulence and remained on my feet. I continued to rush towards the mother and child only to realise I would not reach them in time to pull them away, so I resorted to shouting once again. "YOU HAVE TO GET AWAY FROM THERE!" I roared while pointing to the falling signboard. The mother looked at me like I was crazy and said "what are you talking about?" while slowly looking upwards. The sight must have been frightening, to see a large piece of  metal rapidly closing in on you. Her scream was cut short when the signboard crashed down on them. I slowed my pace into a kneel and doubled over, palms on the wet ground. Drops of rain water dripping from my hair. Rage was starting to build up within me. I punched the ground as hard as i could. "Shit, shit, SHIT!"

     Tick, tock.

     My attempts at saving the two failed time and time again. Not once could I keep the both of them alive. Slowly, the truth dawned on me, it hit me like a slap on my face. I could not save them. There was no way, in those ten seconds could I have ever saved the mother and child. Countless times, I saw their bodies getting crushed. blood flowing out from the bottom of the signboard. It was mind numbing. I could not be satisfied with saving only one of them, as that would leave the one that lived scarred for life as well. I could not bear the thought of seeing them suffer along with me. Thus, I came to a conclusion.

     Tick, tock.

I was standing there in the pouring rain. Waiting for the turbulence as I steadied myself. I turned back. I walked away from it. My face was expressionless. I didn't care where I was going. I bumped into a few passers-by but I did not care. I could hear the crashing of the signboard in the distance, not that it matters anymore. What's the point? Might as well let them leave this world together.

A slow day

     I shuffled my way back to the see through elevator, turned to face the button panel and lightly punched the round blue button with the number 24 printed on it. There was a light humming sound, then the doors closed.

     After exiting the elevator, I was greeted by an empty but well decorated corridor with the floor covered in red carpet.

     Pearl white doors floated past me as my bare feet swept through the smooth carpet. As I reached the end of the corridor, facing a door like the rest that went by, I reached into the left pocket of my sleeping robe. Fuck, are you serious? "Can't warp out of this shit," I murmured to no one in particular. My wristwatch showed 9:40:57.

     Tick, tock.

     9:40:47. There I stood, half way near the end of the corridor. I made a light back step and turned towards the elevator. I hit the G button much harder than I did the 24 button, getting slightly agitated as the elevator descended down to the lobby.

     The receptionist, who was quite the fine young lady, was not surprised in seeing me walking towards her as I exited the glass box. "Hey there hot stuff! Backup card to room, uhh..." My sentence was left hanging. "Room twenty four dash eleven, Mr Descartes, and good morning." She said, ignoring the fact that I called her 'hot stuff' as she ruffled through the cupboard, her back facing me the entire time. Her slim body clad in a black long sleeve shirt and short skirt, wrapped in a fitting red vest. A rear view I never get tired of. "Right, let me try that again."

     Tick, tock.

     The elevator doors opened once again. "Hey there hot stuff! Backup card to room twenty four dash eleven please, and good morning," I said with a smirk. Her agile yet delicate hands stopped searching the cupboard for a moment, and then resumed. It was shortly followed by the sentence "Good morning, I'm surprised you remembered your room number Mr Descartes," made by her tender voice.

     She pulled out a white card from a rack in the cupboard and turned to me, both hands extending towards me with the card at the tips of her index fingers and thumbs. I glanced at her facial features - light brown hair, tied up into a pony tail, dark blue eyes that was emanating warmth, lips that were natural pink with a bit of gloss, complemented with a gentle smile - and turned to the card. I grabbed it, turned back towards the elevator while waving the card in the air and said "Thanks, and did I mention that you look beautiful today?"

It never happened.

     It's been a while since something exciting happened in my life. What's the point in living if there's no thrill of any sort? It's times like these where I create my own kind of entertainment.

     The sudden gust shook me from my thoughts, my eyes slowly opened and a panorama of the cityscape came into view. The breathtaking sight brought me to my senses as to why I was on the top floor of the Red Aurora condominium. I gave my wristwatch a flick, the time showed 9:38:11. The sun shone right on my back, giving me a tickling warm sensation. I grabbed hold of the ledge and hauled myself up, with my legs planted loosely on it. My body was facing what would be a long fall down to a person's doom. A gentle breeze was just the push I needed as I let myself go, tipping over the edge.

     My body slowly tilted downwards,  and then started falling vertically with increasing velocity. The windows of the building zoomed past me at a rapidly increasing pace. Again i looked at my wristwatch, the time was 9:38:14. My eyes slowly shut as I took in the air flowing past my relaxed, motionless body, letting it guide my way down. I started counting backwards, "5... 4... 3... 2... 1..."

     Tick, tock.

     All movements had stopped, my feet felt the smooth marble ground of Red Aurora's top floor. My eyelids flickered and then opened, there I was, safe and sound. Once again I glanced at my wristwatch, 9:38:11. I took in a deep breath of the cool morning air, and let out a mild sigh. Such exhilaration was just what I needed to start the day.