Changing The Past

• Sarah Di Pietro, Grade 9, Carey Baptist Grammar School
• Short Story
• 2014

Excellence Award in the 'Write As Rain 2014' competition

He held onto my hand soo tightly. Not wanting to let me go. I was silently willing him to. There's basically a giant sucking time portal underneath me.I want him to let me go. I need him to let me go.

"You have to let me go. You have to let me go, Tim." I say the words so quietly -so slowly- that I'm almost certain that he didn't hear me over the whirring of the portal. But he does. His face changes. It changes into one of determination and sadness.

"No, I won't." I plead with my eyes. Telling him that it's the right thing to do.

"Tim, please; I can save them. I can stop my family from dying." I honestly want to cry.

"You can't. Things happen for a reason, May. If you do this, things will have a domino effect. What if I don't know who you are? What if I don't remember you? What if you don't remember everything that we've been through together?" His heartbreaking face -his sad eyes- make me not want to go through with this.

"If we're meant to be together, we will." And with that I forcefully took my hand from his grasp and fell into the vortex.

In the past

I woke up in Gotham Park with a massive headache. Trying to remember what happened. When I did, my eyes widened in realization and I jumped to my feet. Which wasn't a very good idea because I almost fell over again. I tried to get my bearings. Once I did, I ran over to the newspaper dispenser. I grabbed one and looked at the date. 15th November 2008. "Shit!" It's the date of their death.

Crap, what time is it? I look at my watch and see that it's 5:00pm. I have to get to the outskirts of the city, in like an hour and a half. I'm so screwed. I practically sprint towards the bus stop. Luckily I have my bus ticket on me. I swipe it and take a seat. During the ride I think about everything I left behind. Tim. The hero gig. But, I miss Tim the most.

I get to my stop and hop off the bus. It's dark now. It would be romantic or beautiful if the sound of screams didn't fill the night air. I quickly pulled out my domino mask and put it on.

I run into the house and up the stairs, into my parents' bedroom, where it all happened. Eight years ago. I crash through the door to see my family standing there, frozen in fear, and shock of my entrance. I turn to the masked figure and kick the blade out of his hand. His eyes widen. And for a moment I think he's actually afraid.

That is until he got into a fighting stance. He charges at me. I dodge it easily and when he gets back into his stance, I punch him in the face. He's knocked out cold. The sirens echo in my ears. So I run.

When I get to the back yard I stop at the trees and take off my domino mask. I feel someone's eyes on me.This feeling feels familiar. It can't be him because if he was here, then he would've stopped that man eight years ago. I turn around. But there's no one there. Typical.

All of a sudden I start to fade. I try to scream out to anyone that's listening. But of course no one is. After I fade, everything goes black.