Lovefool (complete 1st part of Lovefool trilogy)

#78 HANDS OF TIME

  Once as they were in the woods, she asked what his last special skill was.

  -This is the most extraordinary one I think. At the same time, it is extraordinary complicated to explain it. – He started.

  Mia looked at him with interest. She had no idea what to expect. What else could there be, if he was already fast, strong, able to read minds and emotions, absorb energy from the nature, be invisible, and was somehow immortal? What was the most extraordinary skill?

  They were lying in the grass and he stroked her arm.

  -It is about time. I can make it pass slower.

  Mia was flabbergasted. It topped everything up to now. She was convinced that she was living in a very beautiful dream and that she would have to wake up soon. She wanted to keep on dreaming. She wanted to stay here, by his side, and let him tell fairytales until the end of time. It was her paradise between the earth and the blue moon.

  -It is as if you would see everything in slow motion, if you want to. It is hard to explain how it works, but it is possible. – Julian tried to give details, describe her the way he saw the world in slow motion, but it was extremely difficult for him to find the right words.

  He thought it over and over and then he finally said enthusiastically:

  -If you imagine a cheetah on a road, that is able to accelerate from zero to 110 km/h in three seconds, faster than most supercars, and next to him a snail at the start line, and then the race begins. Of course, the snail will not be able to realise how fast a cheetah is and the cheetah will disappear from its view in less than a second. At the same time, the cheetah will not realise the slowness of the snail and even if the snail starts to move forwards, the cheetah will not notice it, because the snail is too slow and seems not to be moving at all. A human now, will see the snail moving as well as the cheetah, but in the end, a human will not be able to follow the cheetah with the eyes all the way, neither be patient enough to observe the snail for all the time. However, I can observe both of them in exactly the same quality. I can see the cheetah running in slow motion and the snail moving in a fast-motion. In the end, it is the same length of race, but in a different speed.

  Julian was very glad to have found an appropriate comparison. Mia was still flabbergasted.

  -And is there anything what you are not able to do? –Mia asked sulkily and spitefully.

  Julian smiled. She was getting cheeky. And he liked it. Then he thought about her questions and said seriously:

  -I can’t turn back the hands of time. I can observe the happenings in every speed I would like, but I can’t turn back the clock.

  -Is it even possible? – She asked curiously.

  He looked her into the eyes, calm and reserved.

  -If you want to change the time, you have to run back faster than the time. Our Wisemen said that the third Wiseman has got the power to be anywhere and anytime he wants to be. He is the time himself. He is the most powerful and most important creature on earth. We have a saying: If you rule over the time, you rule over the world. But up to now, my family is still looking for him, without success though. Some of my family say that he is just a legend and nothing else. Some of my family believe in him and hope to meet him one day. Humans have their gods and we have the Third Wiseman.

  -And what do you think about him?

  -I am not sure. I would like to meet him, of course, but I doubt that this wish will be fulfilled. Otherwise, now I know that everything is possible and those who dare to dream overcome impossibilities. Right?

  Julian looked more like a person, who was telling fairytales than serious stories. He tried to cheer Mia up with a smile. She seemed to be lost in thoughts. Her eyes were wide open but she didn't look at something in particular. Maybe she was imagining right now how to be faster than the time or maybe she was thinking over cheetahs and snails. Julian wasn’t sure. All he knew was that he told her stories that no human being had ever heard and this could end badly for her. She was his Julia, he was her Romeo and Julian once again had a feeling that there would be no happy ending. He carried this feeling somewhere inside but tried to ignore it. There had to be a solution. Otherwise, they were two unfortunate souls lost in time.

  Then, they fell silent for a while, both following their own thoughts. They needed a moment to find their inner peace.