She smiled, revealing perfect teeth, “You don’t even know my name.”
I smiled back. “Well then, what’s your name?”
A sly look crossed her face and I knew it meant trouble. “Well,” she paused, still thinking. “If we were meant to meet, and you’re not from this time, let’s make a game of it. Let’s say that the next time I meet you, whatever time that is, then I will tell you my name.”
I laughed. “Makes sense. But how will you remember?”
She winked at me, “Fate will remind me. No matter what happens, meeting you now has left a mark on me that will never fade, just like my scar. No matter what time, I won’t forget you. I promise.”
She put her hand in the air like a pledge before lowering it back into her lap. “For the record, a part of me really does believe you. I like to think there are still amazing and unexplainable things in this world.”
“Well then, you may be the only one that does believe me. I couldn’t imagine anyone else would.” The conversation hit a lull as we both thought over what was just explained.
She shifted on the cushion of the couch. “Is it alright if I stay here?” She looked me in the eyes, finding a reason. “I mean besides, if you have had a seizure, you’ll want me here to watch you to make sure you don’t have another.”
I shrugged. “Sure, I don’t mind.” Truthfully I wanted her to stay, not just because I liked this woman but because I was also frightened to be alone.
She shook her head with a smile. “And to think, earlier today I figured God was a fraud. I guess this is his way of proving me wrong.”
I raised my eyebrows and thought about my own predicament. “Yeah, me too.”
She laughed again, and it made me feel good, as though her laughter had touched my very soul. There was another couch opposite the one on which we were sitting, and I eyed it. I was sure I had a bedroom somewhere, but I desperately wanted to be close to her, to hear her sleep. After another moment of silence I made a move to get up, but she stopped me.
“You stay here.” She rose from the couch and grabbed a blanket that had been thrown over the back and laid it over me, tucking the edges. She then walked over to the other couch and let herself fall into it, exhaling as her back met the cushion, dust flying everywhere.
We laid there for a moment before I heard her breathing change, and when I looked, I saw she was asleep. There were dark circles under her eyes and I could swear she looked dead, but I could understand. This woman beside me had given me all her heart, her last ounce of understanding; just as I was sure she had to everyone she’d met.
I pressed my head against the pillow, feeling lost. Why was I here? Why was I living this dream? I pinched my arm, but nothing happened. What if this was real? What if I had somehow traveled into my future, as I had longed to do for so long? I always wanted to know that there was life beyond what I knew at home, beyond the hell that was my childhood. Perhaps I had manifested it hard enough that now here I was, living it.
I shut my eyes, concentrating now on the past and the life I had known. The room began to feel cold and things around me to shook like an earthquake. I opened my eyes and looked at the woman, but she did not wake. It was then that the same feeling overcame me and my blood began to boil in my veins. I opened my mouth to scream, but before I could utter a word, I was back on the park bench with nothing but a popsicle stick in my hand and an orange stain on my khakis where it had melted.
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Text Copyright © 2010 Abra Ebner
All rights reserved. Except under the U.S. Copyright act of 1976,
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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the characters, events, and locations portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, or real locations is coincidental and not intended by the author.
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Abra Ebner, Knight Angels: Book of Revenge
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