CW: Only time will tell.

Note from the author: Fair warning – the below is just an intro to a multi-genre story filled with adventure, love, humor, and time-travel. I might or might not expand on it in the future. Just another idea percolating in my head.

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Francesco stopped midstep and looked at the empty bowl in his hand. What was I doing? He wasn’t really sure. He looked ahead and then behind to try to piece together his journey up to that point in the hallway, but everything around him appeared foreign. No, it wasn’t because of a sudden onset of amnesia. He knew where he was – in a house where he had been living for a few years – but things just looked… different. Francesco felt no connection to any of the items around him. Not the pictures hanging on the hallway walls, not the hand-painted china in the kitchen, and definitely not the king bed in the master bedroom.

The increasing pressure in his chest and his trembling hands caused Francesco to put down the bowl and redirect his focus onto himself. His breathing had become labored, sweat began to show on his hairline, and his heart was pounding. He wanted to go to the bathroom to splash some water onto his face, but an onset of chills froze him in place. He began to suffocate. What is going on?

A faint image – a memory – of a woman appeared in front of him. She was walking down the driveway, away from the house and away from him. He stood by the window, waiting for her to turn around, come back, and say she wasn’t really going to leave, but she didn’t do any of that. Instead, she walked straight to the street, then turned right, got into the passenger seat of a black Hyundai Tucson, and drove away. Francesco’s hand stayed glued to the window for a while as if casting a spell for the woman to return. The spell was not successful. How long ago was that?

Francesco fumbled through his pockets and pulled out his phone to dial 911 only for it to fall from his trembling hands and onto the hardwood floor. Francesco sat down and picked up the phone to examine the damage. Fortunately, there were only a few small cracks on the edges of the screen, which didn’t seem to impact usability. He breathed a sigh of relief. He sat on the floor, legs hugged, eyes closed until his chest didn’t feel as tight anymore, his heart slowed down, and his mind calmed.

At that point, he went to his office and picked up “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” – a book he enjoyed reading while feeling down. A piece of paper sticking out from one of the pages caught his attention. Must have been whatever I used as a bookmark last time. Upon examination, Francesco realized it was a newspaper ad.

Wanted someone to travel back in time with me.
Must have own weapons. Safety not guarenteed.
Call…

Francesco pulled out his phone – this time with steady hands – and dialed the number from the ad. He couldn’t remember when the note could have been from, but he hoped that whoever was looking for a companion hadn’t found one yet.

“Hello?” a female voice came on the line.

“Hey, hi! Ummm… did you place an ad in the paper for a time travel companion? I’d like to join you.” Francesco blurted out and crossed his fingers. Time travel would help him undo all the pain. She would never have left, and he would be happy again.

The silence worried him. Has it been this long? Was the number now given to someone else?

Francesco looked at the phone. The call screen was still present. “Hello?”

“Yes. I’m here. Sorry…” the woman offered.

Francesco sat down at the desk and stood up a split second later. He wanted to hurry the woman but knew it was his turn to stay quiet. He uncrossed his fingers and began tapping his thigh as he walked along the four walls.

“It was my husband.”

“I’m sorry?”

“It was my husband who posted that stupid ad.”

Francesco exhaled. The poor guy must have died.

“It was 25 months ago,” she added.

“OK…”

“He was fixated on trying out this device he built but no one wanted to go with him. Now I wonder why no one gave it a try. If they all thought he was cuckoo and that the machine didn’t work, then all they had to do was step into it, step out of it, and then go about their daily lives. But no one called…”

Francesco could hear emotion building up in the woman’s voice.

“He wanted me to go, but I would just roll my eyes… So, one day, he stepped into his time travel machine and… never came out. At first, when I opened the door, I thought it was some magic trick because there was no one inside, but then I realized that Rick was right – the machine worked. And so I’ve been waiting for him to return ever since, but lately, I’ve been wondering about going after him.”

Francesco exhaled. There was still hope.

“How about I come with you? Keep you company.”

“Uh….”

“You don’t have to make a decision now. Let’s meet, get to know one another, and see where that takes us. How about that?”

“That sounds… good…”

“My name is Francesco. I feel like that’s a good first step.”

The female chuckled. “Mandy.”

“Nice to meet you, Mandy. Text me a time and a place and I will be there!”

The two bid their goodbyes and disconnected.

Francesco puffed out his chest. He was going to get Nina back.

***

“You answer an ad that reads: Wanted someone to travel back in time with me. Must have own weapons. Safety not guarenteed. Call…”
– prompt used for this CW piece.
[Source: DailyPrompt]

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P.S. As always, you are more than welcome to use this prompt to inspire your post. If you decide to write something, be sure to pingback to this post so that I can get an alert and check out your piece. (A post on how to do pingbacks can be found here.) If pingbacks are not your thing, feel free to simply leave a link to your piece in the comment section below. The more, the merrier!

Stay golden,

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