Snow quietly fell from the cold, gray, cloudy sky from above the heads of the people who both were walking and driving or riding their bikes. Through this noise that might make deaf anyone else in this city, there were steps that echoed in their owner’s ears, drowning out the sounds of traffic and chatter. Pulled back dark red hair could be seen stepping down the sidewalk in a relaxed manner. The low heels of her tan winter boots rang out like a steady beat to an unwritten tune in her ears with each step, each click and tap of the hardened rubber soles against the concrete ground. Her brilliant green eyes bright as emeralds with a light shining upon them, stared ahead almost blankly. She was preoccupied, her mind wandering elsewhere with her arms cloaked in a winter coats sleeves, wrapped around firmly a bouquet of flowers.
In her memory she could hear children laughing, a little girl and boy. Her body passed by the distracted people who paid more mind to their electronics than to those around them. She didn’t mind though as to her, her memories were the best and held what she missed the most. She was twenty-three now, going on twenty-four and alone. “Hey! Come here and watch this! I can balance on this railing without getting hurt!” a little girl shouted racing down a sidewalk along a park.
“Hey get down from there!” shouted a boy’s sweet, innocent, and worried voice as he ran up to stop while watching her jump onto a bench to get onto, the one to two inch wide railing. “You’ll get hurt. Get off that thing.” He pleaded nearing closer as she started to step with arms outstretched.
“Oh come on, don’t be such a worrywart. I’ll be fine, don’t be so scared.” She snorted rolling her eyes continuing to follow the metal structure. All was fine for the pair of ten and twelve year olds until a strong autumn wind came, catching her coat and resulted in her wobbling as she lost her balance. “Whoa-whoa-whoa-ah!” She had lost her steadiness, falling and closing her eyes tightly she was ready to hit the cement ground hard, having started to fall towards the sidewalk.
The boy briskly raced closer and reached out yelping himself as he caught her. What he hadn’t counted on or readied himself for was her full weight into his twelve year old arms. So as he took her form into his unprepared limbs he fell, her landing to now sit on top of his laying down form. Opening her eyes to the noise and feeling warmth not coldness under her rump, brought her to look down, curious to what happened and what she saw made her giggle behind her hands as they rose to hide her smiling mouth. “Oh are you alright? How did you get down there?” the girl inquired between giggles.
The boy looked up with head cranked around, blowing up some hair out of his face, looking annoyed but ended up grinning to her. “Oh no reason, I just thought I’d admire how well poured this concrete is.” He joked, letting her sit on his back. When he had caught her he lost his hold along with his balance, resulting in his body slipping under her as she came down. “You know you’re heavy for a ten year old? How many cakes did you eat today?” he asked jokingly, his grin widening as his hazel eyes saw her jaw drop, close tightly and cheeks puff out as if offended.
“Hey! I did not eat a lot of cake! Ooooh! Boys are so rude!” She snapped huffing, folding her arms and intentionally rose then quickly sat back down hard onto his back to bring a grunt out of the boy, from the force. It didn’t take but some moments of silence and a look between them before they both started to laugh, and she stood, turning around with her hand extended helping him up. As he stood she noticed an odd bracelet like watch accessory around his wrist. “What’s that you got? I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“Huh? Oh this?” the boy asked, taking notice of what had caught her eyes. He moved his arm in front of them, bent at the elbow as he lifted his sleeve some. “It’s a special bracelet. It lets me do magic. Wanna see?” he asked with a mischievous tone. Quickly she nodded, wanting to see what it let him do but was disappointed when he let his sleeve fall, concealing the item. “Nope, you’ll just have to wait. You’ll see it one day and trust me when I say you’ll always be able to find me.”
“What? What do you mean? That doesn’t make any sense. Did you hit your head when I landed on you?” she asked curiously, gently using two knuckles to knock on his forehead like one would to a door, making him laugh and the pair took off down the sidewalk.
That was where her memory ended to bring a quiet sigh to exit her lips, sending a soft cloud of white into the cool air. The sweet, soft, warmth that filled her with the simple life of children was nice and something she missed. It was a time in her life she wished she could return to. Now as an adult, though young, things were so much more complicated. Most of all there was the one that had gotten to be very important to her through the years. Turning a corner she began carefully stepping up a wide staircase, placing one gloved hand on the metal railing while holding the flowers securely in her other arm against her body.
She struggled to remember any last name but could recall his first name. They had been childhood friends, always found together and getting into trouble normally. If she got into too much trouble he would jump in and defend her. If he got in over his head then she would do the same for him. They had been very close, barely ever apart until he began traveling. When he said he had gotten hired for a landscaping job he began to travel more but would write, sending her photos and letters of what he was doing. She had gotten a job working at a library, preferring to stay where she knew her surroundings as well as knew the people.
Reaching the top of the stairs she allowed her blue gloved hand to slip off the chilly steel and return to being close to her body, arm wrapping around the flowers gently. The city had expanded over the years and as it had, the park had also grown in size. Off to the side on a built up hill was a cemetery for those who resided in the city for most of their lives and wished to be buried here. It had been added when she was fourteen and he was sixteen. The cemetery was put in first then later the park expanded, also becoming a place where people could go and relax away from the noise of the city.
It was kept nice by groundkeepers, something the people enjoyed seeing that others thought it best to show respect by keeping things nice. “Are you sure you need to leave? Why can’t you get a job here?” she heard herself question at the age of fifteen, seeing her-self sitting on a bench near a pond at the park they visited frequently.
“But it’s a great opportunity. Plus I get to travel. I will get to see the world and it will be fun.” The seventeen year old boy said, still wearing that iconic bracelet like watch she had never seen him without. He was sitting beside her in the soft spring day, his hazel eyes sparkling through his short ginger hair that had fallen into his face some.
“True but it still isn’t fair. You’ll be off galloping around and what do I do? Sit around and wait about while hoping you might just show back up?” she asked a little upset. She was happy for him but upset at the same time, not liking to think of losing her best friend. Reaching up she pushed his hair back from his face, the simple sight irritating her that he didn’t keep his loose hair back.
“Oh don’t worry, I’ll always come back. How could I ever stay away from someone as cute and awesome as you? I can’t have you causing trouble too long without me, right?” he asked grinning widely again to her to show his pearly whites. She smirked not able to stay upset when seeing that grin that always seemed to make her feel better. He then looked away at the water, scratching his head, looking to be thinking which made her curious to what was going through his mind. Parting her lips to ask she didn’t get the chance before he spoke up. “Ah, I got it!” he exclaimed and started to reach around in his pockets.
“Uh…you got what?” she asked unsure what just struck him as apparently a brilliant idea.
“This,” he eventually said as he pulled out of his pocket a silver chain. It was simple enough and nicely kept with a plain looking item hanging off the end, hanging delicately. Her eyes watched the swinging item being a copper metal cog that had been broken in half and the chain strung, through its center hole so the squared teeth hung towards the ground.
“How is that a brilliant idea?” she inquired watching as he unfastened the chain, leaning forwards and reaching around behind her, re-latching the necklace and moved away to admire her.
“It looks nice on you. Just keep that with you always and it will guarantee I’ll never forget to come back and see you.” He answered confidently. He admired how the copper metal shimmered against her pale blue shirt in the spring sun. She was looking down, pushing back her dark red hair out of her face. Tilting her head upwards to look into his hazel orbs she didn’t see how a necklace could make that kind of promise, but wasn’t sure how to question that logic. It was a comforting thought even if she felt sure it was just an illusion.
“Is this part of that ‘magic’ you claimed you could do when I was ten?” she asked almost with some sarcasm to her tone and reflecting in her eyes with one eyebrow cocked up.
“You could say that.” He answered with a snicker sounding like a hiss through his grinning teeth. Looking into her eyes he pushed some of her hair back, a sweet smile gracing his lips. “Just always keep that on and with you. It will guarantee I’ll remember to come visit you, trust me on that one, okay?” he asked chuckling in his throat gently.
She blinked then her confused expression became a smile and a quiet giggle leaving behind her lips. “Alright, I’ll keep it on always. You better not forget to ever visit me, got it?”
The memory ended as she had come to a stop at the top of the hill, her legs having carried her to a stone that sat towards a corner. On the surface it was engraved with a name and two dates. Slowly she kneeled down and came to sit with her legs under her on a stone area in front of the headstone. The snowflakes fell quietly as she stared at the stone, her green eyes closing a bit with sadness filling her chest gradually. “Hey…how are you? Do you remember the last time you visited me?” she questioned softly, her voice barely hearable by anyone except her.
“I still have the letters you sent, the pictures you included, the drawings you drew for me while you were traveling. I’ve kept them preserved in a photo album so they won’t deteriorate as quickly over time. I also still have the necklace you gave me, remember when you gave me it?” the sadness she could hear seeping into her words and steady voice. Reaching down inside her jacket she pulled up and out the necklace, the copper broken cog still there, looking like new. Why did you do that? You didn’t need to do that. She found herself thinking quietly, gently wrapping her fingers around the cold metal, thinking back.
The years had gone by with his returning every two years to visit her, spending several days with her before he would be gone again to work. She remembered their strolls and out to eating conversations when she was seventeen and he was nineteen. He came around again when she was nineteen and he was twenty one. They had started feeling closer through the letters he had sent her every day. She found herself wanting to spend more and more time with him, wishing he would find something more local so they could be together each day instead of every two years but she always held her tongue, knowing he wouldn’t listen unless he wanted to.
Then when she was twenty-one and he was twenty-three they went on their stroll, and it was a night she would never forget. They had come to a stop under one of the streetlamps, the warmth of the summer being just enough to be comfortable and not oppressive. “Why did you stop?” she questioned confused while holding his hand.
“Close your eyes for me?” the request he made to her was strange but after a bit of hesitating she did comply, closing her eyes. She heard a strange noise like gears being turned and a button being pressed. A warm sensation flowed through her and made her mind feel as if it were light as a feather. It was weird, scary, but nice and she oddly felt safe visualizing in her mind’s eye her friend at her side. When it ceased she felt his warm hands retake hers gently. “Okay, open them.”
She did as instructed and gasped, staring at bright lights, a large metal tower and seeing women and men walk around in clothing more suited for the seventeen hundreds or eighteen hundreds. Her shocked expression then turned to her friend who was smiling and seeing her baffled look brought him to giggle. “I told you I could do magic. So then, shall we dance, milady?” he asked as he carefully released her hands delicately, stepping back twice and bowed like any polite gentleman.
“I…I…” she eventually sighed, residing to the fact she’ll need to ask later when she could think straighter. “Fine, but you are going to be telling me how you did all this later.” She instructed smiling and curtsied to him in her summer, knee length dress of pale yellow. He offered his hand, she took it and let him lead her to an area where music played and they began to dance under the stars and lights.
When that ended and they returned, somehow she wasn’t sure how, he was walking her home. Crossing the street to get to her apartment building brought that night, once so magical to an end she wished she hadn’t seen. As they were crossing a speeding vehicle zoomed out from around a side street. He quickly pushed her out of the way, leaving her with just a few scrapes, he wasn’t so lucky and the sight still horrified her.
She could still hear herself crying out his name on that night two years ago. She didn’t know why he didn’t step backwards, pulling her back with him instead of what he did do which cost him his life. She was now turning twenty-four today, it being her birthday and it saddened her. By the time on her watch it had now passed to be three years since she saw him alive, and regretted holding her tongue. Without him it felt like part of her had died and couldn’t be restored. Part of her wanted to cry, another wanted to call the stone an idiot and question why his ‘magic’ could have had saved his life that night. But she held her tongue still, tears slowly slipping down her cheeks against the winter’s biting kiss. “…some magic…it couldn’t even save you…” she muttered weakly, wiping her eyes with the back of a gloved hand.
“Aw crying for me? That’s not very good. You know crying doesn’t suit you.” This male voice brought her blood to feel like ice had frozen in her veins. It couldn’t be. No it had to be a hallucination. No way this was real and must be a trick of her mind. Maybe she was losing it early in life. Afraid to see, she slowly with a trembling body stood, turning on her heels gradually. Unknowing to her she had closed her eyes, scared to see or not see the boy she considered her best friend and felt he had stolen her heart over that time, piece by piece.
Steps neared as solid as her own had been, a soft hand touching her cheek warm as her own flesh then, came something unexpected. Warm skin touched her slightly chapped lips causing her eyes to shoot open in surprise. The kiss didn’t last long before it ended and there, as he reclined his body from hers, was the young man from her memories. “But…how? How are you here? I…I saw-“
“You saw what you saw yes but like I told you, I know some magic.” He assured in his usual kind tone, showing her the accessory on his wrist was aglow for a few moments before quieting down. Seeing the baffled expression he couldn’t help but smile to this and feel the need to explain. “Let me just say that time can be a fickle mistress and what you see one moment isn’t always what is going to be the next.”
“You don’t make any sense.” She meekly replied to him, watching him nod. There was a hesitation then suddenly she found her body lurching forwards, her arms wrapping around his neck and her lips finding his as tears freshly streamed down her cheeks. This felt real, this felt right and, feeling him so close and warm to her brought her heart to feel complete again. She felt his arms slide around her waist, pulling her closer to his body as he returned the kiss with the snow falling, painting their hair with chilly white fluff.
Eventually they had to part for breath and when they did she thought of asking him how this was, but before she could he softly placed his forehead to rest against hers, gazing into her emerald orbs with love in his eyes. “Ever hear of time travel milady? Remember when we went back into France’s past for the ball? If I time things right when I get hurt…I can come back and be fine. That’s what I did on that night three years ago but I had to keep out of sight for a while.” He explained softly. This sounded crazy and unbelievable to her then again she remembered that night in Paris, and had no other way to explain how they wound up in the past era of France.
“Is there anything else you aren’t telling me? What happens if someone sees you and recognizes you?” she questioned with concern.
“It’s been three years. If anyone recognizes me then I can say “isn’t it funny how the world works about how everyone seems to have a doppelganger”.” He pointed out calmly. She sighed quietly deciding he had a point so felt to accept this, just feeling happy to not feel half dead inside anymore. Was this real love or a crush between two young people who grew up together? She had no idea but for the time being didn’t want him to leave again. Tightening her hold once more she buried her face into his chest and he rested his cheek on her head, smelling the flowery scent of her shampoo. “I’ve missed you.” He whispered.
“I missed you too, please don’t leave me again.” She muttered into his body.
Gently pulling her closer into his embrace he released a breath smiling softly. “I won’t, I’ll stay by your side.” He replied not wanting to see her hurting again, planning to if he were to leave again, for her to come with him so they could see the world together this time.