BONUS ROUND 3 - GENRE FICTION

[a1c0bb]

this round is about writing prompts inspired by genre fiction, aka fantasy, crime, romance, horror, or sci-fi!

to submit a prompt or fill, reply to this post!

Fills can be in any format, and you can fill any prompt (even if it's your own or your teammates)!

for your prompt post title, please use the following format:
PROMPT: TEAM [TEAM NAME]
if you are participating as a vote-only member, use this format:
PROMPT: VOTER

for your fill  post title, please use the following format:
FILL: TEAM [TEAM NAME]
if you are participating as a vote-only member, use this format:
FILL: VOTER

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FILL: TEAM OC

[tabby_shieldmaiden]

OC/OC

It’s unfair, I know. I’ve been living this one day for years at this point, always trying my best to make the most of every hour, minute, second… all before the most painful of things would happen.

I didn’t know why I survived. This accident should have taken either both of us, or none of us. I had bargained with the Timekeepers, bargained with the gods, bargained with Death and Destiny and anyone else who had this situation in their jurisdiction. And they all agreed. No, her death had to happen that evening, that time, no matter what. And I had to live. This was the only way to ensure the timeline remained stable. Apparently this collapsing bridge was just that important. Who lived, who died, all etched in stone. Nothing could have been done. Nothing could have been improved. This was to be our fate, and nothing could be done to stop that.

I suppose a Timekeeper felt sorry for me, because when I fell asleep, after trying to argue with and fight against any and every force of nature which I thought could help me, I woke up the next day in our bed. Emphasis ours. Callie was still sleeping next to me. The radio woke us up with More Than a Feeling playing on the classic rock station. She turned to me, kissed me good morning, and commented that my breath stank. A carbon copy of the previous morning. At that point in time, it was all… jarring. It all felt like a nightmare, yet at the same time the most achingly real thing to ever exist. I had no idea what to say next without coming off a nutjob, so I simply followed the script for the morning. Every word hurt to say, yet I could not stop myself from saying them in order.

I found their note in the bathroom cabinet, as we got ready for the day. It was accompanied by one of their time-reversal devices. This was supposed to be valuable property; normal civilians weren’t supposed to own one of these things. Someone could very well get into a whole world of trouble if someone found out they gave it to me.

But the note said ‘Tamara, use this wisely, for as long as you need’. I wonder what happened to them all the time now. Did they get into trouble for this? All just to help give me some comfort?

It had been a good day which ended in tragedy. The morning began with her pancakes and my breakfast smoothies. And then we were going out to our spot in the woods. We packed sandwiches and water, trail mix and juice and cookies. Today was both our days off, and we had been planning this picnic for weeks at that point. We were going to spend the whole day together just the two of us. No work obligations, no family issues, no nothing to worry about.

And to be frank, it had been a lovely day. We hiked up the trail until we found our little oasis. Our little pond. We had our picnic, and we just laid there for hours. Talking about life, talking about work, talking about our families and our friends. We talked about animals and plants, new facts we learned on Wikipedia. We talked about Satoshi Kon’s movies, which we had all recently rewatched.

After we rested for a bit, we took a dip in the pond. We floated around, talking about the really secret thoughts we all had. At that moment, the universe opened up. And it was just me and her, her and me. We spent the afternoon exploring whole solar systems, all within the corner of the world we decided to call our own.

As we dried up, I remembered the device. It was in my jean pocket. And a wave of memory washed over me. What was supposed to happen, what was supposed to be the inevitable. What was supposed to happen at the end of this joyous day.

And when I saw Callie drying herself off, cast against the glow of the evening sunset. When I remembered what would have been our last night. When I think about what the gods, what Death, what Destiny and those goddamn time cops said to me, when I tried to bargain with them, I realised I could not stand it. I looked at her, thought of what I would have to face. No, not yet. Not for one more day.

I just wanted another day with her. So in the heat of emotion, I reset that day. And every evening, as we dried off, I wanted yet another one. Another, another, another.

And before I knew it, this one day stretched out into a year. Two years, several years of the same, exact day.

Okay, not the exact same day. We had different sandwiches each time. Talk about different subjects. I kept trying to find new, novel ways to go about the day, and found some joy in each and every minor change. This whole exercise exposed me to all new sides of Callie I had never known before, and I think I grew comfortable with it. Especially when evening came, and the pain of loss washed over me once more. I knew I had to have another day with her. Just one more day, I told myself, each and every single time.

And I know it’s a selfish thing, yet I cannot think of a life without her, my Callie. There was a life before her. Before we met at the bar and agreed to continue meeting each other after that. But I can’t envision a time after her. I simply cannot. There is too much blank space, too much ambiguity. Who could even imagine it.

So for the time being, it’ll be this day. Over and over and over again, for as long as I need.