Ashley's Short Stories

Time Jump

Random short story! :)

🏃Time Jump 🏃

  He’s behind me.    

I hear the sound of his boots hitting the ground. His breaths come out deep, almost relaxed.   

I am not so relaxed as him.  Everything is falling apart. I lost Ryland when the man caught up to us.  Him, as well as others, have been tracking us for days.  Ryland  yelled for me to follow him. We weren't suppose to separate. The man lunged for me. I threw myself to the right and jumped up. I spun around, breaking into a run in the opposite direction.

 “Ryland, jump!” The man was behind me already. I knew he would follow me, I was more important in his eyes. Ryland could transport to different locations, while my ability was slightly different and more important to the man.

  I hoped Ryland jumped.  I didn’t dare look behind me in fear that he would be trying to catch up to me. The man would grab him before he could even get to me so we could both jump. Ryland has done some dumb things, but I hope he wasn’t that rash.   I pushed myself forward, farther into the dark alley. I had a feeling it was going to end soon. My fingers ran along the wall, searching for somewhere to turn. After a few more feet,they weren’t touching anything anymore. I found a new alley.  

I turned my body to the right, pressing my foot into the ground, and throw my body forward. The side of my body hits a wall, slowing me down. I pressed myself off it, afraid he was getting too close for comfort.   I was almost into a run when he grabbed my wrist, yanking me back. It surprised me for a moment before my instincts kicked in. I pulled the elbow of my free arm back into his stomach. His grip on my arm slightly released as I spun around.  He took a step back as I took a step forward. I pulled my right arm back. I need to relax, I was too tight.   I took a breath of air and locked my muscles in. My fist collided with the bottom of his jaw. His head flew back, but he remained standing.   I cursed,  spinning around. I need to jump.    Now.     I closed my eyes, relaxing my body. I’ve done this is many bad situations. This was no different.   

The man spoke for the first time, “Get back here you little b-“  

A hole had already opened in front of me. Wind had erupted around us, hiding his curse words from me. I turned around, running backwards. A small smirk on my face as I waved at him. He threw himself forward to try and grab me but I was already falling back into the hole.      

  My body was falling. In the first moments you feel terrified. Your body doesn’t know how to react as it free falls.  Reality sinks in as I realize I am time jumping. I am jumping into the past. The man tried to catch me because of my time ability. Nobody else could time jump.  The others, including Ryland, could only jump from location to location.   I was different that way and that’s why the Academy wanted me again.  They wanted to understand how I could jump through time. But I wasn’t going back there.   I smiled to myself. My body was relaxing, hair whipping around my face. The feeling indescribable. I was skydiving without a parachute. Soon I began to slow down, reaching the end of my jump. I didn’t know where I was going. I was being chased and didn’t think about the time I wanted to jump to.   I landed on my stomach in grass. It felt soft and slightly damp. I didn’t mind since I had been running. Both of hands held on to a fist of the grass as I got on my hands and knees. I pulled myself up.  I had to get going. Ryland and I decided on a place to meet if we ever got separated. Hopefully I can get there easily. I can’t jump to a specific location like Ryland. I just and somewhere and hope its close.   I scanned the area, already realizing where I’m at.

Curse words are flying through my mouth.   “I jumped in the 1970’s. Fantastic”