❝In class, you said I reminded you of someone. Who is she?❞
❝My wife. You remind me of my wife.❞
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When an accidental time travel brings twenty-seven-year-old William eight years back to the pas...
He closed his eyes again and caught hold of her hands. She let him go of her and instead, put his hands on both sides of her waist, surprising him. She resumed her work on his neck and head, pressing in firm patterns, making his head feel lighter and lighter.
"How long do you think you can continue this game?" she said in between. "You know that the moment you die, your soul will regret that it was all for nothing."
"I...can't...stop trying, Eliza." He struggled to let the words out. "I promised my wife that I'm returning home and I am not going back to a house that doesn't have her in it."
"That's your time. That's your home. You don't belong here," she spoke in a determined voice.
"I belong wherever she belongs. There is no home for me without her." The moment the sentence left his mouth, he found her grip on his shoulder tighten and he knew he had an effect.
I want to be your pride — he wanted to say that to her but just then, something else happened. He heard hurried footsteps storming towards the hall and his entire body stiffened. He pulled Eliza closer by instinct. He opened his eyes to find Harvey Scott breathless and looking like he had been running a marathon.
"William!" Harvey spoke, between gasps.
"What's wrong, Papa?" Eliza let go of him and asked her father.
"Your...house, William. Your house is on fire!"
***
Eliza couldn't believe what she was seeing. The moment the words escaped her father's mouth, William grew hysterical. His facial calmness changed back into the agony that he had masked before. She knew he wasn't in his right mind for when he got up, he ended up pushing her but didn't respond when she called him. He pushed past her and ran.
"William, wait!" she and her father both called out as they rushed after him.
She saw him run out of the door and followed behind her father. When she stepped out, she screamed at the sight.
William's house was in flames. The fire burned everything. All she could see were the colours of yellow, orange, red and the high flames. Eliza didn't take notice of the neighbours who were rushing in and out of their houses, carrying buckets of water to spray. Some of them sprayed with their garden hoses and she heard someone else shouting to call the fire department but her eyes fell on the figure who was fighting to get inside the house as two men tried to stop him.
"William!" She heard her father shout.
There was chaos all around and as the men tried to stop William from entering the house, she was frightened almost to the verge of fainting when she saw him bite one of the men and slip out of their grasp. She screamed when she saw him run forward and break down the old, rusty door with a hard push of his arm.
"Will!" she screamed her lungs out and rushed forward.
"Son!" her father shouted but when he saw her run towards the very direction, he blocked her way. Eliza stopped when she reached her father and stared at the open door, unbelievably.
"Papa!" she exclaimed and her father caught her hand. He wasn't saying anything and she knew that he was expecting the same.
For William to get out unharmed.
She could hear chaos all around them as a few people cursed and shouted at William but he wasn't out. Eliza clasped her hands and closed her eyes, to pray to God.
"Please God. Please save him. He is stupid and reckless but don't let him die. Please let him out. Please."
"Eliza!" She opened her eyes when she heard her father and relief washed over her when she saw William getting out of the house.
His whole body was covered in sweat and a part of his shirt was torn, near his chest. his face was black with ash. He stumbled as he tried to reach her. His eyes were red and his lips opened and closed with effort.
Her eyes filled with tears as she watched him. One of her neighbours, Larry, came forward and put a shawl on William but the latter's eyes were fixed on her and finally, Eliza noticed what he was holding in his hand.
Papers.
He was holding sheets of papers and Eliza couldn't understand what was happening. With tumbling steps, he reached her. When her father reached out to hold him, he whisked his hand away. He stopped until he was just an inch away from her. He looked deep into her eyes and tears streamed down her cheeks. To her, it felt like the entire world had stopped and it was only her and him.
A small, weak smile claimed his lips. He fell on his knees in front of her and she fell along with him, their eyes not leaving each other.
"You have no idea how much I love you." Those were the last words she heard from him before his strength gave out and he fell forward, his head falling on her shoulder. She stared at the burning house in shock. She didn't move as her father and a few other men reached out to pull him away from her.
Before they whisked him away, she pulled the papers out of William's hand. She sat still, trying to gather the courage to look at them and finally, her eyes fell on the blackened pages which were so special to William that he didn't care about his life before jumping to save them. Her entire self shook when she looked at the first sheet of paper and the words in it made her feel sick.
'Dear Eliza'
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