PRESENT DAY
“Chronos La Torre.”
Vida kept whispering non-stop as she stood in front of a high rise building with both feet firmly planted. Her neck extended high so her eyes could travel as far as they could letting her face be bathed by the rays of the sun.
Each whisper marked with a prayer that somewhere… out there… the man she was calling would be able to hear her.
Vida squinted upon looking at the top.
Instinctively she raised an arm to cover her eyes from the reflecting light emitted by the company name plastered on the upper side above the hundreds of tainted window panes. She noted how big his name was on the top… CHRONOS it said with big bold strong letters… and the fact that today’s Monday and that it was hot and humid that she needed to tie her long hair back neatly.
With nothing but a diary on hand kept near her chest, Vida relaxed her neck from prolonged extension, stayed where she was and patiently waited.
She didn’t care whether the people that came in and out the glass doors were looking at her in a weird way. What’s the use of caring anyway?
Since this morning everything was already weird for her.
The shock was still there… bone deep.
Imagine the horror of waking up not knowing the woman who stood in front of the mirror.
She debated with her reasoning that maybe… just maybe… that morning she was still dreaming.
That she’ll wake up any minute now and be laughing it all off.
Yesterday she was only 15.
A normal girl who attended high school with nothing in mind but ironing her uniform the next day… excited on the first day of classes using brand new pens and markers on notes and books. Just an A-list student who looks forward to a school year filled with academic challenges and achievement… aiming to join the committee and be nominated and win the highest position of the school’s council.
Yesterday she was only 15…
How did she end up waking up in an unknown place whereas she remembered sleeping on her bed in her comfy room last night? How did she end up looking like a full grown woman? How was it possible to have a reflection different from what she was used to... copying every movement… each flick of an eye… every expression undeniably in synced with her.
All the more the date was 2020… 10 years…
Bewildered… Scared… Confused… Dumb founded… there were no words to express what she was feeling… With 10 years robbed from her… And how absurd it was that her only refugee was a diary strategically found on her bedside… A diary that seemed to be purposely placed on her bedside since it was meant to be read.
A diary well written none other than herself…
A diary that she couldn’t recognize… and try as she might couldn’t remember writing.
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Here’s what I know: THIS IS SOMETHING THAT YOU HAVE TO READ EVEN IF YOU DON’T WANT TO. Today just read and do nothing. Today, just stay put and just like any other day, don’t find him.
VIDA
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With an eager thumb flipping through each page of the worn out diary Vida found herself reading the foreword with much curiosity. It was definitely … no doubt her hand writing.
DON’T FIND HIM it adamantly warned her but her instincts sharpened and honed by years of experience as a classic type A person told her otherwise. There was a time for panic and frustration… and that morning wasn’t the time for it. Clear headed she went out for the unknown only reading the first page to find out who he was.
“HIM” was Chronos La Torre.
A name that, once again, she couldn’t recognize and remember.
Surprisingly while his name resounded in her mind her body instinctively moved like it was used to and found things useful for her like clues left out on the room. As the minutes passed her deduction that he was the only soul in this planet that could help her proved to be right. With deft fingers she scanned the whole diary as fast as she could and she ended up looking at blank pages until she reached the end only to find an important clue.
Because the Vida in the diary wrote on the back page where to find him.
Did the Vida 10 years ago knew that the Vida 10 years after would curiously look out for clues? Did her old self know that she would skip reading because her mind was racing with anxiety to each of the mind boggling questions she had?
“CHRONOS LA TORRE.” She whispered fervently one more time before telling herself how ridiculous it was to be able to summon someone in front of a large scale structure with just that.
But it happened…
Maybe it was the lightest brush of the wind…
or maybe blame it to that same second that hit her with a sudden urge to look up front…
or maybe that gut feeling that the man who was in his late twenties gracefully walking up ahead looking sharp, sophisticated and majestic accompanied by people wearing crisp formal suits carrying varied brief cases with hands clipped on envelopes and papers was him…
Her throat suddenly dried up while her blood rushed from all corners in her body as she bravely took a small step forward towards the distance in between them…
For a heart thumping second the man whom she laid her eyes on earlier suddenly stopped walking when he briefly lifted his eyes up front and caught sight of her.
His hands lifted up in the air gracefully like an order to stop all the people behind him… The gesture almost too magical for her that it made him look like a man who was capable of controlling time… Stopping and fast forwarding it if he wanted to. Alone he walked towards Vida with long smooth strides and bridged the gap that separated them.
The light must have played tricks on Vida because it was blinding to see him now out as the sun kissed his skin. His slightly tanned skin blended with his clean cut black hair. Loose strands of hair perfectly framed his square shaped head bringing to attention his well chiseled jawline. His thick light eyebrows showed content, but friendly at the same time giving away the possibility that maybe he knew her. And though he squinted, his clear brown eyes brought out his natural beauty mashed up with his nose and bowed smiling lips… and Vida couldn't help but stare.
Vida thought that if he was truly Chronos she wouldn’t furthermore argue that this man definitely had the power to control time. Just like what his name entails this man definitely lived up to it… because Vida felt that time stood still with every step he took towards her.
Now she knew what the warning meant.
This man’s presence spelled backwards all the things that were in her vocabulary… Perfect for her before only spelled A’s, achievements and over the roof scores but this man in just few seconds spelled perfect aesthetically…
He stopped short in front, his hand that were earlier safely tucked on his pants now rested on the top of her head, engulfing her small head with a gentle tap… and with a killer smile he twisted his head to his side almost endearingly.
Don’t find him but now she stood just a few inches in front of him.
Flustered, afraid and with wide doe eyes meeting his, Vida clutched the diary closer to her chest with both hands. Deep down… even though he didn’t introduce himself… the deep recesses of her mind screamed his name…
Oh no! This man was definitely … really… really… really the Chronos La Torre that the foreword warned her not to find.
“Long time no see Vida.”
A/N:
“It's being here now that's important. There's no past and there's no future. Time is a very misleading thing. All there is ever, is the now. We can gain experience from the past, but we can't relive it; and we can hope for the future, but we don't know if there is one.”
― George Harrison
Guys. Kamusta? How are you spending your vacation? =)
AGAIN! THANK YOU FOR YOUR WARM WELCOME! =)
Let me be brazen enough to begin again with you! This time it’s with CHRONOS and VIDA,
And again there’s ME and specially YOU. AGAIN! THANK YOU!
GODBLESS!