The Lost Time #2 by Alvine Labana R. (Creative Writing)

Encounter

            The times won’t stop, it won’t wait for anyone else and it won’t come back no matter what happened. Life is really short, it’s really close to the end and what awaits us at the end of life? Of course, it’s death. Life’s deadline is decided since the day a human born. Every human has a lifespan and somehow my eyes can see it.

            I can see someone’s lifespan, there’s no doubt about it. I have seen so many deaths in front of my eyes, but there’s something odd here. I can’t see that girl’s lifespan, but why? Is there something special about her? I have many thoughts about this, but I have to confirm it by myself. First, I guess I have to know her first, but that sounds difficult though. I rarely talk with people, so I don’t really know how to start. She slowly leaving the crowd, at least I have to make contact with her. I approached her without a plan. She is standing right in front of me now, but I can’t say a word.

         The girl looking at me with a confused look and asking “What? What do you want?” Somehow, her tone is intimidating. There is no single word coming from my mouth. I look at her head again to make sure, but still there is no lifespan time above her head.  

        “If you don’t have any business with me, then bye” she just leave me and disappear in the crowd.

            I made a contact, even though it’s really fast. However, I’m still losing my chance to get any information about her, but crying over a spilled milk won’t fix anything. There is no mistake about her lifespan, I can’t see it.

            “Wow man, are you really trying to hit on that girl? Yeah, she’s amazing after all.” Tommy comes out from nowhere.

            “It’s not like that, let’s go.”  We’re leaving the crowd, then going home.

            I’m going straight to my bedroom after I arrived and hit the sack. I stretch my body in the bed, lean my head in the most comfortable position, close my eyes, and start thinking. There are so many things to think about. Still on the same question, why can’t I see that girl’s lifespan? This is the first time I can’t it. There are several possibilities. Think about it, I can see every human’s lifespan. Is that mean she’s not a human or something? Like a dead person or ghost, but there are so many people who can see her at the Game Center. There is no way she is a ghost, but she could be a dead person. She’s already dead, so she doesn’t have a lifespan anymore. Coming back to life after death doesn’t seem to make sense. Another possibility is she can hide her lifespan, but for what? I didn’t think there are many people with the same power as I exist. The same power, did she have the same power as mine? I can’t see my own lifespan in the mirror or another thing that can reflect myself. Is that how this power works?  Whatever, there’s only one way to find out.

            The next day, I’m going for a walk, while hoping to bump into that girl once again. The first place that comes into my mind is the Game Center, our first meeting place. It’s my wish to meet her, but I don’t know what to do. Making a friend with her is a good option, but I have a bad feeling about this. I came to the Game Center once again. The place is crowded like the usual, a lot of people came here to having fun. I’m traveling around for several minutes, but that girl doesn’t seem to come to this place.

            I decided to leave the place and looking for another place, but nothing come to my mind. On the way to go to another place, I caught a glimpse of her, she standing there in the pedestrian bridge over the road. That’s the same place that I used to wait for Tommy yesterday. How do I put it? Yesterday, she looks really enthusiastic on the dance floor, but today she looks so gloomy. It’s like this cloudy day coming from her. I can even see her sadness from her eyes. Perhaps it’s not a good day to say hi to her, but I have to know her.

            “Hi!” I approached her without thinking any further and trying to be as friendly as I can. A casual conversation should do it. “You’re the girl from yesterday right? Your dance is really a thing”.

            “Oh yes, e t-thanks.” Surprisingly, she answered me with a good response. Honestly, I thought I’m going to get a cold response just like yesterday.

            “What are you doing up here? Waiting for someone to go to the Games Center?”

            “No, I’m just-“ She caught a glimpse of something in the road over there. “Sorry, I have to go.” She left me and running to it. Her face, it’s like she saw a ghost or something. I won’t lose this chance, not this time.

            I’m trying to catch up with her, but she runs really fast. She’s going through the alleyway. I’m not an athletic type, but she runs really fast for a girl. What did she running for in the first place? Exhaustion forced me to stop for a bit. I lost her shadow, but I think I knew where she goes. She’s probably going out from the alleyway and running to the main road. After a break, it’s time to running again. I followed her once again and finally catch up to her, but I can’t believe what I saw. It looks like there’s a car accident here.

            “Come on! You can do it!” that girl is holding a person covered with blood right now.

            That person is still breathing, but there’s only 10 seconds left for that man to live. What a tragedy. Nothing I can do with that, there’s no way a human can stop an inevitable death. Knowing someone’s death time but can do anything about it. This power is really pointless. I decided to leave and talking to that girl on another day.

            I came back to my bed once again to think about what just happened. That girl runs to a car accident that just happened. Did she saw that man crossing the road or she saw a car losing its control? Think about the third possibility, is that really what happened? She has the same power just like me? I have to make sure.

            The next day, I have a class in the morning, so I decided to do a patrol after class. The current patrol is not the same as before. Usually, I’m looking for a person with a short lifespan, but now I’m looking for that girl. Come to think of it, I forgot to ask for her name. This time for sure, I’m going to know her.

            After the class, I’m just wandering around in the city. I’m not really sure I can find her after that accident, but let’s give it a try. It took me not long to find something. There’s a crowd over there, but I can’t see what happened there. I took my step to the crowd and found that the crowd is trying to stop someone from suicidal attempt. There’s a girl standing on the edge of a building. I knew her, she’s my classmate. That’s Olivia, she didn’t come to the class today, and maybe this is the reason why. Three minutes, she has three minutes left.

         Sorry to say Olivia, but there’s nothing I can do. I thought about leaving the crowd immediately, but for god sake. Why is she doing up there?! There’s a person holding Olivia, and that’s her. The girl that I’m looking for, the person who doesn’t have lifespan time.

To be continued...

Alvine Labana R.
1830911039
2nd chapter