Prompt: Years ago you came up with a nonsensical code phrase that you would use if you ever went back in time and needed to convince yourself of who you were. You never wrote it down or told anyone what it was. Today a young woman you’ve never met walks up to you on the sidewalk and speaks the phrase.152Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV8ZSlJJ0XC
A young woman coming up the path burned holes in me with her gaze. Awkward. I stepped to the side to get out of her way since we were on a collision course and she showed no intention of moving. She realigned her course and stopped dead in front of me, her eyes wide and bulging.
"The Italian's wife's name is Eli." She nodded at me.
My brain scrambled to make sense of what was happening. It's bad enough that I get anxious talking to strangers; she just walked up to me like we were continuing a conversation. What Italian? Who was his wife?
"Sorry?"
"Are you kidding me?!" She looked at me in disbelief. "Why can't you just stick to one phrase?!"
She grabbed my hands and looked at my watch and jewellery before snatching my phone out of my hands.
"Hey!"
"Shut up!" She said, trying to enter my pin.
I watched her try the same combination twice. 5272.
I snatched the phone back from her before she could try a third time. "You'll lock me out!"
"The password's not Lara. What did you change it to?"
"How do you know my old password?" I looked at her closely; she looked oddly familiar. " You're that crazy woman from last week!"
"Last week for you, an hour for me."
"Who are you?" I demanded.
She looked at me and sighed in annoyance. "Don't make me use the cringe one."
I took a good look at the woman in front of me. I wanted to remember her for the next time she tried to approach me. Suddenly she put her hands on her hips, pushed her chest out, and shouted at the top of her voice.
"I am Lara Dubois. I am Superwoman, and I have a job to do."
"Shut up!" I hissed, looking around frantically at the other pedestrians now watching her display.
I grabbed her arm and pulled her into the nearest alleyway. No one knew I liked Superwoman growing up. It was a well-kept secret. So well hidden that I used to burn anything I had with a Superwoman reference. No one knew but me. I stared slack-jawed at the woman in front of me.
"Nice to see I have your attention. I could kill you for that. I'm going to be the laughing stock of the department."
"You're me?" I asked on the verge of tears of public shame.
"Yes! We don't have much time. You need to go to the clock tower on Fields Street and stop the woman in red."
"What?"
"Go! You have 5 minutes!"
"Stop her from doing what?"
"Go!"
"Fields Street is 10 minutes away!" I shouted at her fading image.
"Payback for all your procrastinating." Her voice trailed off.
Trust me to get me involved in some mess.
I ran across streets and alleyways, barely missing pedestrians and dodging through moving traffic. I got to the clock tower just in time to see a woman in a red skirt suit walking up the steps of the old church. I ran after her, grabbing her shoulder before she stepped into the hall.
Shit. Now what? How was I going to play this off?
"Eli, I need to talk to you." I said, out of breath, as I dragged her out of the church.
Yes, I dragged a grown woman I had never met before in my life out of a church while she was fighting back and cursing at me. Today could not get any worse. I hope she doesn't sue me or call the cops.
When we got a few steps from the church, the other me appeared again.
"Not bad, slowpoke."
She slapped a pair of bulky-looking handcuffs on the woman's hands and put a circlet with blinking lights on her head. The woman immediately stopped resisting and disappeared a few seconds later.
"What the hell? Was she some sort of criminal, like a future Hitler or something?"
"No, she was one of the original scientists working on the time machine. We suspect she might be able to solve the overheating problem. But someone arranged to have her executed in this church today before the machine was completed."
Wow. "Overheating?"
"Yeah, we can only travel for 2-minute periods along our timeline before we have to return, and it takes the system 5 minutes to cool down."
"So, will I see you again?"
"Who knows. By the way, you should run, like now. It's gonna blow." She said, pointing to the church.
"The hell!" I ran as fast as my fatigued legs could carry me.
What is this, suicide?
"Break up with Antonio; Hakim's a better catch!" She yelled as she faded away again.
The explosion shook the air; glass shattered and rained down from the nearby buildings. Pieces of the old church were flung in every direction. One piece struck me in the back, knocking me over.
When I got up, the church and the clock tower were in flames. Blood poured from a gash near my temple. I gently touched the wound.
That's how she got that scar.
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