Going Going Gone
Lisa stares at the ceiling. She is exhausted but she can’t sleep. After six months in their new location they have made huge advancements toward completing their project. She is hoping that in another 6 months she will be able to return to civilization.
“Hey” a voice calls to her. It is the voice of a young girl. She looks in the direction of the voice and it is a young girl. She normally would have been startled except this kind of thing has happened to her before. The young girl has brown hair and blue eyes. She looks to be in her early twenties.
“Who are you and what do you want?” Lisa asks.
“You’re not surprised to see me are you?” The young girl replies.
“Are you here to mess with the past?” Lisa asks ignoring the young girl’s reply.
“Yes, but I’m also here to save you.” The young girl confesses.
“Save me from what?” Lisa demands.
“If you don’t come with me, you are going to die.” The young girl answers.
“How do you know that.” Lisa presses.
“I just know. From your prespective the future is full of possibilities. From my perspective, there are only three. I’m going to pick the one I want. Now you can stay here and die or you can come with me.” The young girl is holding a cube with tiny holes in it like the one Lisa saw Jake holding.
“Where did you get that?” Lisa asks refering to the cube.
“Oh so you know what this is then?” The young girl states holding up the cube.
“My brother Jake has one.” Lisa offers.
“Oh yeah that’s right. Jake does have one of these.” The young girl agrees.
“Do you know my brother Jake?” Lisa asks.
“Yeah I know him. Would you like to see him?” The young girl offers.
“You can take me to him?” Lisa asks.
“Of course I can. Just grab my hand and we’ll be gone.” The young girl says.
“I don’t know. How will my project team get along without me?” Lisa questions.
“Your project team is going to be dead so that won’t be a problem.” The young girl states matter of factly.
“What do you mean dead? How can you talk about death like that?” Lisa says alarmed.
“From my point of view, your project team had been dead for hundreds of years.” The young girl explains, “So it’s not something I’m going to get all choked up over. There’s nothing you can do to stop it but I will save you if the thought of being dead disturbs you.”
“I don’t want to just leave my project team to die!” Lisa exclaims.
“Well, you can stay and die with them or you can come with me. It’s not that hard of a choice, in fact it’s pretty much a no-brainer.” The young girl says.
Lisa is horrified at how casual the young girl speaks of death. What kind of person is this and should she really be going to who knows where with her? She has the same time traveling cube that Jake has so there’s a good chance she is telling the truth. Still there is something about this girl that Lisa doesn’t trust. Something in her eyes that Lisa can’t quite put her finger on. Still the thought of dying doesn’t appeal to her.
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” Lisa asks.
“You don’t but it’s your funeral, or it could be your funeral. I’ll give you a couple more seconds to decide and then I’m out of here.” The young girl says. Lisa lunges at the girl and startles her. She is startled just enough for Lisa to grab the cube with the tiny holes in it.
“You’re not going anywhere.” Lisa tells her. Lisa looks into one of the tiny holes but nothing happens.
“It won’t work for you.” The young girl says, “It only works for me. So you want us both to die then?” The young girl asks.
“I want you to tell me the truth. Who are you and what are you doing here?” Lisa demands.
“I told you the truth, you and your whole project team are going to die and I’m going to decided which future gets to happen.” The young girl answers. She seems completely unfazed by the turn of events.
“Where is Jake?” Lisa asks.
“He’s in the future having a wonderful time.” The young girl answers, “and you could join him instead of dying if you want.”
“I don’t believe you. There’s something you’re not telling me.” Lisa says.
“Of course there’s something I’m not telling you. There’s a lot of things I’m not telling you and just so you know, I’m not going to tell you but I will tell you this, the clock is ticking. tick. tock. tick. tock.” Lisa isn’t sure what to do with this young girl. The young girl knows what is going to happen and seems completely unfazed by it.
Lisa hears a muffled explosion.
“There it is.” The young girl says as if the explosion is something she is expecting, “You’re going to have to decide quickly now.” She adds. Lisa hears the rapid fire of gunshots and fear grips her. The young girl grabs Lisa’s hand and the cube at the same time and looks into one of the tiny holes. There is a bright light and when Lisa’s sight returns to her . . .
If you haven't read any of the previous posts, you can find them below
https://theprose.com/post/313074/this-mortal-coil
https://theprose.com/post/310424/board-room