Four, three, two one, she ticked off in her head and held her breath. Her bid stood, she'd won.
"I won," she whispered softly, as if terrified speaking it would rob her of the victory. It didn't. "I won," she repeated and the cat lifted its head. When it became apparent food or affection wasn't coming its way, it returned to its nap.
She stood, her eyes still on the screen as the screen gave instructions for the purchase of her treasure. "Elmer, I won!"
Her husband sat up, startled. The man on the TV was going on about something and it took him a moment to realize it was his wife of thirty years who'd woken him from his nap. "Won what?"
"I won a recording made of the last journey of the Sarah Gadroon."
"The what?" He pushed his glasses in place and stared at her.
"The last journey of the Sarah Gadroon as she's leaving tohedock in Dover." She settled her fists on her hips and shook her head. The movement set her salt and pepper curls to dancing. "She went down due to technical difficulties in 1939. Don't you remember?"
"Technical difficulties my horse's pat-"
"Elmer!"
"It was a U boat. It's one of the reasons we got involved the World War II."
"That was never proven. Besides, what difference does it make now?" She grabbed up her purse. "What's important is that I won it!"
Polly Kelner hadn't experienced a lot of success in her life. She didn't complain, of course, for what good would that do? As a child, she had dreamed of marrying well and traveling the world. Instead, she's married Elmer who did the best he could. Somehow, Mrs Tavish's Claxton-on- the Sea Beach Bungalow's in Essex just didn't measure up to the exotic travel dreams of Polly's past.
She dreamt of a house full of children, but each month arrived with the tell-tale results of her failure to conceive. Whether it was actually her fault or Elmer's, it didn't matter. God had decided that they should be childless and she made the best of it, spoiling her nieces and nephews as best she could until they grew up and away from her. They did their best to include her, but more and more it was a matter of distance that got in her way as they moved away.
Her parents were now gone, so it was just her, Elmey and their grumpy cat, Winston Churchill Mouseripper the Third, not that there'd been a first of second. And she'd won. Her luck must be changing.
For a week she watched anxiously for the postman to wander down her path. Much like a watched pot, he arrived when she was busy weeding a bed of primroses.
"Morning, Missus Kelner. I have a package for you." Her hands shook a little as she accepted the brown wrapped package. "You all right there, ma'am?"
"I'm wonderful, Mr. Tennessey, thank you."
She barely let him reach the street before she bolted inside and hurried to the small end table in the living room. It had taken some doing to find their old record player. It was deeply buried behind years of stuff they had to have and no longer wanted. She dusted it off and plugged it in, terrified that it wouldn't work. But it had and she had rewarded its efforts by setting it on the table and dusting it every day.
Now was its moment of glory. Elmer was at the pub, enjoying the early afternoon company of his friends, so the house was hers alone.
Carefully, she unwrapped the record and took a moment to inhale its scent, smelling slightly of mildew and a bit of the ocean, although she was sure the latter that was her imagination.
Turning on the machine, she set the needle carefully and closed her eyes. A few pops and hisses and she heard the lapping of the water. The loud blast of a whistle made her squeal with surprise and then she laughed. She could hear the gulls overheard chattered and complaining. The sounds grew louder, clearer and Polly swore she could feel the rise and fall of the deck beneath her feet and the spray against her face.
Then someone screamed and without meaning to, Polly opened her eyes and saw the torpedo cutting through the water straight at her. On either side, people were crying, praying, shouting and gathering their loved ones close. She was going to die alone, amid all these strangers. Polly hugged herself and began to cry. Then strong arms embraced her and she cried even harder.
ALL IRREGULARITIES WILL BE HANDLED BY THE FORCES CONTROLLING EACH DIMENSION; TRANSURANIC HEAVY METAL MAY NOT BY USED WHERE THERE IS LIFE. MEDIUM ATOMIC WEIGHTS ARE AVAILABLE: GOLD, LEAD, COPPER, JET, DIAMOND, RADIUM, SAPPHIRE, SILVER AND STEEL. SAPPHIRE AND STEEL HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED.
"Don't cry. It was the voice of a stranger. She opened her eyes and studied his face. It wasn't a kind face that was framed by the blond hair, but it was strong and sure. "You will be all right."
"But…" Polly looked out at the sea. The sun was shining and the gulls skimmed along the surface taunting each other. "What… what happened to the torpedo."
"You're safe. We reset the loop." A young woman, blonde and slender, stepped around the man. "Nothing can hurt you now."
Polly blinked hard at the woman's garments and looked down at her own. They were old fashioned and then she saw her hands, capable and youthful hands. "What?"
"Mummy!" A young girl, her brown curls bouncing, ran up to her, dragging a younger boy behind her. "Mummy, Daddy said he'd take us to the bridge if it was all right with you. Is it, Mummy? Please?"
"Pease?" The boy added and Polly looked around.
"They are talking to you," the man said and then they were joined by… Steven Witmore. Polly blinked. Steven had been killed years ago, a drunk driver careening into him as he walked home from church one night.
"What do you say, old girl?" Steven was talking to her with a casualness that she's yearned to hear as a young woman.
"Of.. of course."
"Ta, my love." He gave her cheek a kiss and gathered the children to him.
"I don't understand." She looked back at the strangers. "Who are you?"
"I am Sapphire and this is my partner, Steel. What don't you understand?"
"All of this. I was sitting in my living room listening to a record."
"You still are."
"How can I be two places at once?"
"There are many paths that can be taken. Every one of them will take you through a series of different consequences based upon the initial path, which, in turn, leads to different outcomes."
"Like branches off a river?"
"Similar, yes." Steel's tone remained dry. "This is but one of yours. Had you made different decisions, this would be your actual reality."
"But how am I here now?"
Sapphire made a face at Steel. "We call that a technical difficulty," she said finally. "Somehow, the record you purchased trapped this moment and then you with it when you listened to it. You, yourself, have been caught in that time loop."
"What do you mean?"
"Steel, I will leave you to explain it." She stood back and turned her face to the wind, smiling as her cheeks grew red from the brisk cold.
"Your life will progress as the record plays. You will board the ship and ride to its end in a few short minutes from now when it is struck and destroyed by a torpedo."
She gave him credit. He didn't minced words. Well, neither would she. "No, it won't. I must tell the captain. It can be stopped. We will change course."
"And the world as you know it will never be the same. If this ship doesn't sink, then England will fall to Germany and the rest of the free world after that. This is a pivotal moment. A moment of personal sacrifice. Your happiness or the world, it's your decision." Steel studied her face. "Sapphire?"
She took Polly's hand. "Don't you see? This path must be followed to its end for the world as you know it to continue."
"But my husband and my children. They will be killed."
"In your reality, they never existed."
"Well, they do now and it's my job to protect them."
"It is your job to play your part. Love them and cherish each second you have with them, but in the end..." She paused, then resumed. "Well, there won't really be an end. You will board this ship again and again. You will sail and then you will watch your children and husband die in front of you again and again until you let this play out as it will."
"What can I do to save them?"
Steel leaned close, his eyes narrow and hard. "Never let them be born. Refuse this reality. You are stronger than this. Time made a mistake, you are not weak."
He stopped as the children raced up to her, both chattering like excited magpies. Polly knelt down and pulled them close. Her happiness exploded inside her. Everything she's ever wanted was here. Her husband kissed her and she looked around for the mysterious pair who had spoken so strangely to her. How could this not be her reality? It felt so right.
Then someone pointed excitedly to the horizon. "Look over there! What is that? It looks like a U boat."
She felt her happiness drain away. "No!" Polly screamed. "Reverse the ship! It's a trap."
Her husband looked at her as if she was insane. "Polly, there aren't any U boat here. It's just your nerves. You remember what the doctor said about not getting excited. When we get to France, you'll have a nice long rest and you'll be better."
All of them did and nothing she said made any difference. They ignored and pushed her aside until the inevitable happened and then there was nothing left for her to do, but moan.
"They've fired something at us!"
"Get away from the rail!"
Suddenly, her family was gone, ripped apart by the impact and she was going to die alone, amid all these strangers. Polly hugged herself and began to cry. Then strong arms embraced her and she cried even harder.
"Why are you crying?" The voice was strangely familiar
"I don't want to die," she whispered.
"Then don't."
Startled, she opened her eyes and was sitting alone in the living room, her living room. The record had finished playing and is sat ready for the next go.
She started to laugh as she reached for the on/off switch. Then she realized her sweater was dripping wet with salt water and she remember the faces of her children her husband and the love she'd felt. Slowly she started to cry as she snapped the record in two.