Another Time
Disclaimer: I do not own The Time Traveller's Wife or any of the characters, they belong to Audrey Niffenegger.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009 (Henry is 38, Clare is 37 and Alba is 7)
Henry: I found myself thrown behind a building, it was clearly early morning and there were few sounds. The building in question appeared to be a school of some sort; I peered in a window hoping that no beady eyes would stare back out at me – I noticed lines of desks, rows of chairs and a rather sad looking hamster confined to a cage atop a cabinet. Was this my old primary school? With the obvious technology crowding the room, from complicated computers to the state of the art projector pointed at a whiteboard, I didn't think so. Unless it had changed so much that I couldn't recognise it. One of the windows around the side was open a crack, so I gladly climbed inside – the wind was biting at my exposed skin. After a little searching I found a 'lost property' box although there wasn't anything in my size or even close to it and as could be expected – no shoes. Well that's a lie, there was a shoe, suspiciously not a child's, but I didn't fancy wearing the one stiletto. Once kitted out in my very snug jogging bottoms (at least 6 inches too short) and an old tatty football shirt, which probably wasn't designed to be this snug and show your midriff, I headed to find the canteen. On my way I came across the staff room well equipped with comfortable couches and hallelujah a coffee maker! The fridge contained milk, so I was able to curl up on a sofa and let the caffeinated goodness warm my insides. I even found some biscuits in the cupboard.
While I started to wonder why I was even here and when here was exactly, I distinctly heard a set of keys being jangled in some distant lock and a low pitched whistling. I abandoned my empty mug and darted down the corridor to a locked room. Twisting around I chose a different direction to head in, luckily ending up at an unlocked door which lead outside into the bitter cold air.
When pouring out the milk, I had taken a moment to check the date; February 2, 2009, but who knows how long ago or how long until that date is or was. For all I know it could have been last week, the milk did smell a bit funny. The tell-tale signs of winter still lingered. After hiding myself carefully behind some garbage cans around the back, I thought about where I should probably be, was this anything relevant to me or had I fallen through time to this random moment and location? A sea of heads began flooding through the school gates, I peeked around the corner to watch as parents waved goodbye hastily, children skipped and ran, others dawdled and needed a bit of a push into the playground. I watched for a minute, smiling at how happy and carefree they were when I spotted my girls. Beautiful Clare; a woolly hat pulled tight over her head, trapping her wild hair against the icy winds. She had aged quite quickly since my present. Dark shadows seemed to cloud her face. She was bending down to kiss a young girl in a daring pink coat; I saw how similar this girl's hair colour was to my own, before the grey had started coming through, how she looked so like Clare and seemed to smile a grin which I recognised too well, even though I had not seen it since I had last travelled to a time when my mother was still alive. Too similar. Her eyes flashed up to Clare's and Clare smiled too. The resemblance was uncanny. Clare handed the girl a little rucksack and waved as she disappeared through the gates joining her classmates.
Clare slipped off a black glove and rubbed her eyes. She was thirty-seven, nearly thirty-eight I think, just a bit younger than I am in my present, yet she looks so much older and tired – so tired. Quietly she slipped away unnoticed and I craned my neck to watch the small girl follow her friends into school, talking animatedly. My daughter, I thought to myself. Our daughter.
Author's Note
Would love a couple of reviews to let me know what you think! I'm going to try and write a few short passages, this one doesn't necessarily fit into the story, but I hope you like it anyway :)