reappeared next to a small table with a note sitting on it.
Brian,
Your soul-mate will be killed tonight – by you – if you don't save her. Don't be seen.
- A.
I struggled to remember who I killed that it might have been, and then it hit me. She was beautiful, tall and chubby, with a wicked sense of humor. I remembered chatting with her at the bar awhile before bringing her back to my place.
I slipped into a booth near the front of the bar and settled in to wait. About an hour later she arrived with some friends. She was just as beautiful as I remembered, with long curly red hair. I walked up to her at the bar and said, "Hey, I'm a person. You're a person. Can we talk?" She looked at me and laughingly agreed, "Hi, I'm Alanna".
Shortly after we started chatting I saw my past self walk in. Being careful to not be seen, I asked if I could walk her home. It was early, but she was tired and agreed "Just let me tell my friends, okay?"
After a while it became clear that she wasn't coming back. I looked around the room and saw no sign of her or my past self. I sighed, realizing that I'd failed in my mission. I pressed the button on my watch again and watched the world swirl around me.
This time I took a seat near where Alanna's friends were going to sit. I sipped on a beer while I watched the evening play out. Someone sat down in my booth just as Alanna told her friends she was leaving; I looked up -- into my own face. Shit! I wasn't supposed to be seen I felt my heart start to flutter, as if it was about to burst.
---
Alanna sat up in her bed, her heart racing; Brian, the time travel, death – all just a nightmare. The moonlight coming in her window illuminated a bracelet on Alanna's right arm. Upon further examination, she realized it looked exactly the same as the watch in her dream. Surprised and curious, she pressed the watch's button and watched as her surroundings wavered and vanished.
She reappeared next to a small table with a note sitting on it.
No-Fly
Michelle rushed to the computer to buy a plane ticket to London. She had just learned that she was one of the lucky girls to get a date with Roderick Gilbreath, the famous and utterly dreamy film star. Michelle had been a fan of Roderick ever since his bit part in that cult classic, Candlelight Dinner.
Roderick has been looking for a wife, and his agent put out an ad for what was probably the strangest casting call ever. Any female between the ages of 24 and 34 was eligible; she only had to fill out a questionnaire on her lifestyle. The women that were selected would get one date with Roderick. If they could win his heart after a few hours, well, anything could happen. Michelle's date was scheduled in just a week.
One ticket for "Michelle Whiteside" was purchased. Her bags were packed -- with essentials only. She was going to use this trip as an excuse to go dress shopping in England. She was ready to meet the man of her dreams.
She showed up at the DFW airport, two hours ahead of departure time, and tried to check in at one of the automated kiosks, only to have an error message pop up: "You must see a live check-in agent to proceed".
The check-in agent asked for several forms of identification before saying, "I'm sorry, Ms. Whiteside, I am unable to provide you with a boarding pass today. Your name is on our no-fly list."
Michelle was shocked. Sure, there was that thing that happened last time, but was that really enough to blacklist her from flying? She went back home and called her best friend. "Carey, I need your help."
After several hours of brainstorming a solution presented itself. It involved a bit of forgery that was probably illegal, but, to meet Roderick, anything was worth a try. "The only time this airline checks your passport against the boarding pass is at the initial security station," Carey said.
They spent the rest of the day buying another ticket, in Carey's name, and making a couple of fake boarding passes.
Michelle's fake boarding pass was sufficient enough to get her past security and the real pass was barely glanced at before boarding the airplane. Roderick was even dreamier in person and the date was incredibly fun. They went back to her hotel room for sex after dinner, it was mediocre at best, but Michelle figured she could teach him what she liked.
She had another date with Roderick the next night. He clearly felt more comfortable with her, because he took his shoes off (his feet smelled like stale corn chips), and slurped his soup. Michelle was terribly disappointed, so she deleted his number from her phone and moved on.
The next morning she bumped into Frank Wildberg, another dreamy British actor. His feet didn't smell like corn chips and he never ever slurped his soup. They named their first son Roderick.
Author's Notes
I hope you enjoyed these very short stories. I greatly enjoyed writing them for you. I welcome all reviews, both good and bad. I would like to thank my husband David Sowder for his encouragement and support. I also want to thank my friends who unwittingly supplied me with first names for my characters.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorMarleneSowder
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarleneSowder
My blog: https://marlene.sowder.com
Email:
[email protected] This book is dedicated to the memory of my dear friend Michelle Whiteside Spears. I miss you every day.
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