War, Love and Timetravel

Under no circumstance have I been focused on something so insignificant until now, I found myself gazing at the claw in front of me while my right hand carefully held the controllers, taking a deep breath afterwards, the phrase ‘now or never’ popped into my head after the last piece of coin was slipped into the sloth, “you can do this” said encouragingly by my little sister Sophie standing beside me, Sophie was just six years old and she seemed desperate that I got this right, so I stood there hoping to the stars in the clear night on New Year’s Eve, the last night of the year 2021, celebrating with my family at the happiest theme park in the country officially called, “the national theme park”. I looked over to my second immediate sister Mary who was turning fourteen that day which placed me just two years ahead of her. Mary seemed to be having the time of her life with mum and dad in the basketball section hustling to nail the high score, “Francis focus” Sophie said from below with her incredibly cute and tiny voice shaking my elbow desperately with both hands, “relax Sophie, I got this” I replied, placing my hand back on the controllers to attempt grasping and winning a teddy bear for Sophie, so I asked her to pick the one she would love to win, closed my eyes, wishing to be on the lucky side then slowly began moving the robotic claw in the glass machine with both eyes closed, oblivious of the one it would pick I pressed the grab button in suspense unwilling to open my eyes but before I knew it, I heard Sophie jumping and shouting for joy so I opened my eyes and there it was, the exact teddy she chose, I couldn’t believe it. I was so happy for her at that moment. She hugged my knees and said, “thank you Francis” with her arms still wrapped around my legs, “don’t thank me little Sophie, I wouldn’t have been lucky if I wasn’t doing it for my little angel” I said, then crouched and embraced her lovingly, “common lets go see what daddy and mummy are up to” I said and carried her to the basketball section of the park, “mummy, daddy” Sophie called out as we approached them, “Francis got me a teddy bear” she added, “well aren’t you the lucky one” mum replied, “hey Francis get over here and join us we need to beat the high score before the time runs out” Dad said gasping for breath as he was ceaselessly throwing the balls into the net, “dad, why are you asking him to join? We’ll end up not beating the high score if he does” Mary said to Dad in an attempt to ridicule me, I moved over and shoved her out of play then took her place, “watch me maggot” I said after pushing her with my shoulder, “I wonder sometimes if its hydrogen or carbon that’s in that empty head of yours” she blurted irately, “hey stop it you two, can’t you be nice to each other for once, just this once” mum said with concern, “Francis, today’s her birthday at least….” mum was saying before I cut her short, “yeah yeah I know mum, I’m trying my best here” I murmured to mum while I looked over to Mary and rolled my eyes at her. Mary stuck out her tongue at me with her eyes squeezed closed then clumsily walked away. Ignoring her I picked up a ball, made my first attempt and scored a goal, “whoa France, have you actually considered becoming a professional basket baller?” dad asked curiously while still focused on the game, “nah, it ain’t really my thing” I replied sluggishly picking up another ball, “what do you mean not your thing, common try again let’s see how good you really are” he said and I immediately took my second shot and missed. Till this day I’m still not sure if I missed on purpose. “I want to go ride the roller coaster” little Sophie requested pointing a finger behind me, “of course dear, Francis will take you” mum said stroking Sophie’s cheeks, “what?” I exclaimed almost in a whisper as I turned back to see how far away it was, “it’s so far away mum, am I supposed to carry her all the way up there? Jeez” I said reluctantly, “don’t be selfish, now take her and you guys should have a great time” mum replied handing Sophie over to me, I hesitated for a while letting out a huge sigh of frustration before accepting her. We were half way there now and little Sophie was now demanding some ice cream, “shush your little ungrateful mouth” I said to Sophie, “I win you a teddy bear and this is how you choose to repay me?” I asked her as we walked the endless path, “Francis” I heard a voice say over the deafening sounds of the strident park, “what? Sophie did you call my name just now?” I asked her with uncertainty, “no, but that man did”  she replied terrifyingly pointing to the photo booth on the right, I looked over and saw a strange young man about 26 years of age slowly walking out from behind the photo booth with blood all over his blue T-shirt and blue jeans, his face was bruised up and there were cuts all over his chest and arms, quickly I covered Sophie’s eyes so she wouldn’t see any more of what I was seeing and hurried over to the young man, “my Goodness Sir are you okay?” I asked him, “How did you know my name?” I asked again curiously, this young man was seriously gasping for breath as he fell to the ground, sitting up and resting his back against the photo booth, “Help!” I called out looking around but the area was unusually isolated, “hel….” I tried calling out again before the man interrupted by holding my hand and pulling me closer, “I don’t need help Francis I need you to listen carefully, take Sophie and you, your entire family should leave this park immediately” he warned seriously, “what?! What the hell are you talking about?” I asked without hesitation, “look I don’t have time to explain, “just leave right now, you’re running out of time” he continued saying, “look mister, I don’t know what’s up with you but you need some serious medical attention, you’ve probably suffered a major brain injury or something, I’m gonna go get you help” I said with my hand still above Sophie’s eyes, I hastily stood up  to go get help but as I turned away from the young man I heard an even deeper voice, a different voice speak, “halt Francis, not so fast” it said, I slowly turned back around and saw another man about two times older than the one sitting on the ground bleeding out slowly, this old man looked about 60 years of age holding a gun and aiming it at my forehead, “Francis what’s going on I’m scared” Sophie said with a shaky voice, both of my arms were starting to shake as well, now having a hard time covering her eyes while carrying her at the same time so I gently lowered her to the ground to stand on her own then held her hand and slowly started backing away, but the old man came closer with the gun, “what do you want? If its money you want, you’re robbing the wrong person, I don’t have any money” I said fearing for my life, “run Francis” the bleeding young man muttered, “shut up” the older man commanded looking down on him briefly and looking back up at me, “This is all your fault” the old man said with his eyes full of tears, I could see in his eyes that he was ready to pull the trigger but in that moment Sophie began crying as she was now fully witnessing what was happening around her, the old man couldn’t do it, no, not in front of the innocent girl, so out of benevolence he slowly lowered his gun, “freeze! Mister we have you surrounded, do not make another move or we will open fire” the police came through just in time, they closed in with stealth and shortly the entire place was surrounded by police cars, I felt a hand pull me away from the chaos, “oh, dad, am I glad to see you again” I said with relief as mum carried Sophie and began wiping her tears, “Mary went to check up on you guys then saw that strange man pointing a gun at you and called the cops, are you guys okay?” mum asked eagerly, “what happened? Why did that man point a gun at you?” she immediately asked again, “I have no idea, I saw this young man over there bleeding out and…..” I got cut short the moment I turned and saw that the young man was no longer there, I moved over to the photo booth and checked around, looking inside it as well but he was nowhere to be found, “I don’t understand, he was right here” I said feeling confused, “don’t worry about it honey I’m sure the police must have dealt with it” mum said, “common we’ve had enough bizarre stuff for one night, lets go home, clear our heads, then we’ll enter into the new year as a family” dad said leading us back to the car, “Mary” I called her, “are you really the one that called the cops?” I asked, then she looked at me and replied, “yes, but I really am starting to regret it” so I paused for a moment after which we both started laughing, “thank you, perhaps you saved our lives. I and Sophie are grateful, aren’t we Sophie?” I called out to Sophie, “hey common you guys, the little girl’s just been through a lot give her a break” mum interrupted, “well okay Jeez I was just trying to lighten the mood” I declared rolling my eyes turning my attention back over to Mary, “oh and I almost forgot, happy birthday Mary” I said and the entire family turned to me and said, “would you just shut up already Francis” almost in a chorus including Sophie and that was all it took for me to shut up, “I can’t believe you almost got shot and still manage to run your mouth this much” Mary said as we got into the car, “whatever, Mary just shut your mouth and get into the car” I mumbled wondering why the two of us couldn’t ever get along not even for five seconds. I got inside with the rest of the family and we all sat comfortably in the car; shut the doors and went our way. Our home was a few miles away from the park, no one was at all happy with how the night played out so far, mum was curious as to what exactly that angry old man wanted, while dad spent the whole ride trying to calm her down by insisting he would pay the police station a visit first thing tomorrow morning to find out the truth, I just sat in my corner happy that I was still alive, especially for Sophie who was sleeping beside me in the back seat alongside Mary. We were on the road for quite some time but we finally arrived home, where I carried Sophie to her room and tucked her into bed making sure she was comfortable before leaving, “Its five minutes to new year guys, we made it home just in time” Dad said coming out of the garage and moving into the living room, “I’m going to give everyone a chance to acknowledge the good things they’re thankful for in this blessed year, starting with myself” dad said pausing with a modest smile on his face as he looked at each and every one of us, he had a seat and we all followed suite, “It’s quite obvious I’m thankful to watch my kids grow a little more this year, and I’m also thankful for the privilege of spending another year of my life with my beautiful wife Sarah” he said and looked at mum, and we all just went “awn” in a long and awkward chorus while mum gently held his hand and smiled, “okay I’m next” she said eagerly, “I and your dad are pretty much grateful for the same things but I’m just gonna add that I’m thankful to have spent another year as part of this family, because it’s the best family in the world to me” she added trying to hold back the little tears in her eyes, “we’re also glad to have you mum” Mary said placing her hand on mum’s left hand, “I’m thankful to have such wonderful parents and such wonderful sisters, wish Sophie was here with us, she’s part of the family” I said but no one wanted to ruin the moment, we were all in tears, Mary placed her other hand on mine, “Don’t worry about Sophie, I’m sure whatever she’s dreaming about, we’re all in her dreams” she said, “it’s your turn Mary” I said turning to her but I noticed a man standing and staring into the window, the same young man that came to me bleeding out in the park trying to warn me of something, “hey uh, you guys should carry on without me, I’ll be right back” I discretely said standing up from the chair, “where are you going? What’s more important than crossing into the New Year with your family” mum asked curiously, “I need to take a piss mum I’ll be right back” I said moving out of the house and gently walking over to the living room window to confront the young man but he was no longer there, strange because when I spotted him I was sure he didn’t notice it. Desperate to talk to him I quietly began moving around the house and got startled shortly by the bunch of fireworks that were going off. And after a long and fruitless search I decided the young man was gone realizing now that I had completely abandoned our family tradition of thanksgiving and left without hearing Mary’s part, I began heading back with remorse when suddenly I heard a sketchy sound behind me coming from Sophie’s room area, I turned around and moved closer to find the young man speaking to Sophie through her room window, “what?! you crazy bastard! Get away from my sister!” I yelled furiously charging at him, so he ran away as fast as he could out of the compound and into the woods, I chased after him heatedly and eventually caught up to him, pushing him unto the ground but this time he seemed different, and although he had the same clothes on, it wasn’t shredded unlike earlier before, plus there were no scars on his body, his face was completely fine, no bruises no bleeding from any part of his body, he was completely fine and it was impossible. “You freaking bastard, who are you? What do you want from me and my family?” I said holding him down, but I couldn’t hold him for long because I was just 16 and he was in his late twenties, he pushed me off his body and started running again, “hey what happened to your scars? How did you do it?” I yelled from a distance and he stopped immediately and turned to me perplexed, he slowly began moving towards me, “what scars?” he said with a genuine reaction on his face; acting like he had no idea what I was talking about, but before he could utter another word, dad came running in through the woods, “Francis, what are you doing?! Get away from that strange man!” he yelled from a distance quickly closing in, I turned to him for a moment and turned back to the man in front of me but he was gone. Dad caught up to me in a matter of seconds stopping to catch his breath before saying another word, “what are you doing in the woods with that strange man, you told us you were going to take a piss” dad said with perplexity, “I know, what I said dad, but that was the same man I told you about, the man from the park, the man I tried to help” I replied, “common, its cold out here let’s get you inside so we can talk about this in a more friendly environment” he said and we began walking back to the house, “I hope you’re satisfied now that you’ve crossed into the new year without us” dad said with a manner of gloom in his voice. This was the first time we didn’t cross over together as a family and it was all my fault, the fireworks were still going off above us, and we were to watch it together all of us, now even that was ruined because of me. We both made it back to the house safely, everyone was worried and desperate for an explanation but I had nothing whatsoever as I myself was also confused, “maybe my head will clear up in the morning, and just maybe I’ll have a little explanation for you all, but right now I’m going to bed, goodnight everybody” I said walking right past them and heading straight upstairs to my room, I shut the door behind me and went to bed but had a really tough time falling asleep because my mind couldn’t stop pondering what it just witnessed. A man, whom I just saw barely an hour ago with his arm cut up, the exact shirt torn up and his face bruised, was suddenly back to normal as though nothing happened.