The Date above Their Heads

The Flicker

I see him again the next day.

Of course, I do.

It’s not a coincidence anymore.

It’s a pattern.

And patterns are worse.

I try to avoid him immediately, changing direction the moment I recognize him in the distance. It should work.

It usually works.

But this time,

It doesn’t feel like distance matters.

Because even from far away, I can feel something wrong.

Not with him.

With the way I see him.

I stop walking without meaning to.

My chest tightens slightly.

No.

That’s not possible.

I force myself to look up.

Just once.

Just briefly.

And I see it.

17.06.2028

Still there.

Still close.

Still unchanged.

But then,

It flickers.

Not disappearing.

Not changing.

Just… unstable.

Like static interference.

My breath catches immediately.

That has never happened before.

Never.

I stare harder, my mind struggling to process what I’m seeing.

The date wavers slightly.

Then stabilizes.

Then flickers again.

My fingers curl tightly.

No.

That shouldn’t be possible.

Dates don’t move.

They don’t react.

They don’t respond.

They just exist.

Fixed.

Final.

But his,

I take a step back instinctively.

My heart is beating faster now.

This isn’t normal.

This isn’t supposed to happen.

My gaze snaps back to him again, just to confirm.

He’s standing there like nothing is wrong.

Like nothing is changing.

But the date,

It flickers again.

And this time, I notice something else.

It changes depending on how close I am.

I freeze completely.

My breath becomes shallow.

That’s not,

That’s not how it works.

Dates don’t depend on me.

They don’t respond to proximity.

They don’t,

My thoughts break off sharply.

Because for the first time since this started…

I don’t understand what I’m seeing.

And that has never happened before.

Never.