Before the Teardrops Fall

3: The journey home

Back in the students' dormitory, I sat on the floor with Elena's letter in my hands and pondered on my next steps.
As I sat there next to my bed with Elena's letter, I glanced up at the wall calendar again - 5 July 1977. It was 2 months after Elena's birthday which was on 5th of May. When I was reading the report in Elena's ward, I was surprised to see that Mr and Mrs Lin had died in a car crash in 1977. I had no recollection of that. Did it really happen?

I stood up and started packing my bag. I had decided to head back home. I had not returned home for the entire 3 years of my studies but I am now, and I wondered if my actions at this moment would change anything in the future. However, this was what I should do - to find out if the car crash really happened and if Elena's parents really left us.

As I went down from the stairs to the exit, I could hear my room mates chattering as they started up the stairs to our room. I hurried out the gate before they could see me to save the explanation for leaving the dormitory with my bag. I went straight to the bus station and bought the next ticket home hoping that I would not be too late.

It was a 1 hour journey and it would be late evening by the time I arrived. The bus left a trail of black smoke behind as it chugged wearily along the road. I took out the old pocket watch from my pocket and unlocked it. An hour glass was embedded into the center of the clock face. I could see tiny golden bits dropping down the lower dome like golden snowflakes. Except, the dome above was etched and carved in silver. Since there was no real sand in the dome above, it was strange that sand was dripping down into the bottom dome. And because of this strange design, there was no way to tell how much sand was left while it was sifting away. The only signal I could rely on was the storm that always appeared out of nowhere, and the shushing sounds in my ear which meant that it would be minutes before I get spun away.

I turned the pocket watch in my hands as I examined the carved patterns. I noticed the clock face only had 10 markings instead of 12. Which was unusual because how could you tell the time with just 10 markings on the clock? When I looked closer, I saw that the bronze rim had patches of rust. And on it, there were 4 dials, each a darker shade than the other, sitting on a spiral. They were pointing to different markings on the clock face. It suddenly dawned on me that this wasn't a clock at all. The 4 dials and 10 markings were not meant to tell time.

Instinctively, I reached for the bronzed rim and turned it. At first, the rim did not move at all. In fact, it did not look like it was meant to rotate. When I tried it a second time, I squeezed a little harder. This time, the rim appeared to budge and I could now make out faint lines along the sides splitting the rim into 4. I checked the face of the dial again and noticed that the dials pointed to 1, 9, 7, and 7, the year I am in right now. My guess was right, the rims would navigate each dial. It must have been a mechanism to manipulate which year I would be spun to. My heart started to pound as I realized what this meant - that there might be a way around this time loop.

The bus hauled to a slow stop as we arrived at the bus stop near my home. I put the hour glass mechanism back beneath my shirt and gathered my belongings. I decided that it was too risky to try and move the dials right now. I would do it later when the storm comes.

The sky was purple pink when I stepped out of the tattered bus. Memories came flooding back as I walked down the familiar road in the neighborhood. I wondered if everything back at home would be like how it once was.

As I near the familiar building of my house, I was suddenly wrapped in a warm embrace. It was mum. "Ron! You are back! Why did you come all of a sudden?" mum said as she hugged me tighter. I felt a pang of nostalgia whirring in my nose. Mum, in her early 30's, dressed in her everyday floral printed blouse and low bun, was standing here with me, it felt like a deja vu. I hugged her back and said "I've missed you, that's why." It was the truth.

As we went into the house, I noticed that the expression on mum's face had turned solemn. I watched silently as mum poured a cup of tea and sat me down by the table. "Mum" I started, "How's Elena and Mr and Mrs Lin doing?". Mum looked up at me and her eyes started to water. "Ron, there was an accident... Mr and Mrs Lin, they passed away 2 months ago." she said as she fought back her tears. I was too late.

"Where's Elena? Is she at home?" I asked. Mum took my hands in hers as she looked me in the eye. She said, "Ron, Elena left last month. Her aunt came down from Malaysia for her parents' funeral and Elena left with her". I felt my chest tighten. I must be looking really bad as mum started to panic and moved in closer to hold me by my shoulders. I took a deep breath in and calmed myself down. I needed to know what happened.

Mum took the next 2 hours to fill me in with the details of the accident. Mr and Mrs Lin had died in a crash just a day before Elena's birthday. The police came knocking on the Lin's door that night and brought Elena to the neighborhood hospital to see her parents. Mum had followed her there and helped with the hospital fees. Representatives from the community had contacted Elena's aunt who lived in the next town to take up custody over Elena as her guardian.

Elena's aunt had sold the salon and took Elena back to Malaysia a month later. When Elena's aunt was here, Elena had not stepped out from her house. Although mum tried to visit her, her aunt had said that Elena was not feeling well and needed to rest. I was relieved when mum told me she had managed to get the address of Elena's aunt in Malaysia. I lied to mum that it was the school holidays now and there were no classes, so she passed me the address on a slip of paper and said I should visit Elena and find out how she's doing.

I told mum that I would go visit Elena tomorrow. Mum had wanted to come with me but the bookstore needed her help so I told her it would be okay and promised to send her regards. Then I spent the entire night chatting and being around my parents.

Seeing my parents in their younger selves and being in the comfort of my old home was too precious. I missed my family so much. I do not know if I would be back here again and I did not want to waste a single moment with my mum and dad. But when it was past midnight and my parents started to look dreary, I hugged them tight and said good night. As I looked out the window from my old bedroom, I saw that the night sky was clear. No rain clouds. No shushing sounds from the sand. I heaved a sigh of relief and closed my eyes.