Cntrl Z: The Seen Unseen

Something Terrible

As I grew older, I quickly learned to separate the past from the future. My mother had already put two and two together and she knew my life would be a complicated one full of challenges, because of that fact I had difficulty making friends. Back then, my wife Lucy lived next door, and even she figured out something was weird about me. To her young mind, it seemed more of a superpower than a curse and she eagerly promised to help keep my secret, whether my ability was a gift or a curse. My mother never loved me any less, instead, she took it upon herself to write down whatever moments we shared, that way my life, though not remembered would never be forgotten. She did her best to make my life manageable, but despite her best efforts, it was a painful journey, not just for myself but for those who loved me. Of course, she never blamed me, after all, it wasn't my fault, but as all people eventually do, my mother passed away. It's something I can't correctly recall but the emotion connected to the event lingers firmly in my heart. It was my 22nd birthday and we booked a table at a decently fancy restaurant, whether the food was good or bad I can't remember, all I know is that on that day, in particular, it was raining. The vision was clear that my mom would perish. As my mom drove down the slippery roads, she was hit by a drunk driver who didn't react in time to stop. She died on my birthday and I couldn't accept it, so I did something horrible and changed it. That's the day I learned the true curse of my condition. I did everything I could to convince my mother not to go, I begged her to stay at home, threatened that I wouldn't show up for my own birthday if she set foot outside the house. Thanks to my tantrum, my mother agreed to stay at home. She was smart enough to know something terrible was about to happen and didn't press the matter any further. We spent the evening watching a movie, mindless fun for someone unable to remember the plot but I was ecstatic nonetheless, I thought I had changed the course of history, my mother never left the house and as a result, she was never hit by the drunk driver. But, that's the funny thing about fate. There's nothing that can stop it. In the end, my efforts were fruitless, because she was supposed to die. That night, her soul, spirit, essence whatever the hell you want to call it, vanished. Her time had come and though I had hindered the death of her physical body she was taken away from me. It wasn't until the next morning before I noticed something was wrong. I found her sitting at the edge of her bed unresponsive and catatonic. None of the doctors could explain it, as all her vitals appeared fine, despite being physically healthy, she was just... gone.