Roll With It Short Stories

Day Four

Day Four

Word Prompt 15: Don't Blink

Word Count 5: 500

"Don't Blink." That's the advice they give you before you go in, it helps keep you grounded. In all my times around it's never worked but I still strain my eyes every time. It's become a tongue in cheek way of saying goodbye. I inhale a few breaths and take the plunge through starlight and numbers. I keep my eyes wide open but I'm not built to understand. Pieces of me are being pulled away adding themselves to the sequence. My psyche dissolves and while there is some instinct to panic at having your existence suspended I know this will subside.

I land, but the sensation is more like hatching. It takes me an embarrassing amount of time to come to my senses, by the time I do this girl is already 24 years old. I move past years of memories and neuroses until I find the part that she doesn't know exists. I whisper that I'm taking over, she doesn't hesitate and falls away to my kiss. This poor soul, I had seen her entire life played out, it was short and filled with suffering. Her pain is my gain, however. I slip into her body and take her from fate's fixed path. I knew I was behind schedule, I could tell the others had already gotten started. "I'm here," I announce.

In the same way that a fish cannot move about without water, we cannot move without a capable form. To manipulate and influence we have to obey the physical requirements of the world, and in this case a physical body is necessary. We do this with great purpose and care choosing those who find our theft a relief, liberating. Our kind are called parasites, demons, or aliens by those who are not aware of the greater workings of the universe. Some that are aware, however, still question our ethics. Believing worlds so unevovled that they are unable to defend themselves should be left to their fates, no matter how grim. I disagree, wherever there is sentience I will be there to protect it, regardless of what potential it may or may not have. The Universe and all its variants is vast and complex, populated by those who maintain it and those who would undo it. We are responsible for mending paradoxes, chasing off the law breakers, maintaining singularities and a good deal of people's paranormal experiences. This time we're charged with creating a new timeline, not to directly interfere or impose our will as many misunderstand it, but to repair the damage done by more nefarious visitors. This version has become too corrupted and threatens to infect other lines.

My task is bigger than I had expected, something is off this time around. I inspect the damage, and horrified, the truth becomes clear to me. This sort of damage could only have been made by someone like me.