She realized that they had overstayed now, Alvah was sitting inside a coffee shop when Spencer and some of his friends passed by. She wanted to call him but just a few steps from where they were was a group of guys who seemed to be waiting for Spencer’s group to come pass by them.
Spencer was with two of his friends while the group of men was about five or six people. They look like they play football too, only from a different team.As they were nearing, the group of white men started blocking their way.Alvah stood up and left some cash for her bill and a tip.Once outside, she came closer to where the two groups were and decided to eavesdrop for a bit."Hey, how did those bruises feel? Still not doing anything about what I told you?""Spencer, do you know them?" one of Spencer's friend, huge guy with a really good built spoke out."They're no one. Come on, let's keep going.""We're not done." The guy turned aggressive as he pulled Spencer away from his group and pushed him right into the nearest brick wall.Spencer groaned, feeling the sudden pang of pain against his back.He seemed too hurt to even say anything.He simply stood up, patted the dirt in his jeans and wanted to walk past the group.Yet he was pulled back again, and two other men started hitting him with their fists.Before they knew it, both groups were already caught up in a huge fight.Alvah wanted to interfere, but she couldn’t let anyone see her using any of her powers.She started to whistle loudly so she could gather the attention of other people not too far from where the group were.Soon, some called out some policemen who started to stop the fight.Both groups were invited to the police station for questioning.Alvah could only wish she knew why they were fighting. But she instead followed Spencer and his friends so she could set their bail.When the three men were released, she stood in the exit of the station, waiting for Spencer to come out.As soon as he saw her, he bowed his head and shook it.They ended up inside a noodle house where they helped themselves to the menu."What was that?" Alvah started interrogating him."It was nothing Miss Alvah." he calmly said."That was not nothing. And you look weak. Like someone just punched you unlimited all over your body."He didn't speak. Instead, he stared out at the huge windowpane of the noodle house."Please don't tell Charlie about what happened.""Why not?""She'll be worried.""But don't you think she has the right to know?""She does. But I'd appreciate it if you wouldn’t say anything to her. Let me tell her what happened.""What happened exactly? Care to share?"He sighed as the server was now bringing their food."They saw me and Charlie sneaking into the arena the other night. They think it's offensive that I'm dating one of them. So that night when we were having dinner, they were waiting for me, not too far from home. They started punching me like I don't deserve to see tomorrow. They're from our rival team. And they said I can't possibly be dreaming about marrying a woman that's way out of my league.""That explains the painful look you had the first time they were pushing you against that wall. Why didn't you fight them?""There's always a way to win fights Miss Alvah without having to resort to any physical attack. Sadly, it seems that the world now has gone to the extreme of things. But I decline to be a part of the kind of culture that they would want to pass on to their children.""A noble gesture. But you do know you'll need to fight them sooner than later, right?""I understand. But hopefully it doesn't get to that point.""I don't know if I can't tell her. She needs to know.""Please don't. I can't have her know about this.""Well, it’s either you tell her, or I will."He sighed. "I'll think about it.""Good."She walks out of the diner and just as she was about to turn her back away from him, she sees him being served by the beautiful African waitress she had small talks just a while ago. They looked perfect. And she knew they were the ones meant to be together.She reaches the apartment where they were staying and finds Charlie reading a book about sports.“Hey, where were you?” she calls out to Alvah.“Just around the corner.”“Right. Will you be watching the game later?”A moment of silence filled the entire house.“Alvah?”“I might. How about you? Are you planning on doing what I asked you anytime soon?”“Well, I am... but, I was thinking maybe I can do it after the season?”“No. The longer you cling on to him, the worse it will get.""I understand!" her voice raised a pitch higher than her usual tone, "You don't have to repeat it over and over. It's agitating to listen to what you keep saying okay? I will tell him. I will break up with him so we could move on with our lives!"She walked away as Alvah stood still amused and yet calm.Sooner or later, she knows Charlie will realize what she needs to do. That's how smart she is.
She walks into her room, took off her robe and faced her mirror.
With a quick snap of her fingers, images started to appear from her mirror. It was Charlie, walking aimlessly along the road leading towards the arena.
But before she reaches the arena, she passes by the same noodle house where Alvah and Spencer had a chat.
Spencer is still insidethe noodle house but this time, he's talking to teh same server that he was talking too when she left.
Charlie stood still across the street where the noodle house is, her face looking stern.
"What will you do, Charlie?"
A quick moment pass by with Charlie just standing there.
And then, she switches direction and walked away from where Spencer is.
"Where will you go?"
She continues to navigate the entire city only to be disappointed. Charlie was nowhere to be found.
She switches her view from a bird's eyeview and shuffled it all over the city, still nothing.
Charlie just disappeared. Not just in the city but from the entire timeline.
Could she possibly be time travelling?
She put on her robe once more and got out of her room.
Perhaps she could catch up with her.
Did she go back to the present?
She snapped her fingers twice and was back into to the present. Alah closed her eyes and through that scoured the entire city for Charlie. Still, she could not trace her.
"Where is she?"
She snapped her fingers twic once again and was back to the 1970's. Still Charlie was nowhere to be found.
She could not find her.
In her mind she wondered if Charlie traveled to the future. The one thing she could never do.
Charlie stood still, facing a noodle house where Spencer was happily talking with one of the servers. She seemed entranced by him, as anyone would be. But as she saw them having so much fun talking to each other, she felt a sudden feeling of pain inside her.Is this the reality that Alvah wanted her to see? That he belongs to someone else.She closed her eyes, wanting not to feel this sudden pain that’s attacking her. She took a step back, gave a very good thought of what’s happening and snapped her finger once.As soon as she did, she was transported to another year. A year in her mind where she thinks she’d be. It was twenty years after the year she was in with Spencer. And about five years from her actual present year.She’s led to a huge house the looked to be situated in a suburban area.The corners are filled with flowers and some plants, the windows looked colorful with curtains adorning each one. In a few minutes, the crisp crying sound of a baby filled the entire house.She s
She sucked in deep breaths as she faced her professor slash mentor. In his face is the look of failure—her failure to be exact. She has nothing to present this morning, no draft, no blurb, not even a concept of what story will she write for her final project. But it’s all because of a really good reason. “I got mugged?” she could sense the discontent coming from his face. She gulped in heavy saliva, preparing herself for a lie she doesn’t even want to tell. “Yes.” “What time exactly did you get mugged?” “Around midnight.” Did she just sound unsure? “Are you trying to trick me?” “No, I’m not. I’m telling the truth.” Well, not really. She wasn’t exactly mugged. She was chased. “Your deadline was two weeks ago. I’m wondering if you are seeing the worth of what this school is paying for your scholarship. You seem uninterested to graduate from my class Miss Peddington. And here I am, thinking that you really want to become a writer. “ “Of course, I do!” Her professor stated to
She coughed, slowly feeling the pain seeping through her entire body. There’s a peculiar smell that rushed through her senses the moment she has slowly gained consciousness. Her body aches like she’s never felt them aching before, paired with the poignantly loud banging within her head. She slowly recalled what happened and started sobbing. She realizes that her hands are now restrained at the back of a single chair. She could only imagine the scenes in movies when mafias would kidnap someone and torture them till their death. Will that be the same fate she’ll have right now? “Now you’re awake!” the sound of the man’s voice sounded unfamiliar. She struggled to slowly open her eyes, definitively glaring at her surroundings. She found three men standing across her, two of them she recognizes as the men who took off the black van not too long ago. One man, was dressed in an all-white suit, paired with the same white fedora. He must be their boss. With the gold necklace around his nec
She sees herself on a podium, in front of the huge number of people inside a well-lit library. Her forehead is filled with sweat that doesn’t seem to stop from falling. She’s nervous as hell and when she looked down, the pages of the book in front of her was empty. She gulped as curious stare started to dart towards her. Is she in a horror film right now? “I told you Charlie. You should have submitted your draft a long time ago!” she could hear her professor’s voice reverberating all over the place, yet she could not see where he is. She squinted her eyes; they seem to have grown blurry by the minute. Then she hears the click-clack sound she has grown accustomed to listening with. Her grinning face now filled her entire sight and the fear in her grew ecstatic. She gripped her hands against the wooden podium. They are all out to get her. She has nothing. No story to write. Nothing. “So this is what your greatest desire is? I wonder if this too is your greatest fear?” “No.. ple
She clenched her fist as the cool air inside the cave caressed her chin. The lady was right, the hijab made her feel warm. The woman who’s name she still doesn’t know pointed her finger at a fire in the middle of the cave. A man can be seen sitting in front of the fire. His hands softly dancing in the air, and out of it, tiny sand dusts began to form into various forms. It created miniature form of animals, trees, mountains and even the rivers and the seas. Then, he waived his hands, and everything disappeared. The man slowly stood up and walked into the entryway of the cave. They followed him, welcomed by the cool breeze of the desert. The stars were ecstatically bright that night, and all Charlie could ever do was admire in silence. She has never been anywhere outside of her own apartment or the university’s premise. She used to dream of being able to travel even just for studies, but she never had the chance. And now, she’s in the middle of the desert, said to be during the 24th
She’s been bored or the entire week that has passed. So far, no man was walking up to her unexpectedly just to force her to pay for the money she owed. She wonders what happened to them. They were waiting for their professor to arrive when she decided to lay her head on top of the table while playing with her pen. She has not started even a single line of the book that she wanted to write. Her professor is pissed off, yet she can’t force herself to write anything. Her pen twirls around as she plays with it. It took five minutes of playing before her professor came in and handed bunch of booklets to one student asking him to distribute it to the entire class. A red covered book laid flat on her desk. “Unpopular legends.” She read it softly. She flipped the pages of the book and thought there must be about a hundred pages. She turned to the first page and saw the table of contents. “Welcome, today we will be talking about some of the most underrated legends of all time. For the e
She was dozing off while in her class, she stayed up all night just because she can’t stop thinking about what Alvah said. The aftermath of all the memories that has come back to her was overwhelming her again. But she couldn’t help herself from smiling. After everything, she remembered her again. And she’d like to believe that the idea of her remembering her again is something special. And now, she’s on her way to learn how to become a Jinni herself. “Miss Peddington!” Her professor’s voice startled her that she almost fell from her seat. “You’re daydreaming again.” “I’m sorry. I was just thinking about my—” she looked around noticing that everyone was now looking at her conspicuously, “my story draft.” She sees her professor crossing his arms against his chest, now getting his attention. “Well, I’d be very interested to know what you have already made. You’ve been quiet a procrastinator lately.” “Well,” she twitched her head sideways, not expecting the kind of question her p
She switched the lights on as she skippered through the library once again. She’s been in that library for almost a week now. Each time, the books are added up with more and more. She wanted to just throw the white flag and end her suffering. This was not leading to anything useful for her at all. What good does reading books give you? And how is it even helpful to someone who’s studying to become a jinni? Do jinni’s teach subjects? “No, but it keeps them grounded, helps them be smart about all the thing that they do.” He heart skipped a beat the moment she heard Alvah’s voice who was now just standing behind her. “You startled me! Please don’t do that again.” “Well, how are you with all the readings?” “I’m great!” she faked a smile as she proceeded on opening another page with the book she was currently reading. It was the story of Jane Austen. A very well know artist during the 18th century. “Well, you’re reading Jane Austen. That’s interesting. She is interesting. More so wa